Colin Leighfield Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 Now I’m sorting out the double bay interplane struts, fitting the top wing and sorting out the top ailerons. For hinges on the control surfaces I am finding out that narrow strips cut from furry hinges and glued in with cyano work well. Putting it together it looks as if somehow I haven’t got the profile of the one piece struts quite right, I will do some work on those tomorrow. The shape of the nose and front top decking sanded from blue foam look right, quite happy with that bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Colin That's a simple indoor model? More like true scale but made of foam! Whilst it is generally accepted that once the US put itself on a war footing in WWII it was only a matter of time before it would out produce everybody in virtually every field but I am pretty sure if WWi had gone through 1919 it would have done the same particularly with aeroplanes as at the time they were relatively simple to produce in quantity and with the benefit of a population big enough to provide the pilots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 Thank you Simon, it is actually pretty much spot on and I hope will be a respectable indoor scale model. I’ve just carefully made a paper template of the profile between the wings at the centre section to use as a master for correcting the interplane struts, which aren’t very good, I need to get that right to ensure that the wings are straight and parallel to each other! The top wing is tacked onto the cabane at present and wonky, all of that will be resolved later today and I will then make the undercarriage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 A couple of busy work days have got in the way, as well as the realisation that I hadn’t done a good job of the interplane and cabane struts, laminated from Depron and 1/32” balsa. I’ve scrapped them, re-drawn them more accurately and made them from 1/16” balsa. Much better and it is going together now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 I’m quite pleased with this. From tomorrow I will be away for two weeks, so it has to wait until I get back. The wire undercarriage is soldered up, I will make the wheels next. The plan is to have it ready for Shawbury on 13 May. James is making a MicroAces Fokker D VIII, so hopefully we will have that, plus the Ares Spad and Fokker DVII. I’ve just tried to put photos on and once again I can’t get the index to scroll through. I will try later with another email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 It worked this time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Lovely little subject, Colin. I suspect you to have some sunny holidays AGAIN... anyhow, as I'm just envious, please enjoy... Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 I confess that you are right Chris, very good but it has negative consequences for the building programme! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 As an early riser, I couldn’t resist doing a bit more before leaving. A very quick job using the compass cutters to cut out two 1/16” (ok, 1.5 mm)! Balsa discs and two more from 3mm Depron. Glued together and lightly sanded to get the tyre profile. I couldn’t resist putting them on the plane to see how it sits, although it’s a bit wonky without the brass tube bushes I will insert into the hubs. A bit of tyre black paint and shallow paper cones to get the shape right and we will be in business. Not a great deal to do when I get back. Weight so far 63 gms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 I got home on Sunday night. I have some heavy work commitments but am fitting this in with the view of first flight on 13 May. Finished off the wheels made from laminates of 1/32 ply, 1/32 balsa and 3 mm Depron, with aluminium tube centre bearing. I soldered the axle onto the undercarriage cross brace, leaving sufficient of it free to be able to bend and provide springing in the same way as the split axle on the full size. Most disappointing is my lack of success in keeping the wings in a consistent profile, there is some mishapednesd between the ribs. It is at least equal both sides. I’m going to fly it anyway and if it is promising will make a better set of wings later, they are quick and easy. The weight as you see it now is 65 gms. Sorry the photos are in the wrong order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Vrandecic -Mes Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Hello Dear Colin , perfectly.... I do not expect anything less than your professional quality... The best wishes to your family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted April 29, 2018 Author Share Posted April 29, 2018 Nice to hear from you Jo, I trust that all is well with you. I am putting the pressure on to finish this small project. Shawbury on 13 May will be the end of indoor for me until September and I want to fly this in order to decide plans for next year. Tail skid made from 3mm balsa and 0032” wire. Undercarriage “ wing” made from 3 bits of 3mm Depron with slot at the top to allow the undercarriage axle to flex in a scale fashion. I connected the top ailerons to the bottom using rods exactly as the full size. Then I ran into trouble setting up, the short throw linear servos keep jamming up, even disconnected and I can see no reason for it. I’ve ordered some long throw versions from Micron as an alternative, Andy is always prompt with orders so hopefully I can sort this in a couple of days. In the meantime I will get on with finishing everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted May 5, 2018 Author Share Posted May 5, 2018 