I noticed a series of links to video clips today showing up on my Twitter feed from the AMA — Burt Rutan at the 2010 AMA Expo — Cool! I was riveted by his home video and photos of his research and development. As well as some of his RC building and testing.
Mansell Models Stitts Skybaby
On October 20th, 2009, the sky was grey with scattered clouds and the adrenaline was pumping. Tom Mansell was able to maiden the ¼ scale Stitts Skybaby with a large crowd to boot. The plane took to the sky quickly as Tom put plenty of space between the plane and the ground to get it all trimmed out. After a few minor adjustments and taking out the rudder mixing, the plane flew really well despite It’s 44oz flight weight. The attached video contains footage of the maiden flight and some from the next few days. What a pleasure to watch this plane fly.
Tom based this model on RCM plans that were drawn up by Pat Trittle. Though the dimensions and airfoil are similar to Andy Clancy’s Skybaby, there have been many changes that mostly include structural reinforcement that will support the 300 watt motor. Tom designed the rudder to be more like the original full scale plane and added ailerons and extra ribs to support the ailerons. The bottom wing has been greatly reinforced to support the widened landing gear. This thing tracks very well on the ground. Though Tom referenced the RCM plans he has created an entirely new airplane here.
Tom framed up the plane after having JTechLaser.com laser cut his parts. He then handed it over to Steve Mueller (a dedicated scale builder) to finish up the Skybaby. The local response to the plane has been amazing and it sure is something to see in person.
Tom is making plans to make the kit available under Mansell Models and will probably be available in the next few months on BlueSkyRC.com.
Here are some of the statistics on the finished plane:
E-Flite 480, an APC 12X6E prop, a Turnigy 40amp ESC, a 3-cell 11.1 volt 2200mah Li-poly battery, and 4 servos for the Rudder, elevator and one for each set of ailerons.
Click read more to see more photos.
Read more…
Less than 20 years after the Wright brother’s first flight, Henry Woodhouse published a textbook on Aeronautic Engineering. Excerpts from this book that relate to German WWI war planes have been reprinted and offered for sale for less than $10 at this site:
If you ‘re interested in modeling WWI aircraft, this collection contains details of construction that can be used to improve the accuracy of your models. Other details , like the configuration of the control linkages may not be of much modeling help but will be interesting to WWI era airplane history buffs.
The Fokker Single Seater Biplane D-7 makes a good example of the contents of this collection. Photographs and diagrams are abundant and the specific topics covered include: Airfoil, Wing Construction, Struts, Fuselage, Tail, Undercarriage, Engine and mounting, Radiator, Petrol and Oil Systems, Throttle control and Fabric and Dope.
The advancement in aviation in its first two decades is amazing and exemplified in the contents of this publication.
This book is well worth the reasonable price and if you have even a glancing interest in early aviation I recommend it.
I acquired a short kit for a Dr1 from the designer, David Payne, at BlueSkyRC a few weeks ago and the build is about complete.
This is a 31 inch (top wing span) 1/9 Scale model of the famous tri-wing WW1 fighter. As a scale model it has the same number of wing ribs as the original and your first impression when inspecting the kit is ‘holy cow that’s a lot of ribs’. ( phrase acquired at Joe’s BBQ)
Framing the plane is straightforward but takes some time, I found myself searching through sheets of laser cut balsa looking for individual parts. Speaking of laser cut parts, these were excellent, having been cut by master laser cutter, Jim Wagoner at JTechlaser.
David has a build thread on RCGroups and combining the photos online with his well drawn plans provides the direction required to successfully complete the building of this plane. This is not a kit for the first time builder, but with a grand sum total of 2 different short kits and a couple full kits of experience I was able to get the pieces glued together to complete the framing. The cowl is located and attached with two carbon fiber eighth inch rods and two pairs of magnets. Binding for the metal wires for the cabanes and later the landing gear was braided kevlar fishing line, saturated with thin CA.
The rudder and elevator servos are located with mini-connector adjustment access from the open cockpit and use push rods. The aileron servos were glued to the cover plates and wind up inside the top wing with the servo arm protruding thru the plates.
OK, so now I’ve got 4 wings, a fuselage, 4 control surfaces, a balsa/plywood cowl, etc, and it’s time to decide on which full scale Dr1 this model is going to look like. The decision was made, a blue and white Dr1, registered in Germany as PH-EBF, which is a replica of Dr1 flown by LT von Raben, Jasta 7, 155/17. Here’s the one picture I could find of that plane actually in the air, among a dozen or so ground shots including one of the plane displayed indoors in a museum in Belgium.
The Dr1 aircraft preceded color photography, so the actual colors are often disputed. History indicates that the blue color was based on a fabric sample that was mistakenly assumed to be from LT von Raben’s Dr1 but probably came from a later Fokker DVII that replaced the Dr1. Nevertheless, I really liked the blue and white scheme , so my plane is a model of above PH-EBF which is a replica of LT von Raben’s Dr1, which was probably red and white rather than blue and white.
Here’s the firewall and motor mount , note the carbon rods, magnets and tapers on the motor mount to give a little down and right thrust.
with Cowl attached
Looking into cockpit showing location of tail servos.
motor mount, faux motor, esc is velcroed inside top of cowl.
Aileron Servo configuration.
von Raben's white Raven, graphics by Callie.
Ready for flight.
Building this plane has been a learning experience, a lot of fun, and because of the well executed design and quality laser cutting produced a good looking scale model Dr1. Will it fly? — report coming up in a few days.
Link to Callie Graphics
Pat Tritle's Fleet Biplane Trainer
I enjoy following Pat Tritle’s build threads on RCGroups and have built a couple of his short-kits including (25” Fokker Dr1 and 22” Ultimate Biplane). Pat’s latest design and build that is now available as a short-kit on his site — the Fleet Biplane in 1/8 scale.
You will notice the Fleet Biplane Trainer he has designed is a typical Pat build with a scale air foil wing and this one has ailerons on the bottom wing. The wingspan is 42 inches and the horizontal stabilizer has an air foil. It is expected that the air foil tail will provide more lift and allow the CG to be a little more aft on the plane. As true to Pat’s design it is modeled to be super light and with close scale detail. Pat’s kits are often designed to build and fly similar to fragile rubber band powered planes and this tends to be a bit bothersome for many park flyers that like to throw the planes around. The great thing about the kits being a short-kit is you can build it to the way you fly it. It is common for modelers to ad plenty of plywood, carbon fiber, and add ailerons to his designs — if it is not designed for it. I simply love the looks and design.
View Pat’s full build thread on RCGroups for his Fleet Biplane Trainer.
Pat’s designs and modeling techniques have been a great resource for the model aircraft community for years now.
Steve and Tom's 1/4 Scale Skybaby
The iconic Stits Skybaby modeled here by Stephen Mueller and Tom Mansell. This model is 1/4 scale of the original 1952 Skybaby by Ray Stits with an amazing wingspan of just over 7 feet and 10 feet in length. The original plane was only 5 feet high and powered by a 85 hp Continental engine. The scale model pictured here was designed for electric power by Tom Mansell and sports all wood construction and a plastic formed cowl. The plane has not yet been flown but plans are being made in the next few weeks for a maiden flight. The original Skybaby would fly at speeds just over 200mph and would land near 60mph. Looking forward to the maiden flight.
Tom drew up the plans using QCad and had the files cut by JTechLaser. Tom is considering offering the 1/4 scale Stits Skybaby as a short kit.