Hi there!

here is my new warbird, an Italian Macchi MC200 of the Regia Aeronautica. Like the original machine, the little one is a very agile bird. It is a pleasure to fly it

Cnc cut with EPP, its wingspan is 84cms long and it weights 465grs. It is fitted with 3S1P 1250 Rhino and a cheap towerpro engine (the same configuration as the Dewoitine D520).




Over Sicily, 1943


over Brittany, 2011
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Hello again

A friend of mine came to visit the flying field this afternoon, and took pictures of the Dewoitine flying. There was not such a great light, but it was still ok. There was much less wind today, and that little bird is a pleasure to fly

(if you wish to see a larger image, clik in the black bar, not the picture)






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Hello





here is my last built warbird, a Dewoitine D520, made fromEPP, cnc cut. The wingspan is 850mm, it is powered by a cheap Towerpro 2408-21 a turnigy plush 18A and a rhino 3S1P 1250mAh. I weight was 460grs but unfortunately, I had to load 60grs of lead to get the proper balance, so the bird finally weight 520grs, fully loaded and painted. The wind was blowing to strong for a test flight…but, no guts no glory, I could wait to see it flying. Everything went well, just a little tuning of the trims. The gusts of wind made the flight not so pleasant. The bird appears to be "not too mean" for such a little bird with rather high wing loading. The negative warping helps a lot. I tried a stall plus a spiral dive and the bird got out of it immediatly as soon as you got the sticks right. I am in a hurry to fly it in better conditions, I am sure I will enjoy it greatly.

I was alone at my flying field, so I could not get in flyght pictures, but as soon as I get some, I will post them

the cnc cut parts . There are not all the parts on that picture, there is the spinner plus styro templates to draw the landing gear, the tail wind in soft black foam also)



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Hello

no aerial photography plane that time nor tricopter nor foamie warbirds, but a 1/1 scale submachine gun Thomson M1A1… This is a gift for my 12 years old boy who has a passion for history, amongst all: WW2.

I cnc cut the templates from styrofoam, I made the cutting files from dxf I got from a picture of a M1A1 giving the exact dimensions.

The templates allowed me to have a perfect drawing on the wood, prior to cutting it with a jigsaw. I used medium wood and plywood. It has been airbrushed and weathered by drybrushing it. A dozen or so hours later, here is the result…



I guess there will be a replay of the Liberation in my village in the coming days

I still have to build the slings…more pictures soon.

cheers!

oliv'

Hello,

I had a wonderful week end at the UK meet at Shobdon Airfield. We were much less numerous than the previous years (long drives for many of us,professional reasons, and an unsettled weather made many ones not to come) but we had really good fun,good frineds, good BBQ, good drinks and good flights

here are some pictures

Yum yum!!! very nice BBQ, Andrew is a Chef!



At the campsite. Moreover, it was fitted with WiFi (well, from time to time) Me and Paul (English Electric) notice the bottle of water and the mugs of tea and coffee



much later and less sober
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Hello!

I haven't care much of my blog for a long time…shame on me!

here is what I have CNC cut and built meanwhile

a little SE5A in epp, 800mm wingspan, really funny bird…a pleasure to make it fly like the real stuff…slow with an incredible manoeuvrability






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2011 will be the year of the "Terminator shape" machines...I mean, the tricopter ....
So, here is my Arnold's flying machine: made of aluminium sqare tubing, a piece of "medium" wood (synthetic wood) and 3mm bolts and screws. It is fitted with a KK card, turnigy plush 25A and 3 2213N 800KV from HK. The servo is a hitec HS82, metal gear, and the yaw device is made upon ball bearings and shaft taken apart from a weary CD player.






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An indoor plane...at least my Fokker D7 being definitely a park flyer instead of an indoor plane, I have quickly built a DH Chipmunk, whose weight is 260grs...good enough for indoor flying

Fully built in Epp and coroplast (fin and stab) , drawn upon a 3views plan and cnc cut, it is fitted with a turnigy 2204-14, a 800mah 2S1P and a GWS8X4.3 slowfly prop.







cheers!

olivier

The plane is now fully finished. The markings were made using inkscape, then printed and varnished, before being applied on the surfaces. I have changed the engine: the project was planned to be an indoor plane, and it appears to be a park flyer...with the first engine, I had to put a lot of lead in the nose, to balance the plane, so I swap the engine (which would not have been powerful enough, anyway) with a towerpro and a 15 Amps esc. There is still lead to get the proper balance point, but much less. The total weight is 395grs...

next step weathering.

I get no pictures of the bird flying, I was alone at my flying field that day. This is my first biplane and I was warned by friends to use rudder...and that is true...never seen that before, the ailerons make the plane roll...but not turn...rather strange indeed... It can flies at a ridiculous speed and has got an incredible deftness...it turns in a short beam and roll as well...well, plenty of fun with it...but it doesn't seem very "wind happy"...

here are some pictures



"the dawn patrol"


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Hello

as my new APship is now finished and ok, I got time to build a new warbird. At once, I wanted a indoor biplane for wintertime, so I made up my mind for a Fokker d7 to build from foam , and fully cnc cut.

