Use a steel straightedge to guide fuselage cuts (above left). An unused telephone book works well as a cutting surface. Watch your fingers! Glue the patterns to the balsa (above right) with a “repositionable” glue stick. When cutting out parts, make several light cuts when crossing the grain. Flip the
pattern over and re-use for the opposite wing. Note how the wing (below left) will be cambered (curved). If you cut out the wing parts per plan, the little curves should fit together like this. Double glue! Formers will hold the camber (below right). Let dry before attaching at tips and center.
front (higher) end of the pylon creates the front of the wing.
Balancing and wing position: Hang a rubber motor on the fuselage as shown, bal- ancing level using your finger as a balance point. Mark the spot where your finger is. The wing and pylon assembly should be cen- tered over that point. Make sure the thicker end of the pylon is facing forward. Pre-flight: Hold your model out, close one eye, and sight to make sure you see no warps in the wings. If you do, you can heat the warped wing with a hair dryer or with tea kettle steam and twist in the opposite direc- tion of the warp. Hold it that way until it cools. Check again. It is crucial that you don’t try to fly with twisted wings! Keep at it until you get it right.
Put a drop of oil on the prop shaft. If you get to the field and have forgotten to do this, use the oil dipstick from a car.
Make up a few rubber motors of different sizes. Tie the ends with a square knot, chew- ing some saliva into it as you pull it tight.
Bind the loose ends together with thread if you want. Put the motors in a baggie with a little
silicone grease, ready-made rubber lube, or a 50-50 mixture of glycerin and green soap and squoosh ’em around until they are coated. Wipe off the excess lube with a paper towel.
Take your model(s) to the field in a box to prevent damage in transit, with your glue, balsa scraps, flight rubber, a winder, a bit of modeling clay in a separate box.
Flying the Poly-Wog Find a big field with no trees and deep grass on a day with no wind. (Okay, so I’m a dreamer.) If the breeze is coming from the north, fly from the north end of the field, otherwise use the center. You have no idea how far a well adjusted Poly-Wog will fly! Double-check for warps, and you are ready to wind. On the field, breathing heav- ily on a warp and twisting in the opposite di- rection sometimes works.
For winding, always grip the fuselage as
far forward as possible. Let’s not break it be- fore you get airborne!
Use a short motor if finger-winding, and start with a low number of turns until you see what the model wants to do in flight. If you are using a winder, have a helper hold the prop and the rubber on the prop shaft up front, with the tail well away from the line of winding. Stretch it out about three lengths and put in test winds. Hold the model with the nose about 30 de- grees above the horizon. Lightly launch it straight ahead into the light wind, if there is any.
Thanks for Moses Ortiz, ten and future President of the U.S., for building and flying his first model aeroplane (which flew beau- tifully); to Joel Reiman who, as a member of the Sepulveda Junior High Balsa Butchers built about ten of these in 1971 and flew in for the picture shoot; and to my lovely wife, Jeanie, without whose help, this article would still be sitting, uncorrected, on my dead computer.
Tail feathers. Rudder glues to side for straightness (above). Sand airfoils if you wish. Move your finger under the fuselage (at right) with all parts attached, including rubber loop. Mark the balance point.
FLYING MODELS 33
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