32" Tailwind - Electric..

[Cyclicscooby]

Hi all..
After fluffing up my other post, I've started again, but this time with pics that WORK..

This is my first scratch build, although I have done a Guillows Cub, so I don't know if that counts.. Especially as I RC'ed it, made it VERY heavy, and crashed it..!! (It still lives )

So.. Here the story starts, at the fuselage sides and tail.. I got carried away and forgot to take pics up until this point..
I also hadn't fully read (read as 'at all') Peters build instructions in the mag, where it says, do the wings first.. !!! Opps..
I haven't stuck to the plan religiously, I improvised where I had to, but not because I think I know better, just that I have a limited choice at my local shop..
Heres the build so far then.. Scaled down 66% to 32", that's not a real Landy..

I used Hardwood in parts of the tail planes for added strength

Using some Ally tube and CF rod to hold it together, I cut and sanded the rib pack to shape..

Ribs finished, and stacked ready to start the wing..

First wing coming together well. I opted to use Ally tube to hold the wings on, as I have the next size up, which this slides into snuggly, so thats what i'm using for the wing tubes in the fuse..

 

 

I know theres not alot to them yet, but I balanced them anyway.. Perfic..

Weighing down the leading edge of the lower sheet.. I knew those old 6v Yuasa's would come in useful..

You can also see two lengths of 1.6mm CF rod running thru the wing.. An

addition on my part. Dont know if it'll help, but can't hurt..

The wing servos are fitted.. This is my fist go at a servo 'hatch', and i'm quite chuffed..
I used E-flite S75's on the Ailerons, and S60's on the flaps (7.5g & 6g)

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Luv

Chrisie.. xx

 

[Cyclicscooby]

I remembered to drill a hole for the wing strut before I put on the top sheet..!! Drilled for a 2mm CF rod..

Finally starting to take shape..
Glueing F3 and making sure everything is square.. I had to buy extra tools to make so many bits square.. !!

 

And then F2

With F2 & F3 dry, I started to bring the rear end together. Whilst it was fiddly to get the cross members in, even tho i'd pre-cut them all, the fuselage did 'bend' straight down the line..

 

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The 'thread' i'm using is normal wire, stripped of insulation, then three strands are pulled out. One end of these 3 strands goes in the Vice, the other end into the Dremel. 1-2 seconds later, you have nice, tight, thin, wire 'tread'...

 

As I'm using Ally wing tubes I cant solder the binding thread on, so... I'm binding extra wire and using liberal amounts of epoxy, and just to make sure, a coating of CA..

 

One bit of wire used for the whole length of the tube

Undercarriage and front wing tube re-enforcement bars bent to shape, from spring steel.

Front wing tube re-enforcement bars in place. Same as the rears, Epoxy + CA..

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To finish off, wood strips 'Cap' the tubes.

Luv

Chrisie.. xx

[Cyclicscooby]

Now the rear end has fully dried, I started fitting the rear platforms.
Lower first..

Then upper..

Then side panels.. Not entirely sure if I was supposed to do this, but it made the stringers flush, and must help with strength.. !?

Fitted the landing gear, complete with Peters essential 'free' tubes to allow torsional twist..

She's standing on her own two feet... Horrah.. !!

I cut a central slot in this member, before putting the top plate in, to locate the tailplane

Like so..

Tail glued inplace

Here's one of my improvised bits.. Peters original uses bent metal to hold the clevis' but I had enuf 2mm CF rod left over, so used that instead..

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My original Motorbox. I reckon it's pointing up a bit.. !!
Either way, I didn't think the nose would fit over the end.. Also.. I'd spent ages trying to get the bind nuts in. I didn't listen to Peter and do it before...

So, I cut off the top front corner of the motorbox, fitted the bindnuts and refitted a panel. Now there's enuf space for the nose..

The windscreen dowels went in next..

[Cyclicscooby]

Nose.. At last..
I cut the side panels out and glued a square frame at the front and rear.. I used tape to hold it in place whilst I checked the clearances

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I found some shock spacers for my 1/8 car that I used to create a standoff mount for the nose

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Then made a keyhole backplate that lined up with the mounts..

Trial fit with the proper mounts

Nose fully panelled and sanded

This is the original nose fit. The top panel overlaps the cockpit panel. Nice, but unfortunately when I fit the glass windscreen, it'll get in the way..

So I lopped it off and made a lip on the cockpit end, to help locate the screen when it goes on.

I wasn't going to add the cowl box bit, but the plane looked wrong with the nose as it was, so I made one in the end, although its smaller than the plan.. But it has a purpose

A landing light.. :D
The lense is a spare one from a spotlight kit I got for my 1/10 Landy, trimmed on two sides to fit the narrow cowl.

Back to the rear.. One last job before covering. Snakes in a plane.. haha.. Soz..

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Phew.. Thats part One done..

 

I was going to do a separate post for the second part, but i'm gonna carry on here instead, so prepare for even more pics...

 

Luv

Chrisie... xx

[Cyclicscooby]

All the parts ready to cover..

I have to be honest here.. I planned to put a light blue/torquise flash on the nose continuing over the wing, but I got carried away.. I put a purple flash underneath but I didnt cut the middle out, thought it looked OK, but then I didnt.. To late to change, I added more purple to make it look like it was supposed to be like that...
So whilst i'm happy with my first attempt at 'tissue art', the pattern wasn't as I planned

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I know its a bit sad, but Ive always kept interesting packaging for my Wood store, plastic store, and foam store. You never know when it could be useful...

