Jump to content

DB Major Mannock


Paul james 8
 Share

Recommended Posts

I've just acquired one of these in good condition, the previous owner found the ailerons in just the bottom wing not too responsive so added them to top as well.

It currently has one of those awful electric motor things in the front (no pun intended) which I plan to remove to make way for a nice four stroke glow engine.

I have a freshly rebuilt Saito 115 which I reckon will be more than enough; they are a light engine for their size so should fit in well enough.

Has anyone got one of these or the plans as I'd like to try and find the baseline down and side thrust to apply when I fit the new engine bearers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted by Paul james 8 on 22/09/2018 16:00:14:

It currently has one of those awful electric motor things in the front (no pun intended).

Or indeed achieved.

"pun1

pʌn/
noun
noun: pun; plural noun: puns
1.
a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings."
BEB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had my Major Mannock as an oil soaked engineless hulk over twenty years ago. Still get it out a few times a year As original the engine had a heck of a lot downthrust,the sort of amount you may see on an old type free flight model.Now it has about three degrees down and no side thrust.

Engine is an Enya 90 four stroke which is ample. Aileron is on bottom wing only from one central servo via pushrods and bellcranks,elevators and rudder are pull pull cable.[ each elevator has it's own ] While not totaly neccesary mine is fitted with flying/landing wires [ I like the look and the whistle in the wires as it comes by ].

As for flying it is very much an aircraft of the early era of flight.Take off in anything more than a light breeze needs to be into wind,if you do not it will turn its self into wind or dig a wingtip in. Touchdown is much the same,on rollout as soon at the tail goes down it turns into wind.

Try turning with ailerons on their own and it just leans over and keeps going straight until the elevator sort of shoves it around in a wallowing way. However like many early aeroplanes rudder is the primary turning control and a good bootfull along with the aileron [ in fact it turns nicely on rudder alone] will stand it on a wingtip in a mo,and with a dose of up elevator it will turn very tight to get on the tail of that Fokker.

Cheers John.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 22/09/2018 16:27:22:
Posted by Paul james 8 on 22/09/2018 16:00:14:

It currently has one of those awful electric motor things in the front (no pun intended).

Or indeed achieved.

"pun1

pʌn/
noun
noun: pun; plural noun: puns
1.
a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings."
BEB

"currently" "electric motor" Oh well not to worry.... Pip pip old bean.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted by J D 8 on 22/09/2018 17:28:45:

Had my Major Mannock as an oil soaked engineless hulk over twenty years ago. Still get it out a few times a year As original the engine had a heck of a lot downthrust,the sort of amount you may see on an old type free flight model.Now it has about three degrees down and no side thrust.

Engine is an Enya 90 four stroke which is ample. Aileron is on bottom wing only from one central servo via pushrods and bellcranks,elevators and rudder are pull pull cable.[ each elevator has it's own ] While not totaly neccesary mine is fitted with flying/landing wires [ I like the look and the whistle in the wires as it comes by ].

As for flying it is very much an aircraft of the early era of flight.Take off in anything more than a light breeze needs to be into wind,if you do not it will turn its self into wind or dig a wingtip in. Touchdown is much the same,on rollout as soon at the tail goes down it turns into wind.

Try turning with ailerons on their own and it just leans over and keeps going straight until the elevator sort of shoves it around in a wallowing way. However like many early aeroplanes rudder is the primary turning control and a good bootfull along with the aileron [ in fact it turns nicely on rudder alone] will stand it on a wingtip in a mo,and with a dose of up elevator it will turn very tight to get on the tail of that Fokker.

Cheers John.

Muchly appreciated John! yes

I will aim at three degrees of down thrust when installing the new bearers. I'm inclined to make a 3/8" ply plate to go between the fuselage sides with the cut out for the engine, I guess I will need to cut a few vent slots into the bottom of the engine bay to allow some cooling air to pass through as well, any info on how you achieved that along with any other photos you have would be appreciated. I think it will easily stand the added weight of a layer of fine glass cloth in the engine and fuel tank bays to assist in the fuel proofing.

It will be interesting to see if any authority is added by including ailerons in the top wing but I take on board the comments about using rudder, as I had to do that with the Flair SE5A, to get decent turns.

