Yahoo, just finished pulling the last cowl. Of 6 units weight varies between 2.8 oz. to 3.3 oz. Luckily there are matching pairs.

I got to start the fuselage today. We decided on a light ply box to carry the wing tube, batteries, radio, servos etc. Paul worked on the design and I got to try it out. Things are fitting well. Lots of measuring, cutting and fitting to get the short kit formers to fit. I am up to station 6 and am planning replace the plywood formers F6A and 7 with balsa. I am not going to have a working bomb bay as I think I need the strength in the fuselage bottom as the fuselage top is going to have a hatch that will run from former 2 thro 10.

Ken

Fantastic project, I look forward to following along.

If you'd like a bit of inspiration, here's Dave Grife's Taylor Mossy in action:

Dave Grife's Mosquito (3 min 27 sec)

Dave's been flying his Mosquito with electric power for close to 20 years now and it's always a crowd favorite.

Nice work Ken!!! . it look like it is goimg together well.
I managed to get the top sheeted today. I been looking at the ESC's we plan to use and how to get them into the wing. No desicions yet!! The esc's haveto be in the radiator area as close to body as possible, and extend the leads to motors. It will involve removing a portion of the ribs. Pretty sure it will work out OK. Doug B

Originally Posted by Mark Wolf

Fantastic project, I look forward to following along.

If you'd like a bit of inspiration, here's Dave Grife's Taylor Mossy in action:

http://youtu.be/ukd_qLdMpc4

Dave's been flying his Mosquito with electric power for close to 20 years now and it's always a crowd favorite.

Thanks Mark for the inspiration! Nice flyer, fast tooo. Is it flying on geared motors? Gotta get back and build. Doug B

Ken - check out the refurb of my mossie. I opened up the nose and put the scale goodies in it. Pretty easy and looks pretty good.

Rob

Originally Posted by RobMason

Ken - check out the refurb of my mossie. I opened up the nose and put the scale goodies in it. Pretty easy and looks pretty good.

Rob

Rob

The nose detail looks good on your Mosquito. Have a look at my fuselage photos and notice that the battery box is right up against the perplex bomber nose. Looks like a bomber version is very unlikely unless we find that the battery doesn't have to go that far forward.

I am open to any other suggestion about type/colour scheme that anyone has. I haven't decided anything yet except that I am covering the whole model with Monokote flat Dove Gray and will paint camo. over that.

Back to the shop for another great day of modelling! It's great to be retired!!!

Ken

Nice to see the fuselage getting started.

Also nice to know weight saving is firmly on the agenda - at least the 'Three Mosquiteers' will be able to fly a lot closer to scale speed than Mr Grife.
(I notice he didn't bother to build flaps in either)

If there's any doubt about balancing the models with battery weight alone maybe the tail feathers should be left until last so you'll know exactly how much weight you can afford to build into that end?

Sorry, I think I often sound a little negative when faced with scale models acting non-scale - it's just that some of us care about trying to give the whole scale illusion, which includes speed... Flying speed, retract speed and everything that helps give that scale aura.

Besides, I'm too old now for all that adrenaline-inducing howling around the sky!

I've got a bit weary of beautifully finished models that spoil the illusion the moment they get into the air.

Hi eye4wings, good morning Ken: I was surprised at how fast the Grife flew too. We will all have flaps for sure. Depending on prop pitch, we have determined full throttle at 61 mph with 10" pitch, 73 with 12".
I have one 16/12 Graupner we tested with, but can't seem to get any answer from anyone about acquiring a second. I think the 10"pitch should be sufficient for realistic flight anyway.
I've been working steady to get a wing built up, so I could install temporarily the LG, so I can make the attachment points. Here's some pics of the wing as it sits with LG clamped on and the esc in place (roughly, hehe). Doug B

Great looking work guys! There will be nothing left for me to figure out!

Doug - You might want to run the wires from the esc through the fuse ahead of the spar. Lots of room there for a larger hole with no impact on strength.

Paul

If you are looking at x10" or even x12" pitch, working from 320 revs/volt means quite a big stack of batteries!
I would be nervous of more than x8" in view of my own experience with my OD 60" Mossie. It refused to roll properly until I had reversed the rotation of one motor. (Non-scale I know!) - and that was only on x8" pitch (3-blade).

Granted that was in the bad old days carrying 10 NiCds around with a high wing-loading as the inevitable consequence, but I think I would be looking for a motor with a higher kV so as to keep the pitch lower. (Something like Turnigy G46?)
If you are also looking at 1300W (2600 total) at 15 pounds that's 173W/lb.
I would have thought at your lower wing loading 120W/lb would have been adequate - which would allow a smaller motor (less weight) at higher revs.

I'm sure you've worked it all out though - just saying that it might be worth taking another look just to keep that pitch down..

Hi eye4wings: Doug here. I selected the motor kv solely based on its abilty to turn 16" 3 blade props to the desired pitch speed. We all decided right from the start, after some discussion we would run these planes on 6S.
The SK3 5055-320 produce 1100 watts per motor using the MAs 16/10/3. Pitch speed is 61mph. 48amps draw per motor allows use of a single 6S/5000/30c to safely provide the juice.
The total power really means little if this application, the motors run very cool, esc is cold running wot for 60 seconds. The plane will likely leave the ground at 1/2 throttle or a little above where thrust equals weight.
Smaller motors simply won't turn these 16" props unless you go down in S, upping amperage to unsuitable numbers.
nose weight is a good thing on this plane too, I believe.
My 84" Buffalo has 2200w total power, weighs 13.75lbs, gets airborne at 5/8 throttle in 80 feet, flies nicely at 1/2 at something resembling scale speeds. At half throttle motors are pulling 18a ea on 12/8/3's!! Have fun. Doug

I have consistently exceeded the prop size recommended for the brushless motors I use preferring to reduce the battery stack a cell or two to keep the current draw in check.
The benefits of doing this are that a larger prop running slower is more efficient than a smaller one running faster and there is less weight in the (cheaper) motors.

Anyway weight saving is obviously not a help if you can't take a lot of structure out from the tail end.

If you're having trouble sourcing larger three-bladed props, have you considered the DIY route?
2-blade props are far cheaper and more readily available. Make up your own 3-bladers and you can save 3/4 of the cost.

Making props.mpg (1 min 2 sec)

Hi eye4wings: As stated, the group decided on 6s. I personally fly with either 3s or 6s, I don't use anything else. Actually I have one plane, a 50cc Aeroworks Extra thats uses 12s.
A 6s system asked to spin a specified prop will need 40a to get 1000w.
A 4s system asked to spin the same prop will need 60a to get 1000w. All numbers are rounded off to protect the innocent.
Using the same size battery for both, the 6s will fly longer, simple.
making props might be a possibility if anyone actually made 16" 2bladers in 10/12" pitch, I've never seen them if they do. Doug B

Loving this already, cant wait to see more, faster guys faster!

I really like the undercarriage, going to seriously copy that with my mossie!