The example here is from a fly-whacking eletrofied tennis racket which I used for all the windows in this build 

The side windows cut out..

... and stuck in with a bit of PVA

The top hatch built up. 4 screws holding the plastic on, and a single rear screw holding the panel on. There are lips at the front of the hatch to keep it in place..

After finishing the nose, the prop was a bit too close, so I had to add spacers to the motor mount to shove it forward. I ended up using m3 lock nuts..

Control rods made..

Edited By chrisie webb on 15/06/2011 15:18:21

[Cyclicscooby]

As I said, I didn't plan the colour scheme, it just kinda happened, but good tissue practice never the less..

Its Finished...

The hole in the nose looked too big so I used some of the mesh grill, i'm using for the Heli, to fill in the frontage.. The mesh is from Halfords in the body repair section..
The LED has a 'frosted' lense over it..!

Tissuing over the edge of the servo hatch is something i'll try and avoid next time.. !! You can also make out the CF pins that hold in the hinges..

Top hatch painted..

I almost forgot the struts.. !

I used two LE strips and glued them back to back to create a rounded strut. I used Peters method to the letter, which I wouldn't have done on my own, but it works well. The hole in the Fuse is covered up by the strut..

I kept the wheel off a cheapy Cub I had ages ago..
Theres a 2mm CF rod glued into the fuse, then I bound n glued the Cub wheel on..

Yes, I'm STILL on 35Mhz... Tut.. I hastily glued two bits of ally tube to the tail top, to act as an Aerial guide..

At this point I weighed it.. Peters was 66oz, so mine shud be 44oz as its 66%..
Well it came in at 20.8oz and 21.7oz with a 450 and 850Mah lipo.. Only 1 third the weight of Peters, excellent..

[Cyclicscooby]

That was until I started balancing it..

I ended up needing 27g in the nose, with the battery as far forward as it can go

I had planned to wait until she'd flown, before adding extra weight with a landing light switch, but as I needed weight, I thought i'd fit it in the nose now..

Theres a 6g servo, on a 'Y' lead with a flap. This operates a micro switch which turns the 0.5W LED on.
To power it, there's a 1s 70mAh lipo between F1 & F2

Testing with the 1s Lipo..

The switch unit came in a 11g, but it only removed 9g off the nose weight as it was mounted further back. So I still had 18g to add.
I could have used pennies, but saved space by filled some brass tube with solder instead. I Ended up needed the brass/solder plus 2p..

Weights glued in place..

Final pic, re-balancing on the knives... It looks slightly nose down to be honest, but the lipo is still as far forward as it can be, so moving that back will give me some play..

So there you have it. My First 'proper' plan build, Guillows aside..

I've yet to fly it, as it's been far to windy here..

It took me a leisurely 4 weeks to build but could have been done in less time..
Its a lovely quirky looking thing, but was relatively easy because of the flat sides. I'd definately suggest it to people..

It got me in the plane-making mood too, and i've since built a 36" Edge shockie in a week

I hope you enjoyed all 75 pics, and I haven't bored you all to sleep.

Thanks to Peter for designing a ace plan...

Luv
Chrisie... xx

[Peter Miller]

Hi Chrisie.

 

Well, what can I say. I am impressed with your building for a first scratch build. The model is not an easy build at all and you have done really well.

 

Comments. By reducing the span to 32" you reduced the area to 160 sq. in. so your wing loading is 19.8 ounces per square foot. so your wing loading is comparable.

 

Wing area and wing loading are the important figures, not just span.

 

The hardwood in the tail was totally unnecessary and was the reason for needing weight in the nose. Never add unnecessary weight at the tail, it needs a lot more weight in the nose to compensate.

 

I would say that lifting the wing from the board as you did is not the best idea. keeping the wing pinned down and raising the sheet to the leading edge is better as doing it my way makes sure that there can be no warps creeping in.

 

I hope that the aluminium tube will do the job.

 

I do have one bone to pick with you.

 

Your colour scheme is very smart and would grace any non scale model but the Witman Tailwind is a scale model. There are lots of colour schemes to choose from, even if they are not quite right for this particular aircraft.

 

Why spend ages building a scale model and then ruining it by inventing a completely imaginary colour scheme.

 

Please keep your obvious artistic skill for non scale models.

 

I know that lots of people will say that I should not criticise this but it is a pet hate of mine.

 

 

Edited By Peter Miller on 15/06/2011 18:39:24

[Cyclicscooby]

Wow.. Bad paint is the worst bit.. !! COOL..

 

I appreciate the feedback..

 

I'm not that successful with planes, and I thought a couple of bits of hardwood would stop the tail breaking when I have a tip over... Which I will.. But totally valid point

 

The wing glueing i'll take on board for next time, makes sense..

 

As far as the colours go... I'm not offended at all.. If I saw a nice scale RC Landrover in a stupid colour, it would ruin it for me, so I know where you're coming from. I don't follow the real aircraft scene enuf to be bothered about colour..

 

Either way i'm really chuffed you approve of my build, if not the appearance..

 

Luv

Chrisie.. xx

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Terrific job there, let us know how it flies please.