Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a RC Model Plan

Designed by Duncan Hutson, this large four-sheet plan builds into a near 1:4 scale 73” (1860mm) wingspan RC model of the famous S.E.5a WWI fighter. This is a big and complex model that will be a long-term project and certainly not for beginners. As well as conventional aeromodelling, some basic metalworking skills will be required, but those who complete it will own a world-class model. The progress of aircraft technology during WWI was so fast that a new design could appear, achieve huge success and then be obsolete a few months later as it was superseded by something better. In 1917 the RFC were suffering heavy casualties until the arrival of the S.E.5a and, a little later, the Sopwith Camel. Between them they imposed air superiority over the German Air Force which was to last to the end of the war. Unlike the Camel, the S.E.5a was inherently stable and much easier to fly. Leaving aside the quaint romanticism of ‘duelling in the sky’, a fighter pilot’s best chance of survival was (and still is) to sneak up behind his opponent, shoot him in the back then run away. In this regard the S.E.5a was considered an excellent machine - a steady gun platform, quite manoeuvrable and one of the fastest aircraft of the war, enabling pilots to mount a fast attack then get out quickly if need be. It was the mount of many of the allied ‘aces’ including Bishop, Mannock, McCudden and Ball. The model is of conventional wood construction, with some metalwork needed to attach the wing struts...