1939 HiFlier Dime Scale Monocoupe

[kittyfritters]

In my answer to the thread "How Many Kits In Closet or Storage"I mentioned that I had a HiFlier dimer kit on the bench for an upcoming contest. Dimers are usually not my thing but I have the kit so why not? I used the original parts sheet but the next time I do one of these old kits I may scan the parts sheet and laser cut for accuracy. This is really one of the better dimers of the period but there are still two gross errors in the plan, both in the construction of the wing where the realities of tapering the spar and joining it at the dihedral joints have been ignored. I know the kit was prototyped because I have seen pictures of it but the problems with building the wing were probably not communicated back to the person that drew the plans.

Monocoupe1.jpg

That little box fuselage was probably very frustrating to inexperienced new builders back in the 30s if they didn't have someone to guide them. Although I had been building flying models with my father since I was seven the models I built by myself were all sheet until I was thirteen, Comet Struct-o-Speeds, Airline models, Monogram, Cleveland (yes, they had an all sheet line in the late 40s and early 50s.) and Top Flite to name a few. One of my relatives gave me a Comet P-38 kit for my eighth birthday but I didn't attempt it until I was fourteen. (If you haven't seen one, Google the plan.)

Monocoupe2.jpg

[kittyfritters]

Looking at the plan I thought that, using the suggested method, assembling the wing was physically impossible but I attempted it anyway. Is it? Well, not quite. The tapering of the spar to the tip, on the bottom, is possible. The way they show it would make a bump in the bottom covering of the wing but tapering it from the last rib works. It will look good but produces a bit of wash-in the may have to be steamed out. We'll see when I trim it. However, joining the spars in the middle of the wing when the dihedral breaks are 1/2 inch away is not possible with the wing on the board. The spars were joined at the dihedral breaks along with the leading and trailing edges.

Set up for the "bones shot" it fits together well and is quite light. The cowl support that you are supposed to put the rubber motor through is so small that it is most charitably described as comical. That's going to change before the cowl goes on. It will be covered, tonight, using the red and blue tissue from the kit which is in remarkably good condition.

Monocoupe3.jpg

Here is what it looked like when I pinned down the wing of the Monocoupe to shrink the tissue. The tissue on the fuselage is shrunk and fixed with Krylon (matt) and the opening for the rubber is enlarged and keyed to the cowl. When the glue is cured, tomorrow, I will sand the cowl and wheel pants to shape. Yes, the cowl will have the rocker arm bumps. I'm not happy with the tissue so the next time I build one of these old kits I will not use the tissue in the kit but replace it with Asuka.

Monocoupe4.jpg

Monocoupe5.jpg

[kittyfritters]

I used a template cut from a copy of the plan mounted to card stock to check the contour when turning the cowl. I love the Dremel drill press for turning small NACA cowls and spinners. I have a shop drill press for larger cowls and spinners. The second picture shows the carved balsa bits, cowl and wheel pants.

Monocoupe6.jpg

Monocoupe8.jpg

I decided not to paint anything on this one and tissue wrap everything. Hint: If you want to tissue wrap something that has compound curves like a wheel pant think of it as a fuselage and cover half at a time.

Monocoupe9.jpg

[kittyfritters]

Well, here is what it looks like done. I took it to the OFFC Dimer contest this morning without being able to trim it at last week's session. The gym was closed last week due to a gas leak. Trimming a new model at a contest either goes surprisingly well or is a complete disaster. This time it was the latter, I finished last. Built with the wood and tissue in the kit it is a bit of a brick. With an 18" loop of 3/32" FIA Tan it weighs 21 grams. Not to heavy for a 16" span sport model but not competitive either. Bill Watson was the winner and was getting 1:40 times under a 22 foot ceiling with a parasol model, sorry, I don't remember the name of the aircraft.

Monocoupe11.jpg

Monocoupe12.jpg

I was correct that it would have been much lighter if I had scanned the plans and laser cut it using my own wood. The other thing is that I was going to modify the landing gear with a wire through the fuselage from one side to the other but I built it to plan. This worked landing on the slick, wood, gym floor but flown outdoors a landing in short grass would probably bring it to a stop fast enough to shatter the bottom of the fuselage. I have another Hi-Flier dimer kit, a Stinson 105 and I'll build that my way. I don't have any Guillow's dime scale kits but I have several Guillow's dimer plans and I will try to build one of those. This should be interesting since the Guillow's kits, at that time, were among the lighter kits available.

[Scott]

Great thread.To me these vintage airplane kits are like mini time capsules
that take us back to the "Golden Age".

Your construction pics are very interesting,and your finished Monocoupe
looks Top Notch.