Eric Robson Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 Following Kevin's great build of the Black Widow to this stage I am finishing it off. at this point I have covered the flaps and inner wing s with lam. film and fitted the flaps. I have also fitted the elevator servos. Kevin already had the wiring in so not a lot to do. The main fuselage is mainly covered with ABS mouldings these take some time to cut and fit. next stage is to fit the retracts, I am using electric, as these were not available when the original plan was drawn some mods will be needed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 This is the one I am aiming for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 Looking good. For a bit of added motivation attached is an Aeromodeller article from 1970 describing a control line version of the Black Widow. It was designed & built by Maurice Bodey, a late Clubmate of mine, and even after 50 years I well remember its presence both on the ground and in the air. 20211201_NORTHROP Black Widow’.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 Thank you for that John, nothing done today ,hospital appointment and family visiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 2, 2021 Author Share Posted December 2, 2021 One thing has been puzzling me, how to mount the electric retracts without fitting 1" blocks onto the 3/8" ply plates already fitted. then I remember some flat plastic plates came with some retracts I had ordered for another model. I could not think of a use for them but kept them anyway, they had 4 holes which matched the tapped holes on the top face of the retract unit. fitting them on I did not like the idea of the unit being held on by 4 2mm screws so I turned some spacers from ali. tube, the whole unit will be held on by 4 wood screws. Just got to sort out the legs now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 3, 2021 Author Share Posted December 3, 2021 Up on it's legs now, need to order some main wheels. The nose wheel is the right size but may have to be reduced as it catches when retracting, it is 6mm back from where it should be but it would need modification to the front end to move it forward. It was drawn for mechanical retracts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 5, 2021 Author Share Posted December 5, 2021 Borrowed some wheels off another model, retracts all working and set up , battery hatches cut out, lower ABS cladding all trimmed but not yet fitted. Next job is to fit the motors and esc's then tidy up the wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 7, 2021 Author Share Posted December 7, 2021 Trial fitting up, all the ABS parts fitted, started covering the booms in lam film I could not get the curves at the fin correct so now its going to be brown paper. The wings will be lam film covered. The twin booms are very awkward to cover, it's a bit like holding a twin neck guitar. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 The mild weather has given me the chance to get some paint on at last. Matt black rattle can from the motor spares shop, I had intended taking the masking off but on inspection in the better light there is some more paint to go one. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 After masking the canopies ready for painting on the last day of the mild weather it started raining so I left it till the morning when the rain had turned to snow. It looks like it will be a while before they will see paint. Despite the long nose which is a thin ABS moulding the c of g is going to be a problem to achieve, there is not enough room in the nose for the batteries, they will go in the cockpit but that will mean no detail, still they won't be seen once in the air and balance is the priority. The motors I had in mind may not be powerful enough as the weight is creeping up to between 11 and 12 pound so I will have to see what I can fit in as the space is limited in the nacelles at the moment but moving the batteries to the centre will give me more space in the nacelles but I would have to move the bulkhead further back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 Finally got the weather for it's maiden. report in spring is here2022 who's been flying. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted March 25, 2022 Author Share Posted March 25, 2022 This is how it looks after the 3rd flight, cause as yet unknown. When I get it back together I may find out why it went into a flat spin on the climb out. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ovenden Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 Very sorry to see the model in more pieces than it should be. At least they are big pieces! Looks like with some time and patience it can be rebuilt to fly again. Having been in similar situation recently I sympathise. Good luck with the restoration. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 No more than a ‘scratch’ to a man of your calibre Eric. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICHARD WILLS Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 black widow.mp4 black widow.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICHARD WILLS Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 black widow.mp4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICHARD WILLS Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Just now, RICHARD WILLS said: black widow.mp4 black widow.mp4 21.77 MB · 0 downloads Ignore the "interesting dark night video " . Let pretend I was trying to film the Tawney owl in my front garden . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted March 29, 2022 Author Share Posted March 29, 2022 Thanks Richard, This was the maiden flight taken on a mobile phone, I can't transfer video's with my laptop just photos so I have to Email them to someone who can load them. It is almost ready to fly again just the nose cone to cut to size and fit and the retracts to go back on the find out what caused the spin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 Back together again, some finishing off and painting to do. At the moment nothing to show what happened but I have not run the motors up fully as it is freezing outside with occasional snow, every thing else is working. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 In view of your previous experience are you intending to fly the Black Widow before spending time repairing the paintwork etc? It's certainly what I'd do but I'm not such an accomplished modeller. It's looking almost as good as new. It looked terminal earlier but, as Ron Gray said, t'was no more than a scratch ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 Hi Geoff, it depends on the weather, I will get it tidy to fly and if there is a few windy but warm days I will put some paint on . If there is some good flying days it will go as it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 Hi Geoff, Black Widow painted outside yesterday in warm sun, half an hour later it was snowing. Good job it was quick drying paint. Having problems with my lap top, I have all the pictures but when I try to send them to the forum it says there is nothing in the files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 That's good to know, Eric. As regards the photos, can't you just drag them from your file in Explorer onto the forum page? That's what I do now. I've just taken this picture of a cast aluminium Mosquito I've had for about 70 years. It's an unfettled casting that my Dad acquired during WW2 IIRC. Not sure what it was for. The only way it'll fly is if I drop it from the bedroom window ? It's about 8.5" ws. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Walby Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 Hi Eric, sorry to read about the crash, but at least it flew with less trauma tha my Ta154. Just out of interest was the flat spin pancake like or more tip stall and wing drop? I ask as I an still trying to deduce why my Focke spun in. Apologies as I have nit read through, but do you knoe your wing loading, span and AUW? Best of luck and all I can suggest is keep the speed up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 Hi Chris, it felt more like loss of power on one motor, I had made a change to the throttle cut switch from D to A, though the TX showed A the throttle cut still was on D. The 2 previous flights were good the 2nd flight after it was trimmed was uneventful and it was a pleasure to fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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