eflightray

Newspaper covering ? Yes and no. Yes, - as it does increase the surface strength from hangar rash, it's cheap, (my favorite word). No, - as it does add a little weight, the depron needs to be really 'clean' if using thinned PVA/white glue to stick the paper on, newspaper can shrink and you need to be careful and match sides to reduce any twisting on thin sections . I probably wont use the same method on this one. Most of the other Depron builds are sanded, primed with thinned matt ceiling emulsion with a little talc powder added, light sanding and then painted. But they can suffer with minor scuffing etc. But, it does make them easier to repair if needed. Paper or glass cloth covering can make repairs a little trickier. My whole aim is to build to fly, not build to survive, usually with as little power as possible, so keeping them light is just part of the design and build, but then my models are a good few years old and still seem to survive well. Ray.

Thank you , but I don't see it a superb craftsmanship, more like very lucky bodging . I'm just willing to have a go and see what comes out, usually the final result looks Ok, and flies just fine. Each new build is a another technique gained, usually because I forgot what I did before and don't draw plans. But it's enjoyable. Ray. Some of my builds and models. (It may say 'Not Secure', but they do allow me on a long chain these days )

Build light. they fly much better. Sorry the video is so poor, I forgot to check and clean the lens. 82" span, 8Lb - 15oz flying, under 600 watts total. Ray.

A couple of additional photos. The spars are now glued in, makes the wing section very strong considering it's 1/8" balsa spars. Lower bottom sheeting 3mm Depron added to define tailing edge. A test shows using 3mm sheet wrapped around the L.E. will work quite well. Ray. .

Nice model the B-17 My scratch built, (no plans), 100" span, foam core wing covered in brown paper, the rest is balsa. Plug in wings, and horizontal stabs for easy transport. Electric power. The video was shot when she still had brushed motors, Olympus belt drives, and Nimh cells. She was eventually upgraded to brushless and Lipo, and shaved 2Lbs of the weight. Current flying weight is 10Lbs - 2oz, Still fly her occasionally. Ray.

Just spotted this thread -- Aerotech B-17 .

Aerotech used to do a 1/12 (104" span) scale B-17 kit, but it was a while ago. .

Also check out the Youtube videos, there are a few on retracts, search on - rc pby retracts - and - rc pby undercarriage - Ray.

Here's a handy set of undercarriage animations, the last picture in post #7 shows a Cat's undercarriage - (just click on the picture to see it moving). -- Animate undercarriage I though about adding retracts at one time, but finding some was the problem, the front double 'A' frame off a model car seems to be a very good starting point for the mains. The RC cars ones even have shocks and springs. Good luck with the build. Ray.

This could be a long term project. After the demise of my previous Lanc last year, ( attack of the killer hedge ), the salvaged parts, everything except the body, wings, tail, kept staring at me, pleading me to make them a new home. I started drawing up an A20 Boston/Havoc, then realised it looked too much like my B-25 but with only one fin, and uses only two of the motors. To use up those four motor it just had to be another Lanc. Well they do look ....... special. So, another scratch build, and genuinely starting from scratch as there were no usable drawings of my original, but then that's the fun of making it up as I go along. Though I may later regret using the word 'fun'. I don't do detailed build threads, just a few pictures occasionally, the rest of the 'design' is still in my head. So here she is so far. And yes, it's electric and in mostly Depron foam. Check the tail feathers will fit, Just held in place. (Photo rotated by system). - Fuselage getting its skins. - Wings will be plug-in. Wing box using carbon arrow shafts. - A load of ribs hand cut, and these are just for the centre section. - Mocked up to check fit of ribs and inner engine locations. - Will be a slow build, so don't expect many updates. She should be about 102" span, (last one way 98" span). Ray, (as mad as ever, but in a nice way ).

Good grief!, I payed a whole 7/6d for that plan. Ray.

Posted by Ray Wood 4 on 07/03/2019 13:39:29: Hi Ray Is your Sunderland the Tony Nijhuis design ? You have got me thinking Regards Ray It's a scratch built, loosely based on a plan I found on the web, but converted and built using Depron, 90" span, I built her 9 years ago. She flies off grass or water. Electric powered obviously. Ray, (the other one).

A long time ago in a world far far away, well it was probably the late 80's, I built a Catalina from a control line plan and converted it to RC and electric. Anyone old enough to remember the Acoms electric model, I think it was a something like a Cub. I bought a couple of the spare motors, gearboxes, and props, (plastic shovels), and installed them in the Cat. She flew fairly reasonable, even managed to get her off water once, eventually, after the second nicad battery pack. Found out the the nose of the floats needed a very positive angle, or they would want to play submarines. Recently nostalgia kicked in and I bought the HK Catalina, (wish I hadn't). Nostalgia isn't what it used to be, And I remembered they are not particularly nice. Short coupled and very small tail area compared to the wing. Now my Sunderland, that's a great flier. Sorry, just reminiscing. Ray, (a different one). The tip floats are swung up for flying over grass. .   Edited By eflightray on 07/03/2019 13:34:07 Edited By eflightray on 07/03/2019 13:34:58

Digital ?, jewels ?, too technical for me I made a crude, but functional, one from Depron, uses a swinging needle. It's light enough to slide along a wing out to the tip without causing any distortion. No, that's not one of my wings, just a cutting board for photo purposes. .

If you intend flying off water, differential throttle comes in handy for better water steering. I fly my Sunderland, (avatar) with counter rotating props, but only because I wasn't sure during the build how it would handle on water, it also gets flown off grass. All my other multi-motor models use the same direction rotation. I do have a HK Catalina, but rarely flown as I just don't like the way it flies. Ray.

For an IC engine there is a limited range of props, for a brushless motor, there is a much greater range of props by changing the voltage. e.g. my Dauntless - 4020-08 - 520kv - this motor quotes 5s to 7s Lipo 13x8 to 14x8 props. But I use a 17x8 and use a 3s, the plane flies fine, on 350 watts. You never know what may work until you try. Ray.

Cheat, use what others have used for the same model, or same type of model and motor. Different people like to fly their planes differently. Some like high speed, (high pitch speed), some like slower slogging power, (higher thrust from a slower but bigger diameter prop). My Spit - 72" span - 4030 385kv - 6s Lipo - has flown with 14x7, 15x8, 16x10 APCe, I prefer the 15x8 for general flying. Ray. Addition: That's from 600 watts to 850 watts, not a lot of difference in how it flies, just the way it 'feels'./     Edited By eflightray on 14/02/2019 15:01:24

It's always satisfying to make-your-own, nice job. I have tried butt joining surgical rubber bungee cord to make a tyre, very difficult to get a near invisible join. I have used a garden kneeling mat foam to cut very light tyres for commercial plastic hubs, they have lasted a long time. Anyone looking for a 'hubcap', check out the bottom of a drinks can. At least the rest of the plane is Depron Ray.