The Triplane/s build thread

[Rafa L]

Then I mounted the wings in the templates and cyano glued the struts and wings:

Wings + strut + templates formed quite a rigid set which I'd mount all together.  

[wess]

hi RAFa L and All.............quite remarkable and masterful approach to getting the incidence and stagger correct.....my method of eye-work, measurements and luck..now seems crude in the extreme . ..but it does fly!

these Depron jobs seem to need temp' jigs to help assembly a lot more than the old Balsa types.

lets have some more pics as you build on/

rgs wess

[Rafa L]

Hi all:

Before mountig the wings, I inserted some little pieces of CF rod in the internal struts an fuse:

Then, Mr Newton and a little epoxy helped me to mount the left wing set:

Then right wing panels:

And when epoxy set...

[Rafa L]

I add central section of top wing:

I cut the struts level with the wings, painted central panel and presto!:

Now I have to electrify my Tripe... I'll tell you about it!

[Roger Moffat]

Hi Rafa L, I'm enjoying your building thread imensly since I'm also building the Sopwith. I used 6mm Depron for the wings and 3mm for the rest. I still have some painting to do, and the electrics. Included a picture of my plane. Since I'm such a poor builder a friend helped me with the wings. Can't wait to fly her!!!!

[wess]

Hi Roger and All.......your model looks really good and is well advanced.....i am sure u will be pleased with the flight performance but i think it is best not to overpower her to start with.......my Sopwith has flown now quite a lot and with a few repairs now has a spec of....................9.125 oz...262gram..all up weight.....including .1250 mah lopo 2 cell....seems to like this heavier pack at 56g best.....prop is a small folder of 8x4.3.......motor is Potensky 50W  of..30g. 1000 rpm/volt ......model looks great climbing gently against the light on a calm evening.....could be WW1 evening patrol..!

good to hear from you.

wess

[Roger Moffat]

Hi Wess, thanks for your reply I'm relatively new on the electric scene and also very unsure as to what the right thing is to do. The system I'm going to use is:

 Outrunner 2428mn

 Max Current - 11A / 60s

 17500rpm

1380rpm / 1V

3cell Pack and

 7 x 3.5 prop

The whole system is currently in a Gentle Lady and she is not underpowered at all so I'm a bit worried because the Snipe is a lot smaller. Will there be any negative effects if I fly the plane costantly with a low throtle setting, to the motor or ESC that is.

[Tim Mackey]

In a word - no

[Roger Moffat]

Hi Timbo, thanks for your word. Took some time last night and started to read this whole thread from the beginning and realised that I almost tried to reinvent the wheel and that all the questions I had was already discussed answered and sorted out, so hopefully no more stupid questions from my side! I would like to hear some more flight reports of the snipe, for motivational reasons....... I'm a keen pilot but a lazy builder!

[Tim Mackey]

No stupid questions Roger...only stupid answers

My first flights with my sopwith version was a bit hairy - think my guess at wing incidences were a bit out

Very little power is required to fly nicely I suspect, unfortunately I have not yet re-flown her due to weather and other stuff.

[wess]

Hi Roger and All......i am not quite sure what motor you are proposing as 2428 i am not familiar with.....sound like it might be a bit hot i.e. powerful for the model..... have u got something like a 2208 /17 turns giving 1100/volt ...the wisemen and pundits seem to agree that 50 to 70 watts per pound makes-em fly really well....the Sopwith if u are a careful builder might come out all up weight at 8 oz so really u are looking for about say 40 watts that in theory equates to 4amps at 10v on a 3 cell pack or 6amps at 7 volts..on a 2cell pack.

 

Back to the aforesaid Electric Pundits.....i think they agree that using a ESC on light load results in the Mosfets (transistors)...not Muppets  dispersing more heat....so make sure it gets it’s fair share of cooling air! I believe if the ESC overheats at best it stops working and at worst it goes u/s unserviceable for ever!

 

The 7dia prop at 17000rpm seems to me to be far too fast for this model...i recon it will fly at about 56mph! with 3,5 pitch..... rather fast for this little depron bird....if u have a 2cell lipo i would try it for early flights......as these Tripes are small u dont want to fly them too far away and at that speed u wont have much time to grasp control.

 

PS.....i have enquired on the thread before for flight info from the Triplane builders without much success..seems there are more Triplane builders but not many flyers ready to relate their flight experiences with these models.....seems a pity

Rgs wess

[Ced]

Hi All, I enjoy reading this thread so much, I might start building another DR1. It may never fly, but what an enjoyable build. I would not mount the servos inside the fuselage as they are totally inaccessible. Didn't have much luck with the first flight due to battery trouble. Madb****r, Iain, tells me his flies very well. Needed more down thrust than on the drawing. Thank you guys for a very absorbing and enjoyable read. Lots to learn from it. Ced

[Tafkam]

Hi All,

Haven't looked in for ages. Nice to see more tripes under way. Tempted to do another myself if only to see if I can cram on a bit more detail. Want a lily gilded? I'm yer' man!

Wess, as far as flying is concerned not much to tell. Setup is still as per my post 203. Full power only required for those first few seconds after launch, when sky always seems a better option than ground! Handles about how you'd imagine a tall aeroplane with no ailerons. Slow to respond to rudder input at first then whammo! Idiosyncratic but not unpleasant. I believe the LSK found the full-size much the same in 1917. Ced is correct about me adding downthrust. First flight was all a bit sky/ground sky/ground as I cut power/opened up/cut power...... Cured with a bit of downthrust but don't ask for degrees. Approximately...enough.

