Existing BCD designs
Build a BCD model using one of the designs from this site
All these plans have been scanned at 200dpi at A4 size, and will download as roughly 78k .gif files which will magically expand in your browser to about 3.6Mb. These will take a bit of time to print, and although you won't be able to build a model from them, you WILL be able to see what the model looks like, the degree of complexity, and the detail of the plan. One exception is the Hellcat, where in addition to a gif preview, fullsize plans are also available from this site. We think this is a world first on an aeromodelling site, but read the instructions carefully before you start.
Full size plans are available from Andy Housden at the address on the Carrier Home page.
BCD is a relatively young class and, so far, only one design has been published specifically for the class. This is the Grumman Hellcat which appears at the end of the following list. All other plans listed here were originally designed for Carrier classes earlier than, and different to, BCD. All of the models shown here, however, will perform well in BCD. Some of the models, purely by chance, conform to BCD's rules completely. These models can therefore be built exactly as per plan. The remaining designs will require some form of modification before they are 'BCD-legal', although the modifications required are usually trivial. To spell out exactly what modifications, if any, are required to make a design BCD-legal, full details have been included with each model in the list. All models are suitable for engines between .25 and .40 cu.in.
Dumas Crusader
This model was kitted by the US company Dumas, probably in the 70s. It has not been manufactured for some time, although unbuilt/boxed kits occasionally come to light on the secondhand collectors market. It conforms to BCD rules completely and can be built exactly as per plan. Although the anhedral wing uses a rather unusual construction (known as the 'Detroiter' method), the model is nevertheless robust and performs very well. As the tailplane is all-moving, it is very powerful and must not have too much movement: say about 200 either way. If the model proves to be very sensitive to control inputs, reduce this movement even further. Plan
Starjet
This model was originally published in the US magazine American Aircraft Modeler (date unknown) and subsequently appeared in the Aeromodeller Annual 1971/2. It has an extremely simple construction and very satisfactory performance. The Starjet conforms to BCD rules completely, but does not resemble any particular naval aircraft and is therefore not eligible for Rule 11's 10 scale bonus points. However, since this rule requires nothing more than scale-like appearance, only minor fuselage/fin profile modifications will be necessary to qualify for the points. The wing and tailplane shapes as shown on the plan need no alteration at all since they are a perfectly acceptable representation of a wide range of aircraft types. The fuselage shapes of suitable tricycle aircraft with straight mid-mounted wings tend to be restricted to mixed power, turboprops or early jets: try the British Fairey Gannet or Hawker Sea Hawk, or the US Douglas Skyknight, McDonnell Banshee, North American Trojan, Ryan Fireball or Rockwell Buckeye. The arrester hook dangles freely - this is OK, although it would be prudent to provide a limit stop so that the hook can be kept down by the elastic band in the position shown. Plan
Grumman Guardian
This model was published in the US magazine Model Builder in April 1976. It happens to be a very good BCD model, but the plan as shown does not conform to the rules because of the working rudder and outboard aileron, both of which are not permissible in BCD. It should, however, be quite straightforward to eliminate these two items. Ignore both mechanical linkages and simply glue the rudder at a permanent outboard angle of about 200 to improve low speed line tension and build the outboard wing's trailing edge in the same way as that of the inboard wing. The adjustable leadout guide is not illegal since it does not move in flight; it is a useful device for low speed trimming purposes and should be retained. Ignore the designation of a .35 cu.in. engine since this model was built for the US Profile Carrier class which has an engine size limit of .36 cu.in.; the model can easily cope with bigger engines. For a .40 size engine, the 2 oz. fuel tank is really too small, so fit something larger - say a 4 oz (ie: about 120cc) tank. Plan
Fairey Spearfish
This model was originally published in the US magazine Model Airplane News in November 1980. It performs very well as a BCD model, but the plan as shown does not conform to the rules because of the working flaps, outboard aileron and line sweep, none of which are permissible in BCD. It is, however, quite straightforward to eliminate these items. Ignore all three mechanical linkages and simply glue the flaps/aileron in place so that they are merely extensions to the trailing edge of the wing, and fit an ordinary 3-line leadout guide at about half way between the two extremes shown on the plan. A slightly more ambitious arrangement would actually retain all three devices, but without the activating mechanisms for any of them. Providing that the flaps and aileron can be somehow locked immovably during flight, they will be quite legal. Flap deflection can then be varied between flights to experiment with lift/drag improvements in slow flight, and aileron deflection can be used to improve low speed line tension. The line sweep can be converted into a useful adjustable leadout guide for low speed trimming purposes. Plan
Curtiss XF7C-3 Seahawk
This model was originally published in the US magazine Model Aviation in December 1992. This is the only biplane BCD model plan in existence and although construction is rather more involved than a normal BCD design by virtue of the extra wing, this gives it a sensible amount of wing area and it flies well. It conforms to BCD rules completely and can be built exactly as per plan.
