AMA Plans Service Showcase - 2011/06

June 2011 47
AMA Plans Service Showcase
FRANK BEATTY admired the classic fullscale
air racer Chester Special and built a 16-
inch-wingspan balsa-and-tissue Comet kit of
the same name while in grade school. The
airplane (and the model) became a favorite
subject of his and he vowed to build a better
model someday.
Frank began his design by using threeviews
from J.H. Robinson (featured in the
1959 Aeromodeler) as his main reference.
Using Brodak Piper Cream and Forest Green
as the paint scheme, the model was 2½
inches:1 foot scale. Its wingspan reached 43
inches with a length of 38 inches, and the
model weighed in at 6.5 pounds. A Roberts
three-wire system was used to operate the
engine throttle.
Frank initially had issues with the model
being tail-heavy and pitch-sensitive, with the
engine running hot. His revisions included
cutting a 1½ x 2-inch nonscale opening in the
cowl bottom, adding weight to the nose to
correct the pitch sensitivity and modifying the
propeller.
Construction was broken down into
smaller components; the wing was assembled
first, then the stabilizers, elevators, and rudder,
followed by the undercarriage, cowling, and
fuselage. Sig Stix-It and Sig Koverall were
used to cover the bare wood before primer
coats. All finishes—thinner, primer, dope—
were from Brodak to avoid incompatible
products causing cracks or surface problems.
Frank painted and installed a 2½-inch
scale Williams Brothers pilot before closing
the canopy area. Final surface details were
added using a Top Flite MonoKote Panel Line
Pen, permanent Sharpie markers, silver Pilot
markers, black striping tape, and black pens.
The propeller was painted with aluminum
colored dope on the front side, and matte
black on the back.
After fixing the initial balance issues,
Frank reported that his “ … nice flying model
became a very nice flying model.”
The Chester Special was featured as a
construction article in the October 2003 MA as
AMA Plans Service listing 947. It consists of
three sheets and is available for $23 plus
shipping and handling. See page 171 or go to
www.modelaircraft.org/plans.aspx for
ordering information. MA
Chester
Special
Air Racing relived with
this CL Scale replica
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