Lanier RC Citabria

Model Airplane News, Mar 2003 by Post, Roger Sr

Sport-scale aerobatic ARF

As a classic-aircraft buff, I've always enjoyed the look of the Aeronca Model 7AC Champion and the various Model 7 airframes that have been developed from it through the years. The Champion Bellanca Citahria Standard-a beefed-Lip aerobatic version of the Model 7ECA airframe-has always particularly enticed me. Now, my favorite aerobatic airplane comes in an almost-ready-to-fty, .40 version from Lanier RC.

The Lanier Citabria is a nice-looking. stand-off-scale model, and its overall quality is as great as its looks. Constructed mainly of balsa, the Citabria comes almost completely built and covered and with most of what you need to get it into the air. Simply add a 4-channel radio, a powerplant and a few incidentals. and the Citabria is ready for some high-flying fun.

FLIGHT PERFORMANCE

After I double-checked the balance point and made sure that the control surfaces were moving in the proper direction, I fired up the O.S. .52 and tuned it for flight. The Citabria taxis easily on a smooth field with short grass. On rough fields or in tall grass, it's best to remove the wheel pants.

TAKEOFF AND LANDING

The Citabria has very docile takeoff and landing characteristics. The O.S. .52 has more than enough power to pull the plane into the sky. After about a 50-foot ground roll. gently pull the stick back to rotate tlw model. Slight right rudder is required to keep the track straight, As is typical with most tail-draggers, the tail lifts up during the takeoff roll.

To land the Citabria, set up the standard downwind base leg to final pattern while gradually reducing the throttle. I had to keep adding up-trim with each power reduction to maintain a comfortable glideslope angle. When the model settles onto the final approach, bring the throttle to idle, and flare it a few inches above the runway. This aerobatic aircraft lands like a trainer.

LOW-SPEED PERFORMANCE

The Citabria performs extremely well at low speeds. As you bring the power back, add in some up-trim. When the model achieves the desired speed (it will have a positive angle of attack at this point). you can fly it around until the fuel runs out. The controls maintain authority right up and through the low-- speed stall. I've also noticed that the left wing tends to drop slightly at the onset of the stall.

HIGH-SPEED PERFORMANCE

Although it is out of character for this type of plane, the Citabria can move through the air quite quickly with the throttle set to full speed. A high-- speed stall is nonexistent because the model just keeps climbing. The controls are very responsive at high speeds: you might even want to tone them down with dual rates.

AEROBATICS

This is where the Citabria excels. It will roll, spin and loop with great precision. By adding ailerons as the model enters a spin, the spin becomes incredibly tight with a quick rotation. When you release the sticks, it takes about 1/4 turn before the spin stops. With slight down-elevator, the Citabria easily performs inverted flight. As does its full-size counterpart, the Citabria's rudder needs to be coordinated with its ailerons to enter and come out of turns.

The generous rudder area and its amount of deflection allow the Citabria to snap rapidly-both inside and outside. The large rudder area also allows the Citabria to perform beautiful knife-edge runs across the sky. A little up-elevator and opposite aileron keep the model in true knife-- edge flight.

ASSEMBLY

First, read the manual entirely and become familiar with the various parts of your model.

Wing. Begin with the wing. Following the instructions, I started by joining the wing halves. Because the recommended 5-minute epoxy sets quickly, make sure that the panels are perfectly aligned when you join them. Then install the 1/8-inch plywood wing-bolt doubler, and drill the bolt holes.

The ailerons come hinged, but they must be secured with CA. To complete the wing, install the aileron servos and control horns and then attach the aileron pushrods. You'll install the four wing-strut attachments later.

Fuselage. Assembly of the fuselage starts with the engine installation. Attach the engine to the supplied mount as described in the manual, and be sure to leave 4 inches between the firewall and the spinner's backplate. Then just mark and drill the holes for the throttle guide (a Dremel tool comes in handy here), and install the throttle linkage as directed.

Next, I mounted the wing-strut brackets where appropriate on the fuselage, attached the wing and placed the wing struts on their fuselage brackets. To ensure that everything could be easily replaced in the event of breakage, I used 8-32 plastic bolts and T-nuts instead of the supplied wing-mounting bolts and blind nuts.

I next mounted the four wing-strut-attachment brackets to the underside of the wing at the marked locations, added the plastic devises and connected the struts. (The supplied plastic devises later broke in flight, so I replaced them with stronger, metal clevises.) The clevises' lengths can be adjusted as needed to ensure that the struts don't pull or twist the wing when they're attached.