splinterz25

Okay had a small set back this morning I had to fix one of the guide bearings on the band saw this morning but once that was done the cutting started.

I cut large sections from the full sheet w/ my new jig saw then cut close to the lines w/ the band saw. My new sander makes short work of cleaning up the edges but I can't get in the corners so those will be hand sanded.

I've started w/ the fuse formers because I'll dry assemble the whole fuse and see how everything lines up.

I broke away from this because I had to cut down our TV cabinet removing the top section because were getting a larger screen set.

But it's under way so once I drill out the lightning holes I cut the ply parts and start to build my assembly jig and cut the Spruce stringers then dry assemble the fuse.

Bruce

splinterz25

Okay a quick update I've cut the larger holes in most of the fuse templates w/ my jigsaw and sanded them w/ a drum sander in my drill press.
Next I'll go back and drill all of the smaller holes then cut the notches for the stringers / longerons; sum of the corners have to be hand sanded because the
belt / disc sander couldn't get in there.

Chipping away at this,

Bruce

splinterz25

And the drilling continues I'm just taking my time with this and the balsa order came in today so now once the templates are complete I can make the ply and balsa parts.

Bruce

splinterz25

And the drilling of the templates continues

JUST A FEW HOLES and there's still more yet to go.

IT'S GETTING THERE,

Bruce

splinterz25

Templates for the fuse are all cut out and I ripped out all of my spruce stringers tonight.

I'll be spending the day tomorrow making the building jig and test fitting all the templates checking for imperfections and making corrections where needed.

I did a random check of the former templates to see if both sides matched but they were very close for a hand drawing; the mock setup will show more.

Bruce

splinterz25

Alright this morning I lay out the drawing on my building jig tape it down and cover it w/ clear plastic sheet; then I cut all of vertical supports the main longerons will rest on top of them there all cut the same height.


So the plane will float above the building board and the vertical supports will hold all twenty of the formers square; I've left out a few at the ends for now because of space but they will be added in when needed.


I pushing to get some of the templates on the jig this afternoon w/ longerons & stringers.


Bruce

splinterz25

SHE'S going to use some timber that's for sure I'll list what I'm starting w/
12 pc 24" x 30" birch ply 40 pc 4"x 36" 1/8" balsa, stringers & longerons one 8' x 6"x 3/4"and
one 6'x 4"x 3/4" Spruce and 8 pc 3"x 36" 3/8, two packs 12 ea 1/4"x1/4" x 36 balsa and a bunch of different thickness plywood 6"x 12" sheets and more I can't think of right off.

Lots of wood and I bet I order more yet,

Bruce

splinterz25

Well like Martin said there's some discrepancies w/ the stringer slots lining up the main longerons seem fine but I will have to make corrections to my templates.
I'm done for the rest of the weekend here's photos of what I've done today.

Bruce

splinterz25

Okay the morning was spent filing out the 1/4"x 1/4" stringer slots and fitting the stringers in place, or should I say trying to figure out where they fit.

Most are straight forward and are going in nicely but in the bow there's a discrepancy where the windshield metes the fuse.

You'll see in the photos there's NO STRINGERS DRAWN AT ALL?
There is the water line curves though.

Maybe Martin will chime in on this since he has already gotten this far.

I've had some inquires about the plans/ kit this is not a cut - glue & dry type short kit I'm making you will have to do a lot of the work and have to be a experienced builder.

What I've put together so far is very strongbut the one place where I think there should have been stringers is at the shoulder (the curve) at the top of the fuse.

It was most likely left this way because he was thinking planking instead of sheeting; I'll leave the templates this way for those who still build this way.

But I'll be adding 1/4" x 1/4" balsa sticks in between the formers here so when I bend my sheeting it doesn't get concave; that will come much later though.

Next I'll make the pieces you'll see in the photos w/ dotted lines that make up the apex of the curves on the fuse; These will come w/ the kit but the keel will be up to the builder because some want ply and others solid spruce.

Check out the progress photos I finely feel like I'm making some head way on this project now.

Bruce

splinterz25

Alright I did a little bit today I made the top curved braces that connect the formers
out of 1/4" spruce while I was at it I cut out the keel also.

