Scale Soaring Australia

Kookaburra

Written by George Buzuleac

George Buzuleac says hello and shows us his latest project. Over to you George.

Some time ago I drew up plans of the 1/5 scale Kookaburra for Airborne Magazine. Details and dimensions were taken from the full sized version. The plan was photocopied and enlarged @ 125% for the 1/4 scale Longwing version.

Additional and more accurate scale detailing was added to the plans after rechecking against full sized Longwing Kookaburra based at Bacchus Marsh gliding field.

This model was constructed using sheets of 0.4mm and 0.6mm plywood and balsa blocks supplied by Harry Schneider after closing down the glider factory in Gawler during the 1990's. The spruce strips were provided by Martin Simons.

Apart from the ribs there is very little balsa used on the model. Canopy was moulded in the kitchen oven. The project became complicated and challenging not only because of the sheer size of the model but skinning with plywood was something new to me. Some sections had to be redone or reinforced which made the construction long and drawn out.

The structure was examined by a large model inspector in case a Large model permit is required. The weight is expected to be borderline. He commented the he wished some powered models were built as strong as this. He said the Kookaburra could take a 50cc petrol motor and still stay together nicely.