Oh my goodness Dag !!!

I see no reason why that first mock up shouldnt be it !!

Could you actually make it any better ? !!!

Oh man and to think I was crying over the nacelles on a little DH 89 I have been building !!!
They are already preformed ABS too...lol lol lol...
You make me ashamed of myself ...lol lol lol...

Dag, it is turning out so fantastic !!


Seeya, Tim

Originally Posted by Tim Farrar

Oh my goodness Dag !!!

I see no reason why that first mock up shouldnt be it !!

Could you actually make it any better ? !!!

Oh man and to think I was crying over the nacelles on a little DH 89 I have been building !!!
They are already preformed ABS too...lol lol lol...
You make me ashamed of myself ...lol lol lol...

Dag, it is turning out so fantastic !!


Seeya, Tim

Tim,
Don't make me sound better than I am. I am just a lucky guy that learned how to design in 3D, with out that I never would have been able to make all these parts fit so perfect. I think anyone who can make the time and could spend 10 years refining a design could do this. And your biplane looks a lot more scale than any thing I have ever built. This is a stand-back-aways scale. But with a 275" wing you better get back at least 100'.

Thanks Tim.

Dag

Got a PM asking to put something in the pic to show the size of the scale.

Dag, you are hard headed !...lol lol lol...

Your one of the best and dont know it...lol lol lol...

A very good quality in a friend I might add !!!


Seeya, Tim

Originally Posted by dag214

Got a PM asking to put something in the pic to show the size of the scale.

Oh that is so cool Dag !!!

Now I know how the Godzilla movies are made too...lol lol lol...

Your little girl is prettier every year !!!!

Thats what is good about making your own model's for your model planes !!!

She just keeps getting prettier and if you hired one they would get older and want to much money...lol lol lol...


Seeya, Tim

Originally Posted by dag214

That's it for this weekend. Well the mock-up for my nose worked out well. I took the chance and started with the light ply, if all goes as well as the canopy The mock-up will become the nose used on the airframe.

Thanks, Dag

Dag,

I'm a little confused by picture "Fuse Canopy 010.jpg" from post #330, it seems to show a central member running top-to-bottom (to form the initial nose cone curve), and then 4 members on each lower side yet there is room for a 5TH member on the left side only (when looking at the nose cone like in the picture). Did something not line up correctly or did you design it to actually have 5 curved members on one half of the lower nose cone?

Looking darned good!

Jack

Originally Posted by jfetter

Dag,

I'm a little confused by picture "Fuse Canopy 010.jpg" from post #330, it seems to show a central member running top-to-bottom (to form the initial nose cone curve), and then 4 members on each lower side yet there is room for a 5TH member on the left side only (when looking at the nose cone like in the picture). Did something not line up correctly or did you design it to actually have 5 curved members on one half of the lower nose cone?

Looking darned good!

Jack

Actually I am missing 4 members, I ran out of 1/32 ply today. However the memebers are not mirrored from side to side.

Also in that pic the canopy is not setting square to the fuse.

Thanks, DAG

Originally Posted by dag214

Actually I am missing 4 members, I ran out of 1/32 ply today. However the memebers are not mirrored from side to side.

Also in that pic the canopy is not setting square to the fuse.

Thanks, DAG

Not symmetrical, who would have thought... Nice...

You are certainly on point in regards to detail!

Jack

Fantastic thread, Dag, I'm enjoying it immensely! That B-36 is looking great. I really envy your design and workmanship talents. If I weren't so lazy and old, I would try to learn CAD, just so I could design and build things better!

As to your concerns about flying this this thing for the first time, and your tendency to land too far away, I must admit that I have the same problem. The larger the plane, the faster the plane, and the harder to fly, the farther away it tends to be when it touches down. I've found that it helps to move down the field a bit, so the angle of approach is more head-on. That way you can see the field at the spot you want to land, and the plane at the same time. Also you should pick a time when the wind isn't gusty, crossways to the field, or too strong for that first flight. Nice smooth air will do wonders for your ability to put the plane close to where you want for touchdown.

Thanks for sharing this with all of us, it's facinating to watch this beast come together!

AmpAce

Hey AmpAce it is great to hear from you. Hope as is well.

I had about 100 flights on my 50% Pitts before tearing it a part to build it lighter, which the tearing apart happened but the re-building has not yet. It flew great and slowed down and had a nice wing level stall, but the perspective of where the plane was and it's distance from me was hard. I had a guy say that he was looking for a model rocket in a field and love see my Pitts fly over them he was at least a half mile away!

I like your idea about standing down the field more; I guess I am a creature of habit standing at the flight boxes.

And their can't be much cross-wind with this beast because you can only have 8 degrees of roll before hitting on of the jet engines on the ground.

Thanks,

DAG

I can hardly wait until it's finished.

If you get the chance I recommend building a CNC router. It's awesome for making landing gear parts, prop hubs and stuff like that from aluminium, and you can mill complex 3D shapes as well, like the prop blades I made. I built mine early last year and it's the best investment I have made.

I bought Discreet Plasma formy modelling. I used to use Max but found Plasma on Ebay and it's almost the same thing.

Originally Posted by Lynxman

I can hardly wait until it's finished.

If you get the chance I recommend building a CNC router. It's awesome for making landing gear parts, prop hubs and stuff like that from aluminium, and you can mill complex 3D shapes as well, like the prop blades I made. I built mine early last year and it's the best investment I have made.

I bought Discreet Plasma formy modelling. I used to use Max but found Plasma on Ebay and it's almost the same thing.

Thanks Lynxman, can you show a pic of the prop you made????

I have never heard of Discreet Plasma for modelling, I will look into it. Can you router both wood and aluminium?

What info does the CNC need? Can you take a AutoCad dwg and input it into the CNC?

Thanks, and be safe.

DAG

Plasma isn't available any more, unfortunately. I was lucky to find one on ebay. I had hoped Discreet would release something similar again soon.

Mine is built from a combination of MDF and aluminium profiles and is quite rigid. A router like this can mill aluminium, plastic, composites and wood with no difficulties. It can even work with soft steel, just very slowly. I have made helicopter rotor systems and even rotor blades with it.

The way it works is that you design the things you need in 2D or 3D CAD or both, then you move the models into a CAM software and prepare a toolpath for the machine to follow and finally transfer the toolpath to the machine and cut. The software I use can take DXF, 3DS, AI and some other 2D and 3D formats.

The best resource for info on how to build a machine is cnczone.com

EDIT:
I almost forgot. It's possible to add a laser to the machine. I've thought a lot about doing it, but it's kind of dangerous.

laser's are good for 2d cutting, not for 3d milling.

Go to a laser and you won't be able to do what you do now.

Of course, I know that. It wouldn't replace the spindle, but be an add-on.