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The PSSA 48 Hour Build Challenge! - 'One Sheet is Plenty!'


Phil Cooke
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OK so I got booted from the zoom meeting - it wasn't a great connection but I got the gist of what everyone as doing.  The prototype Nimrod looks brilliant !

 

For my part the Hamilcar X project looked straightforward - but in steped real life and I lost 24 hours ?    So this morning, having been out driving till late yesterday evening, I ventured into the workshop to begin in ernest. My profiles needed to be cut so I did that first then cut the tailplane from 1/4 sheet (not 1/8 sheet as I incorrectly stated on an earlier post). I cut the trailing edge and positioned it on the plan.  So its beginning to look real now ? The balsa part was always going to be the easy bit.

 

 

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Next to the block of foam !

 

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Cut roughly to shape first and then the profiles attached:

 

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Then cut with the hot wire

 

 

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And a quick ffit of the tailplane

 

 

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It looks rough but after 5 hours work I am not too disappointed. The fuse will need to be sanded and I have already cut off too much in a couple of places that will need to be built back up.

 

So not where I wanted to be but keeping the project within the spirit of things......... Its also looking smaller than I expected !

 

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Edited by David Sack
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So, did anyone manage to complete a flyable model within the 48 hours? I just had a look on FB (PSSA group link) and it all seems quiet there too. Given the materials that were specified I always thought it might be a challenge; a bare aireframe maybe, but I couldn't really see how you could finish/cover it in that time. Foamboard or Depron might have been a better choice given the time constraints!

Edited by MattyB
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I think a couple were really close, don't forget it doesn't need a finish to be flyable - bare foam will perform just as well.

 

A couple of weeks before the start, I changed my intended  project to a Cirrus Vision small jet - just the servos to put in now.  Fus is glassed and has a light layer of spay on, wings cut, veneered and filmed, as was the tail.

 

A fun project, and a good laugh with guys over the 2 days on whatsapp and the close-out Zoom meeting last night.

 

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Thanks Andy. It turned out somewhat better than I expected to be honest, although planning to have it brown paper covered at the end of 48 hours was somewhat unrealistic on my part! I made the cut out in the fuselage for the wing in the wee small hours - only to realise next morning the wing is 25mm too far forward. Doh! ? Unless one is a Firebrand aficionado it doesn’t really matter - except I won’t be able to sleep at night if I leave it as it is! So I will apply a little surgery to put in the right place, fortunately not too difficult with a foam aeroplane. 
 

Thanks to Phil Cooke, David Gilder et all, who came up with this brilliant idea. I probably wouldn’t have attempted this project without this impetus.

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6 hours ago, Andy Meade said:

I think a couple were really close, don't forget it doesn't need a finish to be flyable - bare foam will perform just as well.

 

 

It might, but probably only once - remember the S.L.O.P.E acronym! ?

 

I m not trying to knok the initiative, it does sound fun which is the main thing - I just think if you allowed a wider set of materials and maybe extended the time to a week rather than a weekend then the chances of succesful, flyable models in the timeframe increase significantly. I am still looking forward to seeing the results though....

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Well done, just brilliant guys. Looks like you had the weather on your side too.? 

Did the Skyvan fly, I would be interested to hear how it performed? I used to fly the Shorts SD330 (full sized) which was a rather similar design with it's short-coupled boxy fuselage, high A/R, and twin rudders. Not a combination 'built in heaven' when it came to handling in challenging conditions! ?

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13 minutes ago, Piers Bowlan said:

Well done, just brilliant guys. Looks like you had the weather on your side too.? 

Did the Skyvan fly, I would be interested to hear how it performed? I used to fly the Shorts SD330 (full sized) which was a rather similar design with it's short-coupled boxy fuselage, high A/R, and twin rudders. Not a combination 'built in heaven' when it came to handling in challenging conditions! ?

Dave didn't fly the skyvan in the end, as he felt the wing was a bit too floppy without the proper engagement of his struts.  I think he's going to let-in a spar and sort the struts, then she'll be good to go.

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Hi all !

I jumped in this mad challenge and had a lot of fun ! The model was build whitin the time limit , but for finishing i needed another 48 h i think ! (wich was allowed i believe )

The paint was still sticky when we got on the Orme !

All the hard and nerve wrecking work was forgotten when i saw her take the skies ! Unexpected (draggy wing with the inlets closed ) she flew extreme well !!

 

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Big thanks to the PSSA for organizing the event and everyone that helped throwing her off the cliffs and for sorting out the CG problems at the fist attempt to fly her...

I had a really good time with some good friends !!

Video's on my FB page

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Piers Bowlan said:

Dirk, a classic shot of your Panther in a banked turn out over the sea, one for the photo album. ❤️


Yes I agree, ‘floppy wings’ best avoided Andy! I used carbon strips let into my EPS Firebrand wings for reinforcement.
 

 

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Dirk's model isn't a Panther. It's a McDonnell Banshee. 

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