Airspeed Courier - Tim Hooper's 1930's Classic Mini Airliner

[Tony Bennett]

[John Roberts 9]

Thanks Terry .

 

Those capping strips seem to add a great deal of torsional stiffness to the wing too which is a welcome, if unintended, by-product.

 

Although I had intented to restart work on the fuselage today I have spent the morning filling in all the little bemishes etc. on the wing. I won't be able to do anything else on it today due to an appointment elsewhere this afternoon and indoor flying this evening. At least the filler will have set properly by the time I attack it tomorrow morning.

 

Cheers,

John

[Tim Hooper]

[Terry Walters]

Thanks Tim and Tony for reminding us of the full size versions! I think in Tim's offering that looks a bit like Pete B doing his 'tank' (pun intended) commander role - Me? I'm the guy in the topee!

 

As I don't think I'll have time to build this eve (other things are needed to be done!) so here's another picture treat to keep you happy - Maybe you haven't seen this one?

 

Covering looks a bit rough doesn't it - probably been left out in the sun!  Where's the iron?

Terry

Edited By Terry Walters on 23/01/2012 19:17:05

[Terry Walters]

Or this one.......

 

Terry

[Pete B]

Posted by Terry Walters on 23/01/2012 19:16:28:

Covering looks a bit rough doesn't it - probably been left out in the sun! Where's the iron?

 

Not preparing a 'fallback' position in advance, are we?

 

Pete

 

[Iain Hale]

I mounted the motor so it can be removed if required. there will be access both above and below rearward between new firewall and F2 see my other pics on this in my album.

[Terry Walters]

Hi Ian - glad to know you are out there too - another member of the ACBs (Airspeed Courier Builders!) . I like the idea of better access to the motor but I think that it will be possible to remove it if necessary with the straight nose mount ( I hope!)

You will have better thrust line adjustment if required - I will resort to the odd washer or two for slight adjustment.

Have you built the wing yet - I've still got that to do. I'm hoping to get some more of the fuse done today.

Keep 'em coming.

Terry

[Tony Bennett]

this has been an interesting build to watch so far Terry and Ian.

lovely work.

 

i might be tempted to have a bash at one later this year.

[Terry Walters]

What only the one!? Just a weekend build for you then!

 

I just like this period of aviation and its a bit unusual too almost every photo you find shows variation in the a/c. Build is not really complicated but takes a bit of thinking (which is good when you get to a 'certain age!').

 

I think I know where I'm going with servos and controls and others who have gone before have hopefully sorted out the wing.

 

I'm still thinking about covering! At the moment I am probably going to use natural Solartex - which seems lighter and more flexible than the painted variety. I used it on the fuse of my DB Tiger Moth and was quite taken with it. It is easier to put on than Solarfilm. I need then to paint Dk Earth/Dk Green camouflage as I am doing the WW11 scheme of K4047. Any views?

 

Terry

[Terry Walters]

Hooray - got some work done today!

 

Firstly I needed to commit to the fixing of the servos within the fuse. As already mentioned I wanted to angle the rudder servo to facilitate to pull/pull system. The battery/servo tray is actually on a downward angle towards the rear which made it more important to straighten out the closed loop cable run as far as practicable. The rudder servo was therefore mounted on 2 layers of ply at the rear and one at the front. The reason for the front one is to raise the rudder servo arm fully above the elevator servo so that they don't clash.

 

 

The above view is from the front towards the rear. The camera angle doesn't really show the height difference. The following view is the opposite direction taken through the rear fuse floor.

 

 

As the battery/servo floor is not very thick I also put an extra piece of ply under the location of each of the elevator servo retaining screw holes to provide more resilience.

 

Now it was time to decide whether to build a Courier aeroplane of a KonTiki Camper van! I marked out the centre line of the block to be used. (Incidentally I use a biro on soft balsa as it is easier to use than a pencil and you can actually see the line drawn!).

I took measurments from the plan and also lined the fuse up to the plan to identify the important points for cutting etc.

 

 

If you look carefully at the photos you will see my construction lines. They are not all spot on with the plan as with any build you have to make allowances and compromises where you can. I am happy that none of the small variances will affect any major components and their fixings. Every build is different and I spend a lot of time measuring, lining up and thinking through the implications of each decision.

