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46 Inch Tony Nijhuis Mosquito build


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I'd seen one of these at the club and liked it, so when I saw a plan on ebay, I grabbed it and made a start.

I thought I would sit all the bits together, and get an idea of what it will look like when finished, so here is where I have got to so far.

The cockpit is my first attempt at moulding a pop bottle around a balsa plug. I'm fairly pleased with the result!

Motor's and sped controllers are on their way from GiantShark which is my first order from them in their latest itteration. (Can't believe they went with that name!)

I've even pondered a cheap set of HobbyKing retracts. Not sure yet!

I'm thinking of going with the prototype scheme, which means making another glazing 'bubble' for the nose.

Just need to find some 7x4 or 6x5.5 counter rotating props. Anyone have any ideas?

Edited By GrahamC on 06/06/2012 21:41:41

Edited By Chris Bott - Moderator on 09/03/2013 22:42:07

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Yes either mini ic (0.9's I think) or brushed motors and nicads - whatever they were!

I only used the finest quality Tango bottles! (and a strangely similar Aldi lemonade bottle)  Three attempts and chose the best. It was strangely satisfying crafting a component I needed out of rubbish! 

the nacelles will be sheeted and razor planed top and bottom (I love this bit of TN's designs) as soon as I have checked the motors for fit.

Edited By GrahamC on 07/06/2012 09:20:09

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My son's had one of these for a few years. It flies well on a pair of brushed 480's with gearboxes, these are as fitted to the old E-flite P-47, with opposite rotation props that came with the (also discontinued) E-flite P-38. Pulls about 20A from a 3s 2200 LiPo, so a 200-300W brushless setup should work well. He's currently looking at fitting Hobbyking electric retracts. They've arrived and there's plenty of room, but they've been diverted to another project.

I've fitted a trike set of the HK retracts to my E-flite P-38, also with the power setup above, and it goes well.

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Well I went ahead and ordered the retracts. For the price of the HK units, it will make a big difference!

So... I've set the nacelles aside untill they arrive. I may pull them apart and replace the middle 3mm balsa former with light ply to beef up the whole area for the retract. I reckon a 2.5inch wheel is scale, and there is only just room! I may go slighty smaller.

Found this pilot and thought I would paint him up to fit. He actually arrived in the box for the cockpit canopy of my TN Spitfire.along with a instrument binacle for a jet. Almost as if the vacuum formers were having a clear out! (Very odd!)

I know he should probably be flying a jet, but as they say; waste not want not!

Doesn't look too bad in his office

I have a thing for slightly different schemes, and have decided to go for the prototype in yellow ( w4050) which has a perspex nose so....

I've cut the nose off! I will use the off cut to make a plug for another pop bottle moulding.

I've filled the lumps and bumps on the fuselage with light weight filler and once that is dry and rubbed down, the fuselage is nearly ready for glassing.

I'm going to use very light weight glass cloth [17g/m2] on the fuselage, as it is easier to wrap around complex curves than tissue paper. I will tissue the wings and and tail surfaces.

Edited By Chris Bott - Moderator on 09/03/2013 22:43:03

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That looks great Graham. Good to see a 'different' colour scheme.

I'd be interested to know... is that 22 amps each - or all together?

Also, what kind of duration are you getting from that set up? I'm wondering about a smaller battery.

Do you remember how it was covered? and what size servos you have in it? Interested in that from the point of the AAW.

I'm using 14g metal gear micro servos so that might help with keeping the weight down, but there will be one in each nacelle for the ailerons. (I'm too young to know about torque rods! wink]

Graham

Edited By GrahamC on 13/06/2012 09:58:31

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Hi Graham

The "Scheme" is from the Mossie at Duxford, liked it when i was there a few years ago.

22 amps all up, 320 watts on 4s. Its more than enough, i use throttle management a lot on this one.

I'm usually down after 7 min, with still some in the" tank"

I have used 20g servos throughout.

Covering is solarfilm

All my balsa is sellected with a set of scales, I build VERY light. (And then chuck bigger batteries in)

Servos would work nicely in the nacells, i would still want to use torque rods though, no nasty linkages.

Graham

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  • 3 weeks later...

Right, time for an update! I am getting there!

I've fitted and masked the cocpit and nose dome, and here she is sat on the wheels for the first time.

The retracts are in. I know that they are not exactly scale, but its better IMHU than landing on the belly!

I want to be able to remove the motors, for maintainance, so.... The fire wall will be screwed to these ply pieces. They are epoxied in place, and anchored with cocktail sticks into the structure. Hopefully they wont pull out!


I wanted separate servos for the ailerons. There's not really room for cranks for the ailerons with the retracts, so I've made ply servo holders that screw in here, and I will have to live with an external push rod.

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The retracts sit in a 3mm ply plate which is epoxied to the nacelle sides, formers and balsa doublers. Then. I've then beefed up the sides with ply doublers above the retract plate. I'm hoping that it will be sufficient. We will see!

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Thanks Graham. I have finally managed to source a pair of matched counter rotating props from ebay, so that should help matters. I'm also planning using a slightly lighter battery. I normally set the timer for 6 minutes anyway, so I will experiment and see what kind of times I can get from various batteries, but I'm hoping that a 2200 3cell might be enough.

The retract units are probaby lighter than the legs. Fantastic bits of kit, and very cheap! They are the smaller HobbyKing units for planes up to 2.5 kilos. They are very solid indeed when down and locked, and to be honest I think that the ply plate is more likely to let go than the unit. If it is too heavy I guess they can come out and go in something else.

I'm planning metal gear 15g servos for ailerons and elevator, and a 9g on the rudder.

Edited By GrahamC on 08/07/2012 08:28:56

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've managed to get the main colour on today. I had a bit of a disaster, trying Humbrol enamel. I thinned it with enamel thinners but it wasn't really covering very well, so I set to with the sandpaper and then went back to what I know. Dulux emulsion paint this time, mixed in B&Q. Having messed around with the enamel, the finish is not brilliant, but it will be fine when a few details have been added.

The masking unfortunately allowed the paint to bleed a bit. I cleaned it up with accetone on cotton buds.

Posting this photo reminds me that I need to darken the inside of the radiators!

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The Mosquito is ready to maiden. Here is a quick video of the retracts working and a taxi around the garden. There seems to be plenty of power, and a slightly heavier battery than the 2200 3 cells I have at present should see the CofG spot on.

Unfortunately, the prop adapters that I have are not long enough for the prop and spinner. If she flies well, I will treat her to some new prop adaptors and some roundels and markings!
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Maiden flight.... Sorry its a bit wobbly in places! She is fairly small and fast.

Now I know that she flies, I have a few things to do. I have spinners for her, but the prop adapters I have are not long enough to take a prop and a spinner back plate, so I need to find some longer ones. I also need to find some decals. Again, I wanted to see how she flew before I spent any more on her!
She was very twitchy on the first flight, but on the second, I reduced the rates somewhat and she flew very well indeed. I'm a happy chap!
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I like your builds, they are interesting and innovative.

Nice Mossy, I like this plane a lot. Looks like a good flyer as well, great piloting.

Well done!

CS

PS. Subscribed to your Youtube channel. I'm Concorde Speedbird, expect Concorde comments and facts!

PPS. That video is 2:16 long, 216 is the registration number for G-BOAF, the last Concorde built. See?!

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