Originally Posted by eye4wings

Sorry David, but I only just noticed that (except for the small part immediately behind the step) you sheeted the hull with lengthwise grain. I drew mine cross-grained on the assumption that it would be more resistant to damage from any lumps and bumps in the grass or things floating in the water and that it would bend more easily round the nose underside.

What is the normal practice?... Anyone?

Anyone had any further thoughts on the gyro weight-shifting idea... or is the float dipping problem really not that much of a problem after all?

simple box fuselages i usually have the grain lengthways... complex shapes like the sunderland i just go with whichever is the easiest route for the grain to follow the changing curvature... i did each side in a single piece of 1/16 balsa per side on the sunderland... i was "proper impressed"
the triangulation and strength come about when it is stuck to all the diagonal bracing
might leave it tonight.. want to do some repairs to my indoor stuff for tommorow nights indoor flying

David

I ran mine lengthways on the rear section bottom till i got to the step then turned it to help the bend ,After fiberglassing it i dont think it will make a difference once hard.l dont think i will be hitting turtles and logs with it, but the way i fly you never can tell. Duck turtle ! lmao

Lmao!! :d

Thanks David.
It was all those diagonal braces I was hoping to dispense with, replacing them with cross grain sheet. It might seem I'm fussing over this too much - but I don't see the point of carrying about redundant structure 'not needed on voyage'. Just one cross brace the opposite way to the sheet's grain ought to be enough - positioned somewhere near the nose.

We don't get too many turtles our way, but as the cows weigh enough to put three-inch dents in the strip (common land) after rain it's a bit hazardous out there. Best defence is to build really light.

Hi D, pc back on now, so will be following with interest, it looks real nice, I knew I should have told you to do everything twice, so I could have one!!, cant do thurs at Andys place, too little notice unfortunately. The floats do look a tad vunerable, how do they attach to frame, could you have a plate under the wing, with two threaded holes for the supports, so they can screw in, then attach the floats with grub screws, then if they get damaged they can be replaced easily, and left off when flying off grass? just a thought, the wing will also be easier to transport without the floats fitted?

I have hit my tip floats hard a couple times around the house but one day a couple weeks ago i moved the wing and the ceiling fan caught one tip float and knocked 3 legs loose.I thought about crying but just yelled alot of bad things and put the wing up high where i cant touch it any more. I normaly dont tell these things but i thought it was funny after i fixed it . I was surprized my balsa balsa struts took such a blow and did not break ,paint held it together i bet. joe

Here's some pictures of my float arrangement if it helps anyone.

The outer wing panels are removable for transport. I decided to have the aileron servos in the inboard section and the link and horn in the outboard section, (no servo plugs to connect each time).

The floats have a piano wire strut cased in hard balsa. The wing has a couple of tubes for the 'legs' to slide into.

The floats are then retained using fishing trace, (steel with plastic coating), with small 'ring terminals', (used in electrical work). The wires are fixed using small diameter tubes, (ferrels)

eflightray..

excellent bit of info and photos on your tip float installation.. thats a lot easier than how i had intended doing it


Joe..

you crackmeup mate... sticking your wing into the ceiling fan.....

pure class! that should have been caught on video!

David

My wife/girlfriend keeps the heat up so dam high that i have to run a fan so i can breath. ITS ALL HER FAULT .lmao joe

Originally Posted by cracksmeup

My wife/girlfriend keeps the heat up so dam high that i have to run a fan so i can breath. ITS ALL HER FAULT .lmao joe

Heck Joe, if you have done it at both their houses, I think it could be down to you being a little careless

Originally Posted by eflightray

Heck Joe, if you have done it at both their houses, I think it could be down to you being a little careless

Lol I call my girlfriend a wife sometimes i was married 23 years once and that was enough for me i learned my lesson. I only hit one fan but the l crack sound it made sent chills up my spine.

full week at work... Monday to friday this week, Tuesday night was indoor flying, tonight, Wednesday i attacked it with the lightening tool again and cut hooge amounts of excess (expensive) balsa out of the fuselage formers..

had a shock when i threw the sheeted fuselage on the scales on Sunday when it came back at 15 ounces

well it lightened itself by over an ounce as all the fresh PVA glue dried out over the next 24-48 hours.. and after some serious "hacking" it is back down to just under 13 ounces
formers are now pretty much 1/8 x 1/2....

spent 3/4 of an hour working out how to do the forward sheeting.. and cut a trial piece of 1/16" balsa....

and that was Wednesday evening done!

where do the hours go on a scratchbuild?

David

where do the hours go on a scratchbuild?

Yeah tell me about it!
It's taken me two days just to plank the tiny bit between the cowls and wing of one pair of engines on the Sunderland's younger brother.

Fortunately the poor quality of workmanship should not be too glaringly obvious as the whole of the underside will be black!
And the outlet for all the air that runs through the nacelle shouldn't be too visible either as it is also underneath on the inboard side.

I don't know what is shown on the plan but this is my suggestion for that area of the Sunderland - when you get to it.

Originally Posted by how much

where do the hours go on a scratchbuild?

It always seems to me that an awful lot of the time goes on what my Mum would have called "faffing about". You know the sort of thing -
Where did that pen/scalpel/file go that I had in my hand only a moment ago?
Surely I don't need to break into a new sheet of 1/16 for that
etc., etc.

One of the reasons that I still try to produce monthly web diary entries during a major build is that the process of looking back over the month does provide reassurance that the build really is progressing, even if there are days when you feel as if you are swimming through treacle (transatlantic readers may need to translate that)

Trevor

Originally Posted by how much

where do the hours go on a scratchbuild?

David

Before the invention of RC Groups threads, the hours went in helping round the house, doing the shopping, painting the garage, flying model aircraft and other useful things. Now, they disappear into Posts. Thousands and thousands of them!

But you seem to be doing alright David!