 

 

The roof outline, where it joins the side panels, was drawn oversize. If my hand looks a bit awkward in the photo it's because I am right handed and was holding the camera in that hand whilst my left pretended to be clever!

 

The below photo shows how the top front edge of the roof is angled towards the back by about 6mm by way of the construction lines drawn on it.   I drew all this onto the block and checked and checked........... and then cut this angle by hand with a light finishing sanding. There will be major sandin to the fuse? Hmmmmm? Probably after because then I can see it take shape in context.

 

 

More to follow!

 

Terry

Edited By Terry Walters on 24/01/2012 19:39:17

[Terry Walters]

I felt it best to mark out and cut the housing for the fin whilst the roof was still loose. Again very careful measuring (remember measure twice - cut once!). In the absence of 'specialist' tools the housing was created by cutting the edges with a scalpel and metal ruler and then......

..excavating it by using a narrow blade screwdriver as a chisel! Quite pleased with the result!

 

 

Here's the cut roof panel with fin loose fitted and tail plane slid into position just because I wanted to see what it looked like - still not shaped to profile! P/O Fearless inspect his newly roofed quarters. The roof panel is not glued yet.

 

Some more views - looks a bit like a proper plane now doesn't it?

 

Off flying tomorrow I hope! If nothing dreadful happens might be allowed to do a bit more tomorrow eve when SWMBO is off out at gym to keep herself looking really good for me (at least I think its for me!).

 

Terry

Edited By Terry Walters on 24/01/2012 20:13:55

[Tim Hooper]

Excellent work Terry! A master-class in both building and thread posting.

 

tim

[Iain Hale]

Hi Terry

Yes wing completed just need to fit retracts and tidy up wiring for nav lights. Tail feathers almost done. Have finished all the access hatches and canopy planking. Just about to start the roof work.

Have been mulling over the colour scheme while sanding this afternoon. (dust everywhere

had to have another shower tonight as not allowed in house. Anyway colours, White fuselage halfway upto canopy line. Black upper fuse yellow roof.black fin yellow rudder, black topside of tail, white wings top and bottom and black nose.

 

Happy Building

Iain

[Terry Walters]

HI Guys and Gals - no building tonight - maidened the DB Tiger Moth and the PZ 109G today and celebratory wine has got in the way!

 

Have a look at the Tiger and 109 pics on my DB Tiger thread.

 

Chees

 

Terry

[John Roberts 9]

Hello

 

Doesn't feel like its been a very productive building week for me. RL (real life) has been demanding more attention than seems reasonable and I feel as though my building time has been spent phaffing around!!

 

On reflection, what I have done is quite a few of those little but highly time consuming jobs that ought to make the final assembly phase much quicker.............well thats my theory anyway.

 

First off I have sorted out the wing mountings. I went for 2 nylon bolts at the rear and I decided to also make a 1/16th ply load spreading plate, which I have already covered with white Oracover. I will glue this in place once I have applied the full wing covering.

 

I spent far too much time pondering on how best to lower nose area of the fuselage but in the end Iain's approach (planking) is the way I have decided to go. To make this a little easier I made an additional former (lets call it F1A) that sits below H1. This will not only support the planking but also supports the forward end of the battery tray.

 

Yet more time was devoted to going around in circles on the linkages for the rudder & elevator servos. Finally I decided to use carbon rods. Very careful measuring and mocking up was needed to determine the position of the elevator rod exit hole.

 

This slot is about 3.5cm long with the rearmost exit point being just aft of F4. The top edge of the slot, meaured from the upper surface of the fuselage side at F4 is 2.5cm down.

 

The rudder rod will emerge through the upper fuselage side which I haven't yet fitted and that will doubtless require similar care to get it right.

 

Next job is to start the planking.

 

Cheers,

John

 

[Iain Hale]

Well it's the end of another hard day's balsa bashing etc. Good progress and some innovative problem solving me thinks.

 

Made up the cowl using a sandwich of cross grain soft balso but with a 2mm ply core to gice extra strength when cutting out the centre on the band saw.

 

Also dispensing with the plant pot in favour of a 2mm ply surround and will make the whole thing removable so allowing access to the hatches in case motor needs some attention.

 

Cylinders will be made from hardwood dowel.

[Iain Hale]

Managed to up load at last the image of fuse progress to date. hopefully the dust can settle now.

