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Building an Airsail DHC1 Chipmunk


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Thanks for your comments and kind words Danny, Colin, John and Bill. It may be a while before it's maiden but will definitely post a report on it when it happens. And, yes, I will certainly be using the flaps - I have watched full size DH1s on YouTube and the flaps don't seem to extend very far, maybe 30 deg? Anyway that is what I have set mine to for starters. I see Pete Lowe is writing up on his Airsail kit so will be interested to follow that one up. BUT, did you notice that his elevators are inside the tips? What's that all about?

David

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Thanks, Andrew. Yes, a video. Must try to remember that one. Colin, thanks for the flap settings, good to know. With my Tx unfortunately I only have the gear switch/channel to use for the flaps so they will be full up or full down. Hence my going for the coarser setting. After it's maiden I can make adjustments if needed.

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Hi All

My Airsail kit duly arrived from Kevin in good condition. I've made a start and have a rudder and fin finished up to final sanding and a stab/elevator assembly well in progress. The construction methods are pretty conventional but a bit let down by the manual. Basically the pics are not clear enough. The plan, however is excellent and very clear. Just need to really understand what to do before I do it !! Along with the build I'm looking to get the motor and ESC combination. I reckon it needs about 700 watts and will use a 4S lipo through a 60Amp ESC. Is that about right ?Any comments regarding this would be welcomed.

Best regards

Colin

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David If I recall the "Silver and chrome ,I think ,yellow " scheme was a 1950's scheme for most trainers of that period. Provosts and Jet Provosts had that scheme too and a few more as well but can't recall them all. Later schemes included /DAYGLOW Red tips and so on. Quite striking~ The Red and white scheme is a good one too. Was it one of the display teams? Woodvale was my' drome near Southport ih the silver and yellow scheme. actually my fave. My fist model chippie was Kiel Kraft kit 20 " rubber job when I was 10 Three and six or 11 I think Ahh! those were the days. eh! Any way beautiful job. .Looking forward to vids.

Fly safe

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Ready for FlightHi guys

I have been flying my chippy for the past 3 years, as far as the nose overs go I have only had a couple.

I bend the u/c legs forward slightly which helps. It's a bit of a balancing act on landing, trying to apply enough up elevator to hold the tail down without getting airborne again, this aircraft is a real floater, especially with flaps down.

Its great seeing all the chipmunk activity on these forums, it's always been my favourite aircraft,

Keep up the good work.

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You are absolutely right, Danny and John. All I had to do was look up my own blog about page 2! It was ZK BAP. So sorry about the mix up. The advice is still good though, also I have had to add about 13 oz of ballast in the nose to get the CG right. This brings the final auw to 7.5 lb. This now gives it a new wing loading of 23 oz/ sq. ft. - still acceptable but the extra weight would more usefully have been employed using a bigger motor. All worth thinking about for the new projects out there.

David

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Getting the cg too far back is always one of my worries, the most extreme example for me was my Depron Barnstormer project, where the nose ballast pretty much wiped out the weight saved by using Depron in the first place! It's one of the reasons I've experimented with putting a lot of Depron into the Bryant Chipmunk, but focused on the structure behind the cg. Having said that, I don't think it will finish up as the lightest build but hopefully won't need too much weight up front. Wouldn't be the first time that I got it badly wrong though.

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Took the Chippie out to the club field on Sunday for it's maiden and ran into a couple of problems. It had a fuel leak somewhere and the accessibility to the plug was trickier than expected. It worked OK on the bench but trying to locate the plug driver onto the plug through the hole in the cowl was a real shot in the dark. So back home I found the fuel leak in a split tube going into the carb, and I fitted a remote plug into the cowl on the same side as the remote fuel filler. When the weather clears I'll give it another go. We've just had a narrow brush with cyclone "Pam" ; nothing too serious - poor old Vanuatu copped the worst of it.

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Sends like you will be fine next time David. The remote plug connector anf fuel filler are my usual choices and I expect that I will do exactly the same again. It's a relief to hear that you avoided the cyclone, commiserations for the unfortunate people in Vanuatu though, very sad for them and let's hope that they get the help that they need.

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I have to say that I get a bit nervous with remote applications because it is all something else that can go wrong. But needs must be. I'm on the west coast of the North Island of NZ so was sheltered from "Pam" as she slid down past the east coast and out to sea. But the Chatham Islands got it pretty bad. That's as close as I ever want to be to one of those nasties!

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Never had any cooling problems with mine - even on the occasional sunny day in Blighty!

I assume you've left the area at the rear of the cowling open? On mine, there's a gap approaching 1/4 of an inch from the curve of the top decking right round underneath. The inlet is positioned hicely by the cylinder and I haven't had to add any baffling - but it's always an option...

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  • 1 month later...
Posted by David Richardson 2 on 18/03/2015 00:43:26:

Another thing... While I had the motor running out the field the motor got VERY hot. What's the general feeling about cooling with the Chipmunk? There isn't much cooling.

Hi David, I suggest putting some baffles inside the cowl to direct incoming air to the fins. That is what I will to do with my 1/5 scale Apache Aviation chipmunk. I believe it will make a big difference. It was recommended by the owner of Apache Aviation.

Your model has a beautiful paint finish.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi all

Just to let you know that I'm, still here. The build was started in March and has generally gone well. I tend to build in blocks and complete each block as far as possible before moving on. To date I have the tail group almost finished with the rudder and elevators finished and first coat sprayed. The fin and stab are finished and covered with natural tex, not yet sprayed.

The wing main structure is completed and the ailerons and flaps are being dry fitted at the moment. It will be a four servo wing and these have to be fitted. Aileron servo leads have been installed.

The fus group is finished up to the fitting of the wing. The motor box has been prepared and is ready for final fitting to the main fus 'tank etc' mounting structure.

Lots left to do but progress has been made.

Best regards

Colin

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