wings2an3

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Cowl has been painted, made my own plate, have not finished all the rivit detail. Running out of time for Rhinebeck, vacation time is over and other committments are getting in the way. Need to CG it and test run the engine next.

wings2an3

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Additional photos

TKFOKKER

Gentlemen who will be building the GTM triplane along with me.
Good news Glenn has been working on getting our parts ready and he and I have been back and forth a lot on designs and parts and hardware to be used. The landing gear has been figured out and will boast a new scale build up from his previous designs. The plans are almost finished. All the control horns have been cut, and the metal parts are now in production down in Texas. We also have included another member to the build. I will be recieving a large portion of the short kit from him when I see Glenn at Rhinebeck so the build will start in late september. You all will be recieving your parts and master list soon after to follow along with me.
It won't be long!
TK

TKFOKKER

Back from Rhinebeck and have recieved a lot more parts from Glenn.
Here are a few pictures of parts so far. I have plenty to do now. First thing will be to get a stock list up of what I need to start the fuselage frame. Need to buy 8 ft. long 1/2 inch dowels, not typically found at your local lumber yard! Also have plenty of ribs to put together. Glenn is still waitng for the metal parts from Rodger Freemans place in Texas. As you can see the cowl's are here, and really nice. The new strut material is awesome. Can't wait to begin on that huge landing gear. To be honest after building my half scale D-8 I thought I'd never do it again. Should be much easier this time being built from wood and not steel.
So the other guys should start recieving there stuff from Glenn soon. Oh and by the way, Welcome to the build list Barry V!!!!!!
TK

geezeraviation

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TK, where in the world will you get dowels that long? Great to see things getting rolling, glued to the tube waiting for the glue to flow.
Great to meet you at Rhinebeck, always nice to put a face (and the rest) with the thread.
Doc

R/C Art

My Feedback: (38)

Doc, TK

FYI

There is a factory in Harrison, Indiana or Ohio (the town is on the state line) where wooden dowels are made and can be made to order.
Horsepoweraviation can fill you in on the details.....his brother-in-law got his material for the big Demoselle from there.

Art

davep47

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Tom,

Had a blast at rhinebeck this year!! Maybe too much fun??? In regards to the 8' 1/2" dowels national balsa has 48" 1/2" just splice two together. Save on custom dowels and shipping they are not far from you. If you are worried about the splice not being strong just drill and carbon fiber rod as a pin. I also have a 1/2 scale in the works but not a fokker,is a big secret. LOL I figured there needs to be something to shoot down those big mother fokkers!!!

Dave

TKFOKKER

Doc
Yes it was very nice to meet you also. I hope you had a good time up here in NewEngland, too bad the weather was bad on Sat. Your N-28 is a beautiful plane for sure!

Art, yes we do know about that place, Glenn told us about it. But thanks a bunch for looking out for us!

Dave, oh boy, I bet it either a pup or a Nieuport right???? Also thanks for the idea. Will look into that. Oh and ya I know what you mean about having too much fun......... you pay for it the next day for sure......

I sure em looking forward to another build on RCU with all you guys jumpin in. Makes for a much enjoyable exsperience to share your hard work and recieve ideas fromothers.

FireBee

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TK Fokker, others,

Your 1/2 scales are progressing fast. The workmanship and attention to detail is most impressive.

I owe you all some Triplane Pics. It took a bottle of wine to convince my wife to download from her digital camera to a CD for me so I could post.
To save time, check out about 30 pics under " Mid Atlantic Dawn Patrol" thread in events area. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_11221094/tm.htm

MAD PAtrol is Oct 4-7 at the museum with the full scale replicas in Virginia Beach.

At last nights club council mtg we saw a photo of the trophies Glenn Torrance is presenting. First class all the way.

The museum has the following full size airworthy airplanes
3 Fokker DR-1
3 Fokker D-7
1 Fokker C-1
1 Albatros
1 Fokker D-6
1 Sopwith Camel
1 Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter
1 Nieuport 17
1 Avro
2 SE5a

r,
mike

vogel605

Thanks Tommy, glad to be part of it all....

wings2an3

My Feedback: (1)

Tom,
Good Luck on you build and I am envious of all those new and beautiful cut parts that I almost would like to build an other one. Balanced with out adding weight. Current weight 75 lbs. Next to do is start engine, pre flight check and fly. Balance of detail to be built and added now that flying season is slowing down.