[Terry Walters]

Well, today started as a flying fleet maintenance day, I refitted the repaired cowl to the VMAR RF4 together a new balanced prop and it's now back in flying condition after the little incident where on the third attempt at landing I finally managed to induce a tip stall that removed the wing mount and the motor mount! I love this plane!  Not a joke - its great to fly - beautiful in the air.  Pete B and I have yet to fly his red one and my blue one together - they will look brillant.

 

Next I removed a slight twist in the rear fuse of my PZ Me109G with a heat gun and checked the control surface settings after the re-maiden on Wednesday when it wanted to turn left on its own and also hide against the grey sky!

 

Then a check of the motor and ESC on my SF Cessna 185 which decided not to run on Wednesday. A replacement of the ESC seems to have sorted it but we shall see!

 

So not much time left today but I was determined to do something to keep the build momentum up! So I decided the biggest step forward I could make would be to put the roof on!

 

After doing the mocking up and thinking bit I realised that the rear ends of the top side panels needed support to keep them in shape whilst the roof is glued. Without being held in place they could end up out of line. A piece of scrap was roughly cut to fit the required angles between the sides and also was made long enough to sit on the top of the bottom panels to hold the top panels up and correctly aligned.

 

This block was then pinned through and clamped in place.

 

Now it was time for Dutch courage (the French call this English courage - cheek!) of and a bit help from P/O Fearless!

The roof panel, stiil to be correctly profiled, was offered up in position and checked for fit against the plan for correct positioning. When satisfied with it I made alignment marks on the roof and side panels for easy positioning when finally fixing.

 

Aliphatic glue was applied to all top mating surfaces and the roof put in place, Elastic bands were used to hold it in position and, when accurately placed, weights were added to help the adhesion. Would you have believed the present structure would have held this battery and electric screwdriver?  ell it did and passed the structure test magnificently - well done Tim!!

Captain Fearless supervises from the 'Bridge'!   In fact he's hoping to get in the British Olympic Diving Team!

 

 

The roof will be left overnight to ensure a good bond. I may yet put some triangular section along the inside of the top joint as there isn't much surface area in contact. We'll see!

 

Now, the stuff of nightmares approaches! I've printed off these photos from Tim's initial build and pinned them up in the workshop. I'm looking forward to this bit in a perverse way!

 

 

If it doesn't rain tomorrow I'm going flying at the club. If it does rain............................... send help!

 

Terry

 

 

Edited By Terry Walters on 27/01/2012 22:07:23

[Terry Walters]

Hi Ian,

 

Well done you for tackling the 'greenhouse'! I hope to catch you up today because we have woken to freezing fog and this afternoon they are forecasting heavy snow!! I just looked at the long range weather forecast too and they are forecasting a very cold spell involving more snow. I don't usually mind that but I am returning to the UK next weekend for a quick visit and at Rodez our nearest airport they are forecasting -17C on the day we fly! Hmmm!

 

How did you find it doing the glazing strips? On the model they are thicker than the original but I guess any thinner and they won't be strong enough to be practical.

 

Anyone else out there done the glazing yet?

 

I thinking about what I'm going to do about the interior too - leave it, paint it green or black or put some detail in.

 

Terry

[John Roberts 9]

Iain & Terry

 

I think I could do with having a couple of pints of whatever it is you guys are drinking!! Your rate of progress is incredible - great work both

 

My progress is modest in comparison but here goes anyway. First shot shows the start of the planking underneath the motor.

 

And this is the completed result many, many hours later.

 

In the end I think planking might have been more difficult than fixing the balsa block although I made life difficult for myself with a poor choice of balsa. I should have gone for some softer stuff which would have been nore willing to bend & twist to the required profile.

 

I have just started making the removable upper hatch / cabin. My choice of balsa for the associated upper planking will be more thoughtful and may require the use of all 9 of my remaining, fully functional, brain cells

 

Cheers,

John.

 

 

Edited By John Roberts 9 on 28/01/2012 16:53:18

[Tim Hooper]

John,

 

Good work on the underside planking! It was the thought of bending strips around that degree of degree that made me plump for solid block!

 

I would build the top hatch on the model though to ensure it flows in witrh the existing structure.

 

Great progress Iain - you're certainly quick at this modelling lark!

