Flite-Metal

We developed a new four piece mold to correct geometry issues of the original DCU fuselage...symmetry of the original was horrible. Developed a removable scale cockpit tub replacing 90% of the inaccurate vacuum form parts with an accurate resin molded scale cockpit. Created electric sport scale gear and reduced the weight of original scale gear by 60%.

Additional scale elements were developed; removable flying stab module, articulated tailhook, fiberglass weapons rails with releases, and articulated Mk-82 Snake Eye retarded iron bombs. There are components available to assemble four versions of the A6.

Looks like your 6 was exposed to the elements a bit. Was the Byron wing attachment used? Where did you get your DCU 6...from Mark? There were eight (8) pulled from the original mold. JetMart in Atlanta ended up with everything then sold all to a Pacific Rim customer.

nick0231

My Feedback: (4)

Not sure where it originated from but have a bunch of misc parts with it.

Flite-Metal

DCU's A6's did not come with anything but vacuum forming, ten foot long one piece fuse and foam wing core, vertical fin and stab, nothing more... There were two movie 6's with retracts made by Matrix Machine at the tune of 14# each.

My movie A6 was gifted to me by fellow Bomber Field member, Barry Raborn. Barry had been gifted it from the owner of the Houston special effects company contracted to the John Millis film "The Flight Of The Intruder". It had been horribly damaged in a hurricane that came ashore in Kema, TX. (See pix below).

I bought an unassembled 33 year old DCU pull in Florida after I literally stumbled into it listed in an estate sale. In addition to the five 1:5.5 A6 for the movie, DCU pulled eight fuselages from the molds to sell.
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Flite-Metal

After life getting in the way three times since this began...today we chose Rosewood's jet meet outside Louisville, KY Oct. 5~8 as a realistic target date. We are in Edmonton, KY so its closer than the alternative. Lots of moving parts to align with the stars before then.

FalconWings

My Feedback: (57)

What year?

causeitflies

No matter what year, I will be there

Flite-Metal

There is a saying from the late 70's which should be used more often with respect to creating anything...much less reverse engineering a (32#) 34 year old empty recip powered ByroJet ducted fan pushing a 10 foot long fiberglass fuselage from a movie model which did not have landing gear, nor power to fly unless lofted from cliffs in Washington State, or speeding vehicle at Jack Rabbit East of San Bernardino in the Majave.........
............... Nick, we have plugs created from the original clear canopy parts of the "Flight Of The Intruder" movie A6 to pull with our new vacuum former. Do you need clear canopy parts or did they survive whatever your fuselage went through?



I suspect the fuselage you have may have been one of two static models made with Matrix gear. Its internal structure is completely different from those flown in the movie. Damage looks like it went through the same Kemah, TX hurricane as ours.

nick0231

My Feedback: (4)

Sure, I will take a couple of canopys, are they ready to ship? How much? I can send paypal just let me know thanks.

Nick

Flite-Metal

Nick,

We will be pulling clear parts in the future. Do you want a full set (6). All clear parts are individual items. It would be good to trace all your frame inside edges then cut the insides out. These should be mailed to Sam for comparison of size and shape. Remember the DCU layups were not symmetrical. We can slip your cutout tracing over the clear we already have to check the fit. Mail the cutout templates to SAM @.


Ed

patrnflyr

My Feedback: (7)

Maybe a dum question but why don’t you go and try the single turbine out the back like that German Kit Me-262? Is it for scale looks? I would think that getting the kit built as a flying prototype would be good. I’m sure this has been discussed earlier

Flite-Metal

Interesting question... One that is easy to answer with an illustration. Our A-6 Intruders are designed for 39# or greater EDF.
There is a single turbine powered A6 configured as you suggest. I think it is in Austria. Below see how a pair of KingTech "85"
will fit in the same mounting rail foot print as the JetFan 110 Pro.
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sc0tt

My Feedback: (61)

This guy did a total scratch build with single turbine (center exit) using conventional ailerons, flaps & elevators. The after burner lights were a mistake, but otherwise ok for semi-scale and seems to fly well. Looks like rare Matrix Machine landing gear also..

Flite-Metal

Scott,

I doubt that is the Matrix landing gear that was made for static pix if needed...They did not fly. The Austrian A6 is too
small for the 1:5.5 Matrix gear. While the Matrix gear is very realistic it weighed over 14#. The one's that flew in the
movie were powered with a pair of recip ByroJet ducted fans after being thrown over bluffs/cliffs in Washington State
or launched from trucks/jeeps in the Majave.

Here is one of the movie 1:5.5 A6 Intruders.

FenderBean

Man I love the size and have been wanting a true scale A-6 for a looooooong time. I had worked with MIBO and they have the jet done but still no landing gear.

Flite-Metal

Keith,

Unlike the ten foot long original one piece movie A6 fuselage we created a 3 piece mold...radome, center/wingroot section, and rear section just behind the exhaust. Our method of attachment makes for a strong non-slip fuselage with improved portability. Original movie fuselage weighed four times the MAC A6. Our extensive use of infused laminate foam provides regidity with huge reduction of glass and resin.

As for gear, original movie A6 gear manufactured by Matrix Machine weighed over 14#. We have worked with the two "Made In America" gear manufacturers to create an our initial gear. These have molded scale sheaths over proper scale dim retracts. A CNC milled aluminum gear will be available from Darrell at Sierra.
.Airex infused laminate foam sheet (green and white) used to reduce glass, increase strength, while reducing the fuselage weight. In our case our fuselage weighs 25% of the original movie A6.

FenderBean

Yeah understand about the movie props, I hope guys are successful for sure. From the above pictures can I assume the kit will require panel line and detail be done by the builder?

