CLAYTON STEPHENS designed the
Akro in the late 1960s, to challenge the
Pitts aircraft in competition flying. His
airplane did well, and Leo Loudenslager,
its pilot, later modified it into what would
become known as the “Laser.”
The Akro is often overlooked as a
modeling subject. At the time that Dick
Sarpolus’s set of plans was printed, only
one other RC design of this full-scale
airplane had been published.
The 90-inch-wingspan Stephens Akro
uses conventional construction, with a
balsa-and-plywood fuselage, foam-core
wing and tail surfaces, and wing tube. The
model was powered by an Air Hobbies
Sachs 3.2 engine and weighed 19.75
pounds, with a wing area of slightly more
than 1,300 square inches.
Dick noted that the Akro was great for
sport-flying but excelled in aerobatics
such as lomcevaks, tailslides, humpty
bumps, and snaps. Pilots who are looking
for a Giant Scale project that is both easy
to build and fly should consider this
design.
The Stephens Akro was featured in a
construction article in the November 1996
MA. Members can access the magazine’s
digital archives on the Academy’s Web
site to read more about it.
The model’s AMA Plans Service
listing is 822E, available for $30 plus
shipping and handling. See page 175 or go
to www.modelaircraft.org/plans.aspx for
ordering information. M
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/09
Page Numbers: 139
