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RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 11/6/2004 11:18:08 PM   
Mike James



Posts: 2413
Joined: 1/19/2002
From: Anchorage, AK, USA
Status: offline 		Capbat (and others)...

Thanks for the heads up. I've moved some files around, and forgot to change the link above.
The new link (with new articles, too) is at http://homepage.mac.com/mikejames/rc_tips_site/rcdesignandbuilding.html


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Mike James
RC Design and Building - www.nextcraft.com

(in reply to durone)
       Post #: 26

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 1/26/2005 8:07:08 AM   
SteveTrofemuk



Posts: 86
Joined: 6/18/2002
From: Sharpsburg, GA, USA
Status: offline 		I too am looking forward to this thread. I scratch built two planes 15 or so years ago--they were my first RC airplanes. I didn't have the money for kits and the ARFs were terrible then. Well, now I'm richer, wiser, older--you get the drift. I'm interested in getting back into scratch building. I'm tired of going to the field with a kit/ARF and finding someone else has that same plane. I want original and unique. I want SCRATCH BUILT.

So come on--more etipes please! Especially concerning aircraft design. I have the book from MAN--its REALLY good with lots of info. For those who don't know, here's the URL: http://www.rcstore.com/rs/general/detail.asp?catnum=2023&catego=BO
Here's the link: Basics of Model Aircraft Design

BTW: I'm working on a revamp of my original trainer from 15 years ago for my son. It was a simple plane--overhead wing held with rubberbands. Basically, I went to the hobby shop, found a model (PT-20 I believe) and copied the dimensions. The airfoil was drawn freehand. It flew. In those days I didn't have an instructor so the first one didn't fly long. It did fly often and when that one proved too heavy from all the repair jobs I built another. The second one was sacraficed to the moving gods of the USAF. That was my last scratch built plane. Ever since, it's been kits and more recently ARFs.

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Landing is easy. The real trick is landing in one piece.

(in reply to ThunderAI-RCU)
       Post #: 27

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 1/26/2005 8:13:13 AM   
SteveTrofemuk



Posts: 86
Joined: 6/18/2002
From: Sharpsburg, GA, USA
Status: offline 		I forgot to add this link http://airfieldmodels.com/information_source/math_and_science_of_model_aircraft/rc_aircraft_design/.
Some good info on rc aircraft design.

_____________________________

Landing is easy. The real trick is landing in one piece.

(in reply to SteveTrofemuk)
       Post #: 28

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 3/4/2005 9:21:01 PM   
BMatthews



Posts: 8796
Joined: 10/4/2002
From: Burnaby, BC, CANADA
Status: online 		Cafeenman strikes again!

quote:

ORIGINAL: CafeenMan

This is an article I've been working on over the past several months. It is simply my approach to model aircraft design. Others may do things differently and end up with as good or better results.

The one thing I keep seeing in this forum and in my e-mail is people asking how big a plane to build for any given engine. Personally I think that is the wrong question to be asking.

The "right" question is given an engine, how do you design an airplane that performs like you want it to? My answer is to choose an overall weight and a wing loading which allows you to figure out a wing area. From there you select other parameters for the wing such as airfoil, aspect ratio, etc.

Anyway, I don't want to rewrite the entire article, but I would like to get feedback from those who read it.

Step-By-Step Model Aircraft Design





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Bruce-
Proudly wasting balsa since 1965.

Free Flighters go that extra mile........

(in reply to SteveTrofemuk)
       Post #: 29

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 3/5/2005 3:06:39 AM   
Mike James



Posts: 2413
Joined: 1/19/2002
From: Anchorage, AK, USA
Status: offline 		Just a heads up for any of you following any of my articles...

To consolidate and speed up my site, I'm moving ALL of it's contents to my server space at Apple. If you go to my homepage at http://www.nextcraft.com, you can then visit any pages that you normally visit, and update your bookmarks.

The new URL for the RC Design Tips, for example, is at http://homepage.mac.com/mikejames/nextcraft_site/rcdesignandbuilding.html
(No content on my site has been removed, but the URL's have changed.)
Thanks!

