airwalk

Im starting a new form,on a 1/2 scale baron.I have built the house of balsa bonanza,the top flight bonanza,and the royal 310.I really liked the top flight bonanza,and the royal 310 but the wing spans are very large.The house of balsa bonanza had a 36 inch wingspan,a lot easier to haul and store.Then there was the nice feature of putting the 1/2 scale in your den,after a day of flying, so you could look at it .Were the larger scale planes would be stored in the garage. I really liked the beechcrath baron,with its sleak lines. I started with the house of balsa fuselage,then things got kind of nuts. I widen and lenghten the fuselage,like the baron 58. I drew up scale wing plans, and built up the wing by using contest balsa. The fuselage will be made out of fiberglass with panel lines. In the attached pictures the fuselage is the plug,which a mold will be made from. The cardboard engine patterns to give me a idea of were the engines will go.Every thing is in white primer,so the pictures are not the best I started this project a few years back,and now just a month ago I got back to it. What i need to know is what would the normal weight would be on a plane this size with a 48 inch wingspan? Any help and sugestions would be greatly appreciated on this project!

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Great looking plane! 36 ozs is the heaviest it should be with a pair of .049s. Make sure that you can kill both engines at the same time, even with 1 engine idling it is easy to spin in. Have a pair of micro servos to pinch off the fuel lines, this is much more important than having throttle control. Even though a lot of guys would do the twin with electric motors, the sound of 2 engines is priceless.

airwalk

Thanks for the fine compliments on the plane. Ill try and shoot fot the weight of 36 oz or lower if possible. I was thinking of running electric motors,as i used them before. I agree.the sound of two fuel engines really do sound nice! Ill post more pictures as I build the plane. Thanks for the help!

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Let us know how it flies. I'll bet it turns out to be a great flyer.

airwalk

Got a little more done on the baron tonight. I added ,what I guess is the air intake on the left side of the front of the nose.Tomorrow I will sand everything to the right shape. Got the panel lines done. All of the ones that I could see in pictures on the internet anyway. Next will be the door hinges. I included a few pictures of the slow progress. one picture shows the very eary stages of the baron,around two years ago. Behind the baron is a 310 G ,built from scratch from royal plans tha I got on ebay. I built the complete plane from wood,then made fiberglass molds to which I pulled a complete fiberglass plane as you see in the picture. I never did fly the plane,as I was new to flying. Then Top Flite came out with there 310. I still have the plane and molds,and would like to build a 310 R with the longer nose in the future. The wingspan is 72 inches wide. I have more pictures of this 310 when I find them ,Ill post them on this forum. Anyway its been fun!

airwalk

Got a little more done on the baron tonight. I added ,what I guess is the air intake on the left side of the front of the nose.Tomorrow I will sand everything to the right shape. Got the panel lines done. All of the ones that I could see in pictures on the internet anyway. Next will be the door hinges. I included a few pictures of the slow progress. one picture shows the very eary stages of the baron,around two years ago. Behind the baron is a 310 G ,built from scratch from royal plans tha I got on ebay. I built the complete plane from wood,then made fiberglass molds to which I pulled a complete fiberglass plane as you see in the picture. I never did fly the plane,as I was new to flying. Then Top Flite came out with there 310. I still have the plane and molds,and would like to build a 310 R with the longer nose in the future. The wingspan is 72 inches wide. I have more pictures of this 310 when I find them ,Ill post them on this forum. Anyway its been fun!

propbuster

My Feedback: (1)

Very Nice!![8D]

airwalk

Well I finally got a little more done on the baron project over the weekend.We had a blizzard here in the midwest with snow and hight winds,so it was a good weekend to stay inside and work on the baron. I got most of the detail done,which included panel lines,cargo door handle,door with hinges etc. I then started to make the mold parting board. This toke most of the day!I hope to get the fuselage molded this week if everything goes as planed. Ill post more pictures as I move along with the project.

CastorTroy2150

My Feedback: (10)

Any chance of getting one of these in a kit when you are finished? , sorry you jsut do such a great job. That has got to be one of the most perfect molds Ive seen,ever! I wish I could do something this cool, never really extensively worked with fiberglass as a mold. Anyway, she is coming beautifully. Follwing faithfully!

Half-A-Hec

Wow that is coming along nicely. How big is your Vacuum forming table? I am assuming that we are looking at ABS molds that were vacuum formed in sections? Right? I am watching this build with much interest as well.


Hec

Bipe Flyer

It looks beautiful so far! I'm looking forward to updates.

airwalk

Hi guys, Thanks for the great complients on the plane and my molding. The pictures you see are the plug,in white primer.This was sanded with 400 grit and finally down to 2000 grit. tThat is why it looks like a plastic plug. Its layed in a wooden table,along with styrene sheeting cut to fit the outline of the plane.I try to get a very close fit to the plug as possible,so I dont have to use much clay. The fuselage will be made from fiberglass and carbon fiber.This way it will be light and strong.Im new to carbon fiber,and will need some advice on this layup later. I waxed the plug with 3 coats of wax,then sprayed pva over this.The pva layed perfect smooth over the plug this afternoon. I posted a picture of this tonight. castortroy 2150 you asked about making a kit for other people,if the mold turns out ok I would be happy to make a kit for anyone that might be interested.I will have to figure out what to do with the wing. I could make it up as a balsa build with plans, or a complete fiberglass build. With fiberglass I could add the detail such as seams. and corrugated detail on the air control surfaces.so I would have to figure that area out yet. I also included a couple of pictures of the feb 2009 Aopa pilot! Great pictures and article! along with the beautfull baron on the cover. Ill talk to you guys later,as im going to start molding the baron tomorrow.Ill post more pictures as I progress along.

