Older Brothers

And then, I made up the leadouts, measured and fabricated the pushrod, mounted the bellcrank, glued the wings in place, hinged the stab & elevator and glued them in place, glued the top and bottom sheeting, and bent the landing gear and fit it in the firewall sandwich...  I got on a roll and forgot to take pictures.   

The old 0.5cc to 0.9cc diesels this was designed for must have been awfully heavy, because the nose of this thing is so short coupled.  I’m definitely going to come out tail heavy.  I may have to cut some lightening holes in the sides.  (edit: looking back up at the plans, the engine profile looks larger than a Cox .09.  Maybe I should put a Medallion .09 in it.)

I’ll put a Bee with an 8CC stunt tank and a muffler on it.  Here it is all assembled and ready for paint.

This thing has a HUGE elevator.  It’s going to be able to do nice aerobatics if I get brave enough with it.  I’m still shy about risking my models, though.





I’ll set it aside now and build the later version, and then paint them both at the same time.


The Bullish Mark

Nice looking bi-plane Mark.

You make it look so easy.

I also would like to build a bi-plane. It always looks great flying.

I have started a Little satan build for now. I should also start a build thread and show how it is progressing.

Awaiting the second build.

Theo

Mark, That is very good looking. I suppose you will still sand the wings to that profile as on the drawings before painting?

Show us that Li'l Satan Theo!!!

Lieven

OVERLORD wrote:Mark, That is very good looking. I suppose you will still sand the wings to that profile as on the drawings before painting?

Show us that Li'l Satan Theo!!!

Lieven

Theo and Lieven,

Thanks for the compliments, Guys.  Lieven, I'm not going to sand an airfoil shape in the wings, just round off the edges.  I thought about it, but decided not to because:
1) The field I fly in is across the street and is a rough grass field, so every landing results in a tumble.  Sanding the wing down to the thin airfoil section just makes it more likely a wing will break on landing.  
2) On a model this size with such a small wing, I do not believe sanding such a thin airfoil into the wing will really make much difference over a flat sheet wing.  I don't think the time and mess of sanding such a thin airfoil is worth the slight, if any, benefit.  That's why I went with 3/32" versus 1/8" sheet for the wing.  Less drag, and just as strong in a biplane configuration compared to a 1/8" sheet wing on a monoplane.
3) I thought about ordering some 3" airfoil shaped balsa from Sig, since I need other supplies and some fuel, but decided against it.  As you can see, the plane has a huge elevator, and plenty of throw, so I fool myself into believing I might do some mild aerobatics with it.  Certainly inverted flight.  And to sand the airfoil into the wing, if it's at all effective, would be counterproductive to that aim.

After thinking on it overnight, I've decided I'm not through building this yet.  With the nose so short coupled, I'll either have to lighten the tail, or add weight to the nose.  Neither is very desirable.  So I have decided to add an extension to the nose to get the engine out further.  It won't be true to the plans, but I figure if the original author, Mr. Barrett, had had a Babe Bee on hand to design around, he would have made the nose longer, too.  I'll make a new firewall and experiment with some tape and balsa to find the length I need and add it on.

The Redirected Mark

Well, I couldn’t bear to enlarge the schnozz on this plane, so I changed direction again.  The 1967 version does use a Babe Bee, so I used the same method used on that one.  I used 1 ½” wheels, heavier than I normally use, but comparable to the ones used back then.  I bent heavier gear wire and moved the wheels a little further forward.  It balances slightly nose heavy now, but the weight of the paint should bring it back in.

The first thing I did is to put together the engine for it.  This is an eBay Babe Bee that I got a few months ago.  It turned pretty freely, but I put the front end into a jar of glow fuel for a few days to dissolve any residual gunk in there.  If it were gummed up, I’d drive out the crank and clean everything out, but since it wasn’t gummed up before, I’ll not take it down that far.  The red stunt tank is one of a couple I bought from Bernie on close-out for just such an occasion. I’ll use a bit of tubing to close the tank back vents.  The bottle of oil is some light sewing machine oil I use on reassembly of engines.


The ball joint was overly loose in the piston, so it got a few taps from a hammer in the piston rod reset tool.  The rest of the assembly was as normal.



And, all together.


The Finally Done Mark.
I think.

And to the younger older brother.  I’ll start off by using a new XActo blade.  The lower blade has been used to build nine other planes.  But, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be able to be sharpened any more.  So, a new blade.


The parts spread out:


Starting as usual with the formers on one side, then gluing the other side to the formers.  I inserted the ply mount for the bellcrank,  and then the bellcrank itself into the lower wing.  Then, as before, I glued in one section of sheeting on the top to hold the position of the read fuselage for the rest of the build.





I taped the lines to keep the bellcrank centered so I could rough cut the pushrod.



Then I finished sheeting the top, and masked off so I could shoot a quick coat of paint for the cabin.




The cabin after shooting the paint.

Now, I taped the wing and stab to the fuselage so I could mark the final bend position for the pushrod.



After bending the pushrod to length and hooking it to the control horn, I glued the bottom wing to the fuselage and sheeted the bottom, followed by gluing on the stab. When I had the stab glued on and I sat back and looked at it, I thought that it would look good with the upper wing left off. It'd make a nefty lowing sport plane. Maybe I'll use the plans for another low winger, just enlarging the area a little bit.




