wsmalley

My Feedback: (6)

I had a Williams Bros 1/8th Wasp engine and decided it needed a plane attached. Decided on a Ford but could only find a set of plans in 1/12th scale so I'm just upscaling. Eventually I'll find someplace to blow the plans up to 1/8th. Made a shaft for the motor and want to put an electric motor on it just for effect. I'll power it eventually with two, size TBD, electric outrunners. I've got some aluminum, probably .002 for the corrugated skin. Other aluminum is lithoplate.

FliteMetal

What you've started looks GREAT ! ! ! not many people have patience to see something of this detail nature through to an end. What did you use for initial corrigated substrate? Looks fabulous!

FliteMetal

There is a Cleveland Plans drawing which could help with sizing and shape issues however they would need to be reviewed for their mechanical strength as they are often plansets which were simply blown up instead of re-engineered for strength and the proper mechanical layout to support higher loads of giant scale.

Here are pics of a 1/5th blow up of the Cleveland Plans Tri-Motor corutesy of my friend Mike Barbee:






You might contact Mike to obtain the phone, email or mailing address for Mr. Don Heitzerling who is the person who built the 1/5th from a Cleveland Plan enlargement. CLEVELAND MODEL CO. #D-235

[link=http://www.umt.fme.vutbr.cz/~ruja/modely/podklady.htm]Tri-motor planset[/link]


One of these two gentlemen can get you a copy of a 76" w/s set of plans their club... Gulf Coast RC in Pasadena, TX makes available to their members. John Kling 281-471-0996 or Jack Schmidt 281-487-6800. Tell them Ed said hello to Houston's East side... : )

That's it...check with Mike Barbee to see if his friend is willing to share his enlargement (1/5th scale) that looks like it would be best as it appears to be light weight with minimum use of ply.

Here is the Cleveland plansets and their enlargements.

CD235: product identity
Scale Span Price
1/32 28.5 $ 22.00
1/24 38.0 $ 28.00
1/16 57.0 $ 40.00
1/12 76.0 $ 52.00
1/8 114.0 $ 76.00
1/6 152.0 $100.00
1/4 228.0 $148.00

http://www.clevelandairline.com/ASP/PRODUCT.asp

Good luck!

wsmalley

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks for all the pics and info. That's a big help. I will use ply under the metal for the main fuse and probably attempt metal over stick frame for the tail area-like 3M adhesive, drill and pin. Cutting the individual sheet aluminum panels is trial and error. Got a pretty good scrap pile already. The window frames will be brass. There are enough fotos on the web to do a pretty decent job of scale. I'm going to try and do the girder typed wing trusses for the center wing, ala some of the full scale restoration pics out there. The drawings you've included just simplified that! Figured I use some RC auto shocks on the gear. You gotta love that old plane! Like an old truck that flies! There are a ton of videos on YouTube so, including some original Ford silent production film!

FliteMetal

There is a how-to for making the skin on the Cleveland Model Plans web site.

That's not a "girder" style...that's gusseted stick "truss" construction of ribs.
I recommend you build the model exactly as shown on the enlargement by
Mike Barbee's friend. It will be the lightest construction possible for a 1/5th
scale. The pics are the proof its real.

Ed

wsmalley

My Feedback: (6)

This morning, the pics wouldn't load, maybe someone's server is down. This pic is from the Put-in-Bay website of a restoration-why I described the 'spars' as girders.

FliteMetal

That's an excellent photo of the main truss aka spar setup on the Ford.
I wonder if Fokker shared this same construction method? This is a link
to an extremely large close up and personal image of a Tri-motor that
is too large to post here.

[link=http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper857/stills/9y46sq70.jpg]Huge Close Up & Personal View Of Tri-motor[/link]

[link=http://www.steenaero.com/Files/ProjectLog/projectlog_00088_02244_main____oshkosh_2005-07-27_wed_0228_800x600.jpg]Corrigation Up Close & Personal[/link]

[link=http://www.steenaero.com/Files/ProjectLog/projectlog_00088_02245_main____oshkosh_2005-07-27_wed_0234_800x600.jpg]A Look Down The Backbone[/link]

[link=http://www.steenaero.com/Files/ProjectLog/projectlog_00088_02247_main____oshkosh_2005-07-27_wed_0272_800x600.jpg]Bell Crank Should Define Corrigation Span Measurement For You[/link]

[link=http://www.steenaero.com/Files/ProjectLog/projectlog_00088_02248_main____oshkosh_2005-07-27_wed_0279_800x600.jpg]To Shed A Little Light On This Subject [/link]

[link=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Evergreen-International-Airlines/Ford-5-AT-B/0927779/L/]Large Interior Image [/link]

[link=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Eastern-Air-Transport/Ford-4-AT-E-Trimotor/0922065&tbl=photo_info&photo_nr=31&sok=WHERE__%28aircraft_generic_%3D_%27Ford_Trimoto r%27%29_&sort=_order_by_photo_id_DESC_&prev_id=&next_id=0864193]Eastern Airlines Tri-Motor Interior[/link]

[link=http://www.airliners.net/photo/American-Airlines/Ford-Trimotor/0272040&tbl=photo_info&photo_nr=61&sok=WHERE__%28aircraft_generic_%3D_%27Ford_Trimoto r%27%29_&sort=_order_by_photo_id_DESC_&prev_id=&next_id=0270355]Rounded Edge Firewall[/link]

[link=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Evergreen-International-Airlines/Ford-5-AT-B/0190882&tbl=photo_info&photo_nr=64&sok=WHERE__%28aircraft_generic_%3D_%27Ford_Trimoto r%27%29_&sort=_order_by_photo_id_DESC_&prev_id=0234487&next_id=0189594]Vertical Fin & Rudder[/link]

[link=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Transcontinental-Air-Transport/Ford-TriMotor/0002111&tbl=photo_info&photo_nr=84&sok=WHERE__%28aircraft_generic_%3D_%27Ford_Trimoto r%27%29_&sort=_order_by_photo_id_DESC_&prev_id=0002115&next_id=0002109]Center Instrument Panel[/link]

wsmalley

My Feedback: (6)

You Da' Man, Ed! One thing I don't understand is how/what the external cranks control? I'll bet that thing took some serious muscle to fly. Again, there are some great old videos, on YouTube, of a guy doing aerobatics in a Trimotor....unbelievable to me these could be done! I'd like to think one day I could get a ride in that EAA Ford!

FliteMetal

Actually that's the elevator control. Would find a loop in a Tri-motor an exception and out of
bounds event. The control yoke is connected to the tiller arm/aka bell crank attached to the
cables attached to the elevator. Another pair of cables are attached to the rudder & ailerons.

Through mechanical ration differential the force to move a control surface is reduced. I have
not looked to see if there are booster tabs on a Tri-motor. I doubt if they are there as old as
the plane is.