Martian Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 it's looking good BEB I do like to see built up wings ..Oh your blurred pics are caused by camera shake rather than any fault a tripod would make a huge difference but of course you may already know this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 That camera shake is my trade mark Martian - if the pictures weren't blurred people would think that it wasn't me! OK, I've been flying today rather than building, so how about the next episode in the Tiffie History? To understand the next big event in the Typhoon's career we need to understand a little about the wider picture in the so-called Battle of Normandy. The fighting around Caen continued and despite securing the beacheheads and getting 8-10 miles inland quite quickly, the allied advance started to bog down. All along the stretch of the Normandy front the progress inland was running at 10-15 miles - rarely more. It was becoming a war of attrition, the Allies were deeply concerned that they were heading towards a re-run of WWI, with years of static trench warfare costing hundreds of thousands of lives to gain insignificant advances. The Americans were determined this would not happen and so launched Operation Cobra - a dynamic forceful attack towards the South West onto the German left flank. This attack was very successful. The American forces broke through, detaching the German left flank from the east coast of Northern France. This freed the Allies to rush forward towards the Brittany ports - this was obviously strategically significant. The Germans could not just ignore this - but there were differences of opinion as to what their reaction should be. The generals believed that they should fall back to the line of the Seine which would enable them to link up with other major German forces and where the natural geography would give them a naturally strong defensive position. Had they done this, the details of the outcome of the war may have been very different. But the generals' view did not prevail. Hitler was determined that "attack was the best means of defence" and as such demanded a counterattack. The Germans devised a plan to launch a bold attack to the West intended to regain the coast and cut off the advancing American forces. This plan was known as Operation Luttich (German for Liege). The forces to deliver the counterattack were to be; the XLVII Panzer Division, the 1st and 2nd SS Panzer Divisions, the 2nd and 116th Wehrmacht Panzer Divisions, two infantry Divisons and 5 "kampfgruppen" comparing the remains of the Panzer Lehr Division and 4 further infantry divisions. Basically all of the forces of the German 7th Army that could be spared from the main front. The attack was launched on the night of the 6/7 August - planned to benefit from the element of surprise. But thanks the breaking of the Enigma code, the Allies knew all about the plan. Although the German assault won early gains, within hours these started to be reversed. The 7th August was to be a red letter day in the history of the Typhoon, the 22 squadrons had a field day. Reverting to their ground attack role they quickly started mopping up German transport anywhere it could be found. The attack necessitated that the Germans move enmasse out into the open east of the Normandy village of Mortian, making them easy targets for Tiffies. The German plan included the provision of extensive air cover, including over 1,000 fighters, but in practice this never appeared and the Allies enjoyed total air supremacy leaving the Tiffies free to ply their trade. This exchange became known as the Battle of Mortain. There has been much controversy about exactly how many tanks the Typhoons actually destroyed around Mortain this day. But I feel such number games as this completely miss the point. Some have claimed that the chances of a rocket Typhoon actually hitting a single particular tank was about 4% - one in twenty five. But where the Typhoons were most effective was soft armour vehicles in groups - where accuracy was less critical. But even with tanks they had a devastating effect, would you sit quietly in a tank thinking you had a one in twenty five chance of being burnt alive in the next few seconds? Neither did many of the less experienced tanks crews - instead they ran for cover - personally I can't blame them! By nightfall on 7th August, the German attack was being repulsed - and the Tiffie deserves a significant part of the credit for that. It was largely thanks to them that the Panzer Divisions were neutralised. The battle rumbled on for 5 more days - but the result was never in doubt after the first day. The 7th of August is known as "The Day of the Typhoon" and if you cast your eye back you will see that I started this build of the 7th August 2013 - the 69th anniversary of this battle. This story doesn't end here. The battle of Mortain was significant - not just as a victory in its own right - but for what it led to, which was even more significant. But that will have to wait for the next instalment of the story! