RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

Nice build going there, John! Finally have a set of the Bobcat plans coming my way..bought them from a nice fellow on the RCU Marketplace (Mike Hausner) and will be following your build closely.

Hey, John, it's STILL snowing here from when we last exchanged emails!! GEEEEEEEZ!!

Cheers,

Joe

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

Well, John, I received my T-50 plans from Mike Hausner today!!:D They arrived in very nice condition and just as Mike had described. I opened them up so my bride, Joyce, could look at them and she thought it was a neat model...."hey...isn't that the same plane you have on your desktop screen?"....Yepper!

Cheers,

Joe

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

Outstanding Joe, get to cuttin' some wood! I am about ready to start the fuse assy., but am in the middle of a big push to finish the Skyraider, John.

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

What did you decide to do on the cabin area by way of structure/windows?

Joe

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

Haven't spent too much time studying the fuse yet. I did cut the windows out per the instructions, but if I had it to do over again I would not cut them out. I plan to have a solid non see thru cockpit area so the side windows should just be blue/silver covering. I might glue a backing sheet over the windows from the inside, this will create a little relief to match the raised cockpit window frames I intend to use.

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

That's just about what I was thinking, John. I'll build mine for sport flying and don't really need a complete cockpit area to detail. A little relief around the window area should do the trick and allow for a bit of extra balsa to be installed towards the forward front cabin...seems a bit "soft" right in that area.

Man.....I need another building table....:eek:....:D...I don't know what's happened but something lit a fire under me lately for building models again. YEEEEEHAWWWWW![sm=thumbs_up.gif]

Joe

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

LOL, you go Joe. I know what you mean, I am working on 3 at one time, the T-50, Skyraider, fitting an engine to a Pitts, and about ready to pick back up on a TF P-39. Brutal weather here to Joe, 50 deg and blue sky......I will post some fuse pics this weekend.

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

Everybody take out their plans and study the fuse structure, mainly the sides. I have made mistakes in the past on other projects by not understanding the plans correctly. Here are a few pics of what I have come up with so far, please post your interpretations. Whoops, how did that Skyraider pic get in there!

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

Are you going to have a scale Penny in it???

Looking great!

Dave

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

Just started working on my own T-50 about a week ago. Its great having some pics of your guys builds to inspire and to get some help with my own build. I am also fortunate to have a real T-50 in the hanger I live at which helps and gives me something to scale from. I do want to hear what you guys think of electric, retracts and flaps? Just an idea…
And if anyone would like pics from the T-50 here just let me know. Andrew

RE: SKY KING CESSNA T-50 build
 

Andrew,

That's generous of you. I'll take any and all you can send or Post.

Thank you.

BTW. I'm gearing up for an 84" model.

Charles

Hi Bamboo Bomber fans, the last time I posted on this thread was 5 years ago! Have built a ton of models since then, the last project was a Brian Taylor Hawker Hurricane I finished about 3 months ago, that model is a bear to build, didn't even want to see a balsa stick after that project, very time consuming. But, I need some balsa dust in my hair so out came the UC-78 plans again, just gotta find all the parts I made 5 years ago and get busy. Anybody built this ship from the RCM August 1964 plans? If you have then please post some pictures or ideas, thanks.

Hi John,

Great to see you pick your UC-78 back up! I started building from the RCM plans in the fall. This is my first scratch build from plans, so It's been a bit slow, but I'm making steady progress. I have both wing halves built and the tops sheeted. I decided to add flaps so I'm working on getting them built in now. I'll be converting to electric and adding retracts as well, so lots of challenges ahead. I'll get some pictures posted soon. Looking forward to seeing your work.

Hi Tim, I will probably start gluing the wing together tomorrow, what was the wing diehdral measurement on your wing, in inches at the tip? Got any pictures you can post? At one time I had a photo of a builder that had his complete sans covering sitting on the gear, great looking model and the pic explained a lot of the fuselage fairings. I at one time thought of electric but was concerned of the weight of the batteries, I do have a letter from some one who did go electric and he lists everything he used, if I can find it I will scan and post it, good luck with your build, John.

I haven't glued the wings together yet. I've been debating the order in which to do a couple steps and right now am leaning towards getting the nacelles on first, then putting the halves together with the logic being it'd be harder to manage the full wing on my build table. That said, I had done the math on the dihedral and came up with a 3.12" rise at the tips.