I’ve got the ailerons working, servos driving the bottom ones and the top driven by connecting rods, exactly to scale. The surface radiator fitted Albatros style in the upper wing section is a feature and I’ve tried to make a passable replica using 1 mm heat shrink tube and 1 mm Depron. The number of tubes isn’t correct but painted matt black it is reasonable. I’ve also used the 1 mm heat shrink to create the hose connecting the engine to the radiator. Doing this made it clear that I have got the upper wing set too far forward, not sure how I managed to do that. Clearly a major error from the scale point of view and a result of not properly preparing drawings in advance. I want to get this flying now and will sort out consequent c of g issues. Something to come back to later. It is ready for detailing tidying up and finishing now. It has to fly next weekend. Edited By Colin Leighfield on 05/05/2018 21:55:18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted May 6, 2018 Author Share Posted May 6, 2018 Although I will be dismantling this to refit or replace the wings at some point, I want it to look reasonable for a test flight st Shawbury, so I’ve done a quick paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 All the best with your test-flight, Colin. Bring it back home safely, please. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted May 6, 2018 Author Share Posted May 6, 2018 Thank you Chris! The cock-up with the upper wing position means that it is going to need 10/15 gms of nose weight to get the c of g right, which is a lot on something like this. Therefore I won’t add the scale detail such as rigging, guns etc until I have sorted the wings out later. I will probably remake the wings completely, (if it comes back in one piece next week), I’m not happy with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 I’ve done the usual pre-proper test flights in our cul de sac, very risky and not sure whether the neighbours are laughing behind the curtains or quietly ‘phoning for the men in white coats to come and take me away. The stupid and inexcusable cock-up that has positioned the top wing about 1/2” too far forward has taken 20mgs of nose weight to get the c of g to anywhere close for flying purposes and taken a planned flying weight of about 80 gms up to 100, no good at all. Even so the tiny geared motor with a 1S 160 mah Lipo gets it off the deck sharpish. However it is clearly longitudinally unstable and needs to be fixed properly. There won’t be time to make the proper wing alterations for tomorrow so I won’t attempt a flight in the hangar at Shawbury, that clearly will be asking for trouble. I will persevere and make a proper job of this, I think it is promising and might even go to the lengths of making some built up wings. We’ll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 Rushing things never pays and the attempt to knock the wings together quickly by simply curving 3mm Depron and adding light ribs didn’t work this time, whereas it worked well in the BipeOne. I used too much undercamber and in the process of using a hot air gun to assist the process of curving just finished up with wings that were distorted in all of the wrong directions. To top it all my “eyeball engineering” completely messed up by fitting the top wing too far forward. This time I have carefully drawn it all up to ensure that when everything is fitted together it will fall correctly into place. Also,the wings are now double surfaced, with 1mm Depron lower surface and 0.5mm Depron upper skins. Ribs are 1mm Depron, cabane and interplane struts will again be 1/16”” balsa. Here is the bottom wing going together. The full size wing uses a typical WW1 fighter aerofoil section, thin and slightly undercambered. I have used the scale section this time, although I have drawn a straight line across the undercamber to create a flat bottom for simplicity of construction. This wing has come out spot on, absolutely true, no warping or twists, so I am happy with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted June 7, 2018 Author Share Posted June 7, 2018 The wings have gone together well and the whole thing is both more accurate and more likely to fly than before! The amount of cutting and alteration has left it looking a bit sorry for itself but that will be sorted out. I’ve set it with 0 degrees incidence on the lower wing and 2 on the upper, giving it a mean of 1degree which I think should be about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 Ready for detail now, rigging, guns etc and painting. It looks right and is scale accurate. The problem will be the usual one, weight. It is now 90 gms with battery and that doesn’t leave much to play with. I think if I want a serious version for next year it will have to be balsa and tissue. Even so it’s an interesting exercise in small scale modelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Very nice little bird, Colin. I will look great with its final deco scheme. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted June 13, 2018 Author Share Posted June 13, 2018 Thanks Chris. I don’t think it is of great interest, but there is certainly a fascination to me in bringing something like this back to life after a century or so. It has a lot of period character and would be well worth reproducing in a larger version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 I look forward to this flying at Shawbury later in the year Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted June 13, 2018 Author Share Posted June 13, 2018 Thank you Danny, fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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