Evans Volksplane free plan for beginners?

[Den Moran]

Hello! Just a few observations (and helpful solutions!) on the free plan for the Evans Volksplane in the August RCM& E- I am a first time scale builder, and this little number is quoted as :’…a great scale project for first time builders’:

The covering Article/notes:

1. Sheeting up – no mention of type of sheeting used (except in one small section – obviously a relative, sniff) – learner solution, ask for advice from mates at club, sheeting suppliers, the deity.

2. Cover and finish – no mention of ANY covering used, (possibly the sheeting, no DON’T mention the sheeting!), but some handy pointers on exhaust stubs and windscreens. Learner solution use wallpaper and paint.

The Plan

1. R u listening/looking/praying? I hope so, because the letter ‘R’ presents a huge problem here, as does the systematic counting system of 1,2,3,…etc. Why? Because there are plainly two sets of R type ribs mentioned. The smaller set are for the RUDDER, fancy having to work that out,tut,tut - you,you first-time builder you!

Now the real kicker –counting outward from the wingroot/fuselage – R1,R2,R3, looking good so far , R4, R5,R5,R5, er, then R4 x 3, WHAT? BE patient you FTB you – look on the page carefully – Oh, Joy! It’s there, R4 in all its glory, but what’s this, it’s the same length as R5, so what about the R4 at the end of the wing, - look you FTB! No, can’t find it, not there!

R you still with me, now look at the R5 section – it has little recesses top and bottom towards the back, presumably to fair in the unmentionable sheeting. But, like the dogs with no tails, they must have run out of recesses with the R4’s.

Now this kind of thing confuses us first timers, as well as the sheeting suppliers, who kept asking me did I want ply, tile, or slate!

Having said all this, the photos are really helpful, I’ve decided to finish mine with Dulux Weathershield, so it’ll be ok in the rain, and it looks a great build! Thank you for your patience, Den Moran

[Andy48]

First rule of thumb when building from these plans is to assume the plan is wrong. You'll usually be proved right several times over.

Second rule of thumb is that the narrative will always be missing at least one crucial part of the build.

Happy building.

Edited By Martin Phillips on 05/08/2013 13:24:32

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I haven't got the mag to hand but sheeting normally implies balsa - most plans state all material balsa unless stated otherwise (or similar).

Do the ribs in question change due to aileron requirements perhaps?

[kc]

First of all have you looked at the original Peter Miller article? It's online here on Modelflying I think.

Next the original hand drawn plan as sold for years has the ribs shown differently they show that some ribs R3 are to the dotted line only ( i.e they are recessed 1/16 for the sheeting.)     ( I have corrected the rib number and 12 are needed)

Some have extra large spar cutouts as shown by dotted lines.
Sheeting is always crossgrain on a fuselage and 1/16th balsa on this model. It's stiffer crossgrain.
I will photograph the original rib drawing which will make this clearer.

Edited By kc on 05/08/2013 15:27:36

[kc]

It might be easier to make all ribs to the dotted line and use capstrips. Note my pencilled notes re qty and R3, also the spar rib cutouts shown dotted for some ribs.

[kc]

First time scale builders really means people who have already built some sports models from plans and are now ready to move up to scale models.
Sports models are easier! In that era all modellers built their own trainer then built other models. Today most start with ARTF trainers.
Something like the Swamp Rat in the magazine will be much more straightforward.

[Den Moran]

Thanks for that everyone! I'll use all that info to good effect - I'm not a novice, but this is the first scale attempt. I'm also doing a twenties aircraft from (my own design) scratch - it was the 'easy build bit' that threw me ! Ranks with '- I found mine in a skip, deserted bank, railway siding, in grannies underwear - I'm sure we've all seen this type thing - my favourite is 'you can get it in B&Q'!!! huh! Once again, thanks very much, brill response as usual. Den

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Not too sure how serious your post is, Den but bear in mind that only the centre and mid-span bays in addition to the D box are sheeted, which explains the use of the recessed ribs in mid-span.

Rather interesting that when following a couple of the links from the build article that it seems you can buy the plans for the full size at a similar price to the half scale model plans.

Even odder is that the half scale model is shown as 86" span - and the full size is 24 feet?!?! When I was at school, it would have worked out to 144" but that's what we get from years of inflation, metrification and EU membership, I suppose...

Edited By Martin Harris on 05/08/2013 21:02:53

[Den Moran]

Hi, Martin, it IS tongue in cheek, but the photo info kc sent me clarified things greatly. I think PM is a great designer, and follow all his new stuff. For relative beginners like myself, the well-trodden pathways are not always apparent, so a self-congratulory pre-statement like 'easy for ' (scale) beginners always starts alarm bells ringing!

I laughed at your measurement conclusion - us oldies have a nasty habit of being correct with things like accurate measurement!!

When I was teaching, my form used to shout out a sum, and the game was that I had to give the answer before they could do it on a calculator. They were always astonished when I did this, but, as I tried to explain, being brought up in the imperial system ( and playing darts!) gave us a head start! Den

[kc]

By comparing the original plan with the newly drawn free plan I see that the ribs have been re-numbered! If building from the free plan ignore the rib numbers shown on my photo, but follow the principle (i.e. some ribs are reduced to allow for sheeting and/or have modified spar slots.
Also check whether F2 recess for TE seems correct ( looks too small to me )
F5 seems to have an extra bit near TE to allow for not sheeting underneath. This does not seem to be on original, maybe the new plan is correct?

[Peter Miller]

Sorry. There really should be some sort of system to let me know when a New thread is posted in the "Peter MIller Plan Builders" section. Just spotted this.

To be honest I haven't even unfolded the free plan and I don't have the original now. THat must have been designed the best part of 30 years ago and I don't remember anything about it.

I can say that you can't get a much simpler scale model to build. Not a curved line in sight, everyrthing dead square. IT was a nice model and I keep being tempted to do another one one day.

There has been some discussion on another thread about the tailplane hinge not allowing down elevator.

The one that I used actually had a large pin and allowed the hinge to close enough to provide down elevator.