Building a Avicraft Frantic from scratch

[Craig Spence]

Hi all,

 

Ive left a few threads on here before about being a great fan of the Avicraft Frantic. I will soon be buying some kit to build my own, however theres a catch, it will be a Hybrid and will have a balsa wing opposed to a foam wing.

 

Because they no longer make the kits and havent got any plans for them anymore I have had to settle for a few changes, firstly the fuselage I will be useing is a Moronic Fuselage which is not that different to a Panics fuselage and therefore is not that different to a Frantic fuselage lol, thats a mouthfull.

 

So with this alone I will have to make the wing seat larger and make the fuselage as light as possible, the proper Frantic fuselage is alot smaller and thinner.

 

Im not really keen on the foam wing anyway so ive opted to make my own built up balsa wing much to the dismay of my local model shop (hes put alot of effort into getting some ribs lazor cut for me for this project and as theres never been a plan for a balsa wing I think a well dones in order when he gets it all sorted). It will have to be a two peice wing which I will join in the centre with some dowels through the ribs, balsa sheeting and glass weave.

 

Again the wing will have to be as light as poss as the old one was foam. The tailplane is almost identicle to a panic so i will be getting a kit form panic tail.

 

I hope to have the kit soon and begin work, when i do i will post photos on here for your amusement as i havent done a build for some time now lol.

 

Please if anyone has some advice for this sort of project please help, all advice is appreciated.

 

Many thanks all.

[Craig Spence]

Hi all,

 

well I bought the kit yesterday minus the wing (because they have to cut the ribs with a lazor cuttor out side the store).

 

Quite a simple build really, however, saying that it is the first model ive made with superglue instead of a pva based glue and my fingers are reaping the benifits lol. It also doesent sand that easily either.

 

Ive cut some holes to keep the weight down with some gaskin soft bore and im still to cut some holes and drill some in the firewall. I mounted it first so I could align things as I wanted them, I know its not the best idea but it seems good to me.

 

I think ill assemble the whole model with engine and servos once ive built it before covering it just to see if i need to work on any other parts.

 

Let me know if anyones got any tips or advice.

 

Many thanks.

 

Edited By Craig Spence on 09/01/2010 09:06:05

[Always broke]

If you are looking to save weight then build the wing in one piece. It will be a lot lighter . use full length 1/4" spars. Much easier to build , much more accurate and much lighter.

 

[Craig Spence]

Hi Always broke,

 

I wanted to build the wing in one peice as well, however my local model shop said that getting long enough wood thats good quality would be tough. Also they build Panics, Moronics and Frantics in the past.

 

They say that the Panic wing is a two peice as well, what they suggest doing is build the wing in two halfs, then put a small join in the middle, glue it together then put some balsa sheeting from the back of the leading edge sheeting to the trailing edge and glue it, giveing you strength over the two halfs, then glass cloth it.

 

Im going to do similar but drill small holes through the leading edge ribs and trailing, then push a dowel through the leading edge and trailing edge, then do as they suggest minus the glass cloth.

 

I think this will give more strength across the join.

 

What do you think?.

[Stephen Grigg]

I think you have to be much admired in the build you are carrying out,taking an interesting and challenging route for the model you want good luck Ill be watching with interest Regards Stephen

Edited By Stephen Grigg on 09/01/2010 09:58:20

[Always broke]

There is no problem doing it two halfs

I have done similar things with the dowel and it works well.

Local DIY stores are a great place to get long spars. Look in the rack with all the mouldings in.Cheap and fairly light.

Great model to have fun with. good luck and look forward to the rest of the build.

[Craig Spence]

Hi Steven,

 

thanks for the kind words, yeah it has been a challenge lol!, more so for my model shop who ive been pestering dayly to get the kit made up.

 

Im actually quite glad ive taken it on as well because I now know how to fix my other Frantic if it does break.

 

Cheers Steven.

[Craig Spence]

Hi Always broke,

 

Im glad to hear my theory with the dowels is OK. I think ill pop down the garden centre and have a look for some dowels, thats a good idea and closer than ,my model shop.

 

Oh can anyone advise on this please, should I cut hinge slots for mylar hinges before covering or after?, when it comes to that of course.

 

Also appologies to all for not takeing more photos of the build in progress of the fuselage, it is pretty simple just two fuz sides, glue some angled balsa to it along the fuz sides following the shape. Stick the top and bottom sheets on, then the cuts for the undercarriage and other cuts along the bend in the underside. Then add your firewall or vice versa. (I bet that makes no sense at all lol!)

 

Cheers.

[Always broke]

If you are using Mylar hinges then it is just as easy to cut them after the covering is finished. As they don't need such a big slot as conventional hinges you may struggle to find the slots again. I usually cut the slots with a hacksaw blade sharpened on the end.

Edited By Always broke on 09/01/2010 11:47:41

Edited By Always broke on 09/01/2010 11:48:03

[Craig Spence]

Hi Always broke,

 

that sounds a good idea, I just spoke to the model shop and they said that a normal stanley knife would be fine for slotting the hinges, just mark a line in the centre of your surface.

 

Well I suppose ill find out soon, trial and error and all that lol.

 

Cheers.

[Craig Spence]

Right ive got quite a bit of work done tonight, but im gonna post it in instalments as im tierd and wanna go to bed lol.

Ill start with the tail mounted servo, the original plane doesent have this but I asked at the shop and they said it would be OK if I wanted to do this. So I cut a hole in the tail then fitted the servo for size, I then realised that just screwing screws into soft balsa was no good. I cut some ply reinforcements and then cut some groves for them in the balsa, once snug I super glued them down, sanded them flush. I was quite pleased with my modification lol.

 

Heres some more pics and any advice appreciated.

