The 1909 Antoinette Monoplane - RC Model Candidate
Airplanes worth modeling – the Antoinette monoplane
The Antoinette would make a great RC model airplane
The Antoinette monoplane, introduced in 1908, was distinctive antique airplane when compared to the boxy biplanes common for that era. The Antoinette IV showed advanced aerodynamic features, a slim fuselage, and a mono wing arrangement with ailerons. Wing warping replaced the ineffective ailerons on later Antoinette models.
Antoinette dimensions
The Antoinette, with its distinctive landing gear and front mounted engine, combined with the attractive design detail of the engine, cockpit and tail surfaces would make an ideal scale indoor radio control model aircraft.
Antoinette top and side views
When selecting an aircraft to model, it is useful to ensure there is a long enough nose moment (distance between wing leading edge and the propeller) to achieve the proper center of gravity. There is no need to worry about the nose length for the Antoinette – it is ideal for an RC model. The length of the tail section is important for stable flight characteristics. Again, the Antoinette monoplane meets this requirement easily.
I would recommend that anyone drawing up a set of scale RC model plans for the Antoinette increase the surface area of both the horizontal stabilizer and vertical fin as I recommend for a model of the Fokker Eindecker. Early aircraft engineers had a rudimentary knowledge of aerodynamics, and tail surfaces were often too small. You will also need to increase the size of the rudder and elevator for a successful RC model. In just about all cases the casual observer cannot tell that these minor alterations from the full size aircraft’s outline have been incorporated into your model.
Antoinette wing and airfoil
The Antoinette’s wings appear to be a perfect size for a scale RC model. I see no need to make the wings either longer in span or with a wider chord. You can use whatever airfoil you desire for your model. Again, the early airplane designers were still experimenting with the optimum airfoil shape. There is no need to try and make an exact replica of these early attempts at wing design for your RC model. The Clark Y is always a good start for an airfoil shape on any model airplane design.
An Antoinette model will fly slowly, per the original, so ensure you have adequate positive wing incidence to allow a lightweight model with a large wing area to perform well. Note that many of the aircraft built during the first decade of flight had a relatively large amount of positive wing dihedral to fly properly with the low power engines of the day.
Appealing modeling detail in Antoinette nose section
Narrow fuselage and plan design
One aspect of the Antoinette monoplane that will be a challenge for creating an RC model is the fuselage’s narrow width. You will want to ensure that there is adequate room in the fuselage for your radio equipment and flight battery. Based on the size of your model and radio gear, this is all part of the design process. You may have to deviate from scale a bit and widen the fuselage. The ParkZone micro RC electronics would ideal for this project.
Antoinette's distinctive side control wheel
Fitting radio gear is a great example of how CAD drawing skills can come into play with aircraft plan design and layout. It is standard practice to prepare a library of CAD drawings of various components of your RC models. I make sketches of the engine, servo, and receiver hardware. All of these renderings are at “full size” within the TurboCAD program. In other words, TurboCAD “knows” that the model’s electric motor is 2 inches in height. When the Antoinette’s nose section is drawn in the plan, it is a very simple matter to copy in the motor illustration and match it to the aircraft’s front end to ensure the firewall is of adequate size. Small alterations are easily made on the TurboCAD drawing such that the finished model will accommodate all hardware items.
Antoinette's distinctive motor and propeller
Ideal dimensions
Other than the width of the fuselage, the Antoinette’s remaining dimensions are ideal for a scale RC model of this historic aircraft. You can take advantage of the wing warping to use only three channels of control (rudder, elevator and throttle). The full scale Antoinette had plenty of wing dihedral for stable flight. The nose is long enough to easily balance at the center of gravity. Be sure to make the tail surfaces a bit larger than those on the original aircraft, and allow for plenty of control throw for positive flight maneuvers at slow airspeeds.
There is much visually interesting detail with the exposed engine and unique cockpit that can be adapted to make for an appealing scale model RC plan. The Antoinette monoplane is an attractive and well flying aircraft that is certainly worth modeling. Try one for yourself today!