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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/27/2006 5:11:38 PM   
wessco


 

Posts: 324
Joined: 4/16/2005
From: Summerville, GA, USA
Status: offline 		i am

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/27/2006 6:06:32 PM   
Nogyro



Posts: 1917
Joined: 11/30/2001
From: Puryear, TN, USA
Status: offline 		Me too.......But I'm an ARF man.

Talk about flying weather over the holiday! I got in 34 flights in 5 day!

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Frank

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/27/2006 6:20:45 PM   
gboulton



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From: La Vergne, TN, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: wessco
i am


Heh...heya, wessco.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nogyro
Me too.......But I'm an ARF man.


Hey...maybe that's an excuse for me. "How come you don't fly as well as Nogyro??" "Well, see, i spend my time BUILDING airplanes. "

quote:


Talk about flying weather over the holiday! I got in 34 flights in 5 day!


I'll admit to not keeping track, but I know yesterday, when I only had a couple hours to kill, I got 3 in. as I said above, I went through dang near 2 gallons of gas this weekend in Patty alone....and managed to destroy the little Bulldog in between!

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/27/2006 6:23:31 PM   
wessco


 

Posts: 324
Joined: 4/16/2005
From: Summerville, GA, USA
Status: offline 		I'm more of a builder and not an ARF'r....I'd like to build a Weeks Solutions. While I know it's not a Pitts, it does have 2 wings, which is the way to go. Heck, I'm not even a gasser....yet.

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/27/2006 6:25:45 PM   
gboulton



Posts: 1861
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From: La Vergne, TN, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: wessco

I'm more of a builder and not an ARF'r....I'd like to build a Weeks Solutions. While I know it's not a Pitts, it does have 2 wings, which is the way to go. Heck, I'm not even a gasser....yet.


2 out of 3 ain't bad...there's hope for you yet.

===========================================

Just got off the phone with Roy over at HP Pilots...looks like the O&G full body pilots might work.

http://www.hppilots.com/gpage13.html

Anyone got any other suggestions?


< Message edited by gboulton -- 11/27/2006 6:26:54 PM >

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The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. - Milton Friedman

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/27/2006 10:43:27 PM   
gboulton



Posts: 1861
Joined: 5/28/2005
From: La Vergne, TN, USA
Status: offline 		Well, after 2-3 aborted attempts, the "cage" for the cockpit is assembled. Much finishing work remains, such as sanding, dressing up the joints to appear welded, painting, etc...but the basic cage is at least assembled and test fit.

Below are a couple of pictures...the first is of the cage as it is now, the second a screen shot from the MS FlightSim 2002 BullDog model that's available on Jim's website. As it happens, I'm ACTUALLY using some cockpit shots I took at an airshow last year, but I don't wish to post them publicly anywhere, and the flight-sim model is quite suitable for the basic structure.





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The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. - Milton Friedman

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/28/2006 4:53:07 PM   
gboulton



Posts: 1861
Joined: 5/28/2005
From: La Vergne, TN, USA
Status: offline 		With the cage for the cockpit framed up, it's pretty much as far as I can take it until I get the pilot figure...his size/proportions will dictate, to some degree anyway, the placement of most of the smaller bits (control stick, throttle, rudder pedals, etc).

That being the case, work has begun today on the horizontal stab. Couple of modifications from Andrew's original plans here. First, for obvious reasons, i'm going with 1/4" stock rather than 3/16" stock used in the .40 sized model. Next, once the frame is built (it will be constructed in accordance with the plans) then the entire surface will be sheeted on both sides with 1/16" balsa. This should not only provide a small bit of extra strength (for little weight gain) but will also hide the outline of the framework. I'll be routing some small grooves in the sheeting, and putting 1/8" balsa dowel in, sinking it to leave a half-round up above the surface of the stab. This should mimic the appearance of the tube framework of the actual aircraft's stab.

For the curious, here's the beginnings of the stab build:



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The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. - Milton Friedman

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/29/2006 3:37:21 AM   
Randy M.


 

Posts: 775
Joined: 1/14/2002
From: Nashville, TN,
Status: offline 		Looking good so far. You may want to run the grain in the center of the stab the other way. Would be much stronger. May not matter much if you sheet it though.

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/29/2006 12:12:15 PM   
gboulton



Posts: 1861
Joined: 5/28/2005
From: La Vergne, TN, USA
Status: offline 		*chuckle*

And where were you when I was actually GLUING that piece, huh Randy???

As you say, I don't think it's going to make too much difference once sheeted...provided the sheeting runs cross grain to that center section, which it will.

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The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. - Milton Friedman

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/29/2006 10:37:42 PM   
gboulton



Posts: 1861
Joined: 5/28/2005
From: La Vergne, TN, USA
Status: offline 		Stab framework is done, al the joints sanded and smoothed, etc etc. It's sitting out in the shop right now under some weights as the first side of sheeting waits for the glue to set. I'll probably do the other side later this evening, then weight it all down again and leave it for a day or so to cure.

Next step...elevators.

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The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. - Milton Friedman

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/30/2006 1:40:11 AM   
gboulton



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From: La Vergne, TN, USA
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Well, went out to check on the stab (during intermission of the hockey game, of course) to see if it could be flipped for the opposite side sheeting.

Glue was certainly dry enough...but, much to my dismay, 2 edges had completely failed to seal up to the sheeting, leaving large gaps. I tried to see if some CA would draw it up, but no luck...apparently, as I was sanding the jints, I must have rocked the sanding block over the edge, and rounded it a bit.

I made an attempt to remove the sheeting, but no way that was going to work. So...bleh...all the work of the last few days is now in the trash can, and we'll do the stab again.

Ah well...such is scratch building.

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The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. - Milton Friedman

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 11/30/2006 2:24:49 PM   
gboulton



Posts: 1861
Joined: 5/28/2005
From: La Vergne, TN, USA
Status: offline 		One of the advantages of having "your own" thread is you can threadjack it whenever you please.

As I mentioned back on the 27th, the Bulldog's progress was impeded somewhat by the spectacular flying conditions over the holiday weekend..Patty went through a LARGE amount of gasoline that weekend.

As it happened, a local professional photographer, Turner Hutchison, is also a bit of an RC pilot, and was at the field on Friday. He was kind enough to train his Nikon D70, and rather experienced eye, on one of Patty's flights. The results are, imo, STUNNING, and just HAD to be shared. I humbly request that nobody save copies of these, as they are not mine to distribute.





Enjoy

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The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. - Milton Friedman

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 12/1/2006 12:43:58 AM   
Randy M.


 

Posts: 775
Joined: 1/14/2002
From: Nashville, TN,
Status: offline 		If you haven't rebuilt the stab yet, you could use some aeropoxy. Just shoot some in the crack and clamp it lightly. Once it sets up, it'll be bullet proof. You can get it from BVM or get the Hysol equivilent from Dreamworks Rc. It's also great for putting it formers and bulkheads.
Those are some nice pics!

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Silence is golden,,, but duct tape is silver.

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RE: Jim LeRoy Pitts Bulldog - Scratch Build Thread - 12/1/2006 1:09:50 AM   
gboulton



Posts: 1861
Joined: 5/28/2005
F