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Joined: 1/20/2004 From: Clovis,
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Hi Gary, thanks for stopping buy the thread..
How long were you at Lemoore NAS?? My father was stationed there with VA-25 then went into Civil Service and worked on the Flight Simulators. The old "spider legg" A-7 simulator then later with the full visual F-18 domes.. I was born on LNAS in 1967.. When we started flying in the 1980's, we used to fly out behind the recreation facility and then later out by the BOQ..
Interesting to hear about the master arm switch incident.. That sounds like it makes the top of the list with taking off with the wings folded....
More pics with the building later - Working the Rodeo this weekend!!!
Posts: 99
Joined: 1/20/2004 From: Clovis,
CA, USA Status: offline
I went ahead and put up a "tutorial" for making molds and casting some plastic and foam parts in the "Tips and Techniques" Forum.. You can find the thread here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7432180/tm.htm
It covers the "simple" mold I made for casting duplicate Vortac bomb release clips (they are not made any more) and a more elaborate "glove" mold for the 1/10th scale M117 bomb.. I figured I had better go ahead and make molds so if I break or loose stuff, I can make more .. Or, if you guys have a need for any of these things, let me know!!!..
So the things I worked on between the days at the Clovis Rodeo were the release clips, the bombs and revisions to the tail hook!!!
The Tail hook NEEDED help, because when I finished the last step, I ended up with something that looked like a big ugly club [laughing].. So, I found a few more photos and ended up "flattening the sides a bunch and getting a LOT closer than where I was ... Here are photos of "the club", then the sides flattened.. Yes, the photos show an AD-5 tail feathers, but the hook is the same on the A-1H as near as I can tell.
The bomb clips worked out pretty well, there are a couple small air bubbles on the barb of the clip, but I'll probably use them on the static ordinance and maybe some "practice" ordinance.. I have the original Vortac clips to use on my flying ordinance so I don't "drop" it at the wrong time.. ..
Next the 1/10th scale M117 bombs... Well, as you can see, it takes a couple of tries to estimate the correct amount of foam [laughing]... The first attempt is not even close, the second attempt ALMOST filled all 4 fins, but the tip corner of one is just a little shy - we'll use that as practice ordinance. You really have to time dumping the 'liquid' foam in the mold, rotating it around and tilting it to get foam in the back fins, then setting it back down as the foam expands. All in about 30 seconds.
The last photo has the current tail hook and the last version of the M117 bomb.. Notice there is a "shaded" area in the front of the foam bomb.. I put a #1 egg sinker in the mold and cast it into the foam.. I think it feels a lot better then just the light foam and hopefully it will fall a lot more true.. I don't want to drop the bombs on a windy day and have them float off in the distance ..
< Message edited by TEBerg -- 4/29/2008 12:52:58 AM >
Posts: 99
Joined: 1/20/2004 From: Clovis,
CA, USA Status: offline
Well, some ideas just don't seem to work ...
With the foam bombs, they were a little too light so I added the lead sinker – That worked, but left a mark in the nose area of the M117. There was also the issue of getting the foam into all the fins because they are pretty thin – That worked out with pouring faster and tilting/rotating the foam into the back, but you have to be quick...
I wanted a “better” bomb [smile], so I made up a way to solve both those issues and still have a nice clean finish. I had cut extra fins when I made the master, thinking that I may need to use them if the foam was too brittle (which I think they may break when dropped).
So, I put those two ideas together and suspended the sinker from the set of plastic fins (first photo). It looked like it would work... I set up the first cast, the fins went in very well and everything looked pretty good... I mixed the foam and boy was it fun trying to pour past the opening with the plastic fins in the way!!!
I did not get all the foam in before it started to activate, so I gave it a slosh/spin and let it set up... OK, I end up with an “open” looking bomb... Too bad bombs don’t have vent openings…
Well, I went ahead and set up the second one figuring that I had better mix faster than 30 seconds. I use about 10 seconds to pour out both Dixie cups about 15 seconds to mix and start to pour (takes about 5 seconds to juggle everything)..
So, off to the races... 9 seconds of pouring, 12 seconds of mixing and then off to pour only dropping one thing on the newspaper... BTW, we LOVE newspaper doing this stuff!!! Well, the “faster” pour did not go any better and I did not get as much foam into the mold as the first attempt… I realize from this test that TWO things were working against me the plastic fins were plugging the fin air openings I had made and too small of an opening was left where the fins crossed in the center fill spout... OK, lessons learned!!!
