bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

the servo horns are definatly going to hang outside the wing skin I have about 1/8" clearance for the servos in the outer part of the wing for the ailerons,for the flaps the rods will pop out, right on the trailing edge of the wing, so I can have a close to scale looking connectionthis wing is pretty thin at the tip where the ailerons are so I will settle for the rods and horns hanging out I will just paint them so there not as noticable.
just picked up some balsa spars from the LHS so I should have some fuse progress soon to share,I am also gluing up the wing skins today as well,more of a chore than fun but its got to be done.

7aso I also have a Royal 109 in the box as well, one of the reasons I was interested in your build,depending on how difficult it turns out to be doing a moulded fiberglass cowl for the FW, I might do the same thing for the Me109 recut the kit and do some mods to learn some new tecniques for building.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

happy fathers day everyone,
some progress on the fuse that I have made, the parts I have cut out have gone together fairly well with just some small adjustments.
one was to use larger lower fuse stringers 3/8x1/2 balsa I felt the larger sticks added to the rigidity of the fuse and allowed me to ease the corners while having plenty of strength.
another was to add 1/16 ply stab crutches for strength in the tail,since I omitted a large chunk of balsa from that area.
I also rough fitted the V stab which fit as planned

I needed to do some build up of the fuse since I have to work out the wing saddle arrangement,having some plywood curved to fit the wing,which I would like to resemble the light ply method Top Flight uses,and build up the wing fillets possably with a combo of tri stock balsa, sheeting, and filler,again Vs. the log that comes with the kit and serves as the wing saddle,and wing attachment pins in the forward part of the fuse instead of the block of wood there,if any one has photos of there wing set up please post some just for a reference point,I will also keep posting more detailed photos as I progress more.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

got some more progress on the fuse,working out the beefing up of the firewall needed so I can use a modern engine mount instead of the wood rails provided in the kit,a question for builders of this kit where did you mount your servos and electronic gear,I was thinking in the forward area behind the firewall,since I have a pumped OS91 I can use placing the tank at the CG any info is good info,the plans are a bit vague with radio gear in mind.
I also got this little model for my sons B-day nice detail and very scale which I will use as a reference point for some of the scale do dads.

7aso

My Feedback: (27)

Looks good! I'm about 90% done with my 109. I just have to finish the flaps and it will be ready for glassing, then I can start on the Oscar.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

had a little delay in the building process,and after getting alot of the fuse framed up, I realized I needed the tail wheel,air piston,and a flight pack,also not 100% necessary but a incidence meter for this project is going to come in handy, these kits are build by eye alot of the time and I felt I needed this tool for building this one to set the wing and H-stab set up properly.

so the fuse is fairly close to sheeting, the forward area of the fuse,building the exhaust exit area was a little challenging since the plans were not the clearest on this area.

glad I had a kit to reference the parts from in this little zone,as well when I was sheeting the wedge there is a compound curve that required me to wet the balsa to bend around the framing,I am pretty happy with the way it turned out along the lines of my model example just a little water helped soften the balsa to wrap it, med CA works well for this since water works like accelerator,there's also a couple of sections of the fuse where planking is indicated I am planning on just sheeting with single pieces of wood.

another deviation was to build a frame at the forward area of the cockpit, according to my docs there is a reinforced built up area there,and the plans make no indication there should be any stock used tho strengthen the sheeting so it would be just hanging out there, after sheeting I will sand the balsa back to ease and round over the balsa stock so it resembles the edge of the instrament pannel hood.
it will also help beef up the area where the gun hood hinges will be mounted,my plan is to hide the switches,air,and fuel fill there.

mounting the Robart tail wheel is also going to be a chalenge the area is a little tight and some trimming of the plastic unit is going to be necessary to get it to work,I may end up having to make a unit myself,just using the Robart as my model example,I just got my delivery this afternoon so I will post my decision on that later.
if I don't end up using it,I have a build it can go in, my P-51 mustang malcom hood C model.

patsyw26

Hi, I am trying to find out about the Focke Wulf Fw-190 A-8 by Royal. A friend just purchased one ( in original box) with some accessories and a brand new motor (super Tigre) for $200. Was this a good buy? And does anyone know what scale this plane is? Any tips on building or flying? He has built a lot of RC stuff in the past............Thanks patsy

