TN Hurricane

[Hugh Coleman]

A quick question guys.

I purchased a Dubro 14 Ounce tank to use in this.  I built up a cradle for it (keeping in mind that the Wing has still to go on) and fixed in place as low in the Fuselage as I could get it.

With the tank secured in the cradle, the CL of the outlet is about 3/4" higher than the Main Needle will be on the Carbie running an OS 72 Alpha inverted. 

As I see it, I have two options:

- Turn the tank upside down, thus lowering the outlet...

- Extending the Inlet Manifold so that the Carbie sits higher.

 

Any thoughts from those that have fitted 4-strokes?

 

Cheers,

 

Hugh

Edited By Hugh Coleman on 02/10/2009 04:09:16

[Doug Ireland]

Hi Hugh, adjusting the engine manifold sounds a bit drastic. I have a 12oz Kavan tank in mine and its just about spot on for my OS 70FS. It also left plenty of room for the onboard glow battery.

 

Will you be watching the cricket today?

Edited By Doug Ireland on 02/10/2009 04:26:54

[Hugh Coleman]

Thanks Doug.

 

Cricket?  What's that?

Sorry, I am philosophically opposed to organised ball sports (Probably a hang over from my Childhood years when I seriously lacked any ability to kick, catch or hit a ball).  I do like to watch womens beach volley ball though.

 

I think that turning the tank on it's back will probably be the best bet.  The outlet of the tank is right at the top edge of the front face.  I will have to adjust the attitude of the Vent pipe but that's not a phroblem.

 

Cheers,

 

Hugh

 

[Bruce Richards]

Hugh it not the level of the tank outlet that is important but the level of the fuel in the tank. I am not sure if your 3/4" is a problem or not with that engine but my guess is it will be fine.

[Hugh Coleman]

Thanks Bruce. 

I have been trying to find a definite definition as to what should line up with what. 

I am tempted to leave it as it is... But it will be a real pain to change later if it dun't work.

 

I will leave it. 

 

Cheers,

 

Hugh

 

 

[Bill Frost]

Hello All,

 

Another question, as my building of the wing progresses - this demonstrates my ignorance of airframe design principles I'm sure! For the Shear Webbing, which direction should the grain run in, along the wing, or down through the wing from top to bottom surface? I think I've rationalised it to being the former, ie along the wing, but I thought I'd better check.

In this half of the Hemisphere, the workshop is suddenly turning colder again!

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

[Rob Mirrlees]

Bill,

 

the grain in the webbing should down through the wing in a vertical manner to link the top and bottom spar, thus creating a solid structure. just ensure the webbing is also snug fit between ribs for maximum strength.

 

Second opinion would be worthwhile buts thats what i do

 

Thanks

Rob

[Toni Reynaud]

Hi Bill,

I second Rob - the grain on shear webbing should be vertical. With the sheeting on the top and bottom of the LE it creates a D-box section that is very srong. Also try to ensure a good fit sideways - no gaps between the ribs and shear webs. Not the easiest job in the world, but well worth doing right.

Regards

Toni

[Bill Frost]

Hi Rob and Toni,

 

Thanks for the info - just as well I checked before going ahead then!

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[Hugh Coleman]

Well, I have the Fuselage pretty much finished (sans nose cowling and Servo harware).  I like it a lot.  The Wing centre section is also layed out and glued... I just have to get hold of a Retract Servo so that I can set all that up and skin it.

The tail feathers were started last night...

Keep in mind that I have moved house and set up a new work shop in the mean time as well. 

I will try to post some photos soon.

 

Cheers,

 

Hugh

[Hugh Coleman]

Here are the long promised photos.

 

 

A little licence on the Horrizontal and Vertical Stabs... They were fabric covered after all.
Note that the tail feathers are not actually attached at this stage.

Also, I am putting the side thrust in the Fin and rudder rather than the firewall and engine mount, again as per the full sized jobbie (The full sized Hurricane had a 2° side thrust on the Vertical Stab)

 

Any comments welcome.

 

Cheers,

 

Hugh

 

[Doug Ireland]

I like what you've done to the tail Hugh. I'm still staring at the hash up I've made of the tailplane saddle I made some months ago and still haven't put it right yet!

[Myron Beaumont]

Hugh

Just a comment about your 2 degrees right side thrust on the fin/rudder which might make you feel good about it .

 When I was working at St Just aerodrome (the home of the "Islanders " that ran to the Isles of Scilly ) one of their pilots had a very small aeroplane he flew himself -full size that is -about 16 ft span biplane (he was only about 5 ft something himself) .Can't remember what the "kit" was called ,Anyway ,on the advice of an enthusiast living up the road in a Pendeens' small industrial unit , we built in 2 degrees on it . He could not believe the improvement it made to the way it flew & handled . Sadly he crashed the last I heard but that's another story . I think he pushed it too far ! Over confident- Maybe ?

