The Big Guff. The Phoenix Rises From The Ashes.

[David Davis]

I got around to clearing up the fire damage yesterday and "reducing to process" as I believe they say in the RAF. Ex Brylcream Boys will be able to correct me.

A few pictures of the effects of the Great St Valentine's Day Fire for the entertainment of those who like horror movies!

Not much left of the Spektrum AR410 receiver or the Hitec HS81 throttle servo.

As for the two HS 311s which actuated the rudder and elevator, the switch, and the rx battery, there's no trace at all!

The engine seems to have sustained only minor cosmetic damage.

[Ron Gray]

And I bet it still stinks too! 

[David Davis]

1 hour ago, Ron Gray said:

And I bet it still stinks too! 

Not really after a month has gone by, but soot gets everywhere doesn't it? Right into the poores of your skin!

[David Davis]

I've managed to get some sheeting onto the Big Guff. It looks like a porcupine doesn't it! The fuselage measures 155 cms or 61 inches from the firewall to the sternpost.

[Ron Gray]

It is emerging! Good work David.

[David Davis]

Sackcloth and Ashes Department!

It's been over a month since I posted any progress on the Big Guff rebuild. There have been several reasons for this including helping my clubmate Frans Cormans to build his very first model aeroplane which we maidened last Tuesday. http://https://www.rcgroups.com/foru...Novice-Builder

I've also been busy practising for La Coupe Des Barons, a competition for an iconic French trainer which is held every year near Lyon. I tried to get ten minutes running time out of a six ounce tank. The engine ran out of fuel at nine minutes. Barons glide like bricks especially with a 52 fourstroke in the nose and I forcelanded in the long grass damaging the undercarriage. More repairs! For those of you unfamiliar with La Coupe Des Barons look here: https://www.google.com/search?client...es+Barons+2017

Furthermore, I've been laying paving slabs and trying to do as much gardening as my arthritic knees can manage.

HOWEVER, the real reason for the lack of progress is that although I used a fuselage gig in the rebuild I have somehow succeeded in building the front of the fuselage out of square, and not by a few mm either! I have spent the last month hoping that it would somehow correct itself but there's nothing for it, I'm going to have to grasp the nettle, demolish much of what I have built and hope that with a few judicious sawcuts I can persuade the nose back into correct alignment. The alternative is to saw off the entire nose and to build a new one as a sub assembly.

I'll let you know how I get on and will include a few pictures if I'm not too embarrassed.

[Ron Gray]

That’s a real bummer David, hope there’s not too much work involved to get it straight again but it’s a salutary reminder to us all!

[ken anderson.]

David, I won a prize once at our AGM for building stuff slightly off...I K Brunel had his problems along the way....i'm sure you'll sort it.

 

ken anderson..ne..1....sorting dept.

[David Davis]

TLAR.

[Ron Gray]

Back on track David.

[David Davis]

Today's task is to get the firewall installed on the Big Guff and to make a good job of securing the nose to the rest of the model. I had to cut through the old glue joints in order to pull the forward fuselage sides in. It's only the 1/16" sheeting which is holding it in place at the moment. I plan to run warm epoxy into the old joint then fit a ribbon of glass fibre tape over the joint.

The entire fuselage will then be covered in 1/32" sheet as per Walt Good's plan. Actually it will be 1mm sheet which is a bit thicker than 1/32." I am anticipating this fuselage being a little heavier than the first one but with all of that wing area I don't think that it would make much difference to its flying chanacteristics.

 

I'm tempted to try a tissue and dope finish on the fuselage to save a little weight but I haven't done this for sixty years and I'm scared of making a Horlicks of it on a model of this size.

[Don Fry]

I’ve got some , I think, 28 micron doculum (spelling?). Tissue over it, tough, smart, light,  cheap. Give us a shout if you want some, no rush, got lots.
450mm wide, €1 per meter, plus post.
PS, not for general issue, we both live in France, getting this to a third country outside the EU, would not be feasible. 

[David Davis]

The underside of the fuselage is sheeted. I'll be getting on with the rest of the sheeting over the next few days. Strong winds and rains are forecast right through till Thursday. I've not known such a cold and windy May for over thirty years.

[Ron Gray]

Got enough pins?

[David Davis]

22 hours ago, Ron Gray said:

Got enough pins?

I used even more pins for the side sheeting!

Cheap Poundstore white PVA glue worked well. Mind you I wouldn't trust it for anything structural!

[David Davis]

Reminds me of a chicken shed I once built.

 

[David Davis]

Just a brief update on the Big Guff Phoenix Project.

I completed the fuselage sheeting the day before yesterday and I found an old tailwheel assembly probably from a long defunct WOT4 Foam-E so I fitted that as a non-steerable tailwheel.

I was persuaded to try some ZAP Thin CA by a modelshop proprietor and I've been very impressed by it. I had previously only used ZAP-A-Gap, the type with the green label. As stated above the 1mm balsa sheeting has rippled in some places and the joints in the fuselage sheeting have not met up. In most places I succeeded in pushing the sheets together and glueing them together with the thin cyano.