Flite-Metal

Keith,

The plastic winged A6 had access panels but no panel lines. The removable fuselage panels of all A6 were caulked similar to bath tub silicone caulking beneath perimeter of each removable panel in an attempt to seal out corrosive sea spray. 'tween missions an intensive maintenance cycle re-caulked every 6 within the 90~120 day onboard duty cycle. Below is a view of a typical fuselage surface.

Note the more granulated surface of the all grey scheme tends to appear dirtier and splotchy. Contributing to this splochy look was when a panel was opened it was caulked then painted over with inconsistant pigment rattle can or touch-up guns of questionable maintenance.Note there are no ailerons on an A6. There are wing top spoilerons for axis control. Movie models did not have flaps, they were painted on.All movie six models had "0" panels other than the painted on residual corrosion. White over grey were gloss which tends to sprite the surface difusing details...though it was the same panel maintenance.

Below is an example of how the A6 permanent adhesive panels are CNC cut for placement on the fuselage and wing. Each is a replica of a predominant panel on the wing, weapons, and fuselage. On a model of this size a little goes a long way as shown below. These panels are on an A4 Skyhawk..

Ron S

My Feedback: (2)

On post 158, you stated your Robo struts and retracts had arrived. Any pics? Have you had a chance to do a check fit?

Flite-Metal

Ron,

Robart 150HDE 10" main was redesigned with lower ratio lead screw, a more powerful motor, larger internal spring and plug, then it was lengthened to 14" trunnion to axle. The scale sheath has yet to be printed in resin for an RTV strut detail mold. All sheathing will be poured in Alumilite endothermic resin for greatest strength and light weight. We had wheels and brakes but no tires except the 3" pair on the nose. I had returned the original 5" tires to reduce weight by going to 4 1/2"...then found out the manufacturer's supplier had a fire and not expected to deliver tires for 6 months to a year. I ended up finding four 4 1/2" from Nick Jr. at Ziroli for two prototypes.

We are head down-butt up finishing internal components after deriving the formers at explicit locations for wing tube/EDF cradle, retract crutch and flying stab cradle. Remember that we have been reverse engineering everything from the "outside~in". Once the actual perimeters of the "assumed" shapes were laser cut nothing could move forward inside fuse until this coming week. All the design work has been completed...everything has to be validated. There are only three main formers plus a pair of shorty formers mounted up front to provide for the nose gear. All manufacturing and assembly equipment/fixtures are 90% complete awaiting fit validation next week.

If you have ever reverse engineered a project you understand being patient and not rushing to assume something yet-to-be validated only leads to an expensive loss. This equates to some degree reaching into your flying field's trash can and pulling "something" that looks kinda sorta like a... Our "Flight Of The Intruder" movie model is now about 50% of what we started with.

Flite-Metal

Establishing the rudder cut line:



The rudder is molded in with the balance of the rear fuselage section. This assures greater strength than sheeted foam epoxied to the fuselage as was the case with the movie 6's and eliminates vertical alignment issues. We are providing a ready to attach rudder with king post already installed. The attachment is Robart Hinge Point hinges with a music wire common axle

Flite-Metal

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Removable rudder:

Flite-Metal

Nick,

Is your 6's canopy frame removable? We are about to calculate the large canopy frame openings to match the original movie 6 clear pieces. Our movie 6 had that portion of the fuselage damaged and was removed before we were given the fuse. Would you consider permitting us to borrow your large canopy section as a template guide to trace the two side openings onto one of our pulls to create a router guide template?

Ed Clayman
Houston, TX

Flite-Metal

The final fit of the three primary formers will occur in two weeks. If the latest laser cut corrections from last fitting are proper then the rails for both EDF and mains will be fit. It is importnt to permit a fair amount of lateral/diagonal gimme room between rails to allow centering the front tire within the forward door.

In the prototype I reduced the tire diameter to 4 1/2" to allow for a yet to be known amount of vibration induced geometry change during forward sweep of the 14" trunnion to axel strut length before swapping tires back to 5" diameter. I will post pix of the raw strut without the scale sheathing when fitting is completed. The changes to the 150HD10E gear is length, internal shaft ratio, and size/power of electric motor.



Original door cutout location turned out to be right-on. I only cut the right gear side. I have kept my butchering of the fuse to a minimum. The fuse I have is an egg...cracked to make the cake.

nick0231

My Feedback: (4)

Ed,

Thanks for the offer, but my aft canopy section has internal structure, not easily removable without damage to the slide mechanism. I would think it should be a simple process to draw this out using all the documentation available to get an accurate outline.

NIck

Flite-Metal

Nick,

DCU did not use scale documentation when they "carved" several elements of the original movie fuselage/mold. This translates into their A6's individual clear panels are not mirrored nor were they created the correct shape and placement angle as that of the 1:1 Grumman A6 Intruder. This is masqueraded by not having obvious visual cues on this extremely large fuselage..
I have corrected multiple non-scale elements and features... Below is the correct shape and placement angle of a 1:1 Grumman A6F (Same as that of the A~F) according to CAD plots on three inch centers that Bob Kress (VP Fighter Div. of Grumman) sent me thirty years ago. I duplicated the 1:1 as left and right...the same for the windshield. If you compare drawings to your A6 fuselage the difference will be obvious, especially triangular shape / angle...
We have done a great deal of due diligence to assure accuracy and functionality of our MAC6's. Major DCU miscues have been brought to 2022 standards and customer expectations. We have had the luxury of time to do so...DCU had an extremely short turnaround allowance (typical for Hollywood). DCU did the best that could be done back-in-the-day (35 years ago).
.By chance,,,did the miscellaneous parts you referenced in an earlier post include a set of aluminum retracts? The person who manufactured the retracts for "The Flight Of The Intruder" film no longer has the CNC code. It was said to be a hybrid...not compatible with today's CNC mills.
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