world models Super Chipmunk, The

Model Airplane News, May 2002 by Onorato, Jim

Almost-ready-to-fly aerobat with striking appeal

The Super Chipmunk is one of my favorite airplanes. Over the years, I have built and flown four of them. The World Models Mfg. Co. Ltd.'s Super Chipmunk was my first almost-ready-to-fly version, and I couldn't wait to compare it with my previous efforts. The World Models produces a great many well-made, almost-ready-- to-fly airplanes that are distributed exclusively by AirBorne Models. This one, decorated in the red, white and blue color scheme of the late Art Scholl's Chipmunk, is one of the most colorful.

FLIGHT PERFORMANCE

The Chipmunk's first flights took place on a sunny fall day with a moderate wind. I used the recommended throws for high rate, and I set the low rates at 60 percent. I set the rate at low for the initial flight and took off from a freshly cut grass runway.

TAKEOFF AND LANDING

Because of the Chipmunk's small wheels, I was concerned that it might nose over on the grass runway, so I held in some up-elevator and throttled up quickly. It didn't have a chance to nose over; the plane leapt into the air almost immediately! The Magnum .91 showed its muscle. Subsequent take-- offs were pretty routine. The plane tracked beautifully without any need for right rudder. As the tail came up, I released the up-- elevator and continued to advance the throttle until flying speed was attained. Just a touch of up-elevator was all that was needed to get the Chipmunk to lift smoothly into the air.

The Chipmunk settles in nicely for landings, and this makes them a real pleasure. I set up a long approach and throttled down to establish the rate of descent while using a slight amount of up-elevator to bleed off some air-- speed. I didn't notice any appreciable decrease in airspeed when the flaps were down, but I did notice an increase in stability.

LOW-SPEED PERFORMANCE

The Chipmunk flew well at slow speeds and maintained its responsiveness to the controls. Stalls were fairly gentle but not straight ahead. Recovery was always smooth and easy; however, because of the Chipmunk's inherent aerobatic capabilities, I don't recommend flying it too slow.

HIGH-SPEED PERFORMANCE

The Magnum .91 is a lot of power for the Chipmunk; it really hauls the plane around-especially with the wheels up. I don't know whether the full-scale Chipmunk ever had retracts, but they sure do "clean up" the model. I did not experience any bad tendencies with the Chipmunk at full throttle. It grooved very well at high speed.

AEROBATICS

This is what I was waiting for! The Chipmunk was designed for aerobatics, and I couldn't wait to see what it could do. I was not disappointed! It performed high-speed loops without rolling out or losing heading, and Its high-speed rolls were perfectly axial. With aileron throw at high rate, the rolls were so quick that I wouldn't have had time for elevator correction even if it had been needed. It did nice, slow rolls, but elevator and rudder coordination was required. Snap rolls were very crisp. Inverted flight required only a little down-elevator to maintain altitude. Sustained knife-- edge was a breeze, as were outside knife-edge circles.

Overall, I would say that the Super Chipmunk has excellent flight performance with no bad tendencies. This one is a real winner!

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

This plane comes with everything you'll need to get flying except the radio, engine, fuel tubing and propeller. Even a pilot figure is included!

As I examined the contents of the box, I was impressed by the excellent quality of materials and workmanship that went into this model. It is constructed mainly of balsa with a fully sheeted fuselage covered with iron-on film. There were a few wrinkles in the covering, but these were easily removed with a heat gun. The one-- piece cowl is made of fiberglass and has been painted to match the covering. The paint job on the cowl was good, but the color was a little off.

The wing is built up of balsa and partially sheeted. Flaps, ailerons and retracts come already installed. The stab and fin are pre-assembled balsa frames, while the elevator and rudder are solid 1/4-inch sheet balsa. All are expertly covered. All control surfaces have been hinged with almost no gaps. A transparent dummy cowl, fuel tank, pre-installed retracts, foam tires, tail-- wheel, engine mount, spinner, pushrods, molded canopy, pilot, decals and a complete hardware package (with metric nuts and bolts) round out the package.

An 11-page instruction booklet guides you through assembly, so you won't need a full-size plan. The 26 assembly steps are depicted by a lot of drawings and symbols but very few words.

WING ASSEMBLY

Before I started the assembly, I removed one retract to ensure that the mounting plate was adequately reinforced. Noting that it was well braced, I proceeded with the wing. The wing comes in halves and requires two servos for the ailerons. The Chipmunk comes with two balsa blocks to mount the servos, but because balsa tends to be too soft to securely hold the servos in place, I replaced the balsa blocks with hardwood. I attached two wooden blocks to the servo covers and then attached the entire assembly to the wing with four small wood screws. I used Futaba S3003 servos for the ailerons. I then attached the aileron servo horns to the ailerons with the hardware provided. A piece of monofilament is factory installed in each wing half so the servo leads can be easily routed through the wing ribs to the center. Nice touch!