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

considering they go for 3-400 on ebay I am surprised it slipped through the collectors fingers,was it partally assembled?,so yes for 200$ he did well,this is aprox.a 1/9 scale plane, unless it was a junior kit but I am unsure if it was offered in the junior size,the only ones I have seen out there is the 60 3/4" wingspan version,which is the plane I am building,they suposedly fly well with a 60 size engine,I am going with a 91 4stroke.
tell him to get some glue and start building no need to let it rot in a box collecting dust LOL.

patsyw26

Thanks Tim, it does have the 60 inch wings and I have enclosed the picture of the motor...........I am glad it is a Royal, as he has built those before and I have posted another picture of the plane on this site he is trying to locate. He states the name is The Cherry by Royal and I am trying to locate it or information about it. Thanks, I'll tell him he did good on this one!....patsy

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

so after much contemplation I decided to use the Robart unit that I ordered,I did need to do some modifications to get it to work in the space provided,thanks to my P-47 expierence I have worked with the Robart TW which helped.

so this is what I did,first was to clip off the rear mounting tabs since they would be in the way, the unit will be quite close to the bottom sheeting to allow the retract lever to clear the H-stab.

I then needed to reduce the stearing arm by about 1/8" to clear the fuse sides,simple I just redrilled the holes making sure to messure the distance from the center, and rounded the horn at the tips,now it fits perfect inside the fuse from side to side,there is enough horn that the pull/pull cables will still have enough leverage for stearing though.

since the retract mech.doesn't need to fully pull the wheel into the fuse,I mounted the unit at a slight angle to clear the stab and give it a somewhat scale appearance when retracted and extended,I do plan on making a better axle but that comes later.
the stock axle needed to be straitened to give it the clearance and proper swing the way it comes out of the bag has a bretty good bend another simple job stick it in the vice and clamp, it straitened right out with little effort.

here's where I ran into a little trial and error,ok so error,when I messured the origonal mount placement on the plans, I was off by about 1/4"or so, I did have the correct angle but the retract mech.was off and wasn't to my likeing.
out comes the razor saw,and out comes my first attempt,I really ended up with a better mount in general,the first one was a little sloppy and not as tight as I would have liked .
so I cleaned up and repositioned the light ply mount using hard balsa as backing rails since the TW will be burried under elevator and rudder I wanted it to be strong, light,and trouble free.

the unit will have a 1/2" throw air piston mounted forward behind the cockpit compartment,over my projected air tank location.

so heres the progress,I almost scrapped the retract TW idea,but I am glad I took a break and thought it out rather than jump in and make too many errors,its definatly not perfect and I probably could have made a better one from scratch,but I am not sure if it would have been lighter than the plastic robart unit and tail weight is going to be a issue with this bird having such a short nose.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

got back to the build after a little time off the build for a surf trip to san diego.

so a little of tonights progress.
another modification I plan on having,that a fellow club member inspired me to do, was have a gun hood access area for my switches and fill valves.
to do this I needed to make a hinge mount brace,forward of F-5 so the hood would sit in a reasonably close to scale location,and I needed to add some framing for the sheeting to rest on.

I did this by cutting a cardboard template, fitting through trial and error lining the brace up with the aprox,location on the plans where the hood should be, when I was happy with the fit I cut out a plywood piece,I will then mount the hinge for the hood there and most likely have a slide spring loaded latch and some magnets to keep it closed.
after sheeting I will sculpt a mold for my fiberglass gun hood hatch, using my sons model plane, and my documentation books to shape it as close as I can,fortunitely I have some pretty good books on the FW190 A versions
I will then add a ply mounting surface for the switches,and fill valve etc..

I also started working out where the retractable tail wheel piston will be mounted,I want to mount it as forward as possable close to the CG.
I also purchased some pushrod tubes for the pull/pull set ups tomorrow nights journey most likely,I want to finish up some of these basic do dads before I get back to the wing and the mounting of that to the fuse.