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stratton Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hi BEB, I'm enjoying watching your build progress on the Tiffi and look forward to reading and learning from your history of this interesting aircraft. Blurred photos are all part of the character of this blog! Will be a sad day when this thread ends but a happy one, to see this model in the air and in all its finery! Will you video the maiden flight and bomb drop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hi Glenn, thanks for the kind remarks - I'm pleased that you are enjoying it. I do like to really get into the history of the aeroplanes I build, I think its all part of the pleasure of the project. Re a video - yes I think so,...but knowing me it will probably be a bit blurred! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Todd Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Beb, just let me know when you maiden I'll come on down and do a full photo shoot on it for you including video. Now doesn't that take the pressure off? Linds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Thanks Linds - I'll take you up on that! Work is crazy and I'm having to work until late at night most evenings lately - so not as much shed time as I want. But tonight I thought "stuff 'em" I'm going to have some "me time". So, wing sheeting,.... First we obviously have to make up the sheets. There is - as we've seen - quite a crank in the wing (no comments please! ) So I've decided to sheet each wing in two parts; a centre piece, that will extend from the centre line outward to the crank, then an outer piece that will extend from the crank to the wing tip. This is less than ideal - but I have little confidence in my ability to get the otherwise required double curvature into the 2.5mm sheet without twisting the wing or finding bits that aren't glued down. It will give me a chord-wise join at the crank, but I'll make the join as good as I can and blend it with some micro-ballons and resin to mask any little blemishes. So that's the plan, let's make up some skins. As I've said before I've not done a lot of wing skins in the past - a few but not loads. When I've done them before I've always joined the sheets by first trimmimg the edges straight, then laying the wood on a flat surface, taping along the seam on the back, turning it over and opening the joint so that I could lay in some aliphatic. Close the joint, wipe it and put the sheet back down on the flat surface taped side down. This time I thought I'd try a different method - one suggested by the great Dave Platt (blessings be upon his mighty name). After trimming, lay the first two pieces butted togther on a piece of greaseproof paper,... This will be an outer wing skin. Now just tack them with a single drop of CA near each end and hold while that sets. This stops them moving around on you. Then run a line of thin CA along the seam. Once that has gone off reasonably, place the next sheet in position and again tack it top and bottom. Then again run in a thin line of CA along the seam. Let this dry. Then remove the sheet from the greaseproof paper - it won't really stick to it, just sort of tacked, the paper comes away without tearing - and turn the wood over. Finally I ran a very thin line of CA in from this other side, just in case there were any places where the CA hadn't quite wicked right through,... Move this to one side and start on the next one. My flat table has plenty of space to do two of these at once. Then we move on to the inner, or centre, sections,... These need four strips, but are shorter. As each pair of sheets is done simply add them to the pile, leaving the interleaved greasproof paper to stop them sticking to each other,... Finally place a last piece of greaseproof paper on top and add a moderate weight just to keep them all nice and flat,... The weight shouldn't be heavy - we don't want to crush them - just keep them flat. I'll leave those like that now overnight to "rest". Then I have to sand them all on both sides to make sure they are flat and smooth. Mr Platt tells us to do all the sanding on them at this stage and then not to sand them again once they are on the wing - to avoid the "straved horse" look! So how was it for you? Well I have to say this method is quicker than the other way and quite easy. So far, so good. The test will come of course when we try to put them on the model! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 23/10/2013 00:45:09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris larkins Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 It will be interesting to see how well the sheets sand after using CA, I have always found that the balsa sands at a faster rate than the CA thus proving difficult to sand evenly which is why balsa cement is very often used for this job as it sands at the same rate as the balsa. The model is looking great so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Well BEB I use thin CA for all my wing skins and they seem to come out okay If you do sand after the skins are on, use a block, be gentle, stay with the grain and use a paper that cuts not polishes. Just my two penneth and well done for trying all these new techniques, takes courage to step outside the comfort zone Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 Well look at that,...no progress in a week. It is, as I said above all down to work, which at the moment is absorbing just about every waking moment! But I've awarded myself the weekend off! Well, not completely off - but enough "off" to get some R&R in and given the weather forecast that looks like being Tiffie building! So, let's get the ball rolling again with a bit of Tiffie history to set the scene for the weekend,... We saw in the