 

Penciling the shape.

Carveing the slots.

Glued in position.

Sanded down and size tested.

 

Next parts tomorrow.

 

Cheers and goodnight.

[Craig Spence]

Hi all,

 

the next part ill display is the firewall, I mounted the firewall without drilling the hole for the fuel tank or holes for the bobbins which hold the mounting plate. I did this so I could see the best fit as the dowel for the wing pushes the fuel tank down.

Drilled a hole with a wood bit which was to small, but the largest size I had. I then opened it up with a multi tool sander.

Doesent look like much of a difference, but belive me it is.

Then I marked the holes through the engine mount plate.

I drilled the holes just slightly smaller than the thread of the bobbins, I did this on a reccomendation from the model shop which I wasent sure of until I fitted it. Basically I screwed the bobbbins into the holes and they are a great tight fit, this is what my local model shop said to do to avoid the use of nuts, this also prevents you tightening up to much and ruining the thread and hold. In my opinion a great idea and works fine on my other Frantic.

Nice and strong.

All done, ive removed the bobbins now for covering, although I think ill mount an engine tonight with the pushrod so I can dril my pushrod hole, ill also have to mount two servos for the other links.

 

Back soon.

[Craig Spence]

Some smaller jobs I got on with were, some small hard wood insert for the servos, cutting holes in the taill surfaces to make them lighter and the undercarriage mount.

 

The tail surfaces.

Ready and glued, now to be completed with Gaskin soft bore.

The finished product, I didnt want ot go over the top with holes and luckily stopped myself from making two as I realised it was very close to the elevator horn.

 

The simplest bit of the build so far was this, the servo wood installation. I had to add an extra bit of ply so the servos fit but thats it. The only problem I can foresee is drilling small holes to mount the servos, again ive left this as im going to assemble the whole thing to check legths and sizes.

Then I fitted the undercarriage, this believe it or not was very tough to screw the screws in, even with pilot holes. So I used a drill, again this will be taken off before covering.

 

Tonight I will be dry assembling the whole fuselage and doing some more little tasks untill my covering iron comes tomorrow, hopefully if the snow doesent distrupt the mail man.

Back soon.

[Stephen Grigg]

The build is coming on well and really fast Craig well done so far

[Craig Spence]

Cheers Stephen,

 

It is quite a simple build however the tricky bit is getting the engine and all the radio gear to fit in nicely and the throttle connection.

 

However saying that I have made one mistake which was the firewall or bulkhead, I dont have instructions and only noticed when I was drilling the holes for the bobbins.

 

It has angled wood glued either side but not top and bottom, opp's, but saying that it is very narrow top and bottom and the hold on the firewall is great and strong, Famous last word's lol, no it's fine.

 

Just doing the small stuff till the covering iron gets here, thats when the fun will begin. The last time I covered a model was when I was 17 and I was useing tissue and dope lol.

 

Cant wait.

[Stephen Grigg]

This snow is making the build threads go along nice and fast.its a thin fuz is it hence not a lot of space and thats why its fiddly is that right

[Craig Spence]

Yeah the snow made me getting this kit go even faster lol, the fuselage is thin and it would have been fiddly to cut the angled wood to get a good fit. But thats not why i did it, i havent got instructions as such only a brief from the shop and never knew about the firewall untill i checked my other plane out of curiosity.

 

But as I say its a thin fuz so should be fine as the hold is very strong.

[Craig Spence]

Well I dry assembled the plane the other night and drilled the hole for the throttle connection, It was wrong and I think im going to have to do something else for the throttle servo as the carb is in an orcward position.

 

Im going to leave it now untill ive covered the fuselage and tail section, once this is done im going to put the hinges in and glue the tailplane on.

 

Once the tailplane is done im going to fuel proof the fuz, ive been advised to do it before covering and then ive been advised to do it after covering, so im going with the later.

 

 

Im going to use some longer setting epoxy to keep down the bits of film that have overlapped the wing seat area and firewall or some pva then fuel proof the whole fuz, Ive done the rudder as well which ill download later along with the elevator.

[Craig Spence]

Ive now done the whole tail assembly, but yet again another mistake lol, it's easily solved thoguh.

Either side of the rudder there needs to be angled balsa, so ill just cut some film away and glue it, the problem will be covering it once its on lol!.

 

Heres what its roughly gonna look like, im going to do the hinges tonigh and glue the tail assembly on. Then off to work for two weeks, then back and do the rest and hopefully the wing as well, the hard bit, i think.

See you all tonight.

[Craig Spence]

Opps the rudders round the wrong way lol, good job ive not hinged it then.

[Stephen Grigg]

You must be pleased with the progress swo far Craig reall going well,pity about work getting in the way

[Craig Spence]

Yeah im quite happy really, my first IC build, first build for years really. I thought id struggle with the covering but it really is quite simple, I think I will struggle on the wing though ive never used Oracover or profilm before and I can see how stretching it over orcward corners and the ribs may become a problem. Any tips?, I think the other problems will be sorted as I carry on (hopefully), Im really looking forward to flying it now and seeing if it flys any better than my other one.

[Ian W]

Couple of good video's on the Solarfilm web site Craig, in one part the chap covers wing tips and awkward curves.  Same principles for all coverings I would think?

 

You should find the vids here: http://www.solarfilm.co.uk/instructions.html

 

Cheers

Ian

[Craig Spence]

Hi Ian,

 

cheers for that link im going to have a look now.

 

Cheers.

[Craig Spence]

Hi Ian,

 

There good videos, but the bloke is really boaring lol, he knows his stuff but I cant help feeing sleepy lol.

 

I think the way im doing it is pretty much the same as his, ill just have to take my time with the tips.

 

Cheers Ian.