JIMARRINGTON

No I have not finished the SNJ. Got side tracked during the spring with other projects and have not got back to it yet. Currently I am nearing completion on a Dynaflite SE5a. Month or so away. Then I plan to get back on the Texan.

Jim

Baldeagle

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Hi Jim The AT-6 looks really nice. Your are almost done.
The Val is still sitting. In the spring we will give it a go. It is 28 deg and snowing. Rich

JIMARRINGTON

I have started back to work on the Texan by working on the wing. I filled the broken out areas with weather stripping foam. I planned to fill the area and let it cure for awhile then cover over it after it finished expanding. Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks now, the foam has not stopped expanding. I will sand it off level and come back a couple days later and the foam has expanded outward again. Repeat and the same thing happens again. I think next, I wll cut out some of it and then try to cap off the areas. Has anyone used foam like this before? May have to dig it all out and rethink.

Jim

crashdummy6

I hate that foam stuff. It expands forever. (maybe not literally, but it seems like it).
I too am starting back on mine after a long layoff. I am glad to see this thread start up again.

Can anyone tell me how to make the (I do not know the name of it, combing maybe?) ridge around the wing at the joint between the center and outer panels. I read once someone used triangle balsa stock. I was thinking there might be something easier to use but really can't think of anything.

Thanks all.

Chad Veich

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Rich Uravitch offers a vacuum formed piece for this which fits the leading edge and wraps around a couple of inches top and bottom. I used them on my Midwest Texan and then just carved balsa for the aft portions. I used a half round sanding jig of the right diameter to shape the balsa to match the vac formed pieces and then glassed the whole thing. I'm happy with the results and it really was not nearly as difficult as I imagined it might be.

flat

My Feedback: (7)

I did something similar to what Chad has described. I carved pieces of balse for the leading edge and then laminated a couple 3/32" balsa strips for the rest of the fairing. I then made a template from a piece of 1/4" plywood that had a half moon shape in it and placed sand paper on it. Then ran it back and forth over the balsa I laminated on to the wing. The result is shown in the picture.

crashdummy6

Thanks all.
When you glassed over it, was that done in one piece over the "combing" and the wing? I guess what I am curious about, does the glass get into the creases without making a "tent". Does that make sense?

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

I glassed the main wing first, then added the fairings and glassed over them. I don't recall if I glassed the vac formed part around the leading edge or not, I may have just glassed the balsa portions. Either way, if you use half ounce cloth and force it down into the creases it will stay there. You would probably want to glass the part around the leading edge with multiple pieces of cloth. The light cloth will easily blend together without leaving visible overlaps as it is so thin. That's my .02 cents anyway, good luck.

flat

My Feedback: (7)

I glassed my wing first and then did all my filling and priming. This way I didn't bang up these fairings when sanding. I then sanded down the primer in this local area and CA'd the strips of balsa on. Then I sanded down the strips to the proper shape. I then sealed the strips with some finishing resin and primed them. This way I was able to get a nice crisp edge where the fairings meet the wings.

JIMARRINGTON

Decided to cut most of the foam out and patch over it with balsa. I left a little foam in place to act as the ribs and give me a ledge to glue to. Patched the wing tip and the middle wing area that was pulled out with the wing mounting screw during the last crash. Going to let it sit over the holidays and recheck to see if the foam has expanded anymore or if I have that problem licked. Just need to redo the flap area and the hinges for the flaps and ailerons then the wing will be ready for glassing. I hope to have this one flyable for our Big Bird in late April.

Been working on enlarging a Sweitzer plan for a Zero. Scanning it in piece by piece into my computer so I can enlarge it in Turbocad. The Zero is my fav WWII fighter.

Jim

JIMARRINGTON

I have just finished putting the glass on the wing and am getting ready for panel lines and rivets but I don't have a 3 view or pics of a Texan wing. Does anyone have a source of these details?

Thanks
Jim

Chad Veich

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http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw/nat6texankr.html

crashdummy6

I saw another good site like this one time, but it was in English so I could read it. Anyone know of such a site that has differetviews of all sorts of planes.

JIMARRINGTON

Thanks Chad. Just what I was looking for.

Jim

ccostant

My Feedback: (38)

Here's another site that might help.

http://www.mnbigbirds.com/3%20View%20Page.htm

JIMARRINGTON

Question for you scale experts. When I was adding the rivets to the fuse, I was using the hypodermic needle bottles. But they kept getting clogged. Went through several bottles before I could finish the fuse. Is there a secret to preventing clogs?


