Took a break from jets for a new challenge. I'm attempting a 1/11 scale Boeing 314 Clipper.

This ship owns an outsized piece of Aviation History. It pioneered transatlantic and international air travel and came to symbolize romance and adventure in transportation.

Many of the pieces you see here are still being adjusted and not glued yet. But I'm far enough along to state with confidence I have just 2 remaining questions:

Can I build this?

Will it fly?

How important is the Boeing 314?

One picture says it all.

This is Terminal A at the most popular airport in New York City--LaGuardia-- as it appears today. An operating Delta jet terminal.

I took this photo Nov 9, 2014

I think the largest RC Boeing 314 which has ever actually flown is this 114 inch model by MasterScale Champion Tom Wolf.

I started out wanting to build one of these . Tom gave me a set of plans and a lot of valuable information. But I soon realized I lacked his artist's skill of being able to sculpt the fuse out of blue foam. So I found a CAD guy to enable a laser cut conventional , built- up wood fuse. Then I decided why not have him do laser cut wing ribs? Then why not all the rest?. Then I thought why not go bigger? And here we are, the old "one thing leads to another"

My CAD guy is Charles Loud. He's a promising new designer who is not afraid to take on big, complicated projects and aircraft seldom modeled. But he's completely unproven. There are 3 build logs out there for other planes he designed--big impressive projects that have been underway for a year or so.

But as far as I know none of his designs have been actually built yet, much less flown.

Want to Time Travel?

Triple click on Cannon Electric ad for surprising.... 3 D.... glimpse of our past......... No,........ Double Click will not work. Triple Click.

When the parts arrived I spread them over 3 tables to try to keep them flat and warp free

I consider this design to be overbuilt and overweight. So I will be following a strict lightening program to give the plane its best shot at success. This will be done in many steps throughout the build.

The first 2 steps are :

1. Lighter Materials--I had 296 of the parts redone in lighter materials like substituting liteply for birtch ply, and balsa for liteply.

2. Lightening Holes--Then I riddled every part I could with lightening holes. I did every hole you see thats round. This took a lot less time than I feared, using special Forstner and British Gascon Tools.I felt like one of those scale guys who patiently apply thousands of rivets and weathering. Only, I didn't spend nearly as much time. I don't know how they do it.

Builders/Designers have a constant tension between wanting to make parts stronger and wanting them lighter. If you make it too strong, so its overweight, you may risk the plane and everybody at the field. If you make it too light, so its not strong enough, you may have similar risks.

So you can't win, it sometimes seems. But its the dilemma everybody who designs or builds a plane has all the time. To back up my own limited experience, I look at the work of authorities like Tom Wolf , Nick Ziroli, Carl Bachuber and Ivan Pettigrew, among others. Three of those 4, I have their plans actually open next to the 314 plans for comparison. .

Wow looks fantastic cant wait to see more updates on this one, keep it coming

Having built a large Ivan Pettigrew flying boat, I say you're on the right track to keeping it as light as possible. Looks good so far, good luck!

Matt

Here is another 314 I built 20 years ago. I still have it, but I have not flown it for years. It is powered by 4 OS 25FP. Wingspan is 280cm. It's too heavy, and is not stable enough on water. It keeps dipping a wing when turning into the wind, making the outer engine stop.

Arvid

Thats quite a build there SoftShell...it's great to see another 314 taking shape. I hope to get back to mine after the holidays! What are you planning for power?

I'll be watching this. Great start!

Thanks for the support, guys. May need it on this build.

Arvid ---- Your beautiful 314 is better than you think. That tipping/wing dipping problem is scale and normal. It doesn't mean your model was overweight or defective . In fact, this was a serious problem for the full scale 314. Tom Wolf cleverly lengthened his Sponsoons to prevent this , but even that didn't work.

Zeke--- Have seen your build thread and looks like you've got a winner that could be commercially successful

Mine will also be electric powered, but won't know specifics until I get it built enough to know what the weight will be. Initially mine will be grass flown off a dolly. So I won't have to worry about the tipping problem unless I'm lucky enough to get beyond that.

Interesting start to a great subject! (I admit to being somewhat biased, having been a fan of this airplane for 22 years). I'm curious as to what the all up weight on your 166" span version will be. I just started printing plans for my 5th Boeing 314, this one will be at 1/12th scale, 152" ws. My 88" foam sport scale flew beautifully, as did a smaller 52" version. Flying off water posed no problem, but I flew on a calm day and didn't experience any tipping.

Beautiful 314 Build Softshell!

You will-can build it! . . . . and She will fly!

The Demon Believes in you!