One of the advantages of a model as big as the Big Guff is that you can shove your arm deep into the fuselage if necessary. Yesterday afternoon found me with my left arm well inside the fuselage as I pushed two of the sheets into line. A quick application of the thin CA soon had them well glued together.

Unfortunately it had also glued my left index finger to the inside of the fuselage. I had some debonder but there was insufficient space for me to be able to put both arms inside the fuselage and squirt the debonder onto my finger. There was nothing for it but to remove my arm taking a fair amount of balsa sheeting with it. I have tried patching it with fine glass fibre mat and filler.

If that doesn't work I'll scarfe in some more balsa.

[Basil]

David you have not had much luck with this one have you, hang on in there.

 

Bas

 

 

[David Davis]

30 minutes ago, Basil said:

David you have not had much luck with this one have you, hang on in there.

 

Bas

 

 

Thanks Bas!

[Ron Gray]

That thin CA really does wick especially when using thin balsa. 

[David Davis]

Thank you for your comments gentlemen.

I had no problems with 1/32" (0.8mm) sheet on the fuselage of my first Big Guff. This was because I had bought the wood from SLEC in the UK. SLEC offer balsa in three grades, soft, medium and hard as well as quarter grain for wing ribs. They only cut their 1/32" balsa from hard stock consequently it didn't ripple when I cladded the fuselage of the first Big Guff with it. When I tried to order balsa wood from them in January they had temporarily stopped sending goods to the EU because of problems with Brexit. Parcels were being sent back because the paperwork was not in order but that problem has now been resolved.

Not being able to order 1/32" wood from SLEC I ordered 1mm sheet from a French supplier. This was of a softer grade and was less accurately cut along the edges. I should have cut a gnat's eyelash off each edge with a straight edge to ensure a better fit!

I have been able to cyano the ripples flat at the front of the fuselage where the 1mm wood is backed by 1/16" wood with it's grain running vertically. The main problem is with the sheeting after the trailing edge. As you may see in the picture in Post 64, the uprights are well-spaced out and the sheet is unsupported for a considerable length hence the ripples. I'm hoping that the Solartex covering will flatten any remaining irregularities!

The next stage is to fuel proof the firewall and tank bay, fit the tail mount and build the door!

[David Davis]

I did not stay in England for as long as I'd planned so now I'm back in France and ready to start covering the fuselage and fin of the Big Guff. I have a number of choices.

I could cover it in Early Vintage Red Solartex like the flying surfaces of my Big Tomboy pictured below but I would not have enough material left over to cover an 88" (224 cms) Tomboy wing should I ever get round to building it. I have inherited the slotted trailing edge and some of the wing ribs from my Uncle Geoff who drew up the plan but who died young of cancer in 1962 without ever having seen his creation fly.

I have plenty of Dark Blue Solartex as well some Dark Green and what looks like Olive Drab Solartex but I also have a 1/4 scale DB Sport & Scale SE5 kit which I want to sell. Any takers? I'll probably sell the Dark Green Solartex with the kit.

I bought some Stinson Red Oratex specifically to cover the Big Guff. This is a sort of maroon which Frans and I used to cover his Junior 60, also pictured below, but I've gone off the colour!

I could give a nod in the direction of the Good Brothers and finish the fuselage and fin in Orange Solartex, I've plenty of that, or I could use tissue and dope but I haven't used those for over sixty years so I'll probably experiment on a smaller less important model.

I could order some Oratex Fokker Red from a shop in Belgium, Aerobertics, which sells it off the roll at a good price but I was always brought up to be careful with money! https://aerobertics.be/en_be/accesso...-paints/ora080 The model would then look something like my first Big Guff pictured below after the maiden flight and before the fire. Ten or twenty years ago I would have ordered the stuff regardless thinking that I could always use the excess on another model but at seventy-three there may not be sufficient time to build that many more models!

Decisions, decisions!

 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by David Davis

[David Davis]

I've eventually and somewhat reluctantly decided to go for Solartex Orange. I had an expensive time in England. The cambelt tensioner failed on the van and I was lucky not to wreck the engine. I had had a new one fitted in 2017 but it was out of guarantee. This time we used genuine VW components. The old tensioner had only lasted 37,000 kms (less than 23,000 miles.) The repair cost me over £500.

So having looked at my bank statement and my Solartex stocks I have decided to use the material that I have in stock. I found that I had two unopened 2-metre packs of Orange Solartex plus well over a metre of the same colour from a roll I had already used. In addition I have a 2-metre roll of Vintage Orange Solartex, so Orange it is with Antique Solartex flying surfaces.

[J D 8]

  Nice to give a nod to the Good brothers, they led the way after all. 

[David Davis]

4 hours ago, J D 8 said:

  Nice to give a nod to the Good brothers, they led the way after all. 

 

Yes and I've got a set of orange overalls to match!