Al's Flying Oddities No. 1
The Arnoux Simplex Racer of 1922
By Al Backstrom

It is hard to find an airplane that will make the Gee Bee R-l look long and slim, but if one exists it is the French Arnoux Simplex racer of 1922. A repeat of all the information I have seen on this airplane is shown in Tom Foxworth's The Speed Seekers. The airplane is notable because it was not a spur of the moment design but the culmination of years of work by Rene Arnoux. When it was flown it was possibly the fastest airplane in the world. It was also probably the first to fly with a symmetrical airfoil. As a more dubious distinction it had probably the blindest cockpit. This must have contributed to its demise in a landing accident. Unfortunately this was the last of Arnoux's work on tailless airplanes, however Charles Fauvel was a disciple and continued to work in the field doing many interesting designs himself.

THE MODEL

This model was the first I ever wore out from nothing more than flying. It is designed to meet the FAC Nocal rules and Peck Polymers sheet balsa rules. The construction is entirely 1/32" sheet balsa except where noted. Use light sheet for the wings and hard sheet for the L.G. and forward fuselage. Use light sheet for the aft. Two items should be noted. These are do not install the anti-warp strips until the wing is inserted in the fuselage, and in curving the wing tips, the object is to obtain a concave shape not just washout. I used a 5 1/2" Sleek Streak plastic prop for a couple of years with good results and later used a 5" cottage cheese container prop with a lot more blade area with even better results.

Balance the model at the point shown with a 15" loop of 3/32" FAI rubber, double the loop so it is tight. This will probably require some clay at the nose. Now glide test the model over grass if possible (I had to use the hangar floor). If the model stalls, add more clay to the nose. If the model dives in, try more curvature at the tips before you try removing clay. When a satisfactory glide is obtained, install the rubber in a single loop and wind about 200 turns. Correct attitude with down thrust as required. My model had a natural left turn in glide from warpage in the transparent plastic fin, so left or right thrust were used only to obtain the desired tight turn indoors. I think this model could have been flown in a silo, it would turn so tight stably. My model would fly about 40 seconds in a 26 foot ceiling building with a smooth ceiling. Outdoors it would do better.

(Note prop shaft detail. Use clay more or less for desired performance.)