well, going over the plans again and taking some measurements it looks like I can answer my own question. It appears that the tail wheel section should be 3/8" wide and not 3/16" as stated on the plan.

A bit more activity...

The two upper spars I cut down the middle with my little dremel table saw then glued in a strip of carbon fibre to stiffen them up.

Beuatiful Ian, keep em coming buddy!!!


Bill

Have followed this thread with great interest and just now am preparing for my own build. Three things got me going.
1. The excellent Falcon built by someone in Czechoslovakia, linked with SAM 122.

http://www.sam122.sk/nasemodely/falcon/index.htm

After reading the English translation, there are about 73 pictures at the page bottom showing stages of the build. I particularly like the idea of building small Hitec servo’s HS82MG into the tail section. – avoids mechanical linkages with servo’s in the cabin area.
2. Obtained a clean set of 3 plans from Colin Smith, ‘Phils Vintage Plans’, 8 Heaton Road, Ensbury Park, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH10 5HW, UK.
Phone 07747 722724. Cost: £9.50 includes p+p.
3. A partial kit of laser cut parts for KK Falcon from,
http://www.belairkits.com
(may not be listed on website). Phone 01362 668658 for details.
Cost, £70 including p+p. The parts were held in 13 sheets of balsa plus a bundle of ply parts. When I saw the precision and quantity of the parts (about 147) I realised the enormity of a Falcon build. A great tribute to you guys who have fashioned each part by hand. There are plenty of sticks and stuff still to order, but (forgive the pun) I have a flying start.
Another source of laser cut parts for the Falcon is found in Australia at http://www.sparclaser.com.au/
Two comments so far. The parts were cut true to the drawing dimensions, which were Imperial size. Some ply items were the nearest metric equivalent. For example, the box tongue specified, ¼ inch (6.35mm), is actually 6mm. Not a big problem.
One aspect of the wing construction not clear to me in studying the plans is how the dihedral braces fit in. Looking at the rib drawings there appears not to be slots for the braces to pass through. All I can figure is much of the wings is built up, then accommodating slots are cut in the ribs to fit the braces. Anyone confirm or correct me on this.
Thanks.

I have almost one wing done now - it's akin to building the Forth rail bridge. I can't believe how much wood goes into this model. It is turning out beautiful though.
Ol-timer - no the ribs don't show a space for the dihedral braces, you'll have to cut the slots wider yourself.
I noticed on the Czech model that he didn't sheet the fuselage as per the plan - that would save quite a bit of weight and lumber.

Thanks Ian for the confirmation. A note on the plans would have helped here. I am just compiling my next shopping list and yes, a lot of wood. I plan to cover with Solartex and expect to be shocked at the acreage needed. Another deviation on the Czech model is the use of spruce (?) for main spars and longerons.
Ray

Ian,

looks like you have been getting on very nicely this last month or so. The wings are certainly a lot of work - the large number of vertical shear webs were what finally did me in! Will you be using wing bolts or sticking to elastic bands?

In an case your model is doing you proud!

Ol Timer - I can also support using spruce for the spars, especially if you sandwich 3 mm spruce with hard balsa. The combination is nice and light yet far superior to pure balsa with regards strength and flexability.

Cheers

Tim

Pictured below are the centre sections of the Falcon wings. Some tidying up is needed.
Had I realised the time consuming precision needed for me to assemble these sections I would NOT have followed this construction method. Instead I would have adopted the simpler method of joining wings with aluminium tubing and 6g (3/16 inch) rods, as shown in the Ben Buckle Majestic Major (wingspan 88 inches), which has flown for more than 14 years.
One mistake was to include the hard wood tenons on the tongue side instead of the box side.
Each section has an extra ply rib glued to the outer rib, strengthening support to the box and tongue and tenon items.
Not having the recommended silk or nylon or similar fabric to bind around the box, I bound it instead with linen thread then varnished it.

One thing for sure, ol Timer, you are going through a bit of extra work on this build but you will end up with a very nice Falcon model when finished if the the center section is any indication; looks great.

Soft landings,

Joe

I've decided not to build "the box" too. I'll be using carbon fibre rod inside brass tubes.

I have flown the Falcon again recently but still had trouble with the Merco 49 engine cutting out. However it did fly well but needed a lot of down-elevator trim on a very windy day ( 21-05-2011).

I need to check the Flexi-tank for faults

I noticed that Ian Easton has built a free-flight tail-plane for his model---is this right?

MJE

I did build the tail for free flight as that was my intention at the time. However, I did build it with enough structure that I can cut the elevators loose and make it RC, which I finally decided I will do. I've spent too much time on this one to let it fly loose, though I would really like to see it free flight. Anyway, not much progress lately as I got involved in another project that I had stalled on for a really long time and have to get finished before getting back to my Falcon.

Falcon builders---check out this You Tube video for some rather amusing model flying!

MJE

Bridge crashes II (4 min 50 sec)

5 min - 24 Dec 2008 - Uploaded by inky000
A few rc plane crashesby inky00091350 views; Thumbnail 3:55. Add to. Severn Bridge MFC 2009 Showby

Wow, those guys must have more time (and money) than me to build models!
Makes you wonder about the life some engines have had that show up on fee-bay.