Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / November 2006

I was talking about my Nosen Trainer in another thread, and it got me to
thinking again about building a plane with 3 or 4 engines.  I had a
Telemaster a few years back with a Saito 65, which could be removed and
replaced with an OS 20 FP.  I built two engine nacelles that went on the
wings to make it a triple 20 FP airplane, and the best part was that I
could switch back and forth in about 15 minutes.  It flew very well and
the power from either configuration was about the same and was perfect
for the plane.

My Nosen Trainer had a similar arrangement.  It had a 91 Surpass in the
nose, and a cover plate that would cover the hole in the cowl when the
engine was removed.  I built four nacelles with OS 26 four-strokes that
were linked together with some very nifty throttle linkage.  The
nacelles were balanced so that changing engines would not affect the
center of gravity, and they had overlapping propellers that looked very
cool.  The sound of all four engines was incredible.  I'd like to build
another plane with a this engine configuration.  Here are some photos
that I took back in the good old days when digital cameras took really
crappy pictures:

http://www.kcnet.com/~robbie/nosentrainer.jpg
http://www.kcnet.com/~robbie/nosentrainer2.jpg
http://www.kcnet.com/~robbie/nosentrainer3.jpg

The only problem is that either configuration was just too much engine
for that plane.  I wanted a plane that was light and easy to handle, but
the Nosen Trainer was too much of that.  With the four engines running,
it would taxi at almost take-off speed, and it didn't want to land at
all.  I ended up selling it to keep from wrecking it.

I've been thinking that I need to build another plane with four engines,
preferably OS 26 four stroke because I still have all four of those
engines.  I want something with a bit more drag.  I was thinking about
scaling up a set of Great Planes Big Stik 60 plans because of its thick
symmetrical airfol.  Any other ideas?  I'm almost finished with a Lazy
Ace, and now I'm thinking that it would have been perfect for four OS
26s, but that probably would look funny and it would be way too much
building for one plane.  It already has wire struts and two sets of
wings....

The reason I made the nacelles so low on the Nosen was to get the
ailerons out of the prop wash.  This was a bit of an issue with the
Telemaster, which had the nacelles right on the bottom of the wings.  So
a Big Stik may present a problem because of low ground clearance.  Maybe
a Big Stik with the cabin stretched upwards to look like a high-winger?
Anybody else ever take on a project like this?  I have a lot of raw
balsa wood to use, and I don't want to modify an existing airplane.  Any
ideas?