[Joe D]

Hi all - I am building the Hurricane and have finished the fuselage.  Currently struggling to fit the oleo retracts (from unitracts) into the wing but wheels I have bouight are too deep(approx 30mm)  and wont fit in the wing cavity.  Can anyone recommend more suitable wheel (approx 20mm deep if poss) thanks a lot, Joe

[Bill R]

Hello all,

As a "newbie" and back in the hobby after 50 years my son (33) has kindly left me to build this aeroplane. It certainly lives up to being a "Builders model" especially when I have only built up 3 ARTF models  up to now. Using the free plans It started out as from the plan. The bits did not fit [F1] so son bought the CNC kit. The bits were the same as we had spent hours cutting out by hand! Using the many comments and valuable info on this forum I have managed to build up the outer airframe and tail bits. I notice that may of you builders have cut out the infill on the TE of the vertical stab where I have infilled on top of the base 3mm sheet and sanded to profile. Am I wrong?

A couple of other queries go like this:-

Do you cut out the rudder LE to accommodate the torque rod for the elevators as it is not shown on the plan?

Do you follow the hinge layout for the rudder as per the elevator as this is also not shown on the plan?

Are the wheels 3.5 inch or 4 inch as the mag and the plan book tell you different sizes?

Lastly, the name and reference number of retracts that fit with the oleos that were used in the plan.

Any help would be appreciated as I am in the deep end with this model, perhaps a little too deep as the wife is complaining about the dust from the sanding! perhaps i need a bigger shed / hanger?

Thanks in advance

Bill - Durham

[Bill R]

Hello Joe,

Seems like everyone has gone onto better things or flying this weekend. I got a pair of wheels from the local model shop. 3.5" in diameter and about 18mm deep.They are JP? white spoked ones as the shop had run out of black / grey ones. the plastic inner is fitted with soft type rubber treads,  apparently they suppress bounce.  They are not old/scale type but with a bit of paint on or 0.8mm balsa disks glued on they will look the part when finished.

As I have just come into the hobby this year, it is a bit difficult to get information about these little problems. I am on with the wings now and wondering how to sheet them up as the joints do not fall along any of the frame lines using 100mm sheet. It is ok for these gutys that have built models for years but a little frustrating when you are a bit green like me. It just takes longer to trawl the net looking for the info.

 

Regards,

Bill.

[Joe D]

Hello Bill

Thanks for the comments will see what I can find. 18mm should be perfect.   See what you mean about the sheeting but not started on that just yet.  I have made a few models now but have been taking my time on this one and have realy enjoyed the build so far!

regards Joe

[Bill Frost]

Hello Bill R,

Not everyone has finished building, I'd just come in from starting to sand the outer leading edges on the wing when I thought I'd check this thread for developments, as I'd not looked for quite a while!

My rate of progress is slow (even slower in the cold wet weather!). I'm building it following the sequence set out in the instructions. If you have a look back through this thread you'll see that I've made a few postings at various stages so far.

I too am relatively inexperienced at building, never having built scale before. Many of the stages do seem to pose fresh challenges don't they?  Building the wing seems in particular to have taken longer than I expected, and subjectively I feel that its quite heavy already, that's before covering it!  I also find that, after a lot of stages, you look back at the result and think: "could have done that differently/better!".

(Ironically, although I'd not been to Durham before this year, I was down at the end of November - I'm a little further North than you, out to the East of Edinburgh.)

Now, back to sanding the leading edge again - a certain amount of balsa dust seems to be being generated!

Regards,

Bill

[Bill R]

Hello Bill,

If you are sanding the LE then you are a lot further on than me. Held up here trying to work out the sheeting for the wings.Looking through the thread, some seem to have sheeted the centre section front to back while others appear to have sheeted across the wing. As the joints do not fall on stringers, do you use a piece of balsa underneath to strengthen the joint and give you a surface to attach the next sheet to? As this is my first real build project any advice would be welcome as to how the sheeting is done.

regards,

Bill R.

[Brian Lambert]

Bill R. if I am on the right track (and I have not built the Hurricane) the plan is usually to join the wing skin sheeting before attaching it to the wing, ie join the sheets edge to edge and then apply to the wing structure.

