COVER STORY . ..

(Dick Stouffer Photo)

By Fred G. Sindlinger (EAA 3000) Shades of the Battle of Britain! All that is lacking are
soot streaks down the wings to indicate the cannons
5923 - 9th Street, N.W. were fired in anger. Fred Sindlinger returns from a
Puyallup, Washington 98371 "mission" during the Oshkosh Fly-In.

This is equivalent to 4.4 G's at 1350 Ibs. gross weight

J. HIS HOMEBUILT AIRCRAFT is a % scale with the front spar carrying 82% of the total load. To
replica of the Hawker "Hurricane" IIC which was make it easier to static balance the movable control
built from initial drawings to completed airplane over surfaces they are covered with fabric only. Included in
a period of three years. This particular design was the center section of the wing are two fuel tanks of 7
picked because it scaled down in almost every detail. gals. each. These are filled from the main tank and fed
The cockpit area is 4 inches out of scale in both width to the engine direct. Also the VOR navigation antenna
and height. is enclosed in the right wing panel.
The construction is entirely of wood except for the The fuselage is monocoque construction from the
engine mount, landing gear and retract mechanism, firewall to aft of the cockpit area built up from Vs inch
and those fittings required to bolt assemblies together. plywood. From the cockpit to the tail post is a built-up
The wing and tail assemblies are of two spar construc- box truss frame with formers and stringers over the
tion with built-up truss ribs and covered with 3/32 truss to give the rear of the fuselage the desired shape
inch plywood and fabric covered. The airfoil section is and appearance of the original airplane. Ahead of the
2418 in the center section with constant change to instrument panel is located the main fuel tank of 14 gal-
2412 at the outboard full rib. This gave the airfoil scale lons capacity. Located behind the cockpit seat is the bag-
thickness and plenty of room for the landing gear. gage area and behind that is a 35 amp battery. Also
The front spar is of I-beam construction in the center located in the fuselage is a 90 channel VHF antenna
section of the wing and box section in the outer panels. and its associated ground plane.
I-beam center section rear spar and U-channel in the The landing gear is made up entirely from stock 4130
outer panels. Tail spars are all U-channel design and steel tubing utilizing an internal coil spring for the shock
built-up laminated leading edges for the second spar. strut. Installed on the axles are Rosenhan 500 x 5 wheel
When the wing was about 90% completed it was then and brake assemblies. The gear hangers are cut from
sandbagged along the front spar with 4870 Ibs. of sand. (Continued on Next Page)
SPORT AVIATION 9
 (Fred Sindlinger Photo) (Fred Sindlinger Photo)
Wing structure — just before top Rear spar attach point and flap torque tube.
skin of 3/32 plywood was applied.

(Fred Sindlinger Photo) (Dick Stouffer Photo)

Internal tailwheel assembly and elevator A pilot's view of the "Hurricane" — a
horn with a pushrod to the elevator, itself. "semi-IFR" panel, according to the builder.

(Fred Sindlinger Photo)

Sindlinger's gluing form for laminating (Fred Sindlinger Photo)
fuselage formers from 3/32 spruce strips. Center section of wing showing gear and fuel tanks.
10 DECEMBER 1972
 (Kevin Stouffer Photo)
Builder Sindlinger is responsible for almost everything
you see except the engine, prop, wheels and tires. He
made up the landing gear legs, cowling and the
canopy/windshield setup. The "radiator" is fiber-glass
— and false, of course.

over the engine. I covered the engine with plastic

sheet and then expanded wire mesh to form a base and
a layer to hold the plaster. After sanding and filing it to
shape I then split the mold both top and bottom and re-
moved it from the engine. It was then set up on saw
horses with the firewall end down to make it easier to
apply the fiber-glass cloth over the mold. The radiator
(Fred Sindlinger Photo)
scoop was made up by this same method.
Bring on the dope and fabricl The sliding part of the canopy is a fiat sheet of
plexiglass drape formed over a mold made up from ply-
wood and covered with a flannel sheet. The forward
windshield was not so easy, however. I first made a mold
of the forward windshield out of plywood and fiber-
glass putty. Over this male mold I then made a female
aluminum bar stock. The retraction takes place by mold of fiber-glass cloth. This female mold was then put
operating a hand crank in the cockpit then via a small into a wooden box to be used for vacuum forming the
chain drive to a threaded cross shaft between the land- plexiglass into the mold.
ing gear retract arms with a right-hand thread on one
end and a left-hand thread on the other end. This acme The powerplant is a 0-320 Lycoming of 150 hp with a
screw thread arrangement serves to lock the gear in Hartzell constant speed propeller. The aircraft has a full
both the up and down positions. The tail wheel setup electric system and a semi IFR instrument panel. The
is basically the same with an internal spring for shock paint job is gloss finished with polyurethane paint over
absorbing. The steering for the tail wheel comes off the Stits process up through silver.
rudder cables and is attached to a control arm on top At the writing of this article I have flown the air-
of the tail wheel assembly. This kept everything inside craft in excess of 100 hours. The "Hurricane" has a very
the fuselage and in the correct position according to the gentle stall straight forward with or without flaps. Ap-
original airplane. However, the tail wheel does not full proaches are flown between 85 and 90 mph with touch-
swivel and this is somewhat of a drawback. down about 70 mph. I am very pleased with its per-
The cowling was built up on a male plug of plaster formance, to say the least.
(Continued on Next Page)
of Paris which was made right on the fuselage and
SPORT AVIATION 11
HAWKER HURRICANE
(Continued from Preceding Page)

(Kevin Stouffer Photo)

Fred Sindlinger of Puyallup, Washington proud-
ly poses before his scaled down "Hurricane".

(Fred Sindlinger Photo)

Male cowling mold showing wire mesh and plaster of
Paris, later applied to both sides. The mold was split (Dick Stouffer Photo)
down the middle when cured. Scramble! ... the "Hurricane" was a natural to scale
down. The original had thick wings and a many-
stringered, fabric covered fuselage — which Sind-
"Hurricane" Specifications linger faithfully reproduced in his % scale version.
Wing Span . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ft. 0 in.
Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ft. 8 in.
Wing Area ..............'................. 100 sq. ft.
Height (level f l i g h t ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ft. 10 in.
Empty Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005 Ibs.
Gross Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1375 Ibs.
Cruise Speed 65% at 6000 ft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 TAS
Max. speed at sea level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 LAS
Stall - Flaps up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 mph
Stall - Flaps 40 degrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 mph
Rate of climb at sea level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1200 fpm
Range at 65% power 28 gals. 30 min. res. . 500 miles
Stressed (Normal Category) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8 G's
One final comment: If plans to the "Hurricane"
become available, which they are nof at the present
time, I will run a notice to that effect in SPORT (Fred Sindlinger Photo)
AVIATION. © The "Hurricane" wing was loaded with 4870 pounds
of sand, the equivalent of 4.4 Gs at 1350 pounds gross
weight.
12 DECEMBER 1972