chris meek 1

Finished covering the fuselage and have painted the horizontal stabilisers. now to adding the white base for the invasion stripes… I’ve not decided which particular aircraft I want to replicate yet other than it will be a coastal command aircraft, but the invasion stripes will help with seeing what is basically a blue and grey aircraft against a blue/grey sky! I’ve been researching it and the invasion stripes in one form or another stayed on surviving aircraft from June well into October/November 1944 so I’ve lots to choose from.. 🤔

I’m happy with 2nd batch thanks. 👍

AUW should be 10lbs according to the plan.. I was starting to worry about weight so weighed the fuselage so far. I know it’s not covered, but under 1 1/2 lbs seems ok to me - hopefully the covering and paint won’t add masses of weight! Then I had to do the bit I’ve been dreading- cutting the fuselage for the wing to fit… doesn’t look as bad as I thought it might! it’s definitely looking like a Beaufighter to me now!

Finally got the lower sheeting fitted and shaped. Some lightweight filler on a couple of gaps still to sand but I’d say fuselage is just about finished!

Yeah I came close to it but in the end thought I’d try not to over complicate it for myself! Looks good with a retract though.

Now that’s all sorted I can get on with sheeting the lower fuselage- it’s starting to feel like the fuselage is nearly finished!

Looking at the plan it was a castoring tail wheel, but I’d rather it was steerable… there’s not much room at the back but a I was able to hook the tail wheel to the rudder pushrod.

More progress - little jobs done this week! Servo tray cut and fitted, elevator pushrod made up, elevator and rudder painted. I’m using the same techniques used on the fw190 and hawker tempest mass builds - brown paper covering and emulsion tester pots to paint! I don’t think it’ll be winning any awards for scale but as long as it flies and looks ‘close enough’ I’ll be happy!

Thanks Adrian - it looks better from a distance than it does up close! 🤣

It’s been just over two weeks into the build - so far the only hurdle to overcome was getting the thick fuselage sides to conform to fuselage former F2 - initially they weren’t having any of it but with patience and brushing plenty of Ammonia onto them I was able to get them to curve nicely around.

So I’ve finally gotten around to starting the build…. Tony Nijhuis Bristol Beaufighter. I’ve used the part kit and additional wood pack from Belair, ribs/formers etc all nicely cut and go together well!

Thanks much appreciated 👍

Richard I'd be interested in the tempest when it comes out. Sorry if I've missed it but what cost would it be? Thanks Chris

Hi Danny, I've been looking at a lot of the builds on rcsb, some amazing builds on there, I did look at lado actuators that were used on one of the builds but they were too pricey! I'm using the idea though to try and sort something similar, if my limited engineering skills allow it!

I can't believe it's been 5 years since I started this build! Tbh it's still on hold and sat in the garage, other commitments have meant lack of time to keep up with it. I have recently been looking at alternative ways of getting the uc working without using a servo, slowly moving forward with that and will post an update if it works. Either way, if it doesn't I've still got the servo method to fall back on and will hopefully get more of the airframe done next year! Chris

Ah thanks, hopefully not as bad as it seemed a couple of months ago, at least in the short term. Hopefully things will be better next year!

Just checked the slec website and they've secured a new deal with their suppliers - still an increase in prices for balsa but not the 150% increase it was going to be. They haven't given what the increase will be but say the increase is 'more reasonable'. Feeling more positive than I was in September!! .

What foam do you use and where's best to get it from in the UK? Thanks Chris

Best of luck with the build, I've found it a challenging but interesting project. The airframe itself isn't too difficult, looking back on it I think the most 'head scratching - need a brew to figure this out' moments so far have been with the retracts. Hope you find the thread helpful. Chris

**LINK**     Well I think the retracts are just about finished apart from some final minor adjustment... At the moment both servos are being run through a single 6v receiver battery - the plan is that they'll each have a separate 6v battery installed in the nacelles so that if either of them stalls I'll still have flight control. Been nice to make some progress on things!  Edited By chris meek 1 on 03/05/2019 23:37:52

Just a quick update for anyone that was following this thread, as expected the arrival of our baby son on new years day has seriously slowed progress on this build! I have been making slow progress on the second wing half to get it to a similar stage to the first. Just about to put the top sheeting on the flaps. Slow progress is still progress!!

I can't wait to see this on Conniston.

Posted by Jon Harper - Laser Engines on 02/11/2017 18:21:10: Posted by Cuban8 on 02/11/2017 09:53:16: Sounds plausible Jon. Not the supercharger per se, but an audible effect of the intake ducting when coupled to the later two stage blower? Yea that's the most logical thing to me. If you think the 2 stage blower is pushing more psi in to the cylinders it must be sucking more air, and the intake is larger too. Griffon spits don't seem to make the same noise. I also thought it was the supercharger as they are essentially centrifugal compressors, not unlike those used in the early jets and if anyone has ever seen/heard a vampire, or the early comet its all whistle! But yes, DX is awesome and I love the large formations they have there. But don't forget Old Warden. Not as impressive in terms of numbers of aircraft, but you get much closer to the action Chris, I'm pretty sure the main cockpit is as it always was as the main fuel tank sits ahead of the cockpit and behind the engine. I would guess this is a limiting factor. Thanks Jon, makes sense now you've said it! Chris

Absolutely love Duxford. Not been for a couple of years - but definitely remember the year tfc brought the silver p40 across from America - think the pilot (Steve Hinton??) slightly misjudged his approach to the display line and flew directly over us on the tank bank. Awesome! As much as it was appreciated by us I think he was 'red flagged' as it landed shortly afterwards . That and the smell of the exhausts as they all turned in front of where we were sat to take off for the balbo... Not to mention growing up as a kid in the 90's and seeing Ray Hannah in the sea fury tail chasing Stephen Grey in the bearcat. On a side note - does anyone know whether the cockpit on the 2 seat spitfires is in the original position, or do they have to move it forward to accommodate the second seat? Sometimes it looks a bit further forward to me, but it could just be an optical illusion!! Chris

Posted by Martian on 30/10/2017 10:06:13: Posted by Martin McIntosh on 29/10/2017 21:39:17: Well done Chris, maybe a curve in the servo response would prevent that initial jerk. Now for the doors ------. Ah the doors your cruel Martin But the doors will be easy - it's just getting them the right shape and size, fittingand closing properly that will be the difficult part!!!! Martin - will have to look at putting a curve on the servo. I think the initial jerk you can see is because the retaining spring gets caught slightly on a part of the retract leg as it starts to rotate backwards which stops the spring from compressing - then when it clears it the spring starts compressing causing it to jerk upwards. I'll look at moving the springs position to see if it stops it. As well as playing with the retract today (can't help it, just watching it gong up and down!) I've given the flaps a quick coat of primer before sanding them down. Unfortunately somehow I managed to break the soldered joint on the control horn on the flaps so had to re do that - which meant I then had to adjust the linkage from the servo... One step forward and several backwards! At least it's sorted now though. Next step I think will be to start on the other wing.... If I can stop playing with the retract on this one.