Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Greebo on April 08, 2020, 07:34:33 AM
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I know there are a few people on the BBS who are interested in R/C model aircraft so I thought I'd post these photos of my brother David's current project. It is a 95 inch span Hawker Typhoon which he is building for FAI class 1 scale competition. It is built from balsa and plywood covered in lightweight glass cloth and will be powered by a Roto 85 two cylinder in-line gas engine. Currently the main airframe is done, as well as the plugs for the cowl and canopy. Next job will be to make the mould for the cowling and then the cowling itself. The canopy mould is off at the vac-formers at the moment.
The Typhoon's thick wing lends itself to scale flying as it lets the plane fly at lower speeds than say a Spitfire, which tends to get marked down for flying at above scale speeds. The chin scoop means engine cooling is not a problem either. The big problem it has as a model is the very short nose which makes balancing it an issue without adding nose weight. To get round this David is installing all the batteries in the cowling below the engine and has tried to keep the tail end as light as possible.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32275)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32277)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32279)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32281)
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Beautiful. What nice work!
...a long way from the old Cox .049 days...
- oldman
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Very nice work!!! :aok
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Gorgeous! Very nice workmanship!
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Looks really good so far....
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Greebo, do you know which plans he used? At first glance it seems like a Ziroli plan, but I am not sure of Ziroli's wingspan. Has to be near 100". I would think that he would have scratch built considering he wants a scale master, this means using Hawker's plans scaled down.
It looks very good, especially considering he did not use fiberglass. 2 cylinder in line is an interesting choice which will give it a more authentic sound. What exhaust system is he using? For something such as this, I would hope Keleo (or some other exhaust co.) would build him a custom, accurate exhaust.
Flying warbirds has a stigma, but we warbird flyers cheat with airplanes like Typhoons, FW 190s, P-47s, F6Fs, etc. This is cheating because they are very stable at low speeds and have very wide landing gear. I have 4 different sizes and powered Bf 109's and I am telling you, the difference is shocking. A Spitfire has very similar tendencies to a Bf 109, so I know exactly what you mean. I am positive that a Typhoon would be joy to fly, especially a large one like this.
Would love to know more, thanks for sharing.
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David didn't use anyone else's plans, he just scaled up reference drawings to get the basic outlines and then designed his own internal structure.
His last scale project was a Spitfire Mk 9 based on Brian Taylor's plan with some structural improvements. Landing that aircraft with its narrow track gear is tricky if there is any sort of crosswind. Also it inherits the real Spit's tendency to float above the runway when it gets into ground effect. He also has an ARTF Typhoon and while this is smaller and not very scale, compared to the Spit it is a much easier plane to nail a landing with and flies more realistically in manoeuvres.
On the Spit he built a custom exhaust that exited from the rear ports of the Merlin's row of stacks. However doing this gave him no extra points score in the scale competition and it was a pain in the neck to get reliable. It took a lot of work to stop it coming undone in the air. So this time he is not bothering, he is just going to have a pair of standard bent pipes running down from the engine and then exhausting out of the radiator exit port.
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Wow. That is some amazing work.
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Beautifully crafted! Huge, huge amount of work and stamina involved! :salute
That S.6B looks amazing as well, great choice of subject there!
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Beautifully crafted! Huge, huge amount of work and stamina involved! :salute
That S.6B looks amazing as well, great choice of subject there!
That S.6B is an old Testors kit by the looks of it. Hard to find these days, the originals anyway.
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I can see what i think is a Seidel or Evolution radial too. Man has some cool toys :)
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Beautiful build.
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I seem to recall the S.6B was a Dumas rubber powered balsa kit that David converted to electric R/C, he never flew it though. Converting small balsa kits to electric R/C was a thing with him a few years ago, he made an Aerographics Gloster Gladiator and also a Guillows Catalina which had scale retracting gear and tip floats!
The Seidel is for a large scale Gloster Gladiator that he started to build but has now shelved until after the Typhoon is finished. The nice thing is that there are a couple of these still flying in the UK and David was given the opportunity to go over one of them taking photos inside and out from every angle. The problem is that it would take a lot longer than the Typhoon to complete and David wants something to fly for next year. Also it will likely have similar landing problems to the Spit with its relatively narrow track and susceptibility to crosswinds.
I'll ask him for some more photos as there seems to be a fair bit of interest here.
