tubig

finished final shaping of the upper wing today (no pic to post as it's just like the bottom one).

and started work on the landing gear. i spent probably a week's worth of time studying the plans for the gear's construction and it wasn't until i actually starting bending wire and positioning that i found i made a mistake. the plans show the upper section of the gear mounted to the firewall but what i didn't realize (and it's not stated on the plans) is that the firewall depiction on the plans is from rearward looking forward not looking from the front (this is the first time i've run across this). what that means is that the gear should be mounted on the rear of the firewall which, of course, is already permanently installed with no way of getting to the rear. so i'll just have to settle for the wire mounted to the front and hope the dummy engine covers most of it.

there are 4 sets of music wire to bend and solder to form the gear. the photo shows the first set which is tack glued to the firewall to aid bending the second set.

tubig

a channel was cut into the 1/4" ply landing gear plate to accept 2 1/8" wires. it would have been much easier to have created this channel during the build up phase but i just didn't think about. the plans call for homemade saddle clamps that clamp the wires down onto the ply but i thought it better to have them captured in the ply plate.

so the gear is down to the last wire. unfortunately, i ran out of 1/8" wire.[:@] the last piece will go where the balsa strips are in the photo. (the straight wire in the ply channel will actually be the axle, it's just there now to help hold the other wire in correct position.) so i'll continue when i scrounge up some 1/8" music wire.

sharpshooter223

tubig, that planes is awesome, if you happen to have the plans on your computer do you think you could email them to me?

tubig

sorry, i don't. what i can try to do is scan them and email them. however; i've never tried it before and not sure how it will work out. what i'll try to scan is the original magazine plans for the 46" ws size (i enlarged them 20% for this model). i won't be able to do it before the 25th as i'll be away from the scanner until then. thanks for looking in!

tubig

ok, with a fresh supply of 1/8" wire i finished up the gear. the final wire was bent to shape and then the four joints were wrapped with 22ga. wire and soldered.

pic 3-4: a preview of how it will look with the wheels on. i'll be using some brass tubing to increase the axle size to fit the Williams Bros. wheel. a couple of washers and a small wire cotter pin will hold it all on. (won't be finishing that until several weeks). i like how it looks but all of that 1/8" wire has made the front end a little heavy. fortunately the flycatcher has a short nose moment so maybe that will be a blessing in disguise.

tubig

i've also started on fiberglassing the forward fuselage section in prep for covering with Flite-Metal. just the bottom for today.

tubig

and the top.

tubig

the sheeted part of the fuselage has been sanded and primed and the low spots filled in and is now ready for flitemetal. and i've now covered all of the fabric areas with silver solartex.

tubig

8-10 hours of work later the FliteMetal is on the forward fuselage.

tubig

a little more work on the Flycatcher including installing all flight control pushrods, etc.

pic 1: also, completed the final installation of the axles and wheels. to complete this, a washer and brass tube were soldered to the next smaller size brass tube (which had been previously soldered to the piano wire inner axle). the wheel was placed in position, another washer added on the outboard side and hole marked for the cotter pin. the wheel removed, the hole drilled and then the final length of the brass tubing cut to size.



pic 2-3: completed wheels. the outboard washer is free to move and the cotter pin allows for removal of the wheel if necessary. i'm happy with this setup with one exception. it's really heavy. the Williams Bros. wheels themselves are heavy but with the added wire, brass tube and soldering the landing gear assembly weighs in at around 13 oz. almost a pound! and the whole model only weighs in the neighborhood of 5.5 lbs. all inclusive.

tubig

small progress to report. epoxied the wing N struts to their lower wing attachment posts. to make sure they don't come off the posts they will also be secured with a toothpick "pin".

tubig

a little work on the pilot.

tubig

installed fuel tank and engine. pretty basic stuff but i thought i would show a little trick for those that may be interested. i cut the fuel lines pretty much the length i needed before passing them thought the firewall but then i had a difficult time reaching them. so i used a bamboo skewer inserted through the fuel line holes and into the fuel tubing. then i just had to slowly work them them through the holes with a slow rotating motion.

