Canuck1

More progress to the Pup.
All the balsa formers are glued to the top of the fuselage. I was not happy with just attaching the front one on top of the firewall so I made some supports from 1/8 balsa. It is nice and secure. I also beefed up all the other supports as well. The rear longerons are in place on the top decking. I placed the 1/32 ply on the top and tied it down to check the fit. The fit is good. Once glued in place it will be nice and strong. The plans say to cut the cockpit opening out prior to sheeting, but I think I will do it after it is secured. There will not be very much strength once it is cut out. It is nice to work on a plane of this size. Lots of room and the pieces are easy to handle.

Craig.

Prop Nut

My Feedback: (3)

Wow, you just dont slow down do you?! Looks great.

Canuck1

Thanks Prop Nut
I have some free time on my hands so I thought I would bash on with the Pup.
I have the cabane mounts complete. They slide in and out with ease. I am almost ready to sheet the top. I put a slight angle on the top of the side ply, to give the sheeting something to bite into. I have also transfered the locations of the cabane's to the side of the fuse for reference later. When it is done I will run a small bead of Polyurethane glue along the top where the ply meets the side. Just to ensure I have a good solid bond. I will sand the sides flush prior to the side going on. I have also pinned the firewall with some 1/8 bamboo scures for extra strength.
I will cut the cockpit out after it is installed. I have been making good progress.

Craig.

Canuck1

Glued on the top decking this afternoon, it turned out excellent Sanded the sides smooth to match the plywood. Next will be the side pieces followed by a plwood covering.

Canuck1

Side pieces are installed. I beefed up the front portion that attached flush with the firewall with some triangle rienforcement. Next I will apply the plywood sheets that cover the side pieces. Placed the cowl on for interest sake. Man this is a nice size. I am enjoying this build so far. It has been lots of fun.

Craig.

Canuck1

I am getting ready to apply the plywood sides. I made the template out of light cardboard then transfered it to the plywood. I noticed that the second Rib 2A is much shorter. I need a good solid structure for when I cut out the side openings. So I have beefed up this piece with balsa, sanded it to match the taper. Next I will install the plywood cheeks.

Craig.

edwardcducote48

Canuck

Give me a "regular" email address and I have lots of construction pix for my scale undercarriage for the Pup. Split axles, bushings, and bungees! Very strong and model has a natural splay on the ground. Really sucks up landing forces.

Canuck1

More progress.
The fuselage cheeks are covered. They turned out well. I also installed the side pieces that run the length of the plywood on the side. I placed the cowl on again just to have a look. Next I will cut out the cabane openings on top of the fuselage. This will take some time. I may sit in front of the TV with the wife while I do it. I also posted a pic of the area that will be cut out, a hatch for my switches. which is in the scale position.

Craig.

Canuck1

Finished up the cabane openings on the fuselage top sheeting. It took about an hour and a half to get them done.

Craig.

Prop Nut

My Feedback: (3)

Slow Down!! Your going to hurt yourself

Square Nozzle

My Feedback: (1)

When you get to the empennage, please get out the sanding block and taper the elevator and rudder to a scale looking cross section. I doubt that the full scale Pup had a slab for those surfaces. So many people put time in the cockpit and rigging details and leave the obvious alone. It really turns me off to see a "scale" airplane with slab control surfaces. Give yourself a treat and look at Don Coe's Pup in R/C Scale Builder. It starts under "Other Kits", "Yet another Tiger Moth" starting on page 14, then he does a full build series in the"Mick Reeves Plans forum, under the topic "Mick Reeves 1/4 Scale Sopwith Pup". We were discussing my Tiger Moth build and he slipped in some pictures of his Pup in progress.

edwardcducote48

Hey Duckie

Looking at your construction pix for the tail end of the fuse. I made my empennage removable. I will send pix on how this was accomplished. The full scale has demountable tail surfaces. Here is also where you can build a scale, functional, steerable tailskid with a hidden rubber wheel to hold the smooth surfaces while taxing. Mine is bungee sprung inside the fuse, just like the real thing. It works great and bungee servo savers duplicate the strain relief on the full scale for the rudder cables.

Canuck1

I put the landing gear on, just to see how big it will be. WOW.......... It will be big. Just for reference, that is my 1/5 scale P-47 pilot standing by the wheel. He is 12 inches tall. Like I mentioned earlier, it is hard to stop working on this bird.

Craig.

Canuck1

I am doing my homework, so to speak

I placed the roughly assembled Pup in the back of my truck. I am worried that it would be to big. Well it is not to big, however it is very big . The fuselage fits in pretty easy. The width is not a real concern. However the tail is very wide. I have placed a piece of balsa on the tail that represents the wingspan of the horizontal stabilizer. It fits within the box. From the aft end of the fuselage, to the tip of the rudder I need another 7 in approx. The tailgate has to be down in this case.
Option #1 Glue tail on.......
Option #2 Removable tail...