< Message edited by Mike James -- 3/5/2005 3:08:02 AM >


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Mike James
RC Design and Building - www.nextcraft.com

(in reply to BMatthews)
       Post #: 30

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 3/5/2005 5:25:14 PM   
dicknadine


 

Posts: 2004
Joined: 7/17/2003
From: Greensburg, LA, USA
Status: offline 		Time march's on, sure glad that I still the capability to do things the old fashion pencil, paper way. let me know when someone starts to pick up and carry on the old way. will continue to post photos of my new creations created the old fashion way of drawing plans. dick

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dick/rcflyer

(in reply to Mike James)
       Post #: 31

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 3/12/2005 4:57:21 PM   
dicknadine


 

Posts: 2004
Joined: 7/17/2003
From: Greensburg, LA, USA
Status: offline 		Ok. How many of you guys have gone to my above ref book for new designs of old Antique aircraft ? its full of all kinds of possibilities. forget the computor and do by hand twice as fast, assuming that you have 40+ years of aircraft design behind you. dick

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dick/rcflyer

(in reply to dicknadine)
       Post #: 32

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 3/31/2005 2:53:29 AM   
Jakeluke



Posts: 11
Joined: 12/28/2002
From: East Greenwich, RI
Status: offline 		I'd like to think this category was still alive.

I'm not a computer whiz, but it does have its advantages. I tried the DOS version of DesignCad a number of years ago and found it pretty tedious. Same goes for TurboCad.

Two years ago I got the idea of building an electric model of Sikorsky's Grand. After digging around and getting some help from one of the members of the family, I was able to get photos, drawings, and data regarding the plane. Then I had to face drawing up a set of building plans.

I was going to dig out my DOS DesignCad, when one of the guys in the club I belong to offered me the Windows version of DesignCad. It took me a fair while to learn how to use the program, and, whenever I haven't used it for a while, a re-learning period, but it is to me a superb way of making drawings.

There are lots of details that need to be worked out and it's easy to draw a detail in whatever scale I need to to be able to see and draw what I want, but then I can fit the detail directly into the master drawing without having to redraw it. And I can rotate it, draw its mirror image, etc.

I can print out whatever portion of the drawing I need to to allow me to proceed with construction of the various pieces. If I need some special drawing, as, for example in this case, to construct the marvelously complex undercarriage, I can do so, adding or deleting whatever I wish. (On this plane, the undercarriage, as I am making it, consists of 35 pieces of 1/8 inch diameter carbon fiber turing, connected with some 100 music wire connectors and epoxy resin, then reinforced with aluminum gusset plates.)

While I've done a lot of scratch building before, this is the first time I had to draw the drawing and to work out all the details.

Originally, I thought of making this with an 8 foot span, but soon realized that getting it to the field fully assembled would be very difficult. Soon I was facing a 5 foot span. This gave me a problem trying to find motors that I could use as this plane uses four motors exposed, mounted on the lower wing.

After thinking a bit more about it, I finally figured that I could get a 6 foot model into my van, and so that became the span. Even then, the smallest motor I could find that could be dummied up into a 4-cylinder engine was the Razor RZ2500 with a 4:1 gearbox. It was about 15% larger in diameter than the crankcase of the original Argus engine, but I think few people will notice it.

I'm two years into the project now, and expect that it may not fly until next year. But it has been quite an education so far, and I'm sure I haven't stopped learning yet.

(in reply to dicknadine)
       Post #: 33

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 4/9/2005 5:56:02 PM   
hypersoniq



Posts: 128
Joined: 1/30/2005
From: Schuylkill Haven, PA, USA
Status: offline 		here is a great freeware CAD program called A9CAD
there are 2 downloads,
1. the free A9CAD program
2. a freeware DXF/DWG converter that lets you use A9CAD with 2D drawings all the way up to AutoCAD 2005.

here's the link...
http://www.a9tech.com/

it's not as robust as acad, but it IS free ;-)

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There are 10 kinds of people in the world...
Those that understand binary and those who don't.

(in reply to Jakeluke)
       Post #: 34

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 4/9/2005 8:30:45 PM   
dicknadine


 

Posts: 2004
Joined: 7/17/2003
From: Greensburg, LA, USA
Status: offline 		Forgot to add that my drawing-- by hand-- are my FULL size drawing of my plane, I don't have to hunt up a printer at some job shop that doesn't know what they are doing. takes a little more time by candle light, but they are mine and I buy a lot of balsa with the $$$ that would have been spent on prints. also I can correct boo-boos as I go along. also the printer doesn't know anything about the structure of the plane that you are modeling. dick

_____________________________

dick/rcflyer

(in reply to dicknadine)
       Post #: 35

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 4/9/2005 9:49:05 PM   
adam_one


 

Posts: 398
Joined: 2/26/2003
From: Stockholm, SWEDEN
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: dicknadine

Forgot to add that my drawing-- by hand-- are my FULL size drawing of my plane, I don't have to hunt up a printer at some job shop that doesn't know what they are doing. takes a little more time by candle light, but they are mine and I buy a lot of balsa with the $$$ that would have been spent on prints. also I can correct boo-boos as I go along. also the printer doesn't know anything about the structure of the plane that you are modeling. dick

Who cares?
Everyone has the right to choose the method that best suits onself...
Thanks hypersoniq for posting the link.



