About the Plane:

The Gnat is my own design. It is a .10 size pattern-style plane. I wanted a pattern-style airplane that would be able to fly within the confines of a small field, and have an easy to start OS 10 FSR engine. It easily fits in any size car fully assembled.

Flying the Model:

This plane flies great. It is smooth and agile. The plane will stay where you put it. It will not roll out of a turn. Due to its semi-symmetrical airfoil, the inverted flight requires some down elevator to keep the nose up a little. Rolls are fast and will stop the instant you want them to.

This plane is hand launched. Upon release the plane will sink a foot or so as it accelerates. Once it gets going, it really moves out. Landing is easy, but the plane is neutral. It will not self correct, so you must fly it the whole way. A rubber skid on the bottom of the fuselage takes the beating.

Construction Highlights:

This plane is very simple. The fuselage is typical slab side with formers. The bottom of the fuse builds flat on the board. The turtle deck is made from 1/64 plywood, and the canopy is a hollowed block of balsa. The hollowed balsa canopy houses the battery and receiver. The tail surfaces are sheet balsa. The wing is fully sheeted. The ailerons are built up and controlled with torque tubes. The stabilizer has anhedral for looks, and has separate elevator control linkages to one servo. The plane was finished in epoxy finishing resin and dope. Fiberglass cloth was not used and is not required. A fiberglass strip was used to reinforce the wing joint.

The plane used an OS Max 10 FSR for power and a 4 oz fuel tank. It turned out a little tail heavy. But this was easily corrected with 1.5 oz of lead under the engine. The engine is mounted upright for accessibility and ease of starting. A pressure system provides stable fuel delivery. Futaba S-20 servos were used, and they had no problem controlling the plane.