I think the removable tail would be the best option. With the tail removed it will allow me to slide the tail of the fuselage over to the side, giving me more room, for the wings to be placed in the back of the truck. They are big as well 43in long X 21 in spread from top wing to bottom wing with the stuts assembled.

Craig.

Canuck1

Started piecing together the horizontal portion of the tail. The leading and trailing edge is made out ouf laminated balsa. Sould be pretty strong, and the ends are two layers of 1/8 in balsa, sandwiching 1/8 lite ply. I just have it sitting on the board right now, no glue has been added. I am going to make the tail removeable, so I will have to re engineer some of the center section. The flying wire locations are not scale so I will also change the location of those. This whole piece is completely flat.........not very scale. I will make a slight airfoil for all the rib locations. I will also add the short ribs too.


Craig.

bps

My Feedback: (3)

Looks like you are making great progress. Makes me want to build this big bird as well. Did the wheels come with the kit?

JEB

Square Nozzle

My Feedback: (1)

Craig, If you look at the R/C Scale Builder forum I referenced earlier, you'll see what Don Coe did with the empennage on his Pup. I consider him to be a near scale fanatic, doing exceptional work. I'm glad to see that you are paying attention to the details. Your Pup should be a thing of beauty. I have considered making the empennage on my 1/4 scale Tigermoth removable also. If you've ever reviewed photos of the full scale you would have seen that there are large gaps between the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. I want to duplicate that and still keep the fin attached in flight. Please post some pictures or explain how you intend to make the empennage on your Pup removable.

Canuck1

Jeb, the wheels came with the one that I purchased. It was second hand so I am not to sure if he purchased them seperately or not.
John, I have been all over that thread you are talking about. I was lying in bed last night thinking the best way to do the removeable tail. The horizontal piece is straight forward. The vertical stab is a different story. I as well want the small space between the fin and the stab. I was thinking of maybe two dowels? One at the front, and one at the rear, built right into the fin construction. Then placing a piece of aluminum tubing, in the fuselage for the front dowel, and one at the rear for the rear post. Any thoughts. These would be secured by the flying wires that are located on the fin. All that would be required is to produce a hole in the horizontal stab for the dowels to pass through. The aluminum tube in the fuselage would support the fin from side to side and the flying wires do the same and keep it from coming out.
Hope I did not confuse you......

Craig.

Canuck1

Horizontal portion of the tail has been constructed. It is very boxy as John has indicated in an earlier post. I still need to add the flying wire hard mounts in the scale locations. I will also add rib caps to extend the current ribs to the scale airfoil. It was not much of an airfoil but I want the effect of the ribs being exposed, as well as the short ribs. It may add some extra tail weight, however I am looking for scale apperance.

Craig.

feep

Craig, I have been following your build. Nice work. It seem you've put a lot of thought into it. I have a suggestion for you. Before you do the removable stab and fin consider building some kind of cheap rack for your wings. The rack won't need to be aligned or rigged or retrimmed or need much engineering and it would more than likely take less time to build. Even if you do a removable tail, a rack might end up being a more comfortable route after you have assembled and disassembled it a few times. Good luck Mike

Canuck1

Great idea Mike. I think a rack will be needed.
Started working on the rib extensions for the tail. Have done a rough sanding of the trailing edge taper. I will post more pics as I progress.

Craig.

Canuck1

Finished up the ribs and half ribs. The horizontal stab now has a nice airfoil. It is very slight but it has the scale look I was after. The short ribs were made from some 3/32 balsa laminated and cut to match the rib airfoil. They are secured to the leading edge, and at the rear with some strips of light balsa. Turned out well, I am quite happy with the results.

Craig.

Square Nozzle

My Feedback: (1)

Craig, your dowel and tube approach for the removable empennage sounds like a very effective way to secure the fin. You have the advantage of flying wires to secure the assembly. The Tigermoth doesnt support the vertical fin with wires so I'll have to come up with a sceme that will utilize the stabilizer brace rods that run from the fuselage to the bottom leading edge of the stabilizer.

Did I read thet you couldn't find Don Coe's series on his Mick Reeves 1/4 scale Pup?
Try this link: http://www.rcscalebuilder.com/forum/...?TID=5080&PN=1

Canuck1

John;
I have read that thread several times. Those kits look like they are oustanding quality.......I am still trying to figure a few things out regarding the removeable tail. I will keep you posted.

Craig.

Square Nozzle

My Feedback: (1)

Looking at the picture you posted of your Pup in the back of your Dakota makes me wonder if my Tiggie will fit in the back of mine. Mine is the same color as your's but I have a hard toneau on it. Fine for all of my other planes but I'm not sure about a 1/4 scale. Taking the hard cover off is not what I want to have to consider. I'll have to get the thing on it's gear and give it a try.