Laird Turner RT-14 Meteor

Dummy engine

rcscalebuilder — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:10:48 +0000

While waiting for the answer from the cutter companies, I’ve been sourcing out a few other things, one of which is a dummy Wasp radial.

Wasp kit from Williams Brothers

Fortunately, Williams Brothers has a 1/4 scale Wasp radial which should work nicely. It looks to be a large plastic kit with 9 cylinders, pushrod covers, exhaust stacks, crankcase breathers, etc.

They’re selling it for $72.99.

Which kit?

rcscalebuilder — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:02:24 +0000

Well, now it’s the time where I have to decide which of the kit cutting services to use.

I’ve narrowed it down to 2 companies – Precision Cut Kits and Kit Cutters. The problem is to whether they include the ribs for both wings (or more specifically, the shorter, scale wing). Also, do they include the tabs on the bottom of the ribs to aid in rib alignment?

The other difference is cost. Kit Cutters comes in at $300, while Precision is $375. Do you get the same quality in either case?

I’ve put in calls to both and we’ll see what they have to say.

Plans – engine

rcscalebuilder — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 20:18:47 +0000

The plans were originally drawn with a Sachs 3.1 engine for power, as it was one of the more popular way back when. Times and power plants have changed. After looking at what’s on sale these days, the DLE-55 will probably be the engine I use. It’s the same displacement as the Sachs, but quite a bit more powerful, and probably a bit lighter too.

I found a 3 view of the engine on the net and sized them to actual size. Looks like a perfect fit on the plans.

DLE 55 fit on the plans.

Plans – wings

rcscalebuilder — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 20:15:06 +0000

After going over the plans, the model can be built with 2 different size wings. One is the 84″ span noted on the specs, but that’s not scale. A 75″ wing is also shown and makes the plan true to the original design. That’s the way I will go.

Wing plans - closeup

Plans

rcscalebuilder — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 20:09:14 +0000

I ordered a set of plans from Wendell Hostetler. His design is a 25% (1/4 scale) version. It specs out as: Wingspan: 84″; Length: 70″; Wing Area: 1275 sq. in.; Engine: 3-4.6 cu. in.; Weight: 20-22 lbs.

fuselage sheet

Wing sheet

And so it begins

rcscalebuilder — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 19:58:00 +0000

I have a passion for aircraft, but mostly for those designed, built & flown in the Art-Deco period – the years between World Wars 1 and 2.

I also have a passion for radio control aircraft, building and flying mostly scale models. Having had some success in R/C scale competition with various models, it’s time for something new. So, in looking around at what’s available, I decided to marry my 2 interests – a new build of an R/C scale aircraft, using one of the Art-Deco period aircraft as my subjects.

The pylon racers of the 1930′s caught my eye and I’ve settled on the Laird/Turner RT-14, otherwise known as the Meteor.

The original Meteor at the Smithsonian