Murat Kece 1 Posted August 16 Share Posted August 16 I know the feeling Chris..I had a bad couple of weeks with 4 crashes!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted August 19 Author Share Posted August 19 Back in the Mid 90's I wanted to build a DC3 and I liked the DB kit so I started looking to see if kits were available. A friend of mine was a senior Captain with South African Airways and he often flew to London so he agreed that if I got the kit to his hotel he would bring it back for me. I spoke with David Boddington and he said that Inwood Models had a kit and a deal was done to get to the Hotel where the crew stayed. You must remember that this was sanction times for SA so it was not easy to get stuff and if you did it was very expensive due to all the restrictions and taxes! When Captain Karl Jensen got to the hotel he was horrified to see the size of the box and when he tried to get it into the crew transport for the trip to the airport it would not fit. He managed to get the hotel to keep the kit for another 4 days as he would be back then. On the return he found that the box was too big for taking on the tube and also a taxi. As luck would have it a South African Airways 747 Cargo crew was at the hotel and as they had a larger number of crew they had a larger bus so it was agreed that they would bring the kit back for me. It was old years eve when they got back to South Africa and I got a message that the kit was against the front Bulkhead of the 747 parked in front of the cargo building. It was a Saturday and I had no access to the flight line but my friend was a composite technician at SAA and he was working and had access to a SAA technical vehicle that was allowed in the flight line and he had a permit to go there. I went to the technical area and we climbed in the vehicle and drove through the security check point and drove the 2km down to the cargo section. We saw the 747, parked and climbed up the stairs in to the aircraft and there against the bulkhead was this massive box. We carried the box down, loaded into the vehicle and carefully drove back to the technical area expecting to be stopped at any time. The security checkpoint let us trough without checking what we had! Looking back it is hard to believe that we got away with all this but is why often the stories around the aircraft make them special! I am have started cutting parts to repair the broken Dak! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Great story! 'Old years eve'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 - Moderator Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 When a modeler had to do what a modeler had to do.👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 3 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said: Great story! 'Old years eve'? Day before new years eve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted August 21 Author Share Posted August 21 So on the eve of all this the repairs have started! Byron is busy with the fuselage and I have the wings to do. I have found that a repair is often far less work than originally thought especially if you have let some time pass. The center section parts are cut so the repairs will start. Byron is busy with the new nose and has made good progress. The retracts that we use in this aircraft are the ESM DC 3 retracts as they are the correct size for this scale. ESM stretched the center section and increased the height of the retracts to allow larger motors to be used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted August 22 Author Share Posted August 22 We unfortunately have another set of retracts made available for our DC 3's! Happened on Saturday at an airshow, bounced and flicked when power applied. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted August 23 Author Share Posted August 23 The repair of the center section has started, I have spiced in the new spars and have placed the ribs are in place. I hope to get most of this done this weekend as it is going to be a fiddle to get it straight and strong. Byron is continuing on the stab. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Gay Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 (edited) I do like the DC3. This is my own design 1/32nd sized version on it's short maiden flight. Unfortunately, it suffered from an almost terminal tip stall shortly after this photo was taken. A new wing is being constructed with more washout. Hopefully that will reduce, if not cure, the tip stall problem. Edited August 23 by Martin Gay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 Hi Martin I like the DC3, very cute. The tip stall is a problem and I am sure at that size even more so. I am in Johannesburg which is around 5500 feet above sea nd on a hot day this approaches the equivalent of around 8500 feet so it can be a challenge. The repairs are taking a lot of patience as each time I look I find more damage. The plug in tubes were damaged on the good side of the center section so that needs to be sorted and the 1 wing panel was missing a piece so I had to make up a new piece fill the gap. Due to the size I cut a new section from foam and sheeted with balsa and then fitted. The trick was to try keep the wash out in the panel. Lucky I still had the original outers from when the foam was originally cut so I could use these to help with the repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Gay Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 Looking at the work you are doing, Chris, it won't be long before your Dak is in the air again. I am hoping for another "maiden flight" at the next PSSA meeting in 24 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted October 11 Author Share Posted October 11 Overdue update on the progress. I completed all the wood repairs and am happy with the way things turned out. The parts were then shipped down the road to my son to do the final sanding and glassing and also the priming so we can test again. the primer should be done this weekend. The nacelles were a pain as we had to try get enough pieces together to make a new mold. Looks like Byron can be called a part time plastic surgeon as the nose job looks good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted October 11 Author Share Posted October 11 As we were doing a fair amount of glass work Byron asked if we could make a fuselage for one of his must do projects. We managed to borrow some molds so the intention is to make some fuselages for future projects, the molds are old and have been left outside so we are not sure how long they will still be usable. This is the first fuselage done, Corsair will be next in a few weeks time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted October 14 Author Share Posted October 14 Byron did lots of work on the DAK, the MS primer was sprayed and then the sanding, lots of it. A glass finish is a lot of work if you want a nice finish and also if you do not want to add too much weight. Panel lines done using a thin/narrow tape. The repairs cannot be seen which is great. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted October 14 Author Share Posted October 14 Rivets are done withglue 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted October 14 Author Share Posted October 14 Chart tape normally used for panel lines is very scarce in South Africa and if you can get it, it is very expensive. Byron found a product used for their nails which is available and cheap and this does the required task. 10 Rand is about 45p. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted October 22 Author Share Posted October 22 Byron completed the priming and detailing work that he wanted to do so the airframe was shipped back up the hill for me to do the equipment installation. I am very happy with the work that has been done as you cannot see any of the repairs that were made. The center section is the most work as it is the heart of the aircraft as the u/c, motors, esc's, batteries and receiver are all mounted here. The nacelles and cowl mounting are also lots of work with lots of trial and error. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted November 19 Author Share Posted November 19 I see it is almost a moth since the last update! The installation of all the equipment is complete, we need to do all the checks to ensure all is correct and then we can test fly it. Quite happy with how it has all gone back together so I hope we will be rewarded with a landing! The center section has most of the equipment, the fuselage just has 3 servos and quite a lot of lead! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Walby Posted November 19 Share Posted November 19 Hi Chris, Could I trouble you for a couple extra photos of the UC in particular the retract mechanism/actuator part? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted November 20 Author Share Posted November 20 Hi Chris. Pictures as requested. Standard ESM units, these are the electric ones but the air ones are the same concept. ESM stretched the center section and undercart to allow for larger engines to be used. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Walby Posted November 20 Share Posted November 20 Thanks Chris, That gives me some more ideas as to how I will solve my retract problem. I had previously tried this approach on a TN DC3, but when I tried compressing the oleo the play in the retract trunnion looked like its would all fold up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted November 22 Author Share Posted November 22 The full size DC3 was a tough bird, this one landed after a midair collision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted November 25 Author Share Posted November 25 I am relieved to report that we managed to test fly the DC3 and managed a landing! It was a short flight as the wind was not great and we had an old set of lipo's for the test flight as we did not want to risk a good set! The repairs seem to be good a very little trimming was needed. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manish Chandrayan Posted November 25 Share Posted November 25 Congratulations on a successful repair and re-maiden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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.