pic 2: OS52FS installed. yes, no dummy engine yet. i won't make that until after the maiden and i know she flies well enough to put the effort into it.

pic 3: added a smooth card paper cockpit floor and backrest. also, covered and glued in the headrest fairing.

tubig

added a simple dash of flite-metal over a balsa base. then using a scrouring pad and pencil i made circular swirls trying to simulate the original. then used some store bought instruments that i just glued on. not much but better than nothing.

tubig

well, i think i have her as far as i'm going to take her until after the maiden. i think i'll still paint the N-struts and the cockpit. if i have some spare time not working on anything else i may add a few bits. if the maiden goes well i'll add the overall scheme, landing gear fairings, dummy engine and maybe a few other things i can find.

weighed her today and she came in right at 6 pounds (2.7 kgs). and almost right on cg. i'll still have to add a little less than .5 lb to get her to balance but i'm happy with it since she has a fairly short nose moment. when i do add more details i'll be sure to post.

buzzard bait

Great project, but it's been awhile--any more news?

BMatthews

Lordy but the British sure came up with some ugly airplanes during those early mid war years.

I have to say that tubig certainly captured the.... er... the.... um.... I guess it would be safe to call it the "personality"(?)..... of the Flycatcher well.

buzzard bait

Aw, Bruce, it's gorgeous...especially nice upside down.

Seriously, I think this will be fantastic in the air, and a lot of fun with the full span flaperons top and bottom. Full scale plane was famous for airshow displays in the 20s - pilots loved it. Of course, they didn't have to look at it. No, really, the quirky look will be terrific in the air.

Jim

BMatthews

It definetly looks better upside down. I can see less of it...

tubig

sorry jim, after i took her apart i set her aside waiting on a brass spinner and haven't touched her since. i haven't had much shop time lately and probably won't until late in the year. i have three planes to maiden now (including the flycatcher) but no time to do it. hopefully later. i'll be sure to post a maiden report when i finally get around to it. thanks for asking on the progress.

buzzard bait

Tim, thanks for responding. I know all about having to put things aside for awhile. I hope things ease up for you and we'll see in flight photos some day. Jim

BMatthews

Best of luck with it when you finally do take it out for the maiden flight there tubig. All joking aside you've done a lovely job on it from looking through the pictures.



.... if only you had used your talents to build a Hawker Fury instead of the craft designed by commitee...

dauntlessuk

Personally I reckon this is an really interesting and quirkily attractive plane. I'm seriously thinking of building one to the same scale as Tim's as a "companion" for my 52" Hawker Tomtit. See pic. They would look great in the air together I reckon; a pair of mid-20's British biplanes, the silver paintwork glinting in the sunshine!! Only problem is I can't fly two models at the same time.

buzzard bait

I love that picture of your Tomtit - the old Veron kit, no doubt. Yes, I totally agree, they would look magnificent together! Jim

dauntlessuk

Thanks Jim,
Yes it is from an old Veron kit (heavily modified) and it is a beautiful flyer. Over 300 flights now with a Saito 45 up front.
I've decided to do a model of the Flycatcher to the same scale as Tim's. Traplet (the publishers) still had a copy of the original mag with the free plan inside. Unfortunately it got very wet int the mailbox and I had to dry it all out and its now a bit curly.

After ironing the plan, it seems OK and I've now had an enlargement (120%) done at the local copy shop. Engine will be a Saito 56FS as the cylinder head looks very similar the full-size's radial engine - and I happen to have one available. I think I will fit a working sprung undercarriage (the Tomtit has one which works great) and have found a pair of Williams 5" vintage wheels which are just the right size for this model at a scale of 1 6.4. I've also got a couple of rolls of silver Solartex in stock, so the colour is decided.

I'm going to "bite the bullet" and have ailerons on both top and bottom wings with 4 mini servos - one for each aileron. Like that it's easy to set up the differential movement with a computer tx. It also means that I can experiment with mixing in flap via the tx and have variable camber/flap action on all 4 ailerons just like the full-size aircraft!!! We will have to see.

All I need now is some time in the workshop to actually get started!!

David