Folks,

while it might seem that this project is dormant, there has been some progress lately. I have been told that progress on the Curare 20 and Aurora 30 will resume soon. Given the advanced state of both, it would be very nice to see these two projects come to completion.

For my part I have been making some progress on both the Skymaster and Blue Angel. I was fortunate to purchase a glass/foam reproduction of the BA20 which was molded and cut using the MK BA20 kit as a plug. Dimensions and planform match that model to a T. Unfortunately the vertical which is molded into the glass fuse is warped (perhaps due to long term storage) so I plan to replace it with a built up wood version. I'm also thinking of replacing the design of it from the BA20 design to the scaled down BA60 design which I find is more graceful. The idea with that fuse and wings was to produce a glass/foam kit for those who'd rather build a kit like that than the traditional all wood MK kit.

In the process of designing that fin, the rest of the CAD design of the BA20 came together but rather than reproduce the BA20 MK kit, I decided to continue and produce a scaled down BA60 MK kit. The result is a larger BA30 model with a 52" wing span intended for .28 to .35 size engines with the OS and Webra SE .32's specifically in mind. Design of this model is per the full scale but wood thickness and material has been adjusted to produce a reasonably light 30 size model. The front of the model has also been slightly adjusted to provide adequate space for a 30 size nose gear (again, electric retracts are planned here) as well as a 2" spinner. The scaled down model results in a slightly smaller spinner and the retract bay is somewhat restricted to accommodate a 1-3/4" nose wheel. I think you might be hard pressed to tell this modification as the lines have been preserved quite well. Space for a 6" oz fuel tank is also ample. Hayes slim line tanks might be ideal here.

Th reduced scale approach is the same as that which was adopted for the Aurora 30 which will be better suited for electric power (unless some folks want to produce and use a swan neck header or happen to have a 32 sized RE engine such as the new Enya's. An alternative, albeit somewhat heavy, would be something like an OS 40 VF). I think that both the BA30 and the A30 will result in very attractive 30 size classics.

Below is a taste of the plans and the work thus far. Formers are done, wing and stab ribs remain to be drafted. Fin structure (i.e., ribs) is also a little tricky. The cool fin fairing and stab top block of the full size BA60 will be reproduced in "side block form" by cutting it to fuse side template and using two blocks with a 1/32" ply center keel to preserve the fuse centerline reference shape. This approach is not like a CNC routed MK type block but is close enough and easier to build with than one might otherwise if scratch building (as Mike did with his BA60 and Jeff did with his Aurora 60).

David.