Like you I operate on Mk1 eyeball. Nevertheless I am impressed by Rafa L and all the other jig workers. I guess I never expect depron models to last long enough to warrant the effort. If it isn't flight damage it's hangar rash. Only reason the DR1 has lasted this long is that weather in West of scotland has been almost unremittingly depron-unfriendly for ages!

Cheers, Iain

[Ced]

Ok, so Iain and myself are still looking in on this forum, probably the only ones. I'm sure that this isn't the place to ask this question, but if David or Timbo ever do look in, where can we get RCM&E plans that appeared free in past issues ? I've searched the mags and the website, but can find no trace. Maybe I'm not giving enough time to the search. Where would you look for another copy of the DR1 plan, for instance? Cheers, Ced

[Tim Mackey]

Well you could always order the actual back copy of the mag concerned...heres a link

As for whether David and I "ever look in " .....hmmm, I shall obviously have to get my post count up !

[Ced]

Thanks Timbo. I found a forum thread on plans, and clicked on the '3000 plans' symbol on the front page of this site. I found what I was looking for. I was very confused as so many plans are from my old Aero Modeller Plans Handbook from back in the 60s. Not easy to find what one is looking for. Thanks again, Ced

[Ced]

Thanks for the link, Timbo. They only have two back issues and one of those is the current one. Cheers, Ced

[Tim Mackey]

Hi Ced - thats only as an example - see the text from the order form below

"Just tell us which edition that you want whether it be old or new when you place your order (please write which edition/s you want on the customer notes section on your order form) and we will send it straight to your door! "

However...seems you are sorted now anyway.

[Ced]

Hi Timbo, Was looking for the May 2005 issue of RCM&E. Went to 'Back Issues', it says "hit the buy it now, and tell us which issue you want." In back issues there is NO 'buy it now', only "add to basket" and that gives you no option to write which issue you are looking for. Fiddicult. Cheers, Ced

[Tim Mackey]

leave it with me CED and I will see what we can do.....

[Ced]

Thanks.

[Cpt Biggles]

Hi All,

Just started my Fokker tripe and it is going well i have cut the wings 6mm bottom 3mm mid & upper and then bent them by rolling the wing over a broom handle on the bench.

i have half built the fuzz, but i now have some Q,

(1) how do you get to the Lipo or tx when fully built as the bottom wing is glued on?  

(2) how do you make the wheels

(3)  well i do not remember the third Q but there will be one!

oh now i remember has anyone built a 10% bigger tripe? mine will be 15% bigger because that is what my printer/copier has on it.

At 15% bigger it is still small and i will have problems finding a bottle the right size.

I am sorry if the above Q have been asked and answered already but a quick look through did not show the answers 

 regards toall

Cpt Biggles 

[Tafkam]

Hi Biggles.

Re Question 1)

If you study photos in original article you'll notice designer left access hole for LiPo under nose in front of wing. I did same on mine ( visible in one of pix in my post #201 ). I believe most people have done as I did and connected Rx during build. This way it remains buried for the duration. You should still be able to 'get to the  Tx.'  Hopefully you will find it on ground near model when you go to fly .

Sorry couldn't resist that.

Re Question 2)

My wheels are built up using O ring tyre, but this wouldn't work for 115% enlargement ( would be far too skinny ). Heat-shrink technique on empty 2L Coke bottle works well for cowls but as you say, you may struggle to find suitable item to use as former because of 15% size increase.

In view of enlargement you will need lots more power. At least you will have more room to develop access hatch solutions if you wish.

Many ways to make wheels and cowls. Depends on what facilities you have and where you intend to fly. Take too much space here. Message me if you want to discuss.

Cheers, Iain

[Cpt Biggles]

Hi Tafkam,

thank you for your reply  I did notice the hole in the fuz side and was puzzled as it's purpose but now i know

As i have increased the size i have also increased the power plant as follows

      SP 20A ESC Speed controller

      LM Loong max 800 2S1P 20C-30C Lipo Battery (Oops! it will not go though the little hole)

     EMAX CF2805 26 Gram Outrunner Brushless Motor 2840KV 14A  

I have not chosen a propeller yet, printed on the motor it suggests 5"/6" prop but in the info on the web site where i bought it it suggests 6/7" prop. what with watts amps and potentially lethal lipos to cope with I need to have a lie-down in a dark room.

Do not for one moment think that I know what I am doing, this is my first go at electric so I could be so so wrong about it all. and I know I will miss the IC smell of burning oil and Methanol !!!

I am not concerned over the cowl because if I can not find a pop bottle will make one (a cowl not a pop bottle)

I have a wood lathe, but I have never made wheels, I have always used commercial offerings so i would not know where to start making wheels.

I will  be flying off and hopefully with a bit of luck back onto grass.

just to let you know After a brief search i found the tx in a cupboard perhaps because i have not been flying yet.

I must admit that i only have one Rx on 2.4 so i am reluctant to encapsulate it in the model for ever 

[Ced]

Hi Cpt. Biggles, A good friend of mine has this to say about wanting to build a Fokker Triplane. " Go lie down in a darkened room till the feeling goes away." Not wishing to be too hard on you, if I was starting a project with a completely new system of which I had no knowledge, I think I would stick to the original design and instructions as closely as possible. There are enough pit-falls in that without you creating more. Most of the inherent faults have been sorted out in this forum. Ced