Posts: 928
Joined: 10/10/2002 From: San Diego,
CA, USA Status: offline
OK; here is the problem.
I started with this photo; an article with 3 views and fuselage stations out of MAN, and another out of Model Aviation, and a very old Pica Kit for plans. I had built 2 other Pica WACO years ago, and remember not being thrilled with the fit of the longerons thru the fuselage, so I did not want to reporduce that. The drill is to scan the 3 views into AutoCAD, trace them and proceed. Wrong!!. I have done this successfully a number of times before, but in this case the drawings are so distorted that nothing matches up.
I looked for more information, and found that Classic Aircraft Corporation was still manufacturing the YMF-5, so I contacted them for information. They advised me that they had a drawing package for the modeler, available at a nominal fee. I hesitated about 1 and 1/2 heart beats and went for it. I got the package; 4 very nice drawings by Friestad; 2 by Edelstien, and 1 "dimensioned" drawing of the frame, wings and tail surfaces by Paul Matt. The only dimensions on the other drawings were very general; wing span, fuselage length, etc. No dimensions or grid for the fuselage cross sections, and all of the drawings had the same problem that the article drawings had. I am dealing with reproductions of reproductions of drawings of drawings, and the distortions have become so bad as to be almost unuseable.
The Matt drawing was plate 3 of 3; so out to find plate 1 and 2. I found Paul Matt Scale Aircraft Drawings, Volume 2, and waited with baited breath for the book. Guess what! The drawings by Edelstien were exact copies of the Matt drawings. Edelstien had not even bothered redrawing them; he had blanked out the title block; many of the notes, and modified the wing trim pattern; scotch taped his own notes and title block on the drawing (you can see the shadow of the tape) and republished them under his own name. Still no valid information for fuselage stations.
My engineering is not aeronautical, and I am in way over my head in trying to loft this thing myself. Believe me I have tried. I have over 80 hours into making mistakes, and have very little in the way of fuselage shape, other than a top and side view that look reasonable.
The bottom line. I am still looking for valid fuselage station information, in any scale. Can anyone help? It must exist out there somewhere. The YMF-3 and YMF-5, are for all practical purposes, the same.
Les
< Message edited by LesUyeda -- 2/23/2006 7:00:17 PM >
Posts: 445
Joined: 6/15/2003 From: Mesa,
AZ, USA Status: offline
Les, I have a kit from Genesis RC of their 33% Waco-YMF-5. There are no plans with the kit, just a 124 page instructional manual. I would contact them and see if they have plans available. Dani, the owner has been very helpful and is always open to suggestions and questions. They are at the RAM show this week but you could email him and he will get back to you. http://www.genesis-rc.com/ RCShowcase is the US distributor and has information on their website also. http://rcshowcase.com/ Good luck and keep me posted on your project. hjscaggs@juno.com
Posts: 928
Joined: 10/10/2002 From: San Diego,
CA, USA Status: offline
Harry. Thanks for the lead. The instruction manual was very enlightening, but I think I will pass on the plans. I am hoping to get closer to scale, and am only dealing with 1/7th scale electric.
Bob. If you trace the fuselage cross sections, they do not fit the side and top view. If you put the side (or top or bottom) view into the computer, scale the heighth of the fuselace to match a fuselage cross section, the fuselage is WAY too long. Then you can block, scale and reinsert the block to make up for that. Once you have done that, the rudder is supposed to be 63 1/2" tall, but is really 66.4". My take on the situation, is: we know that paper grows and shrinks. One of the primary reproduction methods in those days was a thing called blue line, that was developed with ammonia fumes. Ammonia breaks down wood fibers, and so with paper. It is my feeling that before these drawings got printed, they went through so many reproductions that they have grown, and shrunk out of recognizeability. I would have loved it if he had put a grid over the formers, then there would have been an absolute to deal with.
Posts: 5225
Joined: 11/20/2005 From: leesburg,
FL, USA Status: offline
I am in the process of trying to get a 1/5 Pica kit (unbuilt) if I am successful, I will be happy to get the plans copied, and shoot xerox's of the formers, and/or other parts for you. I built this model several years ago and had it completed (Koverall with clear on it, ready for the color, and I sold it. I have always regretted that dumb move. I had a Maloney 125 in it for power, and I think that it would have been a very nice one to have flown. I will keep you posted on my progress in getting my hands on this one. Bill
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It's easy, just glue all the pieces together, and sand off everything that doesn't look like an airplane.
Posts: 190
Joined: 8/24/2002 From: Batavia,
IL, USA Status: offline
I have two in the basement waiting to be built. One is the Pica. The other is a Jim Pepino plan and a custom cut set of wood. If you daon't have any other source, I could have the plans copied.
Posts: 1123
Joined: 9/25/2004 From: Festus,
MO, USA Status: online
kd4sus,
Go to the "House of Moy" Waco YMF, the manuals (long and short versions) are there and are used for both sizes (1/6th and 1/5th) of planes. There are also the Pica plans (PDF side and wing views) of both sizes and templates that could be resized if required. The complete 1/5th plans and templates (be sure to ask for them) are available from the AMA. Sorry I don't have the complete links, am at work. Much more Pica Waco YMF info is in the Vintage and Antique forum right here on RCU.
_____________________________
John F Howard (aka skylarkmk1) AMA 10955, WACO Brotherhood #26, AWC, NWC
Posts: 1123
Joined: 9/25/2004 From: Festus,
MO, USA Status: online
kd4sus,
Before you start glueing any pieces together, read the short manual with revisions, it has a lot of the updates that have been developed to make the Pica kit more scale and stronger. Then read the long manual for more detailed information. Unless you have a few kits or scratch builds under your belt, I would not do the Pica kit as a first kit. Get something simpler for your first one.
This thread is an old one and not current so go over to the Vintage and Antique Forum, Waco YMF Thread http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4058627/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm and take some time to go through it before getting started (it's long, over 260 pages). It is all about the Pica 1/5th kit, but much can be applied to the 1/6th kit. There is info on the Cox/Pica kit and others as well.
< Message edited by skylarkmk1 -- 7/8/2008 6:24:45 AM >
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John F Howard (aka skylarkmk1) AMA 10955, WACO Brotherhood #26, AWC, NWC
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