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http://adamone.rchomepage.com

(in reply to dicknadine)
       Post #: 36

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 4/22/2005 11:42:32 PM   
Mike James



Posts: 2413
Joined: 1/19/2002
From: Anchorage, AK, USA
Status: offline 		Hi everybody, especially those of you interested in the CAD and 3D modeling aspect of design.

I'm just publishing "Volume One" of a CD/DVD series called (jokingly) "How to do Everything". (See http://homepage.mac.com/mikejames/nextcraft_site/everything_dvd.html ) Any of us who use CAD/3D software know that while they're each unique, they all have similarities,too. So...

I've been using CAD/3D for modeling for almost 15 years, and enjoy the experience. So, in response to my own experiences here on RCU, and due to feedback received during the creation of this first disk, I've decided to make "Volume 2" all about CAD and 3D. Subjects will include all the questions normally asked here on RCU, such as how to create cross-sections from 3-views, how to scale plans and parts up and down. how to construct "special" items like elliptical tips on wings, how to test-fit your radio gear and linkages into the 3D model, and of course, a large focus on the techniques used by most CAD software to create these 2D and 3D models. The examples will include in-depth articles showing how I overcame obstacles on my own projects, and 3D animations illustrating the assemblies from many angles, etc.. I'll also be including some workarounds to the dreaded "raster to vector" issues, and will show some tips as to how to make your final model more accurate for real-life building.

I'll try and have "Volume Two" ready by the end of the summer, so email me if you'd like to be put on the list. Otherwise, an announcement will appear on my site when it's getting close.


_____________________________

Mike James
RC Design and Building - www.nextcraft.com

(in reply to adam_one)
       Post #: 37

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 4/24/2005 9:56:15 PM   
mhmitchell



Posts: 70
Joined: 8/1/2003
From: Quincy, FL, USA
Status: offline

one thing I would LOVE to be able to do is import a JPG, GIF, BMP etc of an aircraft 3-view as a layer and then "trace" over it to do formers, outlines, etc. It seems like a fast, easy way to start a design......does anyone know if Tcad can do this??? perhaps the "pro" version can, but not the cheap "designer" version I have. Grrrrrrrrrrr! =)

-ron
[/quote]

I dont know if this has been answered since I havent read the entire forum but. You dont have to use the import function. I have TC cheapo vs 8. and I can take any format even PDF and just when you are viewing it from what ever viewer you are using ,EDIT SELECT ALL , EDIT COPY then open TC and EDIT PASTE to a new page. Save it in TCW and then trace away. PDF ? Use the PRT SCRN button on your keyboard (this makes a BMP) then you can edit paste it to any viewer you wish even TC then trace away. Be sure to terace in another color other rthan BLack then you can select by > color , edit copyt and paste your tracing toi a new page after which you can edit select all and change the color to black.


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(in reply to rlarkin70)
       Post #: 38

RE: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD FAQ - 4/29/2005 2:19:57 PM   
Mechanos


 

Posts: 63
Joined: 6/4/2004
From: KC, MO,
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: mhmitchell



one thing I would LOVE to be able to do is import a JPG, GIF, BMP etc of an aircraft 3-view as a layer and then "trace" over it to do formers, outlines, etc. It seems like a fast, easy way to start a design......does anyone know if Tcad can do this??? perhaps the "pro" version can, but not the cheap "designer" version I have. Grrrrrrrrrrr! =)

-ron


I dont know if this has been answered since I havent read the entire forum but. You dont have to use the import function. I have TC cheapo vs 8. and I can take any format even PDF and just when you are viewing it from what ever viewer you are using ,EDIT SELECT ALL , EDIT COPY then open TC and EDIT PASTE to a new page. Save it in TCW and then trace away. PDF ? Use the PRT SCRN button on your keyboard (this makes a BMP) then you can edit paste it to any viewer you wish even TC then trace away. Be sure to terace in another color other rthan BLack then you can select by > color , edit copyt and paste your tracing toi a new page after which you can edit select all and change the color to black.


Don't know about Tcad, but this is exactly what I do with Microstation. I load another module called IRASB and import the raster file. I can then scale the raster file to whatever I want and then trace over it with vectors in the CAD software. Turn off the raster image and you're left with a CAD drawing of the parts. It performs the same function as a digitizing tablet but eliminates the need for the additional hardware. If Tcad with drive a digitizing tablet, they can usually be found cheap on ebay.

(in reply to mhmitchell)