The Clark Y Airfoil is Ideal for RC Model Aircraft

Complete instructions on how to plot out a Clark Y airfoil Outline of a Clark Y airfoil

Clark Y is the name of an airfoil that is widely used in aircraft design. With its predictable and gentle stall characteristics and flat bottom outline, the Clark Y airfoil is an ideal choice for sport RC model aircraft. I have used the Clark Y airfoil for all my model airplane designs, from the Electro Aviator to the Finch.

See later on in this article for complete instructions on how to plot out a Clark Y airfoil from tabulated ordinates. Drawing up your own airfoil shape is very easy to do. You can use the tabulated ordinate method to draw a Clark Y airfoil by hand, or use TurboCAD for the drafting task. You can then use TurboCAD to draw additional versions of the finished Clark Y wing rib shape for any length wing rib your model aircraft design requires.

 

Table 1: Ordinates to draw a Clark Y airfoil. All figures are a percentage of rib chord (top line), with percentage of chord upper and lower airfoil points on next two lines

Chickadee Fuselade Plan Side View,

Tips On Trimming and Flying a Catapult Glider

Now that there are two new indoor catapult glider classes, and there is still an outdoor catapult class, you guys can't use the excuse that your arm isn't any good anymore! Now all you need to do is pick up your old broken Wakefield, or Bostonian motors, and make a little loop for your catapult (1/4" dowel works nicely) and tie it on, pick up your glider, pull back, and let go! No more running twenty-five yards, lunging and throwing your arm out of its socket all day long, then complaining you're not getting any height. No, now all you need to do is add another loop of 1/4" tan II and let fly!

Keep in mind, many of these tips will also apply directly to a hand launch glider, in fact that's where many of them came from. So if there are any other brave souls that have caught the age old, highly contagious, HLG disease, keep your ears open.