7aso

My Feedback: (27)

Looking good. My 109 is on the back burner right now while I'm finishing up my TF GS P-47. The good news is I got my 3 1/2" Tru Turn spinner in.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

sounds good I can't wait to see how it looks 7aso.

well tonight I was doing some prep for tommorows flying,charging some batterys etc..,and after alot of procrastination I finally glued up my wing sheeting for the top side of the wing.

its such a basic job but when done poorly can really be a pain to fix when doing the final finish work having to sand allready thin wood to even it out can be fatal the wood just cant handle too much sanding and 1/16 sheets are pretty fragile to begin with.

one thing I do that is pretty helpfull for glue control is fill a empty CA bottle with Tite Bond,the small tip makes glueing the seams alot easyer,the ammount of exess is minimal so I end up scraping off just a small bit,I am not worried about waste, I buy TB glue by the gallon for work,but its just a mess when your having to wipe off a ton of glue when scraping the seams with a old credit card.

it also comes in handy when you need a little glue in a tight space and you don't want to use CA.
another thing I discovered,the door skin I used for the fuse formers, although lighter and stronger than light ply, likes Tite Bond better than CA, the CA just doesn't stick as well to the sides,as the alph.resin glue like TB.
I am not sure if it absorbs into the wood too fast but the wood glue works better on the edges.
I did use aircraft ply for the firewall and some areas of high stress for my piece of mind,but I still like the door skin for some aplications,and CA works well on the flat skinned areas,just not as well on the edges.

another tip that works well is using a glass to weigh down the sheets, perfectly flat and even weight makes for nice sheeting after I true the seams up,I will let the 1/16 balsa dry overnight and sand it smooth tomorrow when I am ready to use it.

after I hit the field I plan on doing some engine break in on the P-47 it needs a couple of tanks thorough tuning it before I do the maiden flight,its ready I just am not sure if I am,and I need some air time as well its a sport plane and Hangar-9 for me tomorrow

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

so yesterday was just awesome got some flying in, weather was great at the field, hardly any wind.
I needed some air time,seems like forever,best of all greasy landings and no mishaps, here's a shot of my Stang after the last flight of the day,I am likeing my new digital camera great color,our old one was twice the size and half as good .
next will be the maiden of my P-47 weekend after next.

as for the sheets I glued up, they came out fairly good, I could have paid more attention to some of the seams, but overall there smooth after some touch up sanding on a flat surface,my plan is to do little or no sanding to the sheeting once there glued to the wing framing.
I did need to add a little section to the sheet, illistrated in the photo with blue tape,one small corner wasn't covered so I had to add a tiny piece there.

Royal recomends you do the sheeting in sections on the wing, but from my lessons learned from my Top flight models this method of making one solid sheet works well and provides a nice smooth wing surface with little or no sanding required after its glued to the wing.

for the wing framing;
I finished the frame up adding the center rib #1 to each side and sanding the aileron,flap,and leading edge frame flush with the ribs.
I also installed the internal hold down plate for the wing sections where the wing will bolt to the fuse.
this will later be reenforced with a vertical support forward of the plate,and a plywood dihedral brace to the rear, that I also sanded.

I will highlight this in later posts when I get into the internal details of the wings.

really the bulk of tonights work was about sanding.
sanding sheeting seams so there flush,sanding framework in the wing,sanding dihedral bracing for joining the wing,and checking the frame work for truenessI am planning on doing the top of the wings tomorrow so there should be some more progress.

for now I will go and cough up some balsa dust.

patsyw26

Can anyone tell me what size cockpit to get for the Royal Folke Wulf 190A8? There are several that look nice, but what size do you put in there if you wanted a nice one?

Patsy

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

since royal is no longer in buisness there are few alternatives,one would be the Top Flight cockpit kit from www.towerhobbies.com like this one http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXUL53&P=0 its pretty close to the Royal from my comparisons that I have done.
its a bit larger than the Royal offering but could be cut to size pretty easaly.
otherwise there is always doing a scratch build with balsa.
I don't know of any other light weight versions in this smaller size that are inexpensive,mabee there's someone who might have a idea of another one, the cockpit is average size not that large of a area in this plane.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

so my work on the wing is progressing nicely,the top wing skins are glued in place,a fairly straight forward process,once glued in place with med. CA I trimmed the exess off roughly around the wing framing then sanded the skin to the frame.

the plans show the skin hanging over the rear of the ribbs 5/8" and once the sheeting was dry I felt this area was a week spot.
what I did was to add a 5/8x1/16 stiffener to the area of sheeting on the entire trailing edge, when I am ready to sheet the bottom I will sand this area to a slight taper for a better glueing surface I felt that it will give it a better gradual even taper rather than the flat trailing edge that I would have ended up with otherwise.