Andrew

Airwalk -

That plug is quite a work of art in itself. If the fuselage turns out half as nice, it will be quite a showpiece.

andrew

airwalk

Thanks Andrew!I hope it turns out good to.Ill know by the end of this week.

Andrew

How is your original plug constructed? I've never done anything similar, other than some simple balsa buildups for pulling canopies, so could you walk me through the basic steps of getting to where you are now.

andrew

airwalk

Ill try to walk you thru the steps the best that I can.First you make a master or plug. this can be made from blue foam,balsa wood. plaster,etc.You carve the material blue foam,or balsa wood,to the shape of the plane that you want to model.You do this by carving the material to the shape you looking for.Then you fine sand the plug to the the final shape of the plane. On this baron I used the house of balsa bonanza plans to build the basic shape of the plane. I widen the fuselage to the scale width of the real plane.I used wood and balsa to do this. the long nose was carved from blue foam and gluded to the front of the plane. The body was lenghted to the correct scale,by using balsa wood. After the body was sanded,I applied 4 oz fiberglass cloth over the complete body.I used epoxy resin to seal the cloth,When dry, sand down all the high spots.I then used bondo to fill all of the pin holes and low spots.Then sand and repeat the step.Then I used white primer over this. The primer I used is made by plastic coat,it fills nice and sands easy.I usually put on a lot of coats on so I can scribe in panel lines etc.But before you scribe lines onto the plane you sand it down with 800 grit sandpaper When you have the plane smooth,you wet sand it with 2000 grit sandpaper. Then wax the plug with wax and if you can spray pva over the complete plane. Now you are up to the steps that you see in the now posted pictures. I used this type of building since 1997 you can check out my builds on www.deboerhulls.com. I hope this answer some of your questions.Talk to you later.

airwalk

Here are a couple of pictures of the first half of the baron mold.The first picture shows the plug covered with gray epoxy gel-coat. Two coats are used,along with 5 layers of 6oz fiberglass cloth. backing boards for a more solid mold,and so you can stand the mold up for layups.It looks messey! and it was! one side done one to go.

airwalk

A brief update. Here are three pictures of the compteted baron mold. First picture shows the second half of the plug to be molded. the other pictures show the finished molds with the plug removed. The molds turned out real nice! with no damage to the main plug.Hope to layup a completed fuselage next week. untell then.

CastorTroy2150

My Feedback: (10)

If only I could give you a giant high five right now haha, that has GOT to be the cleanest, best looking mold I have ever seen..... I jsut hope and pray that a kit from you when you start selling them wont be to expensve. Cause I can already tell the craftmanship will be amazing haha. Looking forward to your next post, I subscribed so every time my Blackberry beeps I get excited haha. Tip top work! pleasure watching you work.!

airwalk

Had some time over the holiday to lay up the baron fuselage. This was a sort of a trial run you might say.Anyway I used 4oz cloth and carbon fiber for this layup.The fuselage came out really nice,with all of the detail molded in.The weight was around 7 oz,and I think I can improve on this with the next layup.The fuselage came out strong and feeling light.Thanks for the complements on the molds castortroy2150,it seems like it toke a lot of time to finish them,but now they are done.Anyway can you or anyone tell me what kind of mirco radio would weight ?Im up to 20 oz, and I have to add the radio ,electric motors,and battery.I would appreciate any help anyone can give me on these areas.I would like to keep the weight of the plane below 36oz if possible. Well untell next time.

Half-A-Hec

That is looking awesome! Is there a chance you can do a step by step tutorial on how to do the vodoo that you do? Your plane brings back some memories for me. I used to work for a company that had a fleet of private aircraft. They had a couple of Falcon 10's, a couple of Falcon 20's, a King Air and Beech Craft Baron. I would get flown around the country in either a Falcon 10 or Falcon 20 most of the time. Every now and then I would have to fly on the Baron. One flight from Sioux City, IA to Moline Illinois resulted in an unplanned landing in Des Moines. It was February and snowing and sleeting. About 40 mins into the flight I heard a WHACK![X(] The impact sounded like it hit the door next to me. I about jumped out of my seat. I was sitting shot gun next to the pilot. A couple of mins later WHACK[X(] another thud on the side of the plane. I looked over at the pilot and he was talking up a storm on the headset and flipping through charts. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him what the hell those thuds were. He said ICE![X(]. The ice that was building up on the props was flying off and every now and then a chunk would hit the fuse. I asked him what do we do? He said land immediately as there is no de-icing equipment on the plane. So DesMoines here we come. On another flight on the Baron I helped the pilot change out a starter after we landed. He kept an extra starter in the luggage compartment for such an occasion. Oh the memories

Hec

airwalk

My god half-a-hec thats quit a story! That would really make me spot my paints,if I heard that nose to. That company sounds like it would be interesting to work for.At the time when the icing was happing,it was pretty serious,but lucky it turned out okey!Now it makes for a very interesting story.Sioux city Iowa is only 75 miles from yantion here,so at that time you were close to my area. do you do anymore flying these days? talk to you later.

Half-A-Hec

Airwalk,

I no longer work for that company. If I fly I have to be hearded in with rest of the cattle on commercial air carriers.[:'(] There nothing like flying on Corporate Aircraft. Are you near Yankton? My wifes uncle has a farm in Wagner SD. We go up there every now and then. Yankton is about 3 hours from where I live in Nebraska.

Hec

build light

Hec has some good stories to be sure! This is one I haven't heard. I know I could think of better things to do in DesMoines but under the circumstances changing the starter sounds like a priority.

When you are at altitude, one does not want to hear Knocking, banging or any similar noises coming from the outside of the aircraft, especially from the door!!!

Robert

Half-A-Hec

Robert,

The starter change was in Emporia, KS. The underwear change was in DesMoines.

Hec