Third Scale Fokker DVII

My Winter project has finally got enough bits to put together to resemble an aeroplane. (Don’t ask which Winter – it’s getting embarrassing.)
Built from a Balsa USA kit it’s going to have a 62cc Zenoah with a Mick Reeves reduction unit to swing the prop.
I maintain that progress would have been quicker if I’d been allowed to use my power tools in the lounge.

So, just the engine to strap in, some radio gear and linkages to sort out, a yard or two of covering, and off we go! (And some guns and a pilot of course – don’t want to be laughed at.)

 

Ansaldo SVA 5

Carlos has been making excellent progress with his third scale Ansaldo SVA 5 and has sent over some photos to keep us up to date.

A reminder of the full size one:

And Carlos’ version:


Carlos is making a working exhaust to match the real one!

Carlos Cracks On


Carlos Guerra has sent over some photos of how his third scale Ansaldo SVA 5 is coming along. Won’t be long now at this rate.

Very impressive.

Carlos tells me that it now needs additional sheeting on the wings and fuselage and attention to the some of the smaller details.
He reckons that this will take a while yet as time is limited at the moment. That’ll be a couple of weeks then….


Pat’s Siemens Schuckert D111

Schukert_1

Pat’s latest third scale WW1 project had its maiden flight on Saturday 22nd Jan 2011.

He reports that it flew really well in light wind and cold conditions and ‘only a small amount of aileron trim was needed to off set torque. I was suprised at the low speed floatability considering the 18kg weight mainly due to the huge barrel plywood fuz’.

Here are a few photos taken on the day (Andy Johnston video’d the whole flight and I’ll try to sort out a link to it when he posts it):

TB-Pats-Schukert-2-LargeTB-Pats-Schukert-3-Large

Schukert_7

And then suddenly it was Sunday 30th Jan. A fabulous day but flipping cold in the wind!

But a much nicer day than last Saturday and Tony Box was on hand with his steady hand to take these shots of the second flight:

And Vic Ford was there with his WWIIKingfisher for a second proving flight.

No pictures (some wally forgot the camera) but it looked and flew great and Vic is going to fit the floats for the next attempt. Watch this space!!

Andy Johnston’s Avro 504 Projecct

Andy Johnston has at last (!) started on a build to create a suitable vehicle for his home-made Bentley aero engine. It’s an Avro 504, and here’s what he says:

‘The first thing I had to do was make the great space I have as a workshop into useable space and not the tip it has been since I moved in nearly seven years ago. I’ve rigged up a curtain to separate engineering and aeromodelling to reduce the amount of balsa dust getting into my machinery. I then cleared my long building bench and chopped down the drawer units and fitted them under said bench. I also threw out a lot of junk!

Andy-Avro-1
Anyway, the stage was then set to start building the Avro 504K for the Bentley Rotary. I’ve scaled up the 1/4 scale Boddington plans to suit the size of cowl needed for the Bentley but not too large or the fus. wouldn’t fit in my trailer. The end result is about 27% which equates to 117″ wing span.

andys-engine_2

As the plans were designed around a Zenoah 62, I’ve redesigned the firewall and F2 to accommodate both the Bentley and the Zenoah. The intention is to ballast the front end with the Zenoah installed and prove the flying abilities airframe, then remove the ballast and swap engines. The pictures show the workshop and the start of the Avro with the Bentley in place. I managed to devise a module for the Bentley to be installed complete with it’s throttle servo to save having to fiddle about with linkages in situ.

That will do for now, I’m recovering from the shock of the expense of embarking on a project on this scale.’

Andy Johnston it all goes in

So, from an editorial point of view, that’s three garages, a utility room, a dining room and a kitchen that have made it to the website in one month. Do I sense a theme emerging….?