I then added the wing mount plate webbing,to strenthen the mount, a part I had to pop out of one of the parts sheets I was pleased with the fact that my copy of the part I made fit perfectly.

then on to the flap border ribs that are at the edge of where the flaps will be, inside of these will be a slightly recessed rib at each end, when I install the flap skins the flap will rest on these recessed ribs,flush with the wing skin.
the plans show the flaps in the wrong place and size so when I first got the plans I drew in my own scale flap locations there more narroow but longer than the recomended size but I felt this was a area where I wanted to be close in accuracy at least in the general shape and size relative to the aileron.

for the aileron inboard edge I will use a thicker piece of balsa and locate a piece of light ply for the control horn to mount to keeping it aligned with my intended servo location.

I went ahead and cut out the hinge blocks for the flaps and ailerons there a little larger than the recomened sizes because I am going to use Robart Hinge Points rather than the recomended pin door hinge type.
again for the flaps I am going with a slightly exposed hinge like the scale plane and for the aileron a hidden hinge location with a recess for the aileron to sit inside of and have a rolling effect I will illistrate it more clearly in later posts.

thats all for now, but i am pretty pleased so far, the skins look pretty good on the outside of wings,a little filling before I glass them but not too much its been a good week so far

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

got to love the X-games.
its easy to get some building done with guys doing back flips

went to the LHS today and got one of those aluminum sanding bars,incredibly handy for my next step, flush sanding the ribs and spars in the wing, I bevelled the trailing edge for the upper wing sheeting as well when the 2 halfs were separate.

also added the inboard aileron rib and traced the aileron outline on the upper wing surface since I will need to separate the aileron after I sheet the lower half.

thus begins the joining of the wing halfs, this will be a multi part process.
first I made sure the seam was as close to perfect as I could get,for a nice tight fit.

I then used titebond glue and coated the center wing ribs everywhere but the leading edge and tip of the center ribs,when I was ready to join the wing halfs, I used med CA on the ends for a quick set, having lined up the wings several times I was comfortable with the location and set the halfs together.
the CA is handy since it holds the wings in place so I can get the clamps on the center ribs.

now thatits clamped liberally, it will sit until the wing is dry the titebond is light and really strong perfect for this first step.

after the center joint drys there is some cutting to do so I can fit the, leading edge,center wing,and trailing edge plywood joiners,these I will epoxy in place after I fit them in there proper locations.

with the wing joined it is looking a bit like a FW190 wing.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

some more progres on the inside of the wing,and the inner workings, after trimming the middle ribs off the center wing spar to let the connector to slip into placeI decided to get some more of the basic framework done, while the glue set up on the connector.

I did some wood removal of the center section for the flap servo,building a frame where the servo mounting plate will screw into place.

a simple piece of ply with wood blocks for the servo to screw into, the same type as a aileron servo mount.
I will use a ball and socket set up for moving the flaps.

over the horns I will place a 1/16 ply hatch for any adjustments or repair that may become necessary over the life of the model,rather than having to cut up the wing to get to the horn if something should break,and the weight will be be minimal.

depending on the placement I may disguise it a bit under some scale detail,like I did on my TF Spitfire,but thats a ways off.

7aso

My Feedback: (27)

That looks awsome!

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

details details thanks again to the X-games for the entertainment value.

I got my servo mount and the flap pushrods to the horns done its the method used in TF models and works well,like I noted in my earlier post.

I also cut out the ribs for the wheel well, cut some of the wood off the piece I removed, and glued it back in place for a bridge piece, so when the I sheet the wing there is some support for the wood.

I will cut it loose after I sheet the wing, I am planning on doing wheel wells to support the area I haven't gotten my wheels so I estimated the size,and will fine tune the area after the sheeting is done.

tomorrow I will try fitting the split flaps and if all goes well sheet the bottom of the wing.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

so more moto-X and vert ramp on the X-games and my progress continues

I cut the 2x13" strips out of 1/16 ply for the flap skins.
I then cut some 3/16 strips out of scrap balsa for the leading edge and ribbing,glueing them up with some med CA I then sanded a taper to the trailing edge.

once this was done I checked my docs. and worked out a close to scale location for my Robart Hinge points.