Brodak kits
Chance Vought F4U Corsair
Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat
Douglas AD Skyraider
Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat Sheet 1, Sheet 2
These are US manufacturer Brodak's series of profile C/L Carrier models.
The 4 models in this series were released initially as kits, with production starting in 1995/6. They are the only commercial Carrier kits currently available in the world and are imported into the UK by distributors Irvine Engines Ltd. Modellers should be able to order them quite easily on request from their local model shops. Brodak is the largest C/L-only manufacturer in the world and in order to promote this part of aeromodelling has also made the plans for all these models available separately. The models are strong yet lightweight, and can perform extremely well if built properly.
All 4 models conform to BCD rules completely and can be built exactly as per plan, with the following possible exceptions. All the plans show scale hook lengths, whereas BCD permits hooks of up to 1/3 of fuselage length. The longer the hook, the easier it is to make a successful arrested landing, so all hooks can (and should) be increased to the full permissible value. The 3 single-engined models also all have wing-mounted undercarriages and whilst this type of design is perfectly acceptable for normal landings, it may be prudent to mount the under-carriage on the fuselage, at least initially, for additional strength whilst learning. Copy the mounting details shown on the Fairey Spearfish plan.Grumman Hellcat free plan
The Hellcat was designed by Andy Housden in 1996 in order to provide a free up-to-date BCD plan to accompany this information pack, and was subsequently published in Aeromodeller September 1998 (Issue 754), also as a free plan. It is a simple design that is very easy to build, docile enough for training, has sufficient robustness to cope with most situations and yet is still competitive enough for your first contests.
It is entirely possible to make minor alterations to the fuselage/fin profile which will, in conjunction with an appropriate colour scheme, completely change the appearance of the model. This new identity can be reinforced, where necessary, by slight changes to tailplane or wing tip shape. None of this will affect the performance at all, but this way a complete range of aircraft can be created around the same basic fuselage construction and the low mounted, straight tapered wing. The Hellcat can be easily changed to a Douglas Dauntless, Curtiss Helldiver, Blackburn Skua, Hawker Sea Hurricane (but don't make the nose too slim...), Fairey Fulmar (again, don't make the nose too slim), Fairey Firefly (a curve in the trailing edge will help here), Hawker Sea Fury (again, a curve in the trailing edge will help), Mitsubishi Zero, Nakajima Tenzan, Yokosuka Suisei or many others. Your choice!
Get this plan for the price of an A4 SAE from Andy Housden, download and view the A4 preview, or download the files here and get it printed out fullsize yourself.
After Andy Housden designed the model, John Marsh of Bilston produced the AutoCAD computer version which was published in Aeromodeller. He has kindly supplied the original files for you to download and use.
In the form of two dxf files of 95k and 150k respectively, any of you can download these plans. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OPEN THESE FILES IN YOUR BROWSER, YOU WILL NEED ADDITIONAL HELP. READ ON... We imagine that very few people have CAD programs or plotters, but if you download via your browser, and Save these files to a floppy, your local copy or repro shop can probably Open and Print them. Phone around and ask to ascertain their ability to handle this format. Failing that, anywhere that produces large technical printouts may well be open to bribery...(don't forget to add a soupcon of charm!)
If you are using Netscape, use the "Save Link as..." command in your browser, and then change from the default "Text" to "Source". If you Save As Text, it doesn't work, not even a bit. If you Save As Source, it works!
If you are using Internet Explorer, use the Save As HTML command. Plan1 Plan2
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