last instalment the Typhoons playing a major role in the Battle of Mortain on the 7th August 1944. Remember that the battle had come about because of a decisive American strike towards the Brittany coastal area. The Germans, under Hitler's direct orders had launched a desperate counterattack westwards aimed at cutting off the rapidly advancing American forces on their left flank. The German strategy was an error, the allies were expecting it and it drew the German armour out into the open in daylight - leaving them prey to the Typhoons. But we also observed at the end of that instalment that while this was a significant victory in its own right, the "Day of the Typhoon", as it became known, was only really the opening move in a much more decisive battle to follow. Realising the German defence was now seriously out of position, Montgomery immediately moved to take full advantage. The Germans now had the American First Army behind them (having come round the German left flank) and the British and Canadian Armies to the North and North-East in front of them. Montgomery saw the possibility of completely surrounding the entire German 7th Army. He ordered all the allied troops to "close the pocket" centred on the French town of Falaise. Over the coming days the Germans fought desperately to force a line of escape from the trap, and they nearly suceeded. In fact, had it not been for the Typhoons and general allied air supremacy, they may well have suceeded! But by the 21st August the Falaise Pocket was finally completely sealed by the allies and with it so was the fate of the German 7th Army. German loses in the resulting rout were enormous. The fighting was so severe, and the devastation caused by the Typhoons and other ground attack forces so total, that an accurate figure of the dead was impossible to determine. It is estimated that around 100,000 German troops were caught in the Falaise Pocket, of these something like 25,000 died, 40-50,000 were taken prisoner and about 20,000 escaped. A particularly distressing feature of the battle was the huge number of horses slain - the German Army still made significant use of horses for transport. These animals - unable to take cover - were slaughtered in their thousands in the brutal air attacks of the 2nd TAF that took place between the 12 and 21 of August. Elite German units suffered the most. The 12th Panzer Division were 20,000 strong with 150 tanks before the attack, at the time of their surrender they numbered just 300 and 10 tanks. Its estimated that in all the Germans lost 344 tanks, 2,500 soft-skinned vehicles and 252 heavy guns. Two days after the pocket was closed Paris was liberated. The crushing defeat at Falaise effectively ended German control in northern France and is seen as the end of Operation OverLord. But victory brought its own problems. Late August 1944 was very hot, soon the battle field was alive with maggots and flies. Pilots claimed that the stench of decay could be smelt from the air. Touring the battleground two days after the end of the fighting Eisenhower stated "I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante. It was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh." Many of the Typhoon pilots were effected by what they had done - perhaps not alone, but they knew they had played a major part in the scenes that were present after the battle. One pilot famously remarked "Mortain was a battle - Falaise was just a slaughter" Why was the devastation so complete? Well that has been discussed at length by historians. There would seem to be two main reasons. Firstly the Germans were caught in a situation where they simply could not, despite their bravery and best attempts, defend themselves. Outnumbered, surrounded, in the open and without air support they were "sitting ducks". Secondly, and several Typhoon pilots report this, there was among the allies a feeling of "we've finally got them". In short, the blood lust was up - this was pay-back for 5 years of fear and frustration. What ever the reasons, there can be no doubt about the fact that Falaise was one of the decisive battles of WWII and one in which the Typhoon fully unleased its tremendous destructive ability en masse. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 Well, the answer to Cessna' question was,....fine! That is the sheets sanded just fine. So with that done I laid a piece of my ever useful greaseproof paper (I use more of that than Mrs BEB does!) over the wing plan and marked out the outline - about 1cm wider all round to allow for the curve of the ribs and a bit of overlap. Then using this tracing as a guide I cut out the sheets,... The left hand side of this sheet still has to be trimmed square. Now I'd usually start with sheeting the upper wing surface, but in this case I have a lot of stuff (aileron hatches, undercarriage cutouts, bomb mounting point etc.) all fixed or effecting the lower wing skin - so I'm doing them first. Again I followed Mr Platt's method and used CA to fix this sheet. First carefully pinning the sheet in position along the false leading edge, then wick some CA into that. Once dry I just gradually worked back across the wing making absolutely sure the skin was in contact with the ribs and spars at all points. Simples! So the above photo shows the skin in place and you can see the small overlap at all the edges. We trim/sand this away and - Robert's your mothers brother,... Both lower outside wing panels done,... So now I have to cut the aileron hatch holes in this and fit the bomb holders. Then we move on to the lower centre sections. Just to finish - they say "it won't fly well unless you bleed on it". Well, trimming the overlap I had a little mishap with my scalpel - I forgot my old Dad's advice of both hands behind the cutting edge! Not serious - just a nick. But even a little bit of the stuff get's everywhere,... Ah well - at least that's the flying qualities taken care off! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 good job sir. be flying soon then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I've just been lurking on this thread but I have to say I'm humbled - darn fine job there, sir! Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Reynolds LaserCraft Services Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Been so busy myself just recently I havn't kept myself uptodate with this one, but I've just spent an hour catching up, and I have to say, absolutely brilliant. Picked up some tips along the way to boot. Can't wait to see her at Greenacres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 Well skinning the bottom of the wing continues with the centre section panels. Here's a view from above,... And a closer in detail shot,...("shot" Oh, get me! A couple of infocus photos and I'm beginning to sound like I know what I'm talking about with this photography lark. Don't worry the out of focus ones will be back soon!) And to finish off a couple of photos of the underneath,... A very slight gap between at the wing crank - but not too bad at all I think. That can be sorted with a little touch of micro-ballons and resin. As you can see I've done the cut-out for the landing gear mounts - no choice really as they sit with one corner just about flush with the top surface of the skin! We have quite a lot to do before we can apply the top skin; we need to fit the aileron hatches, the bomb pylons, do the cut-outs for the undercarriage and sort out the wiring. I need to order some servo extention leads! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 03/11/2013 17:45:07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 takes for ever at times dont it. never mind, it will be worth it in the end. looking good though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Your photography is getting better BEB. Very nice work indeed Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 BEB, can I ask how you keep the panels straight as you glue the sheet on? I always worry I might end up with a twist unless i jig the panel onto a rigid board, but then you can't access the underside to use cyno as you have done so I usually end up gobbing on PVA and weighting the sheet down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 Ah - good question! Obviously the chordwise joins in the sheeting are done over a rib. So what I did was I trimmed that side of the sheet with a long straightedge so it was, as precisely as I could make it, at right-angles to the grain. Then I placed the sheet on the wing, lining that side up along the centre of the rib. Now I have big hands(!) so I just spread my hand out over the sheet to hold it in that position. I push the front of the sheet hard against the leading edge and then pin it there - through the sheet and into the balsa leading edge. I place a pin in skewed at an angle - all the way up to the head - about every 6" or so. Once that is done I can pick up the wing with the sheet sort of "flapping about", turn it over and wick the CA into the leading edge contact from the front. Once that is done the position of the sheet is fixed. A quick check - folding the sheet back onto the wing - should reveal that its still perfectly aligned along the centre line of the rib. I then just work back from the leading edge doing all the spanwise bays at each step backwards. So all the front bays to the main spar, then all the mid-bays between the spars and finally I turn the wing around so the trailing edge is facing me and do the bit from the rear spar to the trailing edge. The whole operation is done without any jig and a lot of it is done holding the wing in my hands. This doesn't induce a twist because at no point is the skin or the wing under any stress - the wood of the skin is just bending naturally across the grain because we cut that edge at right angles to the grain and used it as our datuum. Now that's great as far as it goes - its the skin on the otherside that will cause the problems. There of course I have no choice but to use the aliphatic and weights. I think its this stage that causes a lot of the twists we see. If the wing isn't fully supported in a non-twisted way at this point then its the weights that twist the wing. This wing is particularly tricky I think because of the "gull wing" crank in it. I will, I think, need to improvise some sort of jig to support the outer panels while I skin them. The centre section is not so much of a problem because it has no dihedral, so all I need do there is provide some strip underneath the front and rear to stop it from rocking. But the outers are a different kettle of fish. Here I will need to support both them and the rest of the wing which will be canted up in the air! Any suggestions gratefully received! One idea I have come up with is to make a cradle for the outer panels with three blocks of wood fixed to a baseplate. These blocks would be roughly shaped to the profile of the underneath of the wing. I could then cover the underneath with cling film, place something like silicon sealant on the top of the blocks then press the wing into it - hey presto, instant locating and supporting jig. The weight of the rest of the wing could then be held on some supports. This jig would hold the wing whilst I loaded the sheeting down - hopefully stopping it from twisting. But this is quite a palaver - if anyone has a simpler idea I am open to suggestions! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 i do the top skins in the same way as you do the bottom skins. pin and glue the leading edge, then run cyano down each rib a little at a time and gently fold the skin down. hold it away slightly to run the next bead of glue down, until i get to the trailing edge, then run a bead along that and press down. not had a skin come off yet. fingers crossed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Hi BEB, I tend to do the Aliphatic thing for the final sheeting. Dave Platt says its not until the very last piece of sheeting goes on that the wing is "locked" in position, and from my experience he is right. I am not sure how much info TN has given on the plan without digging my copy out, but I make a rib "negative" in fact a few, one for the centre section in the case of the hurricane, and though its not shown one for the wing tip. Have you enough data to do like wise? Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 Posted by Tony Bennett on 04/11/2013 10:33:05: hold it away slightly to run the next bead of glue down. Yeap - that's a good point Tony. Because you can hold the wing in your hand with this method you can add a fairly generous drop of CA at one end of rib in a bay then tilt the wing so that the glue runs down the contact wicking into the join between the rib and the sheet all the way along. You just have to make sure you hold it in contact. Another thing while I remember. I had to change CA's for the last centre panel as the medium CA I was using (from Giant Shark) ran out and I had to switch. The only other I had that was suitable was some Pink Zap. Now this was a bit more fraught because Pink Zap goes off very quickly indeed whereas the medium CA I was using was just a little slower. The slightly slower stuff is definitely better I think. OK you have to hold the joint for 30 secs or so - but Zap can go off before you've even managed to put the bottle down on the bench and if you're not quite ready that would be a pain! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 04/11/2013 13:01:28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 i buy my ca from a place on ebay, works out at £3 ish a bottle, need to order some more as i am down to my last 2 bottles. it's med ca and takes 30 secs to dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Hi BEB Where are the aileron servos located? Can't see them near the ailerons... Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 Martyn - as ever your timing is impeccable! So right on cue.... ...tonight I've been fitting the aileron servos! We start by drilling some small holes around the hard points we fitted (what seems like ages ago) to make what will become the cut out,... Then we turn the wing over and play "dot-to-dot" with the scalpel (fitted with a nice sharp new blade!). That gives us this,... (I told you the fuzzy photos would be back! You spoke too soon about my photography improving Martyn) Anyway we now very carefully cut back those corners to expose the hard points, I did try to avoid getting glue on these when fitting the wing skin - but its of the nature of the beast that it wicks into everywhere to some degree - still it wasn't too bad, just a bit near the edges stuck down, a bit of scraping with the scalpel got it off. So now we have this,... And after a little fettling (well quite a lot of fettling actually - you don't like to over-play your hand when cutting away the sheeting!) we can drop the aileron servo plates in we made yonks ago,... Here's a couple of "end on" shots to show that they fit nice and flush to the skin. First the starboard wing,.... And then the port wing,.. And finally an overall wing shot to show where they are located relative to everything else,... Well, I guess its the bomb pylons next, and then the job I'm dreading,...cutting out the wheel wells. No stress of course, I'm just going to take whopping big cobs out of my carefully applied sheeting! Interestingly the starboard wing is heavier than the port wing - I must have been a bit more generous (heavy handed?) with the glue on that side. I did weigh and balance the wood out first - so it must be glue. Its not massive - but I've noticed that if you put the wing down supported in the middle it always sits starboard wing low. Obviously there is no point in doing anything about it at this stage - we'll wait until everything is together - but its worth making a mental note. BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 04/11/2013 22:14:42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Very neat. I was a bit worried in case you applied the top sheeting before the aileron servos went in. Getting the bales routed after the event would have been a challenge that I am sure you would like to avoid. Is that the 'Elf' in the background of the last picture waiting for some TLC? Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.