Infortunately, the bird which was formerly to be an indoor plane, became definitely an "outdoor" plane. It has become a 400grs park flyer

here are some pictures






Hauptman Ernst Von Klostermoz
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Hello

At least...I get flight pictures from "Midnight serenade"...at noon. Today was our annual pic-nic at my local flying fields, and some fellows took pictures of the bird.

I join in attachments, some detail pictures of the plane "weathered"

Here are the flight pictures




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Here it is, the black Lady is fully painted. I haven't weight the plane painted, it has been air-brushed, so the increase of weight shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I didn't notice any difference when flying. The invasion stripes and the red stripe of the upper surfaces are real eye-catchers, and that helps a lot for piloting. With the engine hoods, I feel the plane hasn't the same "punch"...and I found the battery (in the central fuse) warmer...should it be due to a bad cooling??? the ESC would warm up and gives less power???I do not know...The flying is smooth anyway, and it always looks realistic. I haven't yet tried any stunt (it is a fighter, but not a stunt plane) and I train myself to fly her realistic. By the time I did a steep large climbing, half roll and diving, then a low and full speed "straffing" pass...The double rudder is very efficient, and allows the plane to be straight on the middle line of the flying field. The belly landing is very easy, gliding and keeping her easy.

There is still a few hours of painting and drawing: the structure lines, the weathering with airbrush and pastel painting

If I am lucky enough, next time there will be people at the flying field, to shoot pictures of the P61 flying

here are some pictures, the "pin up" is drawn from a drawing of Romain Hugault. For those who appreciate nice flying machines and good looking girls, go and visit his blog it worths it!!!

cheers!

olivier

That's it...the very moment has come....brrrrr, will it flies gently or will it be a tricky trap

3/4 throttle on...one never knows, the torque could be tricky", a good punch straight in the wind....and she flies!!!!, quite well, except a upward way when full throttle is on...a few turns, not very far (no painting, it is not a very good "eye-catcher")and then comes her first belly landing. Great, a little slide on the freshly mown grass and she stops. The prop size is great for belly landing, as the brakes are not on, the prop sets itself clear of the ground. I fix the downward angle on both engines, the bolt and screw device works very well for that, I fine tune the sub trims and off she goes...that is much better, straight line flying, she plunged a little when turning, I will have to tune the aileron differential a little bit...I haven't tried yet any stunt, just the stall, to see how she reacts...that is fine, not tricky at all...bloody hell, I am quite lucky, the result is good, and one never knows when you draw a plane straight from a 3 view, without altering the sizes.

the speed is realistic. It flies well with those engines, but there isn't much power left. But it is a WWII warbird, not a 3D plane. At mid throtlle, it flies gently.
It is now time to go painting. The USAAF markings have been drawn with inkscape. I will choose a nice and sexy pin up for the nose art.

cheers!

olivier

Hello Again

As I was on duty, all those previous time, the work upon the P61 stopped. Here is the next step: engine mounts. here are some pictures. I am lucky, as I was looking for an engine covering, I found a perfect item: a piece of Coca cola bottle...I would have preferred "Pure Malt" but it does'nt fit so well and it is much heavier and fragile

I try to keep her light. One engine mount weights 52 grs (1,84oz) but I prefer something reliable and tough. The screw device helps to fix the torque and dive angles. The average size is more or less the same as a Multiplex twinstar, whose weight is usually about 1400/1500grs (49 to 53 oz). I should get the same (I hope), if I could even get less, 'twill be great

here are some pictures

cheers!

Olivier

Hello

To bend the rules, I decided that time to be unfaithfull to Aerial photography and to head back toward warbirds

I wanted to make a twin engine plane. A few years ago, I made and greatly appreciated a 1.30m wingspan Breguet 693, a French ground attack/bomber plane of the early WW2. It was powered by two speed 400 engines, direct drive with 6X4 propellers if I remind properly.
At that time, I cnc cut the foam pieces in two dimensions, I mean the upper shape and the side shape, the overall being shaped with cutters. It was then hollowed (more or less, rather less than more) by the mean of a hand HW cutter and cardboard templates.

That time, the P61 is mainly made from "halves" and some "2dimensions" blocks which will be shaped. It will be powered with turnigy brushless engines. No undercarriage on it, belly landings on the grass only. The wingspan is 1.3m.(48 inch)

here are the pictures

cheers!

olivier



second part:may, 15th

the long and boring work is almost done, the servos and control horns are set in place, the coating and sanding is almost finished. The central fuse is glued and the sole has been cnc cut and glued yesterday, shaped and grped this evening.
Here are a few pictures of the plane this evening, just before getting the under fuse surfaces being grp and epoxied.
on the pictures, the plane has got its upper wing surfaces, the under and lateral booms , the upper stab and some carbon reinforcements along the...Continue Reading