LIL “i's a bird!” “It’s a plane! “*No, it's. . ~ — FlapRe, — Flapper?” Here's a living room model for rainy days or to scare hell out of that crocked guest who never knows when to go home. By HAL COVER @sSome years back | flew all types of indoor models quite extensively and one of the most interesting was the omni thopter. They seemingly appear to eith- er fly well or tear themselves to shreds. The small ornithopter presented here is a 1/3 size version of one which 1 de- signed and at one time held the Categ- cory | National Record. As a result of that ornithopter’s success and ease of adjustment, I decided to see how small fone could be built and stil fly. When this one was finished and flown, | was quite pleasantly surprised. You will find it well relieves the monotony of of quiet smooth indoor flying and gives many hours of entertainment. ‘The Li'l Flapper can be flown quite easily in a living room, and with luck, flights of 45 seconds ¢an be obtained. The little bird is easy to build and ad~ just, but it is important to make all parts as shown and they must fit c rectly with no sloppiness, otherwise the life span of your bird will be quite short Or in some cases it may even beat it- self to death. So follow the plans and instructions carefully and have fun. FITTINGS Al fittings are made from .004 es very simple. The problem is, however, that the structure is MICROSCOPIC! The MODEL BUILDER thick aluminum sheet (disposable alum- num pie plate will work well.) Holes can be punched in the sheet with a piece of .012 piano wire sharpened on one end. It is best to punch the holes in the sheet prior to cutting out the various parts. The thrust bearing is made in a similar manner using .020 aluminum, WING ‘The center section is made from 1/32 stock and with the ribs cut out of 2 sheet. The flapper spars are made from 1/16 square tapered to 1/32 round. Be sure they are made from the same Continued on page 61 If you test fly your Flapper in the house, just mak mouse catcher is outside! Ht looks and sounds likFlapper... .. Convinued from page 29 stock so the Mexibility is equal. The flat rib and the diagonal brace are made from 1/32 square. The flapper arm is ‘made from 1/16 sheet and the connect ing arm from 1/16 square. They ate shaped as shown on the plans. FUSELAGE The fuselage is made from a piece of 1/64 or 1/100 balsa sheet, 5/8 by 4 inches, and is formed in the following manner. Take a piece of silk span about 5 ‘inches and 6 inches long, wet it and lay it on a clean, flat sucface, Then place an 8 inch fong piece of 3/16 diam- eter dowel on one end of the silk span. Roll the silk span up on the rod until there is about 2 turns on the dowel Place the fuselage sheet, which has been soaked for about 10 minutes in water, on the unrolled portion of the silkspan and carefully line it up with the dowel. Now tightly roll it up on the dowel. Continue the roll until all sikspan is rolled on. Place in ant oven and bake at ‘The MODEL BUILDER 250 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the form and cement the tube seam carefully, making sure it stays straight and has no twist. This can best bbe accomplished by starting the cement ing in the middle and working both tions, short sections at a. time. Cement the 1/64 sheet internal braces and the 1/32 nose sheet in place as shown, The latter may be formed in a similar manner to the fuselage tube. TAIL SURFACES Make an outline of the tail surface from 1/16 sheet. Then cut a 1/32 sa. strip long enough to go around the form and soak in water for 10 minutes. Take the strip and tape one end onto the former at-the center, using a piece of masking tape 1/8 x 1 inch. A minimum width of tape should be used in order 10 minimize the wood sticking to it too firmly. Gently pull the wood around the form until it is past the starting point and tape down. Always maintain 3 pull” on the wood to avoid buckling, Bake in an oven for 10-15 minutes. When dry, remove carefully, and splice and glue at the center. The rudder is made similarly, using a section of the stab form. COVERING AND ASSEMBLY The surfaces are coveted with con denser paper or superfine tissue, Once dry and immed of excess tissue, ce- ment the hinges (A) and wires (B,C & D) in place with several light coats of glue. The center section is then cemented to the fuselage using 1/32 sq. posts. With the shaft in place in the thrust bearing, carefully form the final two bends mak- ing sure they are of proper length. The flappers are then put in place and the washers glued on the trailing edge of shaft B, Next, the connecting arms are pput in place and similar washers glued in place. Now glue the tailboom, stab, rudder, and rear hook in place. Last, using very minimum amount of glue (use thinned dope) attach a fine thread to the trailing edge of the flapper covering. This climinates tearing the flapper covering, but if too much glue used it adversely affects the Mapper and performance is decreased, FLYING Flying is easiest of all, Place a 5 to 6 inch loop of 1 mm Pirelli rubber on the ship, balance to the proper CG as shown on the plans. (Trailing edge of wing). Adjust the stab incidence up or down as requited until a normal glide is, obtained. If everything is fined up and glued securely, it should fly like a “ied.” After some time you will note the performance decrease. This i caused by the wing covering losing its stiffness and stretching. When this happens, just recover the Hlapping surfaces: 81