Avaiojet

Sam,

WOW! Have you made headway with that model!!

I haven't been on RCU for a bit and I gotta tell ya, your model is really shaping up.

Kudos and good going!!

Charles

Props4ever

Hey Charles,

Good to see you on here again and thanks for liking my progress and encouragement....

Here is what i am presently working one, basically splitting time between 2 major projects now that Connie is right around the corner from completion...

Props4ever

Got my Carbon fibre cloth today, so ill be making dome pieces .starting tonite. I will also make one.remaining. lower
air intake scoop also. My MS 12x8 3blade props are on the way so i will now able to make atleast one full
cowling in this week hopefully.

Props4ever

I didn't realized up till last night that i was out of working gloves til i set everything up and found that out, good that i didn't mixed the resin as it would have been wasted. Carbon i got is 5.8oz sq/in, so this should be more then enough to withstand any vibration, torque Rimfire 55 motors has to give plus would be very advocate to mount motors on it directly but i'll copulate plywood square to act as flat surface for motor mounts to be mounted on these domes...

Props4ever

Well here it is, first ever Carbon fibre dome piece made for this model!, 1 down 3 more to go.
I also made last lower scoop from Carbon Fibre, lets see if i could do the same for front section due to small, tight and complex mold...

This is first time ever i'm working with carbon, i like working with it but only problem i faced, cloths strands would move apart and make gaps in the cloth surface, this time i added small pieces to cover the gaps and also used lighter weight fibreglass cloth also to fill open gap areas. I would like someone on here who does work with carbon to advise me what i'm doing wrong in lay up procedure why strands tend to move apart on the wall's surface.

ampbomber

My Feedback: (7)

Hi Sam,

My experience with CF cloth is that it does not take on small curves well. Tends to want to straighten itself out during curing. As for the strands seperating, the strands (called tow) are more loosly woven than glass cloth plus they are made out of thousands of fine filiments for each piece of tow. Possiby two layers of 2 oz CF cloth would have been a better choice.

Frankly, I don't mold anything from CF cloth that is small in size and has small curves because it requires constant attention untill the epoxy cures. It's a PITA!

This is my persnal opinion and others may have a different one.

George

Props4ever

Here are the parts pulled from the molds. I tell ya, pulling the dome piece wasn't easy task to do....but i got it out without damaging the mold. You will see, wet resin around the square section, i didn't thought to put bigger piece in the dome after layup to prevent big air gaps, but nit going to waste this piece, so i mixed bit of resin n applied it to those areas...hopefully this will do the trick...

Props4ever

George, im running late for my company's seminar, ill get baick to u later tonite....

iron eagel

Sam,
I agree with Ampbomber Your using far heavier fabric than you need. I would think that using the two layers of the 2 oz fabric would be more than adequate. Keep in mind the carbon fiber is much stronger than the fiberglass to start with so you need a lot less.
As far as results you got working with carbon fiber cloth they are similar to what I have seen and not a lot to be alarmed about. It doesn't like to lay over curves well ,and because of the weave, it tends to separate along the edges much like you have seen even when not going over small radius curves. I think for the most part carbon fiber is used in conjunction with vacuum bagging when making up components with it. I of course have not tried that yet, but am thinking about it for a build I would like to do in the future. It's my understanding you can get a lot lighter weight out of the parts when you make up parts that way.
I would still recommend you check with the guy's in the composite forum, they could give you far better info than I could. I have to wonder if six or seven layers .2oz/ of omnidirectional carbon fiber veil (tissue) wouldn't work well fpr what you are doing.

Props4ever

I do agree with you George, it should be made with 2oz cloth but to get that much i'm talking well over $100 per/sq yard!, i got hell of a deal on lots of 5.8 oz CF cloth so i bought this instead. Tows do tend to shift but i didn't had problem with getting it into tight spots or curves at all, it's not different then working with FG cloth. Plus these part prolly weight less then paper even!.

I'll try coulpe different tricks to see what works best for me and use that for the rest of CF use...

Props4ever

Flash has been trimmed off from the back of the dome, dome has been dry fitted on the back of the main cowl piece, lower scoop is also dry assembled. Now you guys can see how full complete cowlings will look once all 4 are completed!....

Props4ever

As i'm getting closer to finishing my S Constellation model, i have been recommended by few guys to hook up 2 left motors in opposite turning direction from right side!,. Meaning if one side it turning clockwise then opposite will turn anti-clock wise, plus props one side will be puller but otherside will use pusher props....

Does this makes sense as on actual Connies, all 4 engines turn in one direction...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=v3MBmS3APP0

Samedayservice

I like you planes much pls stop tell complain on me.

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

counter rotating props will just cancel out much of the Torque and P-factor tendencies. They typically didn't use this technique much on Full-scale aircraft b/c it involves having to have different engine/prop combo's for each side of the airframe which = more money, especially if its just one aircraft that uses that particular prop/engine combo

Props4ever

Hey Thomas,

You are right and i have already got this straighten out on another forum by guys flying 4 engine models. P-Factor and torque will not effect on planes with wing mounted engines specially with 4 engines as torque acts around the center line of the motor/s. Airplanes roll along the centerline of the fuselage. What is commonly called "torque" is actually P-factor, which only has an effect at high power settings, high angles of attack and low airspeed. And that's easily controlled.

Props4ever

Sorry guys no build updates, work has been really busy and so as last weekend but i wanted to see how big wings are on my Concorde in comparison to the S Connie, i like what i saw, to thought you guys will also...

Props4ever

I have ordered Turnigy Plush 60 Esc's, EC5 connectors, wiring and Turnigy electric 3 blade 15x8 props for this model. This stuff should be here in next couple of weeks, i already bought 2x 5000 mah 6S 40C lips for this baby...

Props4ever

Front section of the lower intake scoop is being made now. This is first front section that has been reinforced in the mold while lay up process with carbon fibre.

Scoop's main body's edges and corners are also being fixed with the resin, also low spots were filled with light layer of resin.

Props4ever

Carbon scoop dry assembled and dry fit on Nacelle #4. Intake lip's body is perfectly fine, it's combo of fibreglass reinforced with CF, there are "0" air bubbles on it...

Props4ever

Today happened to be a day when S Constellation was taken out for the first time under clear blue sky to get some sun...
Also today was first time in 6 years of this build that she stood on her own landing gears!, plus had all 4 cowlings on her nacelles....

Props4ever

Cowl reinforcement process started..

First of 4 cowlings went back the mold to get carbon fibre reinforcement done to areas of "Cowl flap doors", btw these doors will be operational!

Making #2 Carbon fibre lower air intake scoop.

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Very impressive Props. Nothing is more elegant than a Connie IMHO.

Props4ever

Thanks Chad. I'm happy with the out come so far...

Second cowl has been reinforced also, peal ply was applied to soak up all the access resin from the layup.
Before i applied resin and Cf, i sanded inside lightly with 100 grit sand paper for good adhesion!, first one was not sanded, so it's ok but not as good as this should be....

Props4ever

Reinforcement process completed for 2 cowlings, #3 and #4.

Cowling 4 will need more resin applied to it's surface as there are air gaps between the carbon and fibreglass, this happened due lack of sanding that should have been done before carbon was applied, you live and learn!...

iron eagel

Gee Sam I would have thought that the fiberglass would have been strong enough on it's own, now I'd say it's pretty much bullet proof.
Looking good!