 

Terry, don't fret about the glazing bars. Just take it a bit at a time, OK?

 

tim

[John Roberts 9]

Thanks Tim.

 

In retrospect I can certainly see why you chose balsa block.

 

My choice of hardish balsa didn't help but the real problem wasn't the degree of bend required but the amount of longtitudinal (is that a real word??) twist the planks needed so that they would sit flush(ish) against the side of F1. This was most apparent with the planks closest to the fuselage sides.

 

Had I thought about it a bit more I would have realised this would happen because F1 doesn't sit anywhere near concentric (eeeeep, another big word this early in the morning!) with F2 (and my new F1A).

 

The solution in the end was to cut the outer couple of planks at F1A and attach as two separate pieces. This required a liltle more finishing with a plane & sandpaper but the end result is strong, looks OK and has less stress & twisting loads.

 

Thanks for the wise words about the top hatch, it is back on the model now. I had taken if off just whilst the the glue on the first two side strips set (honest guv ).

 

Its good of you to keep an eye on us Tim and your comments are always very welcome .

 

Cheers,

John

[Terry Walters]

 

Posted by John Roberts 9 on 29/01/2012 09:18:10:

Thanks Tim.

 

In retrospect I can certainly see why you chose balsa block.

 

My choice of hardish balsa didn't help but the real problem wasn't the degree of bend required but the amount of longtitudinal (is that a real word??) twist the planks needed so that they would sit flush(ish) against the side of F1. This was most apparent with the planks closest to the fuselage sides.

 

Had I thought about it a bit more I would have realised this would happen because F1 doesn't sit anywhere near concentric (eeeeep, another big word this early in the morning!) with F2 (and my new F1A).

 

The solution in the end was to cut the outer couple of planks at F1A and attach as two separate pieces. This required a liltle more finishing with a plane & sandpaper but the end result is strong, looks OK and has less stress & twisting loads.

 

John

Hi John,

I'm on Croft Particular Sherry - try it!

 

Well done with the planking - a good rehearsal for the top.

 

Because the wood pack didn't include the right strip for the planking I did it all in narrow planks and it was very time consuming but a great learning experience. On building the planks exerted too strong a pull and started to distort the cockpit hatch floor until 'measures' were taken! See earlier in the thread.

 

I put block on the bottom and with careful measuring and angling the block together with a lot of hollowing out before fitting it went really well.

 

Now the top front decking is almost sanded to profile and before filling it looks great. Very pleased.

Posted by Tim Hooper on 28/01/2012 20:44:19:

Terry, don't fret about the glazing bars. Just take it a bit at a time, OK?

 

tim

Hi Tim,

No fretting - only joking! I like a challenge!

 

Thanks again for the encouragement. I was looking forward to doing the cockpit glazing structure and started it yesterday. With a bit of thought and 'mocking up' it is going well!

 

I am, however, wondering how the bottom edges of the frame and glazing are going to sit on the planked fuse which seems to be too curved to accept the bottom edges. The plan shows a piece of straight 1/8th strip but that would not be able to fixed in that manner. I see from your build that there is no bottom strip so I presume the glazing was just cut to fit the contours?

 

I've shaped the roof too - messy but looks great! Love the shape of the fuse.

 

Full write up later with pics.

 

Terry

[Terry Walters]

Well an interesting and successful couple of days!

 

Yesterday, when I started, I marked profile lines on the roof prior to planing to shape. By doing this you can see that you are working evenly as the lines disappear.

 

I love using the David's Plane - if you haven't got one - get one!

 

 

It's amazing how much mess you make isn't it. This was very enjoyable!

 

I got these soft sanding pads from Lidl. Over here they were €2 so over in UK they will be less than £2 and they are great for sanding rounded surfaces.

 

 

Meanwhile P/O Fearless was also enjoying himself doing escape and evasion practice - can you spot him?

 

 

How satifying is that? I really like the shape of this fuse. It's so different and I love the era anyway!

 

And from the front.

Then I started the glazing bars!! This side ones were easy providing you ensured that the sides match. Here's the first pair!

 

Then a piece of sellotape over these before the parallel bar is fitted ensures they will part when hatch is cut.

 

 

SWMBO has declared it's Sunday Dinner Time! More later.............

 

Terry