Now, I did accomplish the two things I wanted – The plastic fins got glued into the foam very nice and the lead sinker is suspended in the foam so you don’t even know it’s there... Too bad everything in the middle didn’t work out as well (second photo)...
I think I’ll glue some of the plastic clips I made on them, paint them a nice bright orange color and keep them on hand for some practice bombing. I don’t think they will last long at all, But – I do want to try “Loft Bombing” and won’t mind if these fly off somewhere I can’t find them…
Time to get back to building.. I pulled out all the parts for the top center deck last night.. That is the next step of the fuselage.. It's built out in sections Sides (done), top center, rear turtledeck, front top, front bottom, then rear bottom sheeting..
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Joined: 4/19/2003 From: Spokane, WA, USA Status: offline
Hi Tom You were born while i was on my last cruise there at Lnas. I got out in Sept 1968 by flying off the hancock ,CVA19. I got to Lemoore in 1964. Met my wife there in hanford before my last cruise, and we left there in 1969 to come up here to washington. Where we have been eversince. This build you are doing sounds like a lot of fun. Have you tried Vacuforming the bombs? I have built an vacuformer for my model, and it works pretty good for me. Gary
Posts: 99
Joined: 1/20/2004 From: Clovis,
CA, USA Status: offline
Gary, I have a guy lined up to help me vacuum-form the landing gear pods. I have not thought about trying that with the bombs, but I could make a resin blank in the mold and form over that... They say the resin is OK up to 350 or 400 degrees or something like that...
I did get some building finished on the plane this week... Spent a lot of time with my son because my wife was in LA working for three days also... But I did manage to get a little accomplished...
I completed the step building the Top Center Deck... I only made a couple changes/modifications to the building plans.
I installed the Servo Rails in the first step, instead of the final assembly after everything was done and covered. It just seemed easier to measure and glue them in now.
I installed a 1/8-inch doubler underneath the cockpit floor... Just the standard 1/8-inch thickness seemed a little thin to install the pilot.
After sheeting the fuselage top and opening up the cockpit area, I installed tapered blocks on the right and left sides of the cockpit. It just seemed too wide and I was worried it would just look way off. So I just trimmed down some aileron stock and glued it along the stringers.
For the sheeting, they use 1/8-inch thick... This is a LOT thicker then anything I had sheeted before... So, I took it slow, sprayed warm water/ammonia mix on the outside, clamped and held the sheeting in place before I even thought of gluing it... With the nice straight decking, it curved to fit pretty well. I sprayed a second light coat of water/ammonia mix on the wood before I let it go completely and got ready to glue. I put thick CA down the stringers and the fuselage formers. Then I sprayed activator on the underside of the sheeting... I carefully lined up the top center and held it in place. Then I ran a fast bead of thin CA down the top center to lock her down. After that I worked as evenly as I could to secure the sheeting down the side to the bottom edge... There were a couple of places where I had to spot-glue with thin CA, but overall it's looking pretty straight...
This whole assembly was sanded to flush all the sheeting and stringers with the formers and bottom. Then it is glued on the top with 15-minute epoxy and held to dry...
That's it again for a couple days. I'm driving up to Woodland-Davis to watch the 49ers Scale Event... Should be fun...
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Joined: 4/11/2002 From: fresno,
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looking good tom, you biuld fast, and nice too. cant wait to see it when shes all done. have fun at the event, i think we are having the giant scale event in fresno tommorrow.
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Joined: 1/20/2004 From: Clovis,
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Oh my gosh, where have I been .. Well, I did get up to the Woodland-Davis event and saw some very nice airplanes and some great flying... Not a huge event, but fun..
In the time between "other things" I have finished some more building ..
I broke the airframe , fixed it and finished a couple more steps..
Ok, so how did I break it.. Well, apparently I was off a little (like 1/16-inch) between the two sides and when I pulled the back together I got a crack in the plywood side, right behind the doubler and the former. Well it looks like a weak point to me any way.. So, I cleaned things up and clamped some balsa blocks/doublers inside the fuselage over the break point and did the same on the other side to keep everything even. Then, before I pulled the tail together this time, I sprayed both sides with the amonia/water mixture.
I also remembered to not 'trust' that everything was even (because I know it's not) and placed the fuselage over the plans.. Yep, there is a little difference in the sides where they are not quite even at the very back.. However, with a little sand paper, everything should be fine.. So, the back was pulled together, the rear former is glued in and everything clamped..
