Author Topic: Martian Invader (Read 2928 times)

Richard Fleming · « **on:** November 30, 2009, 09:52:41 PM »

Here is my Martian Invader by Walt Musciano. Published in Mechanix Illustrated March 1956. Finished in Aero Gloss dope and Cover Lite covering. Powered by a well worn Cox Black Widow. Neat airplane to scratch build. Flies good for a UFO with a green martian.

Robert McHam · « **Reply #1 on:** November 30, 2009, 10:12:14 PM »

Kudos and hip hip hooray! I love it!
Thanks for sharing it.

Robert

Larry Renger · « **Reply #2 on:** November 30, 2009, 10:54:16 PM »

Neat concept, but boy, that thing is small. Must go like a bat out of

Great project!

GGeezer · « **Reply #3 on:** November 30, 2009, 11:50:48 PM »

Hi Richard,
Up until now, I thought I was the only one who ever built the Martian Invader. I built one when I was a kid from plans I ordered from Mechanix Illustrated and powered it with an OK Cub .049A. It was a pretty good stunt ship even with the Cub. In fact, this is the first model I built when I again got into the hobby about 15 years ago having just scored a new .049A for 3 bucks from a swap table at the Toledo R/C show. Believe it or not, I still had those full size plans. Totally inspired by nostagia, I tried to recreate my original ship as close as my memory allowed and it flies pretty snappy with the $3.00 Cub but really performs with the Black Widow I now have in it.
In fact, if any of you folks out there would like to join the elite

Invader Club, you can find the article and plans here:
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/03/25/martian-invader/?Qwd=./MechanixIllustrated/3-1956/martian_invader&Qif=martian_invader_0.jpg&Qiv=thumbs&Qis=XL#qdig

Bill Barber · « **Reply #4 on:** December 01, 2009, 08:22:31 AM »

If I built one I would paint it lime green !
Bill Barber

Richard Fleming · « **Reply #5 on:** December 01, 2009, 08:18:10 PM »

Hello GGeezer, Outstanding job on the Invader, I like the colors! Walt designed some great flying 1/2A planes and this one is right out of Area 51.

Richard

GGeezer · « **Reply #6 on:** December 01, 2009, 11:43:05 PM »

Thanks for the kind words Richard, the magazine just had B&W photos but the article's list of materials indicated that Walt's main color was yellow with red and blue trim so I just used my imagination.
To answer Larry's comment about the speed. Mine doesn't fly any faster than my Walker Firebaby. There is a lot of wing area (120 sq.-in.) and it has a thick airfoil.

Orv.

Dalton Hammett · « **Reply #7 on:** December 03, 2009, 01:11:23 PM »

Neat plane and a fantastic paint job !!!!

Dalton H.

david beazley · « **Reply #8 on:** December 04, 2009, 07:05:15 AM »

Any chance to get a copy of the plans?

Michael Boucher · « **Reply #9 on:** December 08, 2009, 06:01:02 AM »

Great job on both models, thanks for posting. I always wondered if anyone made one of theses, other than Walter.

Douglas Ames · « **Reply #10 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:13:16 PM »

Wht are you using for Canopies? The circa `56 plan lists a long obsolete part.
Neat model, looks like it can be easliy converted to beam mount.

GGeezer · « **Reply #11 on:** December 22, 2009, 12:16:14 PM »

Doug,

I used standard universal canopies made by SIG. Their current canopies look a little different but their smallest should work. The number is SIGCS 004.
Beam mounts could easily be engineered into the model.

Orv.

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #12 on:** December 22, 2009, 12:53:05 PM »

What's the diameter of that thing?

Are there plans out there?

Clancy Arnold · « **Reply #13 on:** December 22, 2009, 05:18:59 PM »

Tim
I downloaded the drawings. Scaled them using the 3/8 inch squares in the corner and got numbers from 11.6 In. Dia. (105.7 Sq In) to 12.6 (124.7 Sq In) In Dia. I would think that 12 inch diameter would be a good guess as that figures out to be 113 Sq. In area. The stated 120 Sq. In Area figures out to a 12.36 In Dia.

Wonder how a 24 In. Dia. (452 Sq. In.) powered by a good .25 would perform???

Clancy

Robert McHam · « **Reply #14 on:** December 22, 2009, 06:18:48 PM »

"Wonder how a 24 In. Dia. (452 Sq. In.) powered by a good .25 would perform???"

I think a .15 might be better but regardless that would be wicked cool!
Imagine the pilot/navigator possibilities! Han Solo and Chewbacca, Elmer and Daffy, Mario and Luigi, or better yet Calvin and Hobbs!! Calvin as Space man Spiff of course.

Robert

Richard Fleming · « **Reply #15 on:** December 22, 2009, 08:59:47 PM »

Quote from: Douglas Ames on December 21, 2009, 05:13:16 PM

Wht are you using for Canopies? The circa `56 plan lists a long obsolete part.
Neat model, looks like it can be easliy converted to beam mount.

