vibi08

Hy guys,

For the next few months, i will post pictures and tips while i will be building the new AMR-RC RV-8. I expect to fly it in July or August.

The fuselage is almost 100 inches long without the spinner and 15 inches wide at cowling. The wing span is 122 inches and 24 inches wide for a total of 2928 sqin. The total weight is expected around 40 pounds.

The engine used on this prototype will be a Valach 120B2-4T 4 cycles engine. A 100CC should be very efficient on this plane as well.

WacoNut

Sounds nice Vincent,
I am subscribed and watching.
Later!!
Anthony

vibi08

Anthony,

I am glad you still have time to check what new at the same time you are painting the WACO!

I started the build yesterday and the next pictures will show you the amount of work done in the design. I want to let everybody know that the designer is Kevin King and he did an impressive job on the RV-8. The parts shown on the building table are those required to build the fuselage only.

I start building the front end. First i dry fit all the part and i proceed with a preliminary engine installation before putting a drop of glue. Once satisfied with the engine mounting, i build the front end of the fuselage which consist on the motor box, F2 and F3 formers. i glue some triangular piece inside and outside the motor box to increase the strength of this assembly.

WacoNut

Hi Vincent,
Looks like he did a good job of lightening the structure. I am assuming you will be placing some trip stock in the corners? Also will the fuse be fully sheeted?

The Waco rebuild has been a labor of love. I just hope I don't crash it again or i will just cry
Later!!
Anthony

vibi08

Hello Anthony,

Yes the whole frame is surrounded by a bunch of sticks tomsupport the sheeting. It is going to be a big sheeting job but this is the way the RVs are made. I put a lot of hardwood sticks in the motor box and it should be very strong. Enough to support the power of the Valach 120.

Tomorrow, i will post some more picture of the fuselage build. By tomorrow, i should have almost completed the fuselage basic structure.

jbarnes

I've built three AMR kits. Look forward to this one. Will watch this build. When is this kit going to be available for purchase? Jerry.

vibi08

Jerry,
i guess it will be end of August since we need to perform test flight first but i do not see any problem with the design so far since it is build to be very strong.

Now i have made some progress and the bottom half of the fuselage is almost completed. see the attached pictures. Actually, it is a bit slow since i have to define the best building method. the assembly is quite complex but fortunately, i have all the 3D models so it help me a lot. I already suggest some minor changes to Kevin in order to facilitate the build.

Basically, it is an AMR-RC type of building where everything is self jigging and fit perfectly. you first lay down the large center piece and then you keep adding pieces over the base. The bottom is build first but this technique will guarantee a very straight and strong assembly.

vibi08

here is a picture i forgot to include in my previous post. By the way, i am in contact with Kevin constantly for this build and i invite him to place any comment he feel useful during the duration of this build.

Youngestpipercub

Hello Everyone,

WacoNut

Hello Kevin,
I believe we chatted on your Cub build? Nice looking design you have.
Later!!
Anthony

Youngestpipercub

Yes we did Anthony!!!

WacoNut

Yes it is, rebuilding a mistake from last year. Can't get too slow on landing, ran out of airspeed, alititude and skill all at the same time.
Watching here with interest. So far it is looking good.
Later!!
Anthony

vibi08

I put some more work on the fuselage. First, i install the rail wheel plate and the lock but. I could have done the lock nut before instaling the plat but it does not really matter. To install the rail wheel plate, i temporarly install the rudder fin trailing edge in order to locate the plate properly. The plate is glued to F8 and the 2 fuselage side extensions. These extension need to be bended a bit to reach the plate.

vibi08

Next step, i installed the 2 plates that will support the wings. i had to modify F4 a little bit to ease installation. Next, i installed the tank support in preparation to the installation of the motor box assembly.

vibi08

i had a little download problem with the previous post. here are the pictures i wanted to show.

vibi08

In the previous set of pictures, i also installed the landing gear plates. In this case, the tnuts were previously installed. When installing the motor box assembly, it is very important to dryfit first, In fact, no parts should be glued prior beeing tested for the fit. Motor box installation went relatively well but i asked Kevin for a couple of very minor change that will help aligning and clamping the assemblies together.

After this, i started the instalation of the former over the top rear fuselage and to installe the stab and rudder fin support box. It was quite a puzzle at start but i finally end up with a mounting sequence that is easy and worked well.

Last step was to start building the rudder fin.

CubCrafter

I have a question about what type of wood being used for this kit.

Thanks,

Larry

vibi08

Basically, most of the structure is made of liteply and the rest is balsa and hardwood sticks.. So far it is very esay to build.

WacoNut

Larry,
The AMR kits I have built have very good quality 1/4" Lite-Ply for the majority of the framing. Makes a good strong foundation for a large scale plane.
Later!!
Anthony

CubCrafter

Vincent,

Thanks for the reply.
I currently am developing a 1/3 scale kit of an Eindecker EIII to bring to market and I am using 1/8" Baltic Birch Plywood.
I have designed it in 3d and I have my own laser to cut it.

There is a tread in the scale forum.
I have found that the cost of the lite-ply to be a little more than $2.00 more a sheet than the Baltic Birch in a 12"x24" size.

There is some weight difference but not really very much.
The EIII is 1/3 scale with a 135" wingspan and the one in test flights weighs just at 40 lbs.

Interesting to compare methods and processes.
The more cut outs to lighten things up equal more laser time.

Larry

vibi08

Hello Larry,

Buying liteply in small quantity can be expensive but AMR buy a pallet load of .240 and .115 thick liteply. So this way it is not too expensive. I fully agree with you that the amount of lightening holes have a dramatic effect on the laser cutting time but it also depend on the power of the laser you use to cut. Another thing that make the cutting longer is the parts marking. This is why i prefer to use simple naming convention such as F1 or W1 ect. I also prefer to have 2 large holes than 4 small ones.

The wing you show are looking extremely well. Did you make your own laser cutting machine or is it a comercial product?

CubCrafter

Hi Vincent,

I have a 75 watt Epilog machine with a 12"x24" bed. I am an architect and I use it to make architectural models also.
I saw that your designer used Solidworks for the RV-8.

I use SketchUp daily in my architectural practice so I have developed a work flow for using SketchUp for model designs also.
I would love to talk to you sometime about the ins and outs of the kit business.

I am working on several other designs right now
1/2 scale Nieuport 17
40% Ryan STA
35% Cessna 195

Thanks,

Larry

WacoNut

Sorry to butt in but
Larry you REALLY peaked my interest with the 40% STA. I am not that far away from you and I would love to see it once you get the design complete and start the prototype. This plane would look really nice next to my 33% Waco.
Later!!
Anthony

vibi08

Larry,

I would be very happy to discuss with you. If you have an apple computer, we could use Facetime. If you dont, we can use Skipe. They are both free to use and it is fun to see who is on the line.

Contact me first by email at [email protected] on facetime. I dont remember my skipe name but if i find it, i will let you know.

I can see your architect touch in the quality on design shown on your pictures.

jbarnes

Hey Vincent, whats your glue of choice for all the ply gluing? I typically use titebond but I notice no glue residue on your build pictures. Jerry.