From there I went on with the instructions and built the rear upper deck frame.. It fits together pretty well, but you do have to build it flat and sand all the tabs to match.. The next photo has the two sides sheeted on the deck.. But, man did working with 1/8 balsa suck again !!! I have the left side bent a little different than the right, I broke one of the sheeting pieces right at the compound curve and had to fix and double it.. And, I can't say the top edge is exactely straight for the moment.. The good part I see, is that with the 1/8 thickness, I will have some room to play with the sanding block and filler!!! The top back deck is not glued in place yet, that comes later in the process..
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Joined: 1/20/2004 From: Clovis,
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From the back of the plane, we moved up front for the next steps... The firewall is laminated from two 1/8-inch thick plywood cutouts... Well, not surprising the pieces were a little warped. Nothing that clamping it flat on a piece of glass while the epoxy dried couldn’t fix!!! It is nice, flat and sturdy now...
Before I glued the firewall together, I drew the outline on some heavy paper so I could work with the engine mount... The plans call for a straight bolt pattern and the engine mounted on its side – sticking out to the right. Well, I want the right-hand (starboard) side to be the “photographic” side of the plane. Therefore, I was going with the engine mounted inverted. Well, as I looked at how the engine and muffler lined up, the inverted position put the muffler right in line with the leading edge of the wing. Looking at it a bit more, everything appeared to line up better with the engine mounted at 45-degrees down to the left…. Hmmm, I’ve heard that you could have some idle problems inverted, so I wonder if the extra 45 degrees will help. What the orientation does do for me is provide easy access to the glow plug (so I may not need the remote adapter) and lines up the exhaust, and needle valve all on the left side of the plane. That gives me one side to work with when starting her up and keeps the starboard side very clean looking!!! It may even keep the top of the engine out of the dirt in case of a belly landing. So, I measured out the firewall plan and included the offset for about 3/32 of down and right thrust... Again, this is something that was suggested to help the flight characteristics of the flat bottom wing. We’ll see if it all works… I checked the engine clearance once more than transferred the locations onto the firewall with an auto-punch. I drilled all the holes and set the blind nuts in the firewall.
From there, the plans call for you to set the top front deck in place and line up the firewall. Well, I also used a large right triangle and ruler to confirm when I got the firewall square to the fuselage. Then the firewall is glued onto the side frame with thick CA. You build the top deck right behind the firewall WITHOUT gluing it all to the fuselage. I guess this to make sheeting easier. Well, to do this, I pulled out my favorite wax-paper and kept everything from touching directly. A couple of side stringers were added last. I did have to make some extra clearance with my new engine bolt pattern, but everything seemed to fit together well
The next steps will be building the bottom front deck and sheeting those pieces. Then they both get epoxied to the frame and firewall...
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Joined: 11/8/2006 From: Woodland,
CA, USA Status: offline
Morning Tom just stumbled on this thread. Wish I had a little earlier. I am based in Woodland and was one of the competitors that weekend. I have a global skyraider kit in my stack of kits to build one of these days. Something I got new when they first came out from Global. I was working at the local hobby shop and had to have one. I would have touched base with you at Woodland while you were here. We had one of our other members that was flying a global skyraider quite a while back. As I recall he had to "beef up" the horizontal stab a little bit due to flutter. Granted he like to fly the sandy fast, but something to keep in mind. If you put any more props up on Ebay make sure to put a note on the thread. Would not mind having one for my sandy. Hope to see you back up in Woodland for the Wings of Victory that is a huge event for us. The masters qualifier is not normally that large. With the cost of gas the masters on the east coast this year we were missing quite a few "regulars" that normally come down from the Or. area. So that drove the attendance down even further.
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Joined: 1/20/2004 From: Clovis,
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Forrest,
Which plane were you flying.. I might have some pics..
I did learn a lot and visited with Larry Sutherland, who is from my flying club.. Bummer about his plane/gear.. Me and the family spend most of the time hanging around back in the shade beside the pond.. The Wings of Victory is scheduled for our vacation weekend, otherwise I would stop buy again.. I'm probably gonna target the Fresno Radio Modelers warbird event (October) as my "due date" for getting the Skyraider done..
Also, I do have a prop "kit" left from the sale on e-bay.. I'll drop you a PM...
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All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> RC Warbirds and Warplanes >> RE: Global Skyraider Build 
RE: Global Skyraider Build - 
.. Or, if you guys have a need for any of these things, let me know!!!.. 
... Here are photos of "the club", then the sides flattened.. Yes, the photos show an AD-5 tail feathers, but the hook is the same on the A-1H as near as I can tell. 
.. 
... 
.. Well, I did get up to the Woodland-Davis event and saw some very nice airplanes and some great flying... Not a huge event, but fun.. 
The top back deck is not glued in place yet, that comes later in the process..