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I seem to recall the S.6B was a Dumas rubber powered balsa kit that David converted to electric R/C, he never flew it though. Converting small balsa kits to electric R/C was a thing with him a few years ago, he made an Aerographics Gloster Gladiator and also a Guillows Catalina which had scale retracting gear and tip floats!
The Seidel is for a large scale Gloster Gladiator that he started to build but has now shelved until after the Typhoon is finished. The nice thing is that there are a couple of these still flying in the UK and David was given the opportunity to go over one of them taking photos inside and out from every angle. The problem is that it would take a lot longer than the Typhoon to complete and David wants something to fly for next year. Also it will likely have similar landing problems to the Spit with its relatively narrow track and susceptibility to crosswinds.
I'll ask him for some more photos as there seems to be a fair bit of interest here.
My uncle has a few converted wood models to electric, just seems like a lot of guess work and seriously design-intensive. A Gladiator would come with its own set of issues. Not quite WWI issues, but issues nonetheless. I have a .60 size Fokker D.VII that requires picture perfect conditions which are rarely found in my area. Makes you sweat even in the winter.
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Some more of my brother David's R/C models:
The first one is the Dumas S.6B. Normally a 24 inch span free flight aircraft, this was modified to electric R/C, given a thin sheet balsa skin and some extra detail. Not intended to operate off water but to be landed on grass. He has never flown this one.
Next is a Guillows Catalina 45 inch span static scale balsa model. This is not only modified to electric R/C but the gear and tip floats are designed to retract in the same way as the original aircraft. Again not intended for landing on water. The props shown here struggled to pull it around the sky on its test flight but larger diameter props won't clear the fuselage. So he has made some paddle blade props for flying and just keeps these originals for display.
The Dumas DH Dragon Rapide 42 inch span model needed less modification than the other planes. Just some corrections to the basic shape and a bit of extra detail.
The Aerographics Gloster Gladiator has a wing span of 21.5 inches and was designed for free flight. David made it R/C and again added some detail.
The build photos are where David stopped on his big Gladiator project for the Seidel rotary engine. When completed this will have a wingspan of 84.5 inches.
David's 84.5 inch Spitfire was built from a Brian Taylor plan but with a few modifications. This included beefing up the fragile wing spars and routing the engine cooling air through the fuselage, wings and exiting out the back of the radiator pods.
Last of all is the Aerographics 26 inch span Fairey Swordfish. Another free flight model converted to R/C David added a load of detail and even made the wings fold in the same way as the real aircraft.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32283)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32285)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32287)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32289)
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Almost makes me want to go back to my r/c building. Nice detail.
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Incredible work from your brother, lot of work building those and I have a lot of respect for guys that still build that way.
I've built a few but really enjoy finishing them. Not trying to hijack your thread, just hope you don't mind if I share a couple pics of my recently finished P51D. Fiberglassed it then covered in aluminum panels. Did a lot of CAD and 3D printing for exhaust, radio box behind pilot, armored seat back, antenna, pitot tube, etc...
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49770735361_596605eb38_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2iQ52CV)H9 P-51D-2 - Copy (https://flic.kr/p/2iQ52CV) by Orion Aerials (https://www.flickr.com/photos/73124448@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49771067582_c3333e9709_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2iQ6JoS)H9 P-51D-1-3 - Copy (https://flic.kr/p/2iQ6JoS) by Orion Aerials (https://www.flickr.com/photos/73124448@N04/), on Flickr
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Damn... she looks nice.
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Very nice Elvis. :aok
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Fantastic work on the P-51D Elvis, the metal skinning looks really good and those 3D printed accessories finish it off nicely.
David was planning to add a load of detail to his model including a full set of rockets and rails under the wings. Unfortunately weight is currently an issue so he may not be able to add the rockets. For competition the model has to be under 33 lbs and it is looking marginal as to whether it will make this if a lot of nose weight has to be added. So he is looking at saving some weight here and there by making the gear doors in carbon rather than aluminium, making his own tyres in lightweight foam, 3D printing the wheels in a tough plastic and so on. Unfortunately most of this saving is on or ahead of the C of G but any weight saved will still allow more ballast be added right at the front of the model if its needed. It may also end up painted in an RCAF scheme. Their Typhoons used bombs rather than rockets and bomb racks will add very little weight.
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Just an update on my brother David's Typhoon project.