Cal Branton

My Feedback: (17)

Tom,

As you know Kirk Hall and I are building one too.

Cal Branton

TKFOKKER

Cal
I was hoping you would buy my D-8!!!!
But yes I did know.
Cool Beans
TK

Cal Branton

My Feedback: (17)

You never know Tom I might buy your D VIII

Cal Branton

My Feedback: (17)

Here is my 1/4 scale Triplane I did many years ago. The 1/2 scale is going to be this scheme.

TKFOKKER

Hey Cal
That was the color scheme of my first triplane, a Ziroli back in 1981!

So I have slowly started to do things, I made myself a router table yesterday so I can router the edge of the 1/2 inch plywood to be used on the forward box of the fuselage. This will allow the 1/2 inch dowels to sit down in the plywood rather than on top of a square edge. Also drew up a template to cut the forward plywood sides. Also came up with a 1/2 inch fir dowel count for the fuselage. It will require 9, 8 ft. pieces. These will be ordered today from a place in Ohio.
TK

Cal Branton

My Feedback: (17)

Tom,

Received all of the parts currently available for the build plus the plans from Glenn today. Getting ready for the build. Other than dowels have you put together any kind of material list? Looks like BUSA is going to get some business.

Cal

TKFOKKER

Hi Cal, Glad to hear you recieved your parts. You can always start working on your ribs while waiting for your dowels. Lord knows there are plenty of them.
Today I cut the forward plywood sides. I am using 1/2 inch MDO bought at my local lumber yard, 52.00 bucks a sheet. There will be some large holes drilled in it to lighten it up. As you can see I routered my edges to recieve my 1/2 in dowels. This will make for a strong tight fit. As I go forward there are a lot of things to be thinking of, not to miss anything or make any mistakes. This project is basically a semi scratch built model. As soon as my dowels arrive I will start contructing the fuselage sides. I made another guide on my router table to pass the stock through to be routered. This allowed it to come out much better. it's fun to make tools such as this that work so well!
TK

TKFOKKER

Forward plywood fuse sides. 4 Inch lightning holes, 1-1/4 intake tube. Awaiting dowels.
TK

TKFOKKER

I found some great Baltic Birch plywood 1/2 inch by 5 ft. sq. with 9 yes 9 layers for the firewall. Local lumber yard had it. Really nice stuff. I'm sure I will always use this stuff for all my firewalls in the future.
I also cut and drilled my aluminum box stock for my middle wing spares to slide over. This will allow me to have the middle wing in two sections and be able to leave the entire center section of the airplane intact. It was a pain in the _ss drilling all those holes in the aluminum to make it lighter.
TK

Nieuport nut

My Feedback: (10)

We can get that same plywood. You're right, it's gorgeous stuff. It is my preferred firewall material.

Martin

TKFOKKER

Some more progress tonight cutting parts. Trying to figure out just how I want the front to come together. One of my goals is to have a very strong forward section that can take a good beating!! Right Doug!
TK

TKFOKKER

While I wait for dowel delivery I have finished all forward parts for the main box. Here you can see a dry fit with some of the stock. Happy with the way things are fitting. This fuse will go together fast once I start gluing!
TK

TKFOKKER

I recieved my 8 ft. long dowels from Cincinati dowel in Ohio. They are of poplar. Today I was able to glue up a fuselage half. Hopefully I will do the other tomorrow. It is essential that when drilling the dowel ends to create the curve to glue the parts together you make a gig to keep the dowel in place while drilling. This process of building the fuselage is fun stuff to do!
TK

TKFOKKER

Well even cutting and splitting fire wood and other chores around the house today I managed to get the second fuselage side framed up. So hopefully by weeks end I'll have the two halves together. I layed the first one over the second to be sure they were the same before gluing. Each side weighs out at 3 lbs.
TK