Brian

[Bill Frost]

Bill R

 

Hi - what I did (rightly or wrongly) was to sheet the wing laying planks (from fus to wingtip), cutting the centre plank's width down so that my joints lay over the main front and rear spars. I used one sheet per wing half, and didn't enjoy trying to "conform" the sheet so that it stuck down onto all the ribs, both allowing for the curvature front to back and taking account of the dihedral joint as well. I used a mixture of water on the outer surface once in place and weights to hold the sheeting down while it set. I've not yet dared to see how much/many twists I've got in my wing as a result of this "technique"!!

I'm sure that veteran builders will be shaking their heads, but that's how I did it.

Brian L - interesting idea sticking the sheets together first, hadn't thought of that in time - as the Hurricane wing is a fairly thick section though, I suspect that I'd have had fun trying to then stick it down without breaking the joints I'd made?

Regards,

Bill

[Bill R]

Hello Bill,

Thanks for the info. Brian's idea I had thought about, joining the sheets together at the edges. I intend using the medium balsa sheet rather than the hard type. The profile is thicker but I think will conform to the profile of the ribs better. I will dampen the sheets then pin them down before glueing. This should profile them into shape so that there is less stress on the frame when I do glue the sheets on. I have plenty of lead weights [sea fishing] so keeping things in place is no problem.

I have the wingtips glued on and roughly profiled leaving an edge on for the wing sheets to butt against. On with the ailerons this morning [Saturday]. I have 3 micro servo's from an old Walkera helicoptor but I dont think they are powerful enough to operate the ailerons. I am going to trawl the net for specs, just in case. They are very small!. Once I get the retracts in place and the wing servo's, then I will be covering and sanding but I think after Christmas. I am considering tissue and dope covering to give added strength to the model, plus it is easier to paint. Also thinking about covering the paint with spray on varnish the nflat it down with very fine wet and dry to take the shine off.

I am thinking also about a night fighter, all black with red letters and spinner but that will be around Easter by the time I am ready for painting.

 

Regards,

Bill R.

[Danny Fenton]

I hope you guys don't mind me joining in here?

I am not familiar with this particular build but have built a few wings. The best way I have found to do wing sheeting is to join the sheets first. I cut the sheets to length, if possible a little over if you can. But the important bit is that you lay the wood side by side (must be straight or there will be gaps, I have very long straight edge sanding blocks to true an entire sheet) Anyway lay the sections together butted long length to long length, (side by side). Then join the sheets on one side with a continuous length of masking tape down each joint. Turn the tapestry sheet over, and bend the sheet tape joint open, it will hinge easily from the back. Run a bead of glue (Super Phatic is the best) then lay the entire panel down with the tape face down. All the sections will close and excess glues will ooze out. Wipe the excess glue of. Weight the entire panel down evenly until it is dry. The next step is to lightly sand the entire sheet you have made. this is all taking place on your nice straight building board. If you try and sand the sheet once it is attached to the wing the pressure of sanding will be most effective over the ribs and not sand but deflect the sheeting between the ribs. This will create a look called the "hungry horse" it simply means you will sand waves or hollows. It doesn't look good.

Hope this helps.

Their are clear angle breaks between the wing sections on the hurricane, so sheet the centre section top in one piece then the tops of the two outer panels using another two sheets. Then do the under neath in the same way. I do not know Nigels plan specifically so the order may be different but the process should still apply.

Hope that helps?

 

Cheers

Danny

 

[Bill R]

Hi Danny,

Feel free to join in, especially with good information. The build plans don't show any details on the wing covering. I suppose it was not meant for newbies like me. The tape idea is good as the photographs of the builds do show the centre section first sheeted then the two wings from the dihedral. The centre section will probably take 4 sheets with the wings 3 sheets to cover the top and th same for the bottom. A further anomaly that I have noticed is that the plan calls in micro servo's but the instructions in the mag  calls for mini servo's. The depth of the wing at the aileron servo position is only 28mm. Trawled the net this am to check sizes. Eventually found some micro servos at 22mm deep at the amazing price of 4 for a tenner at BRSC hobbies in Newcastle: not a million miles from here!. Son is collecting them tomorrow along with the retract servo which is an ordinary type, not a dedicated retract servo - something to do with an operating angle greater than 90 degrees I think.. Retracts are coming from Slough models as their service in the past has been excellent. With all the snow we might get some serious building time in after boxing day so could have the wings completed by the turn of the year.

Thanks again for the info.

regards,

Bill R.

 

 

[Tim Mackey]

Personally I dont think I would like to trust those servos on model like this. I bought four also at a show this summer, and although they may be OK in a simple cheap foamy or similar....I didnt think much of the general build quality and centreing etc.

Lets be honest.... 4 for a tenner -  isnt this in-appropriate allocation of budget for a nice model like this?