David Gilder

Posted by Andy Meade on 16/12/2019 09:24:12: Edit to add - Shona and I will cook bacon sarnies and supply hot coffee from the motorhome for those with sore heads (yes I'm looking at you Mr Gilder!) Thought I could feel your eyes burning into my skull.

So is it finished yet Peter? I have started gluing sheets together for the wing skins. Not going to bother with a blog for mine as I always forget to take pics and update them.

Posted by Andy Meade on 22/08/2019 13:17:22: No one jumped on any colour schemes yet? I'm still fairly undecided. Not yet. I think though we should all copy Phil's and go orange! At least they are visible in the "Sea Mist" so you don't need to land!

Following for guidance! My extra wood arrives tomorrow so hope to get building soon.

Just spent 15 minutes writing one heck of a response on the consultation and the damn CAA page dumped me off! I'd only completed the first part also! Arghh!!!

They look great Ade. Cant wait to sit one on top of the model soon. I will update the blog soon as things have moved on quite a bit since the last update.

Just logged in for first visit of the year and been hit with this terribly sad news. My thoughts and condolences to Dave's family and friends. I got to know Dave initially like many through this amazing forum in his role as Admin, offering some of his apparently limitless knowledge and guidance to us mere mortals. I also read his articles in the magazine and despite my then much lesser knowledge, I was able to understand them fully. Dave had a way of writing things so that anyone could understand them, even if you didn't know all the technical jargon! It was in 2010 that I conversed with Dave as we drew up plans and launched the 2011 Webbit Mass Build. Little did we know then the Mass Build would not only continue annually, but would spread also into other disciplines such as the PSS Glider Guiders! I only met Dave in person a handful of times, at Steve Webbs in Frodsham and at Greenacres, but a lasting impression was made of such a kind hearted and gentle soul. I am sure everyone would agree that the world of RCM&E and model flying in general has lost one of its great contributors. I shall raise my glass to you Dave. Fly High In Heaven. Save a space in the pits for us all!   Edited By David Gilder on 02/01/2019 01:55:41

Another week gone and time for another update... Well, It seems the build bug is firmly in control at the moment with things coming together! I am pleased to say also that the 2nd Tornado (being built by Warren) is finally underway. I'm not sure if Warren is planning on doing a build blog or not though! Anyway, where were we....... Oh yes..! So the rear top decking has gone on over the rear top stringers and the control rod is connected to the AMT axle. The 2nd air intake is under construction also so these parts will be ready to be added later in the build! I'm not going to bore you with pics of those bits though as there is much more interesting stuff to update! Yesterday the doorbell rang.... There was a delivery in the form of a large cardboard box! That's right. The wings arrived from cloud models! So 2 sets of wings (one for me and one for Warren). A quick inspection showed the quality and finish of these to be at a very high standard. I just had to lay a set out to see! But that just led to the obvious thing happening.... A full mock up! Oooooooohhh Yeaaaaah!!!! Now we really are getting somewhere! You will see the rear deck in the above picture also! Okay. So, These wings are not swing wings and will be joined permanently in the fully forward position, but I just couldn't help seeing what it would look like if the were swept back! What do you think!!? Pretty cool.... Maybe a future model will have swing wings.. Who knows! So to the wings then. Considering they only arrived yesterday, the following has been completed: Servo position calculated.. I plan to have the wing fuel tanks on this so the position of these pylons had to be calculated to the scale and the servo positioned outboard of these! Once this was worked out and the positions transferred on to the undersides of the wings, these were cut out! I hadn't asked for Cloud Models to do this for me as I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted them so needless to say, there were no servo wire holes either, so these also have been done with some heated wire pushed carefully through at the required place so the exited into the servo bays! Again, other measurements had to be calculated so as not to route them where the wing joining braces would be placed! The positions of the joining braces were then drawn onto the wings and cut out on the fretsaw with each wing half supported in their foam halves (if that makes sense!) The braces are made from 8mm ply so will provide a good solid link! That was all yesterday.. So today, The leading edges and false Trailing Edges were glued on and once dry the sanding down has started to ensure nice smooth transitions. (This is nearly finished but had to make tea and walk the dogs!) So just one last pic showing the wings together with the braces in position. (These will be sanded down flush once the wings are joined for good!) So that's it for now! I will be doing more sanding tomorrow as long as the weather allows, as there is nothing worse than sanding in the workshop with no moving air and balsa dust filling the air (and lungs)! As always, comments and questions are very welcome!

Sounds great Ade, I have faith in your ability.... Sure it will fit the model just fine! Thanks Tim. Yes, Shes quite a good size.. To be honest, I'm glad I didn't go to 200% plan. Would have struggled to build and then store! Looking forward to the wings arriving and then I can get a real size feel for her! Will update when there is more to show!

Neither Andy. Will be looking to inlay spars myself, just like the A4 build.

Small update time... Inbetween work and a family long weekend away visiting sick relative, I have managed to do a little more on the build! The axle for the AMT has also been made up and a metal horn spot welded to the axle. This will allow the clevis to link up solidly as this whole area in time will be sealed up! Unlike the original plan, I have decided to move the AMT Servo into the rear part of he central under-wing bay in case any issues and it was to need replacing in the future! From here, the rear sides where checked for fit and then fitted along with the rear formers and the AMT axle. Unfortunately I forgot to take any pics of this stage! 3 wide stringers lay into the rear formers from F6 to F8. This provides the stability and stiffness to the rear end and as such has to be glued in whilst keeping the whole airframe centralised and steady. As the plans are being used for a 2nd build, I was unable to do this over them, so some accurate guide lines were drawn on to the build bench and the model pinned down to it! Once this was all set and the rear end stable, the model could be removed again from the build board without risk of any misalignments later on. I couldn't resist a mock up! Definitely a Tornado shape there now! The cockpit area has been lined all around and F4 (which provides the spread out of the rear sides up to the air intakes. So what else... I decided to work on getting the intakes sorted (well one of them for now!) These are made up of black foam, veneered in balsa! And this is how it should look on the model! So that's about it for now... Oh, I have ordered my wings from Cloud Models and they should be here in the next few weeks! Wings will be as plan, no alterations to size or profile. The only planned change on these will be to have a servo mounted in each wing with direct link to each aileron instead of a centrally mounted single servo running torque rods. Will update again where there is more to tell!