My “Build of the Month” (BOTM) Series was created to help those who are trying to get started in scratch building their own Radio Controlled (RC) Model Aircraft from plans.

  "Aerofred.com" and "Outerzone.co.uk" are two of my favorite web sites to obtain free RC model airplane plans for my new builds. Additionally, they like to post images of Builder's models, and both sites have posted my RC model images and build descriptions under the heading of the associated aircraft model. Other good sources for free plans are: "Hip Pocket Aeronautics Builders' Plan Gallery", "Vintage & Old-Timer RCM Free Plans", "James Hatton Blog Free Plans and Articles", "Hlsat Blog RCModeler Free Plans and Articles", and "Don Dewey Memorial RCM Plans Collection."

  If you are currently not an active builder, and you would like to be, my BOTM Series is a great place to start. If you have an RC model aircraft that you would like to see featured in this section or feel others may find interesting, please let me know and I will make every attempt to find scratch build plans, photos, and maybe even a published build article, which I will then post in one of my future BOTM editions. Just send me an email @: Build of the Month.

Build of the Month Series - September 2026 Edition

  I hope you enjoyed last months BOTM Edition on the 1911 Voisin Canard. If you have an RC model that you would like to see featured in this section or feel others may find interesting, please let me know and I will make every attempt to find scratch build plans, images, and maybe even a published build article, which I will then post in a future edition. Just send me an email @: Build of the Month.

  Ok, now lets see what I have for the month of September 2026. For the 2nd Edition of my “Early Pioneers” Mini-Series, how about something with a single wing this time and is a UK design. Given these requirements, this month features an RC model of the 1912 Blackburn Type D Monoplane, sometimes known as the Single Seat Monoplane.

Images Source: flickr.

  Designed by Robert Blackburn and manufactured by the Blackburn Aeroplane Company in the United Kingdom, the 1912 Type D was a wooden, fabric-covered single-seat monoplane powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Gnome rotary engine. The design inherited some features from earlier Blackburn designs: it too had thin wings of constant chord with square tips of about the same span as the later Blackburn Mercuries and used wing warping rather than ailerons. The wing was wire braced from above via a kingpost and below via the undercarriage and was built up around machined I-section ash spars. The Type D also had the triangular cross-section fuselage seen on several of Blackburn's aircraft from the Second Monoplane onward.

  It was a more pleasing-looking machine with a shorter fuselage, cowled engine, simplified undercarriage and heavily revised empennage. The fuselage had rounded upper decking and aluminum covering at the front. Blackburn had persisted with the Second Monoplane's Antoinette-style fin and tailplane through subsequent aircraft, but the Type D's tailplane had a much less steeply swept leading edge (though still 60°) than its predecessors and carried a divided elevator. The fin likewise was less swept though still long and now carried a single rudder rather than the characteristic triangular pair previously used. The undercarriage featured a pair of wheels, compared with four on the Mercury, with two struts per side terminating on skids and joined by the axle and a higher transverse strut. For the first time, Blackburn fitted a rudder bar in preference to his “triple steering column.”

  The aircraft first flew late in 1912. Some modifications followed in time: the engine cowling was extended into a semicircular shape to discourage the discharge of smoke and hot oil from the rotary into the cockpit; the wingtips were slightly rounded, and the crook-shaped skids were replaced by skids of hockey stick form. In 1913 the basic Type D design was developed into the two-seat Blackburn Type I. A restored Type D flew still flies on quiet days with the Shuttleworth Collection, Britain's oldest active aircraft.

• Full Scale 1912 Blackburn Type D Monoplane General Characteristics:
• Manufacturer: Blackburn Aeroplane Company
• Crew: One
• Wingspan: 32 ft 1 in (9.78 m)
• Wing Area: 236 sq ft (21.9 m2)
• Length: 26 ft 3 in (8.00 m)
• Height: 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
• Power Plant: 1 × Gnome 7 Omega 7-cylinder rotary piston engine , 50 hp (37 kW)
• Empty weight: 550 lb (250 kg)
• Gross weight: 980 lb (446 kg)
• Maximum speed: 60 mph (97 km/h, 52 kn)
• Endurance: 2.5–3 hours
• Service ceiling: 4,000 ft (1,200 m)

  The RC model of the 1912 Blackburn Type D Monoplane featured this month and shown below was designed by David Boddington. Edwardian design has always combined elegance and practicality. Take the Blackburn 1912 monoplane, for instance. For all that its name suggests Northern qualities of dependability and industriousness, its refined and stylish lines evoke memories of a confident and outward-looking England in which the gentleman aviator enjoyed the brief Edwardian summer before the Great War brought an end to the era. The 1912 is equally refined aerodynamically, too: she's as a fully formed and practical monoplane, built at a time when her contemporaries were still braced and strutted biplanes. No doubt the Blackburn's English designers were influenced by the efficiency and simplicity of the earlier Bleriot, but beyond this the 1912 remains idiosyncratically English.

Images Source: Outerzone.