The cowl has now been moulded and fitted. The exhausts stacks fitted to its sides are hollow and the rad exhaust flap opens and is servo controlled, both features are to help cool the engine. He has fitted the retractable main and tail gear together with their doors, wheels and tyres and got it all working. Finally he's added the guns as well as the various fairings between the wings, tail and fuselage.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32412)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32414)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32416)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=32418)
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He must be an incredible engineer in real life. Does he take part in restoration projects or building experimental kits for human flight? Looks like he would be a natural at it.
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David's not an engineer, he and I ran a model shop until recently. The modelling skills came from our father Mick who was World Scale Champion in 1971 and who also built R/C models for many films including The Battle of Britain. David did once own a part share in a real vintage wooden glider called a Skylark and spent a while restoring that so he could fly it.
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Incredible work, and coming along nicely :aok
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Thought I'd just post an update to this thread as my brother David's has done a fair bit more on his R/C Typhoon. The surface detail; raised and flush rivets, hatches and panel lines are all done, the primer has been applied and it is almost ready for paint. There's still the internal cockpit detail to do, as well as the radiator and internal cowl ducting, bomb racks and various other little jobs.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34268)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34270)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34272)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34274)
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Impressive detail! :aok
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Looks really good Greebo :aok
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Greebo, I have been flying RC since 1981. Your brothers work is by far the best I have seen. I have gone to composite molds to try to achieve what your brother has on top of balsa then glass.
I know there are a few companies that build gearboxes for some of the larger engines. Do you know if that prop is a scale attachment for display, or a geared prop for flight?
Again, just wow..
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The four-bladed propeller is just for scale judging, the competition rules allow a swap to a suitable model prop for flying purposes. I think even if geared down the engine would struggle to use that huge prop and the torque effect would be horrible (mind you, it was on the real plane too). David's in the middle of painting the camo scheme at the moment, I'll post some more photos when he's got it back together.
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The four-bladed propeller is just for scale judging, the competition rules allow a swap to a suitable model prop for flying purposes. I think even if geared down the engine would struggle to use that huge prop and the torque effect would be horrible (mind you, it was on the real plane too). David's in the middle of painting the camo scheme at the moment, I'll post some more photos when he's got it back together.
https://youtu.be/FbJvZLHx7-M
That is what I thought too until I saw this a few years back.
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https://youtu.be/FbJvZLHx7-M
That is what I thought too until I saw this a few years back.
That is impressive. :cheers: :aok
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Thanks for the video, that is impressive but David's not going to be able to go with a gearbox and a scale flying propeller now. Apart from the extra work this would require the Typhoon is very close to the 15 Kg maximum weight limit for the competition class and he's having to count every gram to keep it under. Also the way the rules are written it would not gain him any marks.
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I get it. Not a criticism. I was unaware that such gearboxes on big radials exist. Please continue to share pics!
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Thought I'd just post a few progress photos of my brother's R/C Typhoon as the camo scheme has now been applied. The aircraft chosen is RB205, flown by Wing Commander Frank George Grant until it was destroyed on the ground during Operation Bodenplatte. Grant lead the RCAF's 143 Wing from February 1943 until the end of the war. This aircraft was chosen as there are photos of it taken from several angles which is virtually unheard of for a late war Typhoon. Having reference photos taken from all sides improves the scale marks the model will receive in the competition.
There's a few things that still need to be painted like the exhaust stacks, the yellow on the scale propeller blades, the anti-slip paint and all the weathering. Also the bomb racks and cockpit interior and pilot have yet to be made.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34793)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34795)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34797)
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Thought I'd just post a few progress photos of my brother's R/C Typhoon as the camo scheme has now been applied. The aircraft chosen is RB205, flown by Wing Commander Frank George Grant until it was destroyed on the ground during Operation Bodenplatte. Grant lead the RCAF's 143 Wing from February 1943 until the end of the war. This aircraft was chosen as there are photos of it taken from several angles which is virtually unheard of for a late war Typhoon. Having reference photos taken from all sides improves the scale marks the model will receive in the competition.
There's a few things that still need to be painted like the exhaust stacks, the yellow on the scale propeller blades, the anti-slip paint and all the weathering. Also the bomb racks and cockpit interior and pilot have yet to be made.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34793)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34795)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399666.0;attach=34797)
My grandfather, who was a flyer in Aces High under the name SonnyTen, would be smiling seeing this. He loved building and flying these. Up North my father has my grandfathers P51 hanging in the left garage bay. It's a sight to see each time.
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---Snip!---
Is that Tom Cruise you have modelled there? Seems scale for him!