Tony Nijhuis 1830cm Spitifre

[Danny Fenton]

Hi Mal, funnily enough my retracts are also supposedly for the 69" BT Spit  they are 12.6mm at the narrow tube and 14.75mm at the larger diameter.

 

Yes I spoke to Tony Goodger in the summer and he was thinking of calling it a day around Christmas. This was later confirmed when I ordered my retracts from him. A great shame as he does very nice work. I am not sure where to go now for retract parts darrel at Sierra is wonderful and his gear are simply works of art, but they cost some serious money. I must confess the purchase of the lathe was swung slightly by the news of Tony stopping production.

 

Cheers

Danny

[Danny Fenton]

Posted by Tim Mackey - Administrator on 26/11/2010 11:56:35:

Posted by Danny Fenton on 26/11/2010 11:48:23:

You are just trying to get me to bump my already large photo count on here even higher

 

You can see that the wheel actually overlaps slightly the thicker section of the oleo so it is doable but I am not sure I trust my turning skills sufficiently to knacker (technical term) my oleos

 

Cheers

Danny

 

Nah, I will just wait until you reach the individual automatically applied limit of 695 piccies

 That only leaves me two, better make them good

 

[micarus]

Thank's for the info on the spinner Herri , I think I have opened a can of worms on the U.C. subject  ,I have had to pack mine with an extra 6mil of ply to get them up to the lower skin but as I havn't got the wheels yet I don't want to cut the axles shorter to clear the top skin.!

Don't forget that the wheel covers can be curved slightly , I had to do that on my Brian Taylor Fock Wulf Dora9 and that worked O.K.

The other thing that concerns me is that the main part of the covers will be fixed to the main part of the oleo but if the lower <thinner part of the oleo , with the wheel on> compresses full distance, the cover will hit the ground ,? may have to make it in two bits sliding past one another <or put the stiffer springs back in.

 Ah well another challenge! it's what we live for EH!

             Cheers  MIKE.

[Danny Fenton]

Nah Mike, no can of worms  These things are what make scale modelling fun to a dwindling bunch of us, and that so many others cannot understand. I went to a clubnight the other night and showed my RDS mockup, the number of times I was asked why bother?

If it was easy everybody would do it

 

Cheers

Danny

[Herri]

Just to confuse things, my oleos are 15.9mm on the wide section and my robart wheels are 29.5mm wide (tyre)

Anyway, I'm relieved Danny has also had to shave 4mm off his bearers so thats probably what I will do and look for some other wheels.

 

Together we will crack it guys

 

Cheers

Herri

[micarus]

Just checked mine now that the Robart wheels have arrived and have now a total of 8 mil packing on top of the bearers I have also bent the axles down slightly which puts the wheels at a slight positive camber < as on real Spits!> and this also helps to clear the oleo's . I may try screwing them in tommorow and hopefully cycle them. I did trim most of the rib away but see that Tony Nighuise has used strakes on the outside ,Presumably to replace the lost rigidity.

                                        Will put up photo's if they work. < or I'll go away and cry if they don't!.>

 

        Cheers  MIKE.

  b.t.w.Danny ,What is an rds??                    

[micarus]

Hi ,  Tried to post pics of progress but for some reason won't work <although I did it before!!?>

Tried cycling U.C today but tyres fouled on front of wheel wells, so opened them up a bit and now work O.K. Had to reduce packing slightly to bring legs down straighter .

Need to go and re-do the front of the wheel wells now

 

        Cheers  MIKE.

Edited By Tim Mackey - Administrator on 27/11/2010 14:55:46

[micarus]

Got one at last, Note castor angle.    Cheers  MIKE.

[Herri]

That looks ok Mike. I see you also have Robart wheels but the other tread (crossed)

Are your tyres also 29.5 mm wide? I assume you have the 95mm wheels.

 

Cheers

Herri

[Danny Fenton]

I like the angle you have on the axle Mike, I could shorten my oleos as they are slightly too long and re-drill mine at that angle  looks really good

 

Cheers

Danny

[micarus]

Yes Herri, 26x95 mil,  I like the diamond pattern <and thats all they had!>

Thank's Danny , what oleo's are you using?

Still don't know what R.D.S. is??

 

             Back to work.    Cheers  MIKE.

[Danny Fenton]

Hi Mike, there was a fair discussion regarding RDS over on my Spitty thread.

 

Don't just stand there, get one up!

 

My oleos are Unitract but they are 10mm longer than Tony N has stipulated, hence my wheel being only 3.5"

 

Here is an RDS video:

 

 

Cheers

Danny

[micarus]

Thanks Danny I see what you mean ,It's a torque system and very nifty , are you going to use that on your ailerons and flaps?

I thought your wheels looked smaller but will probably cause you less prob's' with fouling, <like mine did!>

I thought about about taking my axles out of the oleos to bend them but in the end just stuck them in the vise a went for it <guestemology> glad you like the look of them , I still think I will end up with some splay on the legs but " Hey Ho!" as they say.

 

          Having a day off today  ,had a few jars last night <not good for concentration!>

 

               Cheers   MIKE.

[Danny Fenton]

Mike there is supposed to be some "splay" on the legs

 

The other thing is my retracts travel through 93 degrees to allow for the rearward sweep when retracted.

 

Managed to rub parrafin on my port wing plan (to make it transparent) ready to start the starboard wing today. Didn't fancy tracing it.

I am sorry, but I do think the starboard wing outline should be included in the set of drawings  

 

Cheers

Danny

[micarus]

Yes, I see that now Danny but as you can see the wheels do have a bit of positive camber to compensate, I agree they should have included the other wing outline but you almost always have to oil the plan . <I don't like it though, messy!>

Just another little challenge EH!