Thanks Tim. The little bit of text I have say to glue the nacelle keel directly over the top and bottom wing sheet. I think I will put in my servo mounts for the ailerons and throttles, modify the nacelle keel and notch the leading edge and sheet a box to hold the fuel tanks, glue the wing halves together and then I can level the wing to make sure I get the engine thrust lines identical while gluing on the keels. The designers say not to notch the L,E for the fuel tanks due the wing strength being compromised, but I'll glass the whole compartment so should be OK. Not having enough building room sucks...

I was surprised at that approach in the plans for the keels with them only glued to the surface of the sheeting. I suppose the planking also provided a point of contact with the wing, but with the vibration from the IC engines and impacts from landing, I would have thought more was needed to keep the nacelles secured to the wing.

I have diverged a bit from the plans in that I used spruce for the front and rear spar caps. I also plan to re-jigger the nacelle structure to accommodate the retracts, so I'm looking at two, parallel, vertical keels joined with a bottom plate to hold the retract. My current thinking has the keels keyed into the back of the LE and the front of the main spar from underneath. I'll pay attention to building the keels to the proper thrust lines and then do any fine tuning by shimming the motor mounts. Thinking as I type, maybe I'll get the keels cut and dry fitted, then join the wings and finally glue the keels in place...

Got the wing halves built, I think I am going to sheet from the L.E back to the center of the spar and go with the 2 keel method with them epoxied and use a little reinforcing fiberglass at the joints also. I do have to figure out fuel tanks sizing and fit them in somewhere. I am going to use 2 OS 46 2 strokes for engines. A little overkill but I have a few of them available, plus it might like the weight.http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1958615http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1958616http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1958617

Here are some pics showing progress. I added build tabs to the rib templates to get the washout and decided to laminate the wingtips instead of carving a block. I have fully sheeted the tops of both halves but haven't done the bottoms yet. The wing halves have not been joined yet. I have the aileron structures in place and am adding the flaps. I'll post pics of that later. I've also included a shot of the retracts I plan to use, though the nacelle internals will need to be rearranged to support them.

Looks real good Tim, I like your wingtip structure, just might do that myself. I have the engine mounts and fuel tanks in, and have also just sheeted the top of the wing until the aileron servo mounts etc are in place. I will use two mini servos attached to the nacelle structure for the throttles, just have to figure an access hatch, if I dont then that will be the first thing that goes wrong....http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1963478http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1963479http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1963480http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1963481http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1963482http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1963483http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1963484

I also elected to sheet the wing completely to add a little more stiffness for the engines. One mistake I made was to not figure in the thickness of the engine mount, 3/8", when I glued the firewall and side pieces in on one wing. Had to do a little cutting there and rebuild, thank god a monokote heat gun will melt epoxy. Ailerons tomorrow and make the tip bows,

Here are a few more pictures of my progress.http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1967448http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1967449http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1967450http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1967451http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1967452http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1967453http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1967454

Great progress! That wing looks good all together. Building time has been sparse these last couple of weeks. I'm just about done building in the flaps and then it's on to the nacelles.

Are you sticking with the 1/8" ply for the bulkheads in the fuselage?

All the bulkheads that I had cut in the past were 1/8 ply, last night i cut out the front 2 and 3 out of liteply. I really didn't know I needed fwd bulkheads till the last minute, misread the plans. The part about scoring and cracking the fuse sides at #4 is a little bit of a pain, you have to saw almost all the way thru the 1/4 doublers. I left the center section of the wing unsheeted for the clamping and also to fit hold down blocks in the fuse for the wing, I also added some balsa to the back of the LE to glue dowels into. I do not like the wing structure in the aileron wells that are supposed to receive the hinges so I will use Monokote hinges full span. I have used this method before on a 1/4 scale Sopwith Pup and it works excellent, you get a nice gapless hinge. I was going to make tip bows like you have done but our field's runway is 90 deg to the prevailing winds and you end up dragging tips a lot, hence the solid tips. Next I will sheet the fuse top and start fitting the wing hold down blocks. Working the snow shovel keeping you from building? 65 deg here in Reno today, John.

Between snow, work, and kids my building time has moved to the hours between 10PM and 1AM and I go to bed at 11. It's hard to build a plane in 45 minute sessions.

I agree with your concern on the aileron hinges, and in my case the flap hinges. The holes will have be drilled through the rear spar caps. I went with spruce instead of balsa, so I was hoping they'd survive the holes. I'll have to consider the Monokote hinge.

If it's 65 in February, that means it's a 105 in August. I'll take the snow.