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I had posted some pix of this airplane on another model aircraft newsgroup a while back but I don't think it was ever really shown here, clearly the best site for the design and scratch building of original ideas. Initially, my intention was to produce it as a limited production kit. This commercial nature precluded showing on RCUniverse.com, other than in the Product Announcements & Manufacturing News category. Now, for various reasons, I have abandoned the idea of a commercial kit. Since it is no longer a conflict with the site's policy, I would very much like to share this interesting design with everyone here. Better late than never? Here it is. This pix is a CAD image of the design. I work on a program called Alias-Wavefront, a high end surfacing software used in the auto design field - which was my career before retirement a little over a year ago.
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The lasercutting was done by Bob Holman and vacforming by Merrill Brady at MM GliderTech. Great jobs they did. This is the fuse going together with the Magnum 30 engine option. A fairly standard type of construction but with some innovations to get the shapes I wanted.
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Wing construction. Conventional D-tube section. The landing gear must mount on the wing so the wing mounting plate is integrated into the joining detail.
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Allan,
This is beautiful work and a great looking aircraft !. Will you be making plans available for purchase, and do you think this would make a good model to power electrically. Your Cad work looks great. I'll enjoy watching your progress.
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I have not considered producing plans for this model but I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to do. I have already made a general layout drawing for inclusion in the kit. One big reason I dropped the kitting plans was that the model is too complicated for a successful kit. It would have had too many lasercut sheets and too many fussy details to be commercially successful. The original goal was a kit at $70 or $80 for this small plane but my costs would have reached that level so the retail price would have had to be over $120, too much except for fanatic nuts like me. I will be getting rid of some extra lasercut prototype parts later. I always order enough for several prototypes (it takes at least two to get a design good enough) and cutters like Bob Holman don't like to cut just one plane anyway -it isn't worth their efforts. My second prototype would have had an AXI motor so electric should be a perfect option. Since one problem I have had with the Magnum powered version is overheating, I would definitely favor electric for this model.
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The LO drawing already created doesn't show all the actual parts so a supplimental drawing would have to be done. Then there is the issue of the cowl and wheel pants, which could probably be vacformed by MM Glider Tech for me then sent on... Let me think about this. I'm not sure I want to get into the plans business.
Here are some pix of the tail feathers being made up, and the fiberglass tape reinforcement of the wing centerline.
< Message edited by allanflowers -- 5/29/2007 12:04:19 AM >
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These show fitting the cowl and working with the vacformed wheel pants. Mounting the landing gear is easy with the blind nuts already installed in the plywood wing plate.
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The wing saddle mount is made from six lasercut pieces of 1/8" balsa, pinned to the wing. The fuselage is then glued in place for a perfect fit. The rest of the wing flare will be made later of 1/16" balsa.
That plane is absolutely gorgeous! I would love to buy a plan set for it.
If you look at kit prices today, you will notice that many are over $100, especially for laser cut kits. A $120 laser cut kit would be right in the ballpark.
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Mike, thanks for the compliment. I hear you on the plans issue and will look at what would have to be done to make something available. Here are some more pix of the landing gear. The aluminum strut is from SIG and is the perfect size. The vacformed parts, including the cowl were produced by a lengthy proceedure. Unfortunately I done't have more pictures. First I designed everything on Alias Wavefront and printed out part drawings. Then I made base plates for the clay models, with a measuring grid glued on it. Templates were made from plywood and cardboard to transfer the shapes and sections to the clay, which was Chavant Automotive Styling clay - same as is used in the industries' styling studios. It takes a long time, lots of work and skill to get a smooth clay model. Each of the wheel pants has a left and a right side so, with the cowl, there were three clay models to create. These were cast in silicon and then hard tooling plastic (PVC, as I recall) was cast into the silicon to make male vacforming tools. There was some repair, patching, etc. necessary on the tools before sending them off to Merill Brady for the parts. He pulled parts in various thicknesses, .040 being the final best choice.
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CYCLONE 30 design & build - 