It needs a bit of detailing but I'm not going over the top with it as it is never going to be a true scale model, as it is likely that I'll need to cut the top of the fuselage off at the front I may alter it to a rounded top section a bit more like the SE5A while I'm at it. Definitely one for those calmer days when landing and take off can be directly into wind but I couldn't resist it at the price and it hasn't got any oil soaking yet

I'm also doing a DB Sport and Scale 1/4 size Pup which is a very old (MK1) kit that was started a good while ago, probably before your Mannock saw the start of its oil soaking. That one will be a nice addition to my biplane fleet

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted by kc on 22/09/2018 17:49:41:

The plan for Mannock and Major Mannock is available from DB Sport & Scale

Thanks for that.yes

I was being tight fisted as I already have the fully built model so only needed minor additional info. Always worth asking for others experience of their builds I reckon.

I tend to adopt the adage that while "a wise mane learns from his mistakes", "a wiser one learns from the mistakes of others"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Currently" is not a pun - "current" would have been.

Anyway - the reason I'm gently pulling your leg is that some time ago we decided on this forum not to make disparging remarks about the power sources choosen by others - because it just leads to pointless argument. So let's refrain fronm it and instead enjoy celebrate what each of us chooses.

BEB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A club mate and I will be building the Giant Mannock. Tried for 3 hours to measure up a variety of Zenoah engines but none would fit into the front completely. In the end we settled for an Evolution 33gx I had spare. Hopefully we can tale enough good photos to start a proper thread over the winter/ early 2019.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted by cymaz on 23/09/2018 06:55:03:

A club mate and I will be building the Giant Mannock. Tried for 3 hours to measure up a variety of Zenoah engines but none would fit into the front completely. In the end we settled for an Evolution 33gx I had spare. Hopefully we can tale enough good photos to start a proper thread over the winter/ early 2019.

When you say "giant" is that a bigger version of the Major Mannock? If so did you just scale the plans up?

Hopefully it doesn't infringe forum etiquette to mention that those Evolution engines are pretty poorly made; I had one and the big end just wore away, the crank pin was used as the inner journal of the needle roller but was way too soft for the job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted by J D 8 on 22/09/2018 17:28:45:

Try turning with ailerons on their own and it just leans over and keeps going straight until the elevator sort of shoves it around in a wallowing way. However like many early aeroplanes rudder is the primary turning control and a good bootfull along with the aileron [ in fact it turns nicely on rudder alone] will stand it on a wingtip in a mo,and with a dose of up elevator it will turn very tight to get on the tail of that Fokker.

John, it sounds like there is quite a bit of adverse yaw in there if it banks but not turns with just aileron alone. No doubt you have a dollop of aileron differential dialled in to try and counteract it? Also the model has quite a bit of dihedral which might make it rather directionally stable. Have you considered mixing a bit of rudder with aileron too? If not you may find that it handles better. Also, might be easier than co-ordinating aileron and rudder manually? Just a thought.

Edited By Piers Bowlan on 23/09/2018 08:49:07

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted by cymaz on 23/09/2018 08:36:38:

No offence taken about your engine. I have been using 3 of them for a few years....no problems as yet.

My Number 1 build-man got them from ***this*** page on the site.

That is a big model! Should be very impressive in the air. Pity they don't show better photos of the built models on the DB page.

Glad you didn't take offence over my observations on the engine, it appears that we have to be very aware of the risk of offending snowflakes wherever we dare to tread these days. smileysmiley

Good forums here I reckon, I've had a lot of really helpful advice since getting back into the hobby.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Engine rocker box's radiator and fuel filler filler cap add to the look up front.Wind driven pump [ leggo part ] Vickers gun, Aldis gun sight and wind screen under center section. Pilot is my original 1960's Action man.

The upper wing was originaly held on by saddle clamps and 8 screws and took an age to put on,however a couple of years ago modified it with hooks holding the leading edge to the cabain and two wing bolts up through plate at the the rear.

Edited By J D 8 on 23/09/2018 11:34:26

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted by J D 8 on 23/09/2018 11:33:34:

Engine rocker box's radiator and fuel filler filler cap add to the look up front.Wind driven pump [ leggo part ] Vickers gun, Aldis gun sight and wind screen under center section. Pilot is my original 1960's Action man.

The upper wing was originaly held on by saddle clamps and 8 screws and took an age to put on,however a couple of years ago modified it with hooks holding the leading edge to the cabain and two wing bolts up through plate at the the rear.

Edited By J D 8 on 23/09/2018 11:34:26

Really handy photos John.

I'm thinking of making a louvred aluminium front panel for mine with some mesh behind it, should allow plenty of air through.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

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.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...