Now for the fun part.  Making sure the wings get aligned right.  I used my bubble level and carefully sanded, checking level side to side and fore to aft.




With that done, it was make or break time, so I applied the glue and pressed the top wing in place.



Next the struts.



And finally the fin.

This is as far as I got today.  I’ll try to make some time tomorrow evening to bend up the landing gear and assemble the engine for it. Then figure out a good way to glue the windows in place.  If the balance works out, I can paint on my day off next Thursday.





Well, time for bed.

The Tired Mark

Mark, how do you sharpen your exacto blades? Was that you that did a thread on that a few months ago? Someone on some forum did, but I forgot how to do it now.
I gotta go back to bed too.
Ruuuyyaawwnsty

The ceramic sharpeners sort of works, but it is not quite the same a new blade...

Looking good there Mark , I like watching ur builds    I would like to know about the sharpening process u use to get 9 plane s built with?...Call me stupid or just don't know but have never seen anyone say why the plastic wrap is used to build on ?   Thanks ,Getback

RknRusty wrote:Mark, how do you sharpen your exacto blades? Was that you that did a thread on that a few months ago? Someone on some forum did, but I forgot how to do it now.
I gotta go back to bed too.
Ruuuyyaawwnsty

Yup. That was my thread way back then. I decided to see just how many planes I could get out of that blade. I also used the blade for any other generic cutting needed, like cutting control lines and such. I don't remember if I posted a picture of the sharpener I used. I'll post a pic tonight when I get home from work.

The Sharp Mark

getback wrote:.Call me stupid or just don't know but have never seen anyone say why the plastic wrap is used to build on ?   Thanks ,Getback

Getback, the plastic wrap is used when gluing with CA. CA doesn't stick to the plastic wrap, so you can use it over plans when building. I just always have a sheet under my work so any drips from the CA bottle or off of the part I'm working on won't stick to my working surface.

The Clingy Mark

RknRusty wrote:Mark, how do you sharpen your exacto blades?
Ruuuyyaawwnsty

This is the sharpener I use.  It has metal sharpening blades for knives, and a ceramic sharpener for scissors.




No work on the Ferdinand tonight.  After I got home, Rocky III was on, so I vegged instead.

The Sharp Mark

Something I noticed this evening as I was moving stuff around.  The wing area of the Little Toot is greater than the Ferdinand.  The Toot has a constant 2 ¾” chord, whereas the Ferdinand has a 3” root tapering to a 2 ½” tip, so average chord is the same for both.  The Toot has about 1 ½” wider wingspan.



But look at the difference in the stab and elevator between the two planes.  It’s amazing how much more the Ferdinand has than the Toot:


The Astounded Mark

Mark,

please check your PM box and get back to me..................

thx
-mike

Hi Mark. That is a big difference on the stab and elevator. Wonder how different the planes will fly?

I must say your TOOT looks great.

Do you maybe have some plans for it that you might be able to help me with? I stay in South Africa, and to get plans and kits are extremely difficult around here. So electronic ones would be best.

Theo

MikeM wrote:Mark,

please check your PM box and get back to me..................

thx
-mike

Yes, I am Mark McRiley. Reply sent,

Mark

Theo Kleynhans wrote:Do you maybe have some plans for it that you might be able to help me with? I stay in South Africa, and to get plans and kits are extremely difficult around here. So electronic ones would be best.

Theo

Theo, below is a link to a set of plans for the Little Toot.  You can build it to the plans and have a "correct" Goldberg Little Toot.  I simplified mine by using one of the Brodak mounts.  If you look on the Brodak website you can see how they simplified it even more for a beam mount engine.   If I were to build another one, I would add a little more elevator.  I like the plane, but feel it lacks a little in control authority.

http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=4337

The Aeronautically Incorrect Mark

Theo , Your planes and builds are looking great, you want more planes to download try these people http://www.hippocketaeronautics.com/hpa_plans/categories.php?cat_id=71&page=1   some good plans and interesting people there ....be patent with the procedure of getting on though ....Don't wonder to far !!   Getback Mark I couldn't get the outerzone to come up with that link to the toot pic........http://www.outerzone.co.uk/ try this?

getback wrote:  Mark I couldn't get the outerzone to come up with that link to the toot pic........http://www.outerzone.co.uk/  try this?

Strange. I jut clicked it and it worked for me...

The Strange Mark

Well, at the same time I was taking advantage of the dry spell to paint Brünhilde, I also painted the Older Brothers. I couldn’t think of any really clever ideas on the paint scheme, so I went basic, as I figured a kid from the ‘50s or ‘60s would have done.  The original ’59 design I decided to paint yellow, and the later sportier ’67 version I went with red.  I figured red suited the sportier model.


I think I’m going to use some black trim sheet and make windows for the ’59 version, and then clearcoat it.  It should look okay.  But, here it is, as-is.






And this one I have to make up some windows for.  I have no clue where to get acetate sheet to make them from, so I guess I’ll have to improvise.






All that’s left for these two are to do the windows, finish the leadouts, and touch-up a couple of places where my masking wasn’t good enough.  Then finish the landing gear and mount the engines.  Hopefully I can at least get them all assembled, if not test-flown, by next weekend for the Independence Day Fun Fly at Delta Park.

The Sporty Mark

It seems to me that you have set up a production line. How many builds do you have on the go at the moment?