Hello Doug, I also used the SIG canopies. I ordered them through Brodak part# CS-005. If I ever build another one, I will use the optional tank in the fuse as shown on the plans. I copied the plans from an article in PAMPA and blew up the plans at Kinkos. I used regular off the shelf balsa and it still flies well.

ray copeland · « **Reply #16 on:** December 23, 2009, 07:52:16 AM »

Richard, the orange plane in the picture is a Martian Invader i bought from e-bay a couple years ago, i have no idea who the builder is. It is silkspan and has a tank in the fuse, the original owner had cut off the hoses flush with the sides. I mounted a Cox put together from parts and only flew it once, marginal engine run but seemed to fly okay. I decided to just put it on display in my hobby room, the kids love it as it has a cool looking martian for a pilot!!

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #17 on:** December 23, 2009, 09:13:29 AM »

Quote from: ray copeland on December 23, 2009, 07:52:16 AM

Richard, the orange plane in the picture is a Martian Invader i bought from e-bay a couple years ago, i have no idea who the builder is. It is silkspan and has a tank in the fuse, the original owner had cut off the hoses flush with the sides. I mounted a Cox put together from parts and only flew it once, marginal engine run but seemed to fly okay. I decided to just put it on display in my hobby room, the kids love it as it has a cool looking martian for a pilot!!

The one just above and to the right of the Martian Invader certainly looks interesting -- how does it fly?

I found the plans on the net (Google -- what a concept!), and boy does the elevator look small! I see that yours has a much-enlarged elevator -- I think if I build one I'll do the same thing, only by moving the hinge line forward.

ray copeland · « **Reply #18 on:** December 23, 2009, 12:30:53 PM »

Tim, that little diesel black widow has trouble keeping the outboard wing from dragging the ground!!

Richard Fleming · « **Reply #19 on:** December 24, 2009, 04:46:36 PM »

Hello Ray, I like the orange. You shouldn't have any problem seeing that in the sky! I hope I can locate my plans and templates for the Martian Invader. If I do, I will post them here. Great to see other folks who like the M.I.

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #20 on:** December 29, 2009, 10:54:02 AM »

Quote from: Richard Fleming on December 24, 2009, 04:46:36 PM

Hello Ray, I like the orange. You shouldn't have any problem seeing that in the sky! I hope I can locate my plans and templates for the Martian Invader. If I do, I will post them here. Great to see other folks who like the M.I.

Search on "Martian Invader" on the web and you'll find a reprint of the original article. There's a whole bunch of "DIY" reprints; that is one of the most down-to-earth ones, although I thought the radio in a beer barrel was kind of cute.

Does the thing stunt with a Cox reed valve engine, or does it just go up and down?

GGeezer · « **Reply #21 on:** December 29, 2009, 12:46:07 PM »

Although I have the original full size plans, I am reluctant to copy them because Walt is still alive and may be selling them. But the original magazine article is on the internet so I will give you folks some hints as to how to get usable full size plans.
1. Go to the link I published in my Reply #3 at the beginning of this thread.
2. Click on the thumbnail plan page you want. This will bring up a larger image of the page.
3. Click on this image and a larger version will appear. If you put your cursor over the latest image, it will turn into a magnifying glass with a + sign.
4. Click on the image and you will get a large-size jpeg of the page.
5. Right click on the image and save it to your disc, CD, or Flash Drive.
6. Take the Flash Drive or CD to a copy company that can do large copies.
7. A full-size copy made from the large-size jpeg will give you a saucer diameter of 16.5". The actual saucer diameter on the original plans is 12-1/8".
8. Have the copy company reduce the size of the jpeg to 73.5%. The image should now copy out to the original full size plans.

Good luck..... Orv.

GGeezer · « **Reply #22 on:** December 29, 2009, 01:19:42 PM »

I stand corrected on my earlier estimate of 120 sq. in. as the disc area. The original full-size plans show a saucer diameter of 12-1/8". This gives a disc area of 115.5 sq. in.

Robert, if you look at my Invader photos, you will indeed see that "Spaceman Spiff" and his trusty sidekick Hobbs are at the controls of this menacing space machine, seemingly having abandoned their usual cardboard box!

Tim. Does she stunt? You bet

; but build the model with the optional large-size elevator shown on the plans.
The only fault with the design is if you use a tank-mounted engine, the model will come out naturally nose heavy. I had to put quite a bit of lead weight in the tail to get the model to balance as shown on the plans. But once there, the OK Cub will pull it through loops, lazy eights etc. I have recently installed a Cox Black Widow and the one flight I had on it indicates that it should be able to do most stunts.

If I built another one for a tank-mounted engine, I would move the firewall back by the tank dimension. This would give a better balance without the added weight in the tail; should even fly better.

Another caution: I had mine catch a gust and free-flight over my head

to the other side of the circle. I had added some weight to the outboard of the disc but without rudder or engine offset, she may want to come in on you at times. I mostly cured this by putting in about 2 degrees of engine offset; 3 might even be better.

Orv.

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #23 on:** December 29, 2009, 01:34:51 PM »

Thanks Orv. That's a real help.

I had already decided to use a larger elevator. I missed the one on the plans, but I'll sure go back and look harder.

Unless it's a scale subject I usually try to do a weight-and-balance check before I finalize the engine position, and fix anything that's grossly wrong by moving the engine. I feel this is worth it, even if it means shortening or (eww ick) lengthening the nose. For this plane I'd even notch the leading edge, if that's what it takes.

I was thinking of matching the top fins with bottom fins and just using one wheel for less drag and less weight up front. With your comments I'll probably think about a bit of rudder, too, or just discretely angling the fins. Or finding some fortuitously warped wood...