Stickbuilder

Making a hunk of metal shiny is one thing, but can you build a shiny airplane???????

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

Nightstalker

If the airplane's metal, yes.

That's why I study threads like this (and others as well). If I read enough, practice what I've learned, experiment, ask questions when I have them... yeah, maybe some day I will be able to post a picture here of a shiney airplane like the ones you guys have built.

I'm not gonna get banned from this thread for not ever building a shiney airplane am I?

Todd

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

Stickbuilder--awhile back you were talking about floats for your YMF and what would work. The 60 size floats that Great Planes makes are ideal size, if you go on the recommendation that the float length should be 75% of the fuse length. The Pica plane is right at 54 inches long, 75% of that is 40.5 inches, and the 60 size GP floats are 41 inches long. Close enough for government specs, as they say.GP says they will support up to 18 pound plane. I built a set of the 40 size for a Cub, and they build out very nice, light (for wood) and strong, and look just like the EDO floats that WACO used.. That is another thing I'm gonna go ahead and do, is add the rear strut mounts for floats, so I can change easily for water flying. There's a pretty good (if small) picture in MAN of a YMF on floats that shows how and where the struts should mount.

Stickbuilder

I'm going to add several things to the next one (fifth scale) that I do. One of the things is to make hard points for the rear gear (strut) mounts to be able to add floats. I mean, after all, I do live in Lake County Florida, and we have more water than land here. Lake Griffin is less than 100 yards from my back door, so this one is a no brainer. Are these floats round top, or flat top?

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

Stickbuilder

On another note. I don't want to get into a full blown poll here, but I would like to know from you guys...Would you like to have the thread become an information thread, or keep it kinda--sorta free wheeling like it is now? The question has come up, and I don't want to arbitrairly change anything. This is your thread, and I will go with the majority (of the Brotherhood).

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

Ricatic

Freewheelin, as I said before, I enjoy the banter.

WacoOne

My Feedback: (3)

Keep it like it is!

Bill Hogue
WACO Brotherhood #21

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

As long as I don't have to call you "Sir", anything's fine with me. I'm pretty laid back, as a rule.

To answer your question, the GP floats are flat top, as I believe the floats the WACO's used are. EDO makes both types.

I've been working on my dummy engine the last couple of hours, starting to take shape. I have cut the front engine case down some, and wrapped the pushrod tubes with aluminum tape and burnished it down, and made a wiring loom for the spark plug wires. I'll drill a small hole where the plugs go and make the plug caps from aluminum tubing tomorrow. I've got the cylinder barrels painted black, and will paint the crankcase a bluish gray.

ChrisMH

Stay the course! Hopefully it'll work better here than...oh, nevermind


Chris
WACO Brotherhood #15

Stickbuilder

You never have to call me, "Sir", Everything that I have ever earned was on my sleeve, and not on my shoulder. Never insult an old Chief by calling him Sir. He will quickly tell you that you con't have to call him Sir...He's as good as you are. . Just remember one thing. You may become an Officer and a Gentleman, but it will take an act of Congress to make you one.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

Skinny Bob

My Feedback: (12)

Freewheelin

Nightstalker

Is it Chief? Or Master Chief? I've repectfully refered to you as Master Chief on occasion here when I learned of your 26 year Naval career. Safe assumption I thought, as you do seem like a retired Echo - Niner... I've known plenty of 'em from various branches of the service... and they were (and are) all very similar in deed and demeaner.

I vote to stay the course with the thread syle and content. Don't want to get too serious. I've had many a good laughs and recollections while learning about big ***** model WACOs . We just all need to keep it even keeled so to speak.

Doggie 47

Michaelj2k

Here's something for your reading pleasure. DISCLAIMER!!! Not to be used as official information. FYI, the code 3POL/SB means 3 place (three seats) Open cockpit Land/Sea Biplane.

Stickbuilder

Master Chief is correct, so for once in your Doggie life, you were correct.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

ps...does the last name Ballard ring any bells??? CW 4...

Nightstalker

Thought Master Chief was a safe assumption.

Mr. Ballard sorta rings a bell - if I saw him I might recognise him, but my Doggie memory is getting worse and worse by the hour it seems. I knew a Tom Ballard, ex-Ranger that decided it was better to stay in the aircraft rather than jumpin' off into the woods and became a Hooker Flight Engineer in the 160th - good guy for an ex grunt.

What did CW4 Ballard fly? Hooks, Blackhawks or Li'l Birds (MH-6)? That's all there was and is in the 160th. I knew most of the Hook drivers pretty good, but the Black Hawk and Little Bird guys were in their own little world and didn't like the way us Hookers smelled and hated it when we would taxi by and blow their wee little aircraft around... I knew some of them though.

Doggie 47

Hughes500E

My Feedback: (16)

You guys are taking the whole keep it open thing to whole new level []

How 'bout them Wacos

Stickbuilder

You is right. [:-] Sorry about that. I'll PM the Night Stalker.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

I got to run to the big box home improvement store and get the makin's for a new workbench. My power tools are crowding my building space.

