of dihedral in each wing panel. Be sure to
match the plywood root ribs with the fuselage sides and match drill the hold-down
screw holes through the root ribs in both
the wing and fuselage. Epoxy 6-32 blind
nuts in the wing root rib’s outboard side.
The four hold-down screws are inserted
and tightened through the side doors.
Cut the strut-attach-fittings from aluminum or brass and bolt them through
the front and rear spars. Leave the mounting holes just high enough above the finished surface to insert the strut bolt during
assembly at the field.
The wingtube fits into a Tn T fiberboard
tube, and I cut the wing tubeholes slightly
oversize and mounted the outer tube
through both wings and the fuselage center
section to ensure alignment. With the tube
in place, you can then glue the round balsa
or ply “washers” at each wing rib and epoxy
the tube in the center section between the
formers. Don’t forget to glue a plug in the
end of the fiberboard tubes in the wings.
The root ribs must be absolutely parallel to
ensure the leading edges are at 90 degrees
from the center line of the fuselage.
The ailerons and flaps are scale and use
simple epoxy board and plywood hinge
points located flush with the bottom surface about 25% aft of the leading edges.
When cutting the epoxy material, do not
use a saw; shears and sanding boards work
better. For scale appearances, the servos are
installed permanently. If replacement is
ever needed, you can cut the covering carefully and touch up the surface after repair.
Use two standard-size, high-strength servos
both the ailerons and flaps, and one for the
elevator, tailwheel, and rudder. I used inexpensive standard servos for throttle and
choke. It is important to keep the servo
A Modeler’s
Dream Come
True
In a way, my 1/5-scale
model of the Stinson Reliant
(N-14187) is a memorial to
Tom Laurie who spent 10
years restoring his vintage
1934-35 Stinson into a real
prize-winner. Tom was a
model builder who always
wanted a full-scale project
even though he didn’t
have a pilot’s license or an
A&P license. He never did get his pilot’s license, so
he had to have a rated pilot fly his spectacular restoration to Oshkosh for
the 1984 EAA convention where he won the Grand Champion-Antique award. ;e aircraft is still
located at the San Diego Aerospace Museum, near Gillespie Field Airport in El Cajon, CA, and is still
in airworthy condition.
;e Wylam 3-view drawings of the SR- 5 are incredibly helpful and closely match the full-scale
aircraft. Go to ModelAirplaneNews.com and search for “Peterka” for these free downloads.
linkages identical on each side, so control
throw is equal.
COVERING AND FINISHING
Use your choice of polyester cloth covering. I am very partial to Stits Lite covering
and paints from F&M Enterprises. Avoid
super shrinking the cloth because it can
warp the structure. The plans show the factory paint scheme and the exact position
for the aircraft registration numbers. The
colors in Stits Poly-Tone paint are Daytona
White (Cream), Pumpkin Orange, and Bermuda Tan (pin-striping). The wing struts
should be made functional.
FLYING THE STINSON
Being a simple, high-wing design, the
model is pretty easy to fly overall. Tail
draggers have their own idiosyncrasies and
practice always helps. The flaps are not as
effective as you might expect, but do help
tame landings. Crosswinds are best dealt
with by using wheel landings to help roll-
outs. A 16-ounce tank gives about 20 to 25
minutes of flight time. To make smooth,
coordinated turns, mix some aileron dif-
ferential in and slave in a few percent of
rudder as well.
Another ground view with the engine cowl, dummy engine, and prop in place.
Now this is what’s called scale detailing. It is impossible to tell the di;erence between the model and the full-size airplane!
