Wolfgang Matt's Joker - Classicpattern

Wolfgang Matt, the ultimate model flying legend, brought a new aeroplane design to the 1984 European Championships in Belgium, the JOKER.

Di Paolo Dapporto was there and took a closer look at this model aircraft. Here is his report:

At the last European Championships, which took place in Belgium from 11 to 16 September 1984, I saw a Matt who was particularly open-minded towards his opponents, because he was aware that he was the absolute best in the field at the time.

He flew his own competition and was first in every scoring flight, except for the opening round, in which Bertram Lossen only just overtook him.

After winning the European Championship, I asked him for a model plan and he kindly promised to send it to me as soon as possible for publication in our Eco Model magazine.

I am particularly pleased to be able to offer the readers of ECO (an Italian modelling magazine) a really delicious ‘treat’ that can be an excellent springboard for all young people who want to approach aerobatics with a model that is suitable for both sports and FAI competitions.

The beauty of the model and its detailed construction is the fact that it can be built without any special materials: everything is commonplace, as is the overall design, without any particularly thick balsa blocks (very expensive) or particularly thin or complicated materials: the basic material is balsa, with clever use of polystyrene and a little Vestro and epoxy.

However, the design of the model is truly remarkable and interesting, reflecting Matt’s tradition of designs that allow for very little sophistication in order to focus on quick and easy construction. The Joker has surpassed everything that has come before it and is designed to be built in the workshop of the average model builder.

joker85 08 — Our Swiss friend Nello Nero proudly presents his joker

The motor used is the long-stroke Webra 61, which drives a 12 x 8 propeller with a fairly wide, thicker blade and anti-stall properties.

The wing shape suggests that the vast majority of designers who took part in the European Championships preferred the manoeuvre programme. The ailerons at the ends are quite large and are controlled by two independent servos.

The retraxts is now are matter of course, while the perfectly symmetrical wing tips are quite common. It is worth emphasising the importance Matt attaches to the offset of the engine, which was already planned during the design phase and for which the nose was moulded into the round suspension with the correct correction angles.

The model is completely covered with iron-on film, an almost obvious solution if you want to comply with the low weights specified by the European champion.