  The 1912 Blackburn Type D Monoplane RC model in this months BOTM Edition can be built from a set of free full size plans, and the David Boddington article from a Winter 1987 edition of Radio Control Scale Aircraft, which are both available @: Outerzone.

• 1912 Blackburn Type D Monoplane RC Model Specifications:
• Aircraft Type: Scale Pioneer Aviation
• Flight Performance Category: General Sport
• Scale: 1/7th approx.
• Wing Span: 53″
• Wing Chord: 10.6″
• Wing Area: 560 sq.in.
• Elevator Span: 16″
• Elevator Chord: 4.25″
• Total Length: 41″
• Center of Gravity Location: 3.25″ aft of wing LE
• Required No. of Channels: 3 - Throttle, Rudder, and Elevator
• Landing Gear: Tail Dragger
• Glow Fuel Engines: .20 - .30 2-stroke
• Electric Powered: Output of 500-700 Watts, 50 amp ESC, 3 or 4-Cell 45C LiPo pack of around 3,000mah.

  Being flown using only her rudder, elevator and throttle means that, as well as having 1912 period looks, the Blackburn has an authentic feel, too. Nevertheless, this nostalgia has its drawbacks: the airfoil section is very slim, and the model's balsa-and-ply cantilever wing quite literally depends upon its King post cable bracing.

  Much of the following description are extracts from Radio Control Scale Aircraft, Winter 1987, written by David Boddington. What engine you decide to install will depend, to a large degree, on the type of flying you want to do. With the lower power range the Blackburn will fly slowly - and scale like - but will be limited to calm conditions. With the larger engines (25s and above) the Blackburn can be flown in stronger winds and, of course, you can always throttle back for slow flight.

  Radio Installation and linkages: Because of the triangular fuselage section there is not a lot of spare space for the radio, so work out the installation before you start construction. If you can fit the throttle servo across the fuselage (in front of the elevator servo) so much the better as it allows the elevator servo to be centrally mounted. Closed loop cable linkages (also called a pull-pull system) are used for the rudder and elevators as these nearly represent the full size control functions. Actually, the rudder horn should be slightly higher, with the cables exiting the fuselage above the tailplane, but it is easier to route the cables as shown on the drawings. For those of you less concerned with scale accuracy you could use Flex-cables and conventional rudder and elevator horns.

  Build Preparation: There are more formers and ribs to cut out than you will have in the average sports model, and I suggest that you do all the cutting out and wire bending before you start any construction. Accuracy of cutting and bending is important as it will make construction so much easier if all the parts fit first time.

  In addition to resolving the radio installation you will need to mark the front formers with the correct engine mounting bolt spacing for the engine being used, also the size of the tube for the NiMh receiver battery - this allows moving the battery to some extent to give the correct balance point. Cut-outs in formers F15 and F25 must be adjusted for the fuel tank dimensions.

  One point to note here. The center of gravity of the prototype was close to the mid-point of the wing chord, but the model requires a balance point much further forward. This places the balance point quite close, vertically, to the landing gear wheel axle and, consequently, there is a risk of the model nosing over on landing - or even when taking off from a grass runway. The wheel positions are already shown a little forward of scale; you can move them further forward if you wish.

  Since the 1912 does not have ailerons or wing-warping, all flying control comes from its tail feathers, which are simple to build since they are built directly over the plan. Tail surfaces are externally braced and controlled using a pull-pull linkage system. The wing King post rigging attachments can be achieved in a number of different ways. Make sure that it is possible to fully de-rig the model for easier transport to the airfield.

  Warning, take-offs from grass will be very tricky, with a tendency to nose over, so use a hard surface runway or go for a hand launch. Because the Blackburn has no ailerons, or wing warping, the turns have to be carefully controlled for scale effect using a fair amount of rudder to initiate the yaw and, and then as the wing drops, ease off the rudder and apply up elevator. You may find on initial flights that the model is tending to “kick” around through over control of the rudder - you must fly it as the prototype and ease it around the sky, use controls to the minimum and rely on throttle control for the rate of climb and descent. From a hard surface runway, you can “wheel” the Blackburn on for a landing, on grass try to make a real “three pointer” with plenty of up elevator at the point of touch down.

  I hope you enjoy building and flying the Blackburn 1912 Monoplane, it is an airplane with lots of character and is full of Edwardian nostalgia.

  If you really like the Blackburn 1912 Monoplane, but would like to build a larger 56 in wingspan, OS .52 Surpass four-stroke engine version, take a look at the plans and article available at Blackburn 1912 Monoplane (oz15821) Webpage.

  For those that might what to try an RC model kit of the Blackburn 1912 Monoplane, as shown in the images below there is a very nice kit available for purchase from the DB Sport & Scale LTD. Website.

Images Source: DB Sport & Scale LTD. Website.

  I hope you have enjoyed this months selection, and just maybe, I have spurred some interest in trying your hand at building an RC model airplane.

Until next month - Keep the Balsa Dust Flying!!

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