I also checked the sides of the formers w/ a straight edge and they all look very close BUT former B -13 seems to stick out a bit to far? puzzling All the others line up when using a 12" straight edge BUT NOT 13??

I try to find a close up shot of the side on the scale plane to see if there's a step in the side or and unusual dip or something?

I'm waiting to see Martins photos to see what he did here??
I know the sides of the scale plane were less than perfect from the photos I've seen. But this seems to be a bit much?

Check the photos,

splinterz25

I'm going back and restarting the assembly process; checking the drawing at each former and screwing it in place to my jig.
We'll see what I get then, because after checking the width of ea. former w/ a square they were correct.
Sometimes it's just best to start over from the start because once one part goes off the rest seem to follow.

Bruce

splinterz25

Martin / Guys this is what I'm talking about; I think Gene just made a mistake here on this former B-13 at the bottom it's off the thickness of the stringer and tapers to the top where the radius starts.
What I did was instead of putting a long stringer through I used two smaller ones and made them end at former B-13.

Check the photos they show it better,

I'll make the corrections on the template and maybe start cutting some ply parts today.

splinterz25

Okay I went back and redrew the former shapes one set on paper the other on 1/8" ply I'll start cutting out the ply tomorrow morning and if all goes well I'll make a new set of templates w/ the ones on paper.

Martin did you notice one half of each former had a rougher side where he
didn't e-race the extra over drawn lines?

I chose to use the clean side for both haves don't know if it's the best side but at least they'll match the other side.

This should go faster because I can rout the shapes out of the ply ? we'll see

I hope the wing ribs aren't as bad?

splinterz25

Well I took off for the whole weekend and did not build on either plane, but got back to making the 1/8" Birch formers this morning and setting them up on the jig to check how they line up now.

I've shown a little bit of my process for routing out the ply parts for those who may try making there own one day.

And so far they look much better lining up w/ the drawings width of the fuse.

Next I'll lay out the stringers so they won't wave up and down like the did before.

It's not perfect but WAY better than I had before.

And I know the right side matches the left, there's still a great deal to do here to even get these parts to my satisfaction

So have a look and I'll keep chipping away at her parts,

Bruce

splinterz25

Okay this morning I got all of the formers in there correct place but not screwed to the jig yet; Then I ran a piece of string across where the stringers should go to see that it will touch each of the formers.
And it's quite good when I flush all of the formers on one side against the string on the other side there's two that sit back about 1/16"; This is far better than what I had before.

So now I'll go back and screw each former to the jig and hand cut in each slot where the stringers will go and tack glue some so they will stay mostly the ones on the bottom.

Dammed if it doesn't look like I'm building a battle ship instead of an airplane.

Check the photos,

Bruce

splinterz25

I can't think of how you would have gotten two haves to lineup w/ all of the discrepancy in the former drawings? That was the way Gene intended it to be built?? I've never liked building in two haves.

Bruce

splinterz25

Alright guys today I put the first bit of glue on this baby the bottom stringers had to be glued so I will be able to move forward.

Getting started was the hard part there so many things that have to be held square while flexing the compound curves on the bottom stringers.

But I've now have the top and bottom aft stringers in place w/ all the formers over there place on the drawing, this wasn't easy!

I've also screw in the formers from the bottom so I'll be able to release them once the skin is on.

The other thing I've done was put a screw plate holding the longerons down tight to the jig w/ the flex of the stringers it wants to rise up.

I checked each former at each glue joint w/ a framing square in both directions, not easy as well.

But now the middle stringers should be a piece of cake we'll see

You'll see how far off the original marks were and there would have been no way of building this plane in two haves.

Check the progress photos they show everything,

Bruce

splinterz25

Well I made some good progress this morning on the tail section, former # 20 had to be put in place before the center stringers can be run.

This all went very well , but this next bit not so well.

And # B6A has to be in place as well this is where the wind shield will taper to; BUT again it doesn't look right?

The height is correct but of course the notch for the stringer isn't, and this is where I'll have to steam/ wet the spruce stringer to twist and bend the curve.

This is where it would be great to see what Martin has done if he's gotten this far?

At first I thought this former was maybe at an angle but that's not how it drawn it stands at a 90 degree from the longerongs and the height is correct.