Stickbuilder

We relocated to Florida last year (oops...Summer of 2005) and I had been moving all the power tools from the floor to the bench as I needed them. I went out tonight, and bought the stuff to make a power bench. My building room is fairly small (8X14) and I have my building table and some storage shelving in there already. Tonight I added a table large enough to hold the Stationary sander (belt and disc) the drill press, the band saw and the small table saw. Now, I can move from station to station without having to take something off the bench and lifting another fairly heavy power tool to the work surface.

Now there is no excuse not to cut and sand all the parts for the next one. I am in the process of giving the Hobby room a good cleaning from top to bottom. I have found some things that I had forgotten that I had already bought, and had already bought duplicates (don't you hate it when that happens?).

I would like a little input from you guys. I want to make this one more accurate scalewise. Let's have some ideas. We already know that WACO built the YMF with both the counterbalanced rudder and without. I am going to do the main gear a little different, in that I will be using a little heavier former for both main and rear struts. I think I will bolt the blocks through these formers. The tailwheel will also be mounted in the scale location. I do know that the H-Stab will be adjustable for incidence, and will not mount as the Pica plan calls out. These things are givens. How about some thoughts on things such as scale wing to Cabane mounts, and scale bracketry for the Interplane and wing wire connectors. The Interplane struts will not be per the plan, but will be from three distinct pieces. Waiting on ideas.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

ps...Anyone going to be at TOP GUN this May? Let me know, and I hope to see you all there.

Jim Henley

Bill,
While everyone is in their thinking mode, I have a question. The fellow that started my WACO had intended to use brass machine screws with the head inside the top wing and the shank protruding down through the eyelets on top of the cabane wires. I changed this arrangement around and used 6-32 SHCS through the top of the cabines into blind nuts inside the wiing.
My question is: due to the original modification to the cabanes, the terminal ends that were solderd on the cabane wires point forward not to the side. This has moved the location of the top wing about 1/4 inch forward. I did not realize this when I was making all my changes, I discovered it when the interplane struts did not want to line up. Will the upper wing being moved forward this small amount have a negative impact on the way the model flys? While I could rectify this issue by tearing everything apart, if the wing being forwarward will not impact the flight chariteristics, all I have to do is build new interplane struts.
What do you-all think? Is 1/4 inch a show stopper if I compensate when I set the CG?

ctflyboy

My Feedback: (3)

Bill,
FREE WHEELIN WORKS FOR ME



George
WACO Brotherhood #5

mobyal

Just fornd this thread. Buit one of the 1/6 Pica Wacos back in the day. Good flyer but a real building job. Now have one of the Cox 1/5 ARFs that I'm gonna start on next week. Hope you guys don't mind if this old Jarhead tags along....
Al

WacoOne

My Feedback: (3)

Stickbuilder: When you make the counterbalanced rudder you have to make the elevators counterbalanced also. See the pictures that khodges posted on page 36 of this thread for a great shot of this feature. Also, see if you can figure out a way to redesign former F8 and move it farther forward so a scale cockpit and pilot can be included. Of course, you need to decide if you're going to model the original YMF or the new WACO classic. The cockpit is completely different on these and some minor exterior changes but nothing real significant. The fiberglass wheelpants from Fiberglass Specialties and the others are not scale in outline. The curvature (radii) at the front of them is different from the scale ones. That's why I'm making mine from the wood in the kit instead. I have the fiberglass ones on the old YMF and they look great as an overall impression but they ain't scale. BTW, the fiberglass cowl by Fiberglass Specialties is smaller in diameter than the ABS one in the kit which is closer to correct size. I'm not bashing the FG people, their stuff looks great. Just pointing out some things. I'm kinda picky about scale but I try not to be too unreasonable so please don't attack me.

Last night I studied at some length a photo pak I got from Bob Banka on the WACO classic. There are about 40 photos and they show an incredible amount of detail if you wanted to work on one forever! I looked especially closely at the corrugations on the ailerons and decided that the 1/16 plastic angle would be the best way to go. You'll need 43 feet of it per plane! The ailerons will need to be tapered pretty sharp at the trailing edge so th angles can meet there.

When I get around to making some pictures I'll show the 'scale' way I'm attaching the wheelpants to the struts.

Bill Hogue
WACO Brotherhood #21

pimmnz

Stickbuilder,
Might I humbly suggest that if you are intending to go to 1/4 scale (or larger) then perhaps enlarging the Pica plan/kit is not the best/most efficient solution. You might find that the build will be easier if you can get drawings of the full size structure and stick pretty close (with suitable substitution of materials) to what the experts have already done. This has been done before and any questions that might arise will be answered, possibly with piccies too.
Evan WB#12.

Stickbuilder

I don't think that 1/4" will be detrimental to the flying characteristics of the plane. I don't even think that it will be noticeable as far as looks go, This plane has a ton of positive stagger. Just make sure that the incidence is set correctly. I also install blind nuts in the wing when framing it up, and use socket head bolts to hold the wing to the cabanes.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

Stickbuilder

Mobyal,

You are certainly welcome here. We have a few other members of the Brotherhood who are in the process of doing the COX ARF version. While the framework for the COX version does not follow the frame for the KIT version, the end result should be about the same. I don't care if it's ARF, KIT, or SCRATCH BUILT. It's a WACO, so everything is good. This applies to the 1/6th scale version. No apologies are necessary. If you like what you see, think about joining the Brotherhood.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1