Thanks
Jim

Baldeagle

My Feedback: (7)

Jim I just wipe off the end of the needle with my fingers when the rivets don't come out right. Once I start I leave the bottle with the needel down, This keeps the glue in the needle. I very seldom have to stop and clean out the needle. I hope this makes sence.

JIMARRINGTON

Thanks Rich

Will give it a try.

Jim

JIMARRINGTON

I have finished the wing and mounted the engine. I have my cowling mounting worked out and am finishing it now. I put it all together today to see how it looked. Looked pretty cool to me. Unfortunately, my wife took the camera with her out of town this week. Maybe I can get some pics this weekend. While I had it together, I tried to get a weight. Looks like it will finish out somewhere around 17 pounds. Also looks like the balance is going to be close with having to add too much weight. This airplane has been around and has been repaired several times.

Is 17 pounds too heavy for this airplane? Will the Quadra 35 that I mounted pull this airplane? If so, what prop should I use? I have a MA 18x12 and 18x10. I am thinking 18x12 for prop speed. It is equipped with split flaps.

Thanks
Jim

JIMARRINGTON

How about you other Texan flyers? How much should this plane weigh? 17 pounds is making me nervous.

Jim

JIMARRINGTON

Just went back and reread this thread. Looks like I will be ok at 17 pounds. If bladrunner1955's Texan can handle 20 pounds and fly so well. Yes I had to watch his videos again.

Still curious about the prop size though. I am still a newbie with gas and this is my first giant scale airplane so not so familiar with prop pitches and rpms. I started out in small electric planes and long ago purchased a computer program called Moto-calc. I have been using it to help me pick props even with IC engines. What I do is enter the airframe stats, then pick and electric motor that will give me the rpms that I think I will get from a gas engine, then play around with the props until I find one that works best. And so far it predicts the 18x12 as the best prop. But I am concerned about not having enough pull to get enough airspeed vs having too much pitch speed to slow down for a landing. Our field is quite short with trees on both ends. Makes for steep aproaches. Will the flaps be able to slow her down with an 18x12 prop?

Jim

Finished painting and detailing the cowl today. Just need to Paint the canopy frame and she will be ready to rig out. Engine is already mounted. Also, I mounted the cowling with screws that go in from the inside so no screws sticking out. However I did have to mount the kill switch on the side of the fuse. Hated to do it but could not find a place to mount it where it could be hidden and at the same time easily accessable. Wish I had my camera as I would love to show her off now. She looks mighty nice. So nice in fact I may be too scared to fly her. []

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Jim,

My T-6 is still progressing slowly alongside several other projects. I have a couple of hours work left on the fuselage and then all will be ready for paint. I've not flown the Midwest T-6 but experience with other warbirds of similar size tells me that 17 pounds is not too much. I flew a 70" span Ziroli Jug that was 17 pounds and it flew fine. I have a Thunder Tiger Sea Fury which is about 68 inches span and weighs 15.5 pounds and also flies extremely well. The Texan has more wing area than either one of those so should be just fine, especially with the flaps added. I will be quite satisfied if my Texan comes in near 17 pounds. Looking forward to some updated pics.

Chad Veich

JIMARRINGTON

Thanks Chad. Makes me feel better. I visited your website but was unable to get any of the pictures to display. Now that I know you build models for a living, I am expecting to see an outstanding looking Texan here in the future. Better than my amateurish attempt anyway. Just cant seem to get the hang of making really good rivets. Mine end up looking more like caricatures than real rivets. But I must admit they look better than no rivets.

I am still worrying over the prop issue though. If anyone has any thoughts, please post.

Jim

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Jim,

What browser are you using? Maybe there is an issue with my site and your particular browser.

My Texan is nothing more than a sport flyer Jim so it may not live up to your expectations! (That's my disclaimer!) I may have shared this with you before but I expirmented with the rivets on my Texan a bit. In an attempt to get them as consistent as possible I first laid out my rivets from laser cut vinyl. I then went back and put a drop of glue one each vinyl rivet. Worked out very well but the down side is that you are basically riveting the entire airplane twice. A bit time consuming.

I've never run a Quadra so can't really help with the prop selection other than to say that I rarely use Master Airscrew or Zinger props. More often than not I run APC's and find them to be much more efficient, quieter, and much smoother running. There are other higher end brands out there as well but the APC's work great for me and are readily available. Just my .02 cents.

Baldeagle

My Feedback: (7)

Chad I just tried the link and just got Frontier net on Yahoo. Tha plane looks good. Rich