 Had to bring my wing into the house ,it's so cold the resin wouldn't set on the wing loint!

in the workshop/garage!

Must get a bit done today.

           Cheers  MIKE.

 

 

                     

[Danny Fenton]

Yes its cold at the moment. I have never had to oil a plan before I guess all the designs I have ever built have included both. Mr Taylor always seems to. Oiling is very messy, I used parrafin on the plan (just as messy) unfortunately it has dried and now I cannot see through  I have traced it and will use that. (should have done that all along I guess......

 

Cheers

Danny

[Ian Deary]

Hi Herri -

 

Really enjoying your's and Danny's builds, the shaping on your fuselage looks very impressive!

I just wanted to let everyone know that the news of Unitract's closure might not be correct. I nearly fell over when I read Danny's post and spoke to Barbera this morning to quickly order a set for my 83" BT Spit... She tells me that they're not closing but are moving to new premises.

 
They will be dropping some of the custom retracts such as the BT Mosquito and ARTF sets but the majority of the Brian Taylor and Tony Nijhuis sets will continue. Don't mean to hijack your thread but thought everyone should know.

 

I just hope Tony hasn't forgotten to tell Barabera anything.

 

Anyway, Danny has forced my order and I'm glad he did as they won't be ready ready until at least March.

 

Looking forward to seeing more great building.

Best,

Ian.

Edited By Ian Deary on 29/11/2010 10:35:53

[Danny Fenton]

Fantastic news Ian, that's really made my day, I guess they have had a re-think..... I better get an order in for my Spit units as well Ahhh more expense on the run-up to Christmas

 

That's made my day thanks Ian

 

cheers

Danny

[Ian Deary]

I'm glad I made your day Danny .

 

I'll make it even better... if you order your set you only need to hand over your card details, Barbera won't actually debit the cash until your order is ready to go (in March). So you can order now and pay later!

 

Right, that's enough joy to the world for one day. Aplogies again for the intrusion Herri.

 

All the best,
Ian.

[Danny Fenton]

Well that was, as usual, a pleasant conversation with both Barbera and Tony. As Ian says Tony has decided to keep going but on a smaller scale (due partly to the weight of people asking him not to stop making retracts). He will be supplying retracts for Tony's designs and most of the Brian Taylor stuff. There are a few others that he will also keep doing but the speciality and bespoke stuff is going to be wound down.

I have ordered my 83" BT Spitfire retracts  Thanks Ian.

Tony is also going to stop doing the BT 81" Mosquito set, however he has one more batch to do next year, I have added my name to the list for a set of those too

As Ian says you don't get charged until they get made and shipped.

 

So excellent news, once again thanks for the update Ian.

 

Sorry Herri you can have your thread back now

 

Cheers

Danny

[Herri]

Thats ok chaps, at least its good news.

I havn't got anything done today, but tomorrow ....................

Cheers

Herri

[Robin Coombs]

Hi all.

I have been following this thread with great interest as I have also decided to build the Spit. My next build was to be a 50cc Cessna but that can wait a bit.

I am going to install the DLE 30 to compensate for altitude.

I always go one size up on engines as these small units loose a lot of power at altitude. I am at 1500 mtrs ASL.

I made the mistake of using the recomended size (0.61) for the Typhoon and have paid the price as it is almost impossible to fly. It was slightly tail heavy and combined with insufficient power just fell out of the sky at take off. Once it is rebuilt I shall balance it slightly nose heavy but the performance wont be so good.

I am installing LADO Electric RS333 retracts and OLEO,s into the Spit. I have ordered the cowling and canopy but will get the wood cut here to save transport costs.

Keep up the good building, oh, sorry about your weather. (says he basking in the sun)

Robin in South Africa

[Herri]

Hi Robin,

I will be interested in seeing your retracts. I seem to rememeber reading about those on one of the forums but there was an availability issue (at the time)

 

I think I would exchange our dense air (its -2C here now and snow) for your warm & thin anyday

 

I have just shaved 4mm off my bearers and am now looking at the various possibilities as I would prefer to keep the robart wheels if possible.

 

Its very time consuming

 

Cheers

Herri

[Herri]

Not a great deal of progress today.

I have prepared the wing sheeting.

I use the same method as Danny. Sand the edges then use tape. (see Dannys thread)

 

Using Spitfire books as weights really helps

 

Today I have shaved 3.5mm off the U/C bearers.

This seems to make enough difference and the oleos clear the skin. I have also bent the axles as Mike suggested and this looks good.

 

This not only gives a better angle(as per Danny's drawing ) when down but also just clears the top skin when in. I have experimented with some rod and used approx 10 degrees. Of course, this is tweakable.

 

 

So I'm quite chuffed with the results. The next job is to glue the bearers in, recheck the U/C when the wings are joined (temp), then start gluing the top sheeting in place.

 

Question guys: what are you using to fasten the U/C to the bearers? 3mm nuts and bolts or screws ?

 

Cheers

Herri

[Danny Fenton]

Hi Herri looking really good

 

Just my two penneth on undercarriage retention..... I tend to use self tapping screws, strong enough not to break under normal load but also weak enough that they hopefully shear before the leg is ripped out

 

The top sheeting is fun when you do it in one piece, the sheeting curves become compound as you get near the tip  Have millions of pins and weights when you are ready. I used titbond, which is like a pva and doesn't dry before you get the frame glued up.

 

Anybody tried the ironing trick and got it to work? I think it needs a specific glue......

 

Cheers

Danny