I'M TAKING A BREAK AND LOOKING OVER THE DRAWINGS AND PHOTOS OF THE SCALE PLANE to see if I can figure it out.

Have a look at the photos maybe one of you guys will see something I've missed?

Bruce

splinterz25

Well I did a quick mock up of the turret to see the relation of it the windshield and the compound curves in the bow, don't laugh at my wax can turret.

It looks like the former B6A needs some curving added and I'll need to add some 1/8"-3/16" stringers between B6 & B6A to get the skin to flow correctly.

And the stringer that I was saying had to twist and bend should be two pieces.

There also has to be some kind of former added to let the turret recess in to the fuse, Gene really left it up to the builder on this entire section

Check the photos and you may be able to see what the I'm talking about.

Bruce

splinterz25

Here's what I came up w/ to make the transition from the windshield to the turret; there still needs to be another former in front of former 6 I used some 1/8" x 1/4" basswood and some 3/16" x 3/16" at the bow.

Have a look,

splinterz25

Alright guys I made some very good progress today After I laid up the 1/4" birch 6 ply cut out the two wing main spars and all of there slots w/ a jig saw.

Then I cut out rib # 1 and fit all of these parts together; I'm thinking the wing spars will get a bunch of lightning holes that I'll add later.

I went to hobby shop this weekend and got one of the two things I was after the 1/2" 9 ply Baltic Birch for the fire walls and the tongue that will hold the booms to the wing in the bow.

The other thing I wanted was DOPE but they didn't have it again I'll have to order it on line and pay the hazard material freight charge.
That's for the PBY not this build.

There's still lots to figure out w/ the center fuel tank & scoop / air intake flow I have an idea here to help cool the engine in the center.

And you can see on the ends of the main spars where it gets thin that's where the 6 foot boom connect.

She's going to be a BIG ONE guys.

Check the progress,

Bruce

splinterz25

Today I've been cutting out the rib templates 2 - 6 these are where the wing tubes will be fitted.
So I'll line up the first two w/ the tube in them the put each rib in it place marking one at a time
where the tube should pass through to get there correct orientation of the wing.

Here are some shots of the engines I'll use I think they'll have enough power?

This is the O.S. FS-95V Four Stroke Aircraft Engine.

Displacement: 0.951cu in (15.59cc)
Bore: 1.142" (29.0mm)
Stroke: 0.929" (23.8mm)
Practical RPM: 2,100 - 11,000RPM
Power Output: 1.7ps/10,000RPM
Weight: 20.88oz (592g)
Muffler Weight: 2.05oz (58g)
Crankshaft Size: 5/16-24
Bruce

splinterz25

I may be wrong but those three engines should give about 5HP. ?

I'm not very good at those type of calculations so maybe someone who
knows these things will chime in here?

I'm cutting her weight everywhere I can and still have a strong plane.

THE GOOD THING IS IF I need a bigger engine the center one can be larger there's much more room there.


Alright this afternoon I went back in the shop and made ribs 2, 3 & 4 and checked there orientation it's looking good so far.

You'll see where the tube will go since I went bigger w/ the tube it will be sandwiched in between the rear main spar; you'll see a line where I'll cut then flip the piece of 1/4" ply over and the groves will line up coming up from the bottom sandwiching the wing tube, this will all get glued in really good once it's correct.

It may seem like it takes me along time to make a few pieces but remember I'm making templates each time for every part then cutting out the plywood pieces and fitting them.

Check the days progress,

splinterz25

Alright I spent the morning making the templates for rib 5 & 6 and cutting them out and routing them; there 8 # 6 ribs req. for the build and two of every other rib 1- 20
46 ribs total 1-6 are 1/8" light birch ply the rest are 1/8" balsa.
Taking a lunch break then I'll go back down stairs and see if I can put something together

Check it out this is how I've been making my parts,

Bruce

splinterz25

If I can find where to buy this engine in the USA I think it will be the center engine
w/ 3.5 HP FA-220 "Zeus"

Specifications:
Displacement: 36.29cc
Bore: 38mm
Stroke: 32mm
Practical RPM: 2,000 ~ 10,000
Weight: 1,096g
Prop: 18 x 8in ~ 19 x 8in
Cylinder: AAC
Power: 3.5HP