A flying buddy and I have made a pact to go to the big Nostalgia bash at Lost Hills in 2013. That gives me a year to make a few models and get them trimmed out.

I'm looking for some inspiration for picking a Class A model that is not commonly modeled and that has good lines to it. Something that has a good amount of eye candy but stops somewhat short of the "way out there" building and possible trimming issues of designs such as the Cobra, beautiful though it may be.

I've started reviewing the Vintage Plans thread but it's a monumental task to sift through it checking for such models. So I thought perhaps some of you might have some design you found in that thread that stands out. Or perhaps one you have in a magazine stashed away that could give me a possible candidate to consider.

So far I'm leaning to a glow powered version of the Chet Lanzo Swayback as being a design that could fly decently well yet leans heavily towards having a bunch of character along with not being the sort of thing I'd find modelled by everyone and their brother at the field. Another one I like is the Super Pheonix other than the thin flat bottom airfoil. I'm hoping to find a design with a higher camber airfoil so it can slow down and have that "floaty" look in the air. Another I found in the Plans sticky is the class A 8-ball. But at only 300 sq inches it's a trifle small for a .15 as it would have to weigh in at too high a weight for a truly floaty sort of glide.

So now that you can see sort of where I'm wanting to go how about some suggestions?

...nevermind

Has anyone ever seen a Demon? A French design from about '45 in several sizes that looked bit like a Playboy w/o the stringers and a V dihedral.

Hayseed is a pretty model with a cabin. It's about 50in span from memory.

Jerry Stoloff's Spearhead crosses my mind.....

Originally Posted by RyanNX211

Has anyone ever seen a Demon? A French design from about '45 in several sizes that looked bit like a Playboy w/o the stringers and a V dihedral.

Demon and the smaller version called Pirate were designed by Robert Chabot, who was president of the MACA (Modele Air Club d'Asnieres).
Demon flew with a Micron 5cc fixed compression engine, Pirate with a Micron 2.8cc.
Robert Chabot also designed the Corsaire, flown with a Delmo 2.65cc engine at the June 1945 record days. I flew mine rudder-only with a Taifun Zyklon 2.5cc diesel to good effect.

I think you found it!
I stumbled on a photo of a line up of four different sizes in a magazine that I permanently loaned (Model Builder, Designer & Constructor)

Is the landing gear wire with balsa fill?

What about a Snow White? Very elegant, might prove to be a difficult build, though.

Originally Posted by RyanNX211

I think you found it!
I stumbled on a photo of a line up of four different sizes in a magazine that I permanently loaned (Model Builder, Designer & Constructor)

Is the landing gear wire with balsa fill?

Yes, wire with balsa fill, actually balsa plywood wrapped in silk (ctp = contreplaque = plywood).
PM me for full-size plan .tif scan file of either of these models.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. A few of them are actually old timers. I'm looking for something that came out after the Jan 1942 date to qualify as Nostalgia. So sadly such things as the Snow White don't fit. Same with the Hayseed which was a design from before the war.

That Pirate looks fantastic. I'm a little worried about the low dihedral angle and I would need to study the plans more to find some key as to the span. But it has "The Look", no doubt about it.

The Spearhead is so out there that it could be a fun model to fly. Is it from the post Old Timer cutoff date? It has more the look of a pre-war design.

I went to the blogspot site shown on the Pirate plans to look for a date and wingspan. What I found is a wealth of odd designs from various countries. So I've got an evening or two worth of plodding through that site looking at options.

I want to try to get a design that is normal enough that I know it'll fly without any major surprises. But at the same time I want everyone that sees it to ask "WTH is THAT! !"

How about a Glory Bee? It's a pretty thing, and you don't see it very often.

Originally Posted by BMatthews

That Pirate looks fantastic. I'm a little worried about the low dihedral angle and I would need to study the plans more to find some key as to the span...

Pirate is essentially a reduced size Demon.
I can vouch for the flying qualities of both models, you would not need to alter the original dihedral. Even if you felt the need, the split wing with struts makes it easy to change the dihedral.
Statistics:
Weight: Demon 48 oz, Pirate 24 oz.
Wingspan: Demon 70 in, Pirate 57 in.
Dihedral: Pirate 3.75 in.
Length: Demon 40 in, Pirate 33.5 in.
Wing area: Demon 620 sqin, Pirate 387 sqin.
Tail area: Demon 181 sqin.
Fin area: Demon: 55 sqin.
Demon flew with Micron 5cc diesel, roughly equivalent to a Brown 60.
Pirate flew with a Micron 2.8cc diesel. My friend's Pirate does very well with a Taifun Hurrikan 1.5cc diesel.
A PM to me can bring you full-size plan files for either one, and I can help with translation if your French is rusty.

Oh yeah.... The Glory Bee was/is on the list of possibles as well. And you are very right that it's got the eye candy factor in spades.

I've pondered the GB for a while and I'd like to try the ammonia molding trick. I'd carve a plug out of balsa bulkheads for shaping and blue styro for fill and mold the balsa "planking" in quarter shells. This would reduce building time by a whole heap over strip planking.

Odd side note.... I flew here in the Northwest with a fellow named George Oldershaw. He was a cousin or some such relation to Vernon Oldershaw, the designer of the GB.

JMP, thankyou so much for the information on the Pirate. There's no doubt that it has "The Look" and being a French design it would certainly stymie the field pundits.....

The wing area would make it a natural for the steel finned OS.19 I've got if I can keep the weight down to the lower or mid 20's.

I'd have to go with a one piece wing though. The considerable stress of DT landings would simply massacre the center section as shown.

Originally Posted by BMatthews

Oh yeah.... The Glory Bee was/is on the list of possibles as well. And you are very right that it's got the eye candy factor in spades.

I've pondered the GB for a while and I'd like to try the ammonia molding trick. I'd carve a plug out of balsa bulkheads for shaping and blue styro for fill and mold the balsa "planking" in quarter shells. This would reduce building time by a whole heap over strip planking.

Odd side note.... I flew here in the Northwest with a fellow named George Oldershaw. He was a cousin or some such relation to Vernon Oldershaw, the designer of the GB.

Is the construction of the Demon the same? It may have to be beefed up for R/C but it could give Freddie Mulholland's McCoy 60 powered Swayback a run for the money in R/C Nostalgia. Where was it published?

http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=506