I then made 3 notches in each the ply skins and filed a grove with a round file, for the points to sit relatively flush with the skin, I then made a epoxy dam out of some more scrap surrounding the end barbs.

a litttle med CA to hold the points in place and I filled the space with a epoxy and micro balloon filler mix,once it was dry I sanded it flush with the flap ribs,and they were ready for the fitting process.

with my razor saw I cut the bottom half of the wing rib tips,half way through, and with a chisel blade on my exacto knife I removed the balsa for my flap bay,I then sanded the ends flush with the sanding bar to even out the open area.

placing the flap in its prospective place I marked the hinge locations with a fine point sharpie,my marker of choice for this project,front and back at the center so I had a point of reference for drilling the holes in the hinge blocks.

then it was the moment of truth using the sharpie marks and a approximate angle of attack,from the wing bottom,to the top wing skin, at a shallow angle and following the marks, I drilled the holes with my dremmel moto tool,I have a wip end so it makes it more like drilling teeth.

so I widen the opening a bit for the hinge to fit into the hole and they slide right in so far I am pleased with the fit only one hole needed some adjustment otherwise the fit is clean and the flaps pivot smoothly.

I thought I had a set of 1/2Ahorns but all I had was the larger size so they will have to wait till tomorrow until I can fit the flap pushrods.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

so some more internal details to include before closing the wing up I rolled a tube out of some computer paper and threaded it through some of the holes I had made in the ribs for my aileron servos,the computer paper is light weight,but stiff enough to make a passage for threading the wires through and eleminates the need for strings for pulling wires.

I also added the flap horn and after testing the amount of deflection, I will have plenty of flaps for this plane,and trimmed the trailing edge a bit, the scale flap actually fit into a recess in the wing,and doesn't actually go all the way to the trailing edge of the wing so I did some fitting for this feature.
I also installed the ply rear joiner to the wing, and pre drilled the wing bolt holes,just for reference not the larger finish holes needed for the actual attachment bolts.

so I will now jump back to the fuse and dial in the wing attachment points,front and rear, before closing the wing up, that will be a big step in this build for me, getting the wing closed up.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

all I can say is Go mikel phelps! love those Olympics

now I finally got the wing skins done on the bottom,final fitted the flaps and the striping at the trailing edge recess area so the flaps sit flush with the wing bottom,and cut out the servo mount and hatch holes this evening.

I will cut the skins away for the retracts tomorrow when I am less burnt out.

I also started on one of the areas of the fuse that will be built as the plans show and thats the wing mounting fuse block its a large chunk of tree in the forward area of the fuse I had to actually glue up a couple of pieces of wood to match the wood block in the box for this area not how I would have prefered to do this but I will carve it into shape after I final fit the wing to the fuse and add the front fairing pieces building into the wing saddle,more on that later.

7aso

My Feedback: (27)

I like how you built the flaps. I might have to incorporate it into my Oscar when I start it.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

the flap ideas came from a couple of sources.
for the servo and horn method, I did a direct copy of my Top Flight Spitfire's set up in the wing,its pretty simple I did have a minor adjustment problem, when I soldered the pushrod threaded connectors for the ball joint, I positioned the servo horn incorrectly, and when I mesured the pushrods for cutting I was slightly off the mark,and had to shift the servo mounting tray over to get it to throw properly for maximum travel,I was a little to eager to get it done and should have been paying more attention to the positioning.

the actual flap design I took from my documentation and 3 views,drawing the mod/addition on my plans copy long before construction began, the flap actually doesn't go all the way to the trailing edge and sits just slightly back in a recessed box area,just a small detail that I thought would add something to the model without adding too much weight,but still having flaps on the model.

when I cut the ailerons off the wing for finishing it will be even more noticeable since they are larger in depth than the flaps but shorter in length.

I also got a nylon engine mount with a Towerhobbies order, and it fits perfect for where I intend on mounting the engine,I need to build a engine box structure, nothing major but another detail to do before I can start making my mold for my cowl.

time to start cutting some sheeting for the retracts,and servo mounting hatches and covers.