Over on the CEF, we’d been rehashing the old debate about practical mounting for the Testors pipe bomb engines. I made my own mount using scrap 3/32” ply and spruce. The thread is here:
http://www.coxengineforum.com/t8062-fun-with-generic-non-threatening-titleTo test the engine mount, I needed a plane to test fly it in. Since the little Testors engine pod I’d come up with wouldn’t fit any on hand plane I already had, I needed a new plane. But, since this is just an experiment and a curiosity, I did not need a plane that needed to last a long time, nor one with much money and time invested. Just something to test out the engine mount. The obvious thing would to be to make a coroplast plane. And the easiest plane for that would be the coroplast PT-19 replica . That Keith Morgan, what an actor…
So I whipped up a quick fuselage with some on hand coroplast. It’s basically Keith’s design, but I made a couple of changes. The front firewall is replaced by the engine crutch, and I didn’t bother with the rear former. It’s sturdy enough as it is. I used different tail surfaces to save time and effort. Instead of a stabilator, I made a stab/elevator with a slotted hinge. I just cut a slot in the fuse and slid it in, then glued it in place. It’s actually easy to build a straighter plane this way. If your wing saddle follows the flutes, and the stab follows the flutes, you’re guaranteed to have 0 degrees incidence on both. I didn’t make a new wing, I just took one from one of the previous coroplast PT-19’s I built.
It’s not pretty, and I didn’t bother with any trim, but it’s functional. It is what it is. It is the
Pipe Bomb Special.
Mark