RC Fairey Swordfish:  A 1/10 Scale, Electric Bipe, WW2 Warbird 


As the  Fairey Swordfish was under construction , I realized that full size plans were not essential! I printed the plans, on my home printer and found that these were more than adequate and certainly convenient. 

The interlocking design combined with the accuracy of laser cut parts meant that much could be assembled in the hand and wings just needed a flat surface onto which the parts needed to be pinned or magnetically aligned. (I have been using a steel building surface and magnets for many years)




Fairey Swordfish Features

  • 1/10 Full size Fairey Swordfish
  • Interlocking construction for the fuselage and wings
  • PDF plans can be downloaded and printed at home.
  • For those who prefer, full size plans are also available
  • Complete Bill of Material, listing ALL parts required
  • Electric power
  • Possible to convert to glow power
  • Folding wings as per full size
  • All parts shown full size
  • Laser cut parts available
  • Parts can easily be cut by using the full size templates, for those who prefer to cut their own.
  • All wire landing gear and cabanes.
  • Printedd cores for tail plane, ailerons and fin and rudder
  • Balsa radial cowl.
  • Streamline aluminum tubing struts.


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Specifications




Fairey Swordfish

  • Scale: 1/10
  • Wingspan: 54.6" (1386.8 mm)
  • Length: 41.3" (1049mm)
  • Wing area: 777.3 sq. in.
  • Weight: 7 lbs 3.5oz (3.28Kg)
  • Wing loading: 21.39 oz./sq. ft.
  • Power: 30-40 glow
  • Motor: Power 32 or equiv.
  • ESC: 60A ProSwitch BEC Brushless
  • LiPo:3300mAh 4S 14.8V 20C
  • Prop: APC 13x6.5 E Thin
  • Channels Required: 4 min.
  • Servos: (4)  Mini Digital-50oz.in. torque min, 
  • Top wing incidence: +4 deg.(Scale)
  • Bottom wing incidence: +4 deg.(Scale))
  • Tailplane incidence: +3 deg.(Scale)
  • Bottom wing dihedral: 1.0 deg.
  • Top wing dihedral: 3.0 deg.
  • Right thrust: 0 deg.
  • Down thrust: 0 deg.






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Photo Gallery




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Fairey Swordfish Plans Described

RC Scale Fairey Swordfish Cad Drawings: Sheet 1-fuselage and tail parts.Sheet 1- Fuselage and tail parts.
RC Scale Fairey Swordfish Cad Drawings: WingsSheet 2-Wings
RC Scale Fairey Swordfish Cad Drawings: PartsSheet 3- Full size parts
RC Scale Fairey Swordfish Cad Drawings: PartsSheet 4- Full size parts
RC Scale Fairey Swordfish Cad Drawings: Wire partsSheet 5-wire parts

There are 5 sheets in the Fairey Swordfish set-

  • Sheet 1-Fuselage and tail parts
  • Sheet 2-Wings
  • Sheets 3 & 4- Full size parts laid out on the appropriate material. 
  • Sheet 5- All the wire parts laid out full size.



Sheets 3 and 4 are for the builders who prefer to cut out their own parts. All parts required are shown full size, drawn on the appropriate size material. 

These sheets can be cut and the templates can be glued to the wood, using a glue stick.



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PDF Plans Files

Plans are available in PDF format. You can take these files and plot them at your local print shop.

I recently got a set printed at the local Staples store that had a wide (36 in.) format printer.

I found them most helpful and I explained that I needed the plans printed exactly full size and they were able to do this after a few attempts.

You will find a 16" long scale on each sheet. This will be useful in printing to exactly full size.

Sheets 1 tho' 4 are all 33.1(841mm)"x 75" (1480mm) long and sheet 5 is 33.1(841mm" x 48"(1219mm) long.

Having said that- I found it was great to use the interlocking laser cut parts and then just print the plans on my home printer at letter or legal size.






Price of the 5 sheets of the 1/10 scale Fairey Swordfish, in PDF format is $30.00USD.

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So you have a choice here-Use the PDF files to print a set of plans of the Fairey Swordfish at home, at letter or legal size or take the file to your local print shop and print a full size set.

If you buy the laser cut parts, then seriously consider printing at home-I found this method very do-able and certainly convenient.

I have included a set of full size layouts of the wire parts, in the PDF package. You only have to glue one drawing together and are still able to print at home. Please check that you are really printing full size and adjust the print scale if necessary.

One big advantage in buying the PDF files, Is there is NO shipping costs! Mailing costs for paper plans seem to have skyrocketed lately.

Cost of printing a full set, full size at Staples Canada was $43.50 CAD.



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Bill of Material

The Bill of material or BOM is an itemized list that contains ALL the parts required to build this Fairey Swordfish.There are 4 pages, in PDF format, that can be accessed below.


  • Sheet 1.  WR1 thro' WR63. These are all laser cut parts and are wing ribs and other wing parts.    Click here for a printable PDF file. 
  • Sheet 2.  WR64 thro' WR 72. These are laser cut wing parts. W1 thro W23. These are all laser cut parts, for the upper and lower wing center sections. TP1 thro' TP 11 are all laser cut parts for the tailplane and elevator. FR1 thro' FR20 are all laser cut parts for the fin and rudder.  Click here for a printable PDF file.
  • Sheet 3.  FR21 thro' FR26. are laser cut rudder parts. CR1A thro' CR9 are laser cut cowl parts. F1 thro' F58 are laser cut fuselage parts. FS1 is the laser cut fuselage side. Click here for a printable PDF file.
  • Sheet 4. FS2-rear fuselage laser cut part.  S1 thro S14 are standard balsa,spruce and music wire stock items required. S15 thro' S50 are all standard hardware, straps etc. Click here for a printable PDF file.



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Laser Cut Parts




  • We now can supply a laser cut set  (435+ total number of parts) for the Fairey Swordfish made from the original model airplane plans
  • Parts are supplied by Bob  Holman Plans- the premium RC airplane laser cutter in the U.S.
  • Price of the set is $230.00 USD Plus shipping costs.
  • If you order through this site, you will receive an e-mail order receipt from PayPal.
  • This set is a "short kit" of a large scale model aircraft and includes all the balsa and ply parts, laser cut to shape but no sheet or strip balsa is included.
  • Note also that no hardware is supplied.
  • Please note that the Swordfish uses balsa and ply construction for the cowl, so no fiberglass parts are required.
  • If you have any questions. please Contact Us.




Price of the laser cut parts for the 1/10 scale Fairey Swordfish is $230 plus $50 shipping cost in the USA.

Contact us for other country shipping costs.


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Build thread

There is a thread, on RC Groups that shows the full construction sequence with lots of photos. Take a look here.


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Video

This is a very short video, but I think it is worth showing, because it does show the second flight of the RC Fairey Swordfish and shows that it does indeed take-of and fly well!




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The RC Fairey Swordfish-1/10 Scale Kit







The Fairey Swordfish is available as a full kit with all parts needed to construct a beautiful RC biplane.

Electric or glow engine for power.

Click here to visit the page with all the information.








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