Some advice please.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Having reached the age of 68, I have realised that I have not "grown up", and I rather fancy that I am not going to either, so this is one of the reasons for joining the LMA. I am also a member of the BMFA. This is a return to model making for me, having done this as a kid with the Kiel Kraft stuff, and other efforts in my early adulthood.

I have no experience of RC flying, so have this all to learn, and to that end, have purchased a WOT 4 and a radio. The radio, I have discovered since, is one of the most sophisticated there is, a Graupner MZ24, but fear not, I will learn how to operate it!

At my age there is a need to "get on with it", and to that end I am planning to build a Blackburn Beverley. I envisage a scale of 1/10 which would mean a wing span of just over 16 feet and the length almost ten feet! At this scale it should be fairly stable in flight? During my lengthy absence from model making, it has become clear that ideas, materials and technology have galloped a pace, and the stuff available to us now is phenomenal! To that end, I think I will be going electric for this project with some fairly hefty batteries I imagine, but this will have a very large wing area, so should support the weight OK?

This is going to be a very long term project; hopefully I can get advice from any members prepared to do this? The information available to me at the moment is somewhat basic, and the drawings I have started to produce are not absolutely accurate and are intended as general layout guidance only. What I need to know initially is if any reasonably accurate drawings are available to enable me to produce acceptable structural drawings at a later stage. One particular thing I really need to know now is the cord angle in relation to the horizontal datum, and some advice on the aerofoil section. As these drawings progress, I will need to understand about the various types of actuators / servos etc available so that I can design them into the structure as necessary. I will also need to learn about the motors and associated electrical stuff that is available. I am also not an expert in electrical things, so will need advice on this as well. I am reasonably confident regarding the structure of the model, but will look at any advice offered and use those suggestions that are a better idea. At some point I will need to produce details of the undercarriage (which is fixed) as I may have to have these made for me.


As I mentioned, these drawings will need modification prior to me producing working drawings to build the model from. I will hopefully get them copied to a low colour to enable the various changes to be made. These drawings are at 1/36 scale as this fits my drawing board nicely. I will need to continue drawing at this scale for the general structure, and then produce full size drawings for the ribs, wing sections and other bits and pieces etc. I have a pretty good idea of how I will arrange the breakdown of the model for transportation that does not compromise its flight integrity. Whatever I do, it will take a lot of space!

My email address on here is now out of use. I need to change this but am having some difficulty doing it!

[Dave Hayfield]

Hello Malcolm, welcome to the LMA. Since you have been out of the modelling 'loop' for a while, as you say, things have changed. My advice to you is to look at the rules and regs for over 20Kg models in the LMA handbook and you will find the means of obtaining all of the help you need for your rather complex model from a dedicated inspector of your creation.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thank you Dave, already done that and have been contacted by John Rickett, as well as reading the rule book. I need the information to make a sensible start of the drawings. I am trying to obtain some drawings currently, but the concept is slightly different to my ideas. I will use information from these drawings to produce my own drawings, but incorporating my ideas. It must start on the drawing board, once I have got something sensible on paper, I can then use the inspector system to validate the project?

Whilst my ideas are sound, I will need advice form the experts in LMA to get it absolutely correct. This project will cost a lot of time and money, for these reasons alone, I need to "get it right"!

[Dave Hayfield]

Excellent Malcolm, wish you the best of luck with your project and expect to see it in the air at one of our LMA events.

[John Rickett]

Malcolm,

As we've already discussed, by all means gather as much scale information as you can about a Beverley but use that information chiefly to produce your own outlines.

While doing your research build progressively larger and more complex models, these can be from kits or plans, you will glean a lot of useful structural information along the way and develop building skills which will ultimately help you to decide the type of construction suitable for your chosen project.

Its a slow road I'm afraid but that's what retirement is for! The operative word is 'empirical' - find out from smaller models, and other's designs, what works and what needs strengthening as you move up the complexity and weight ladders.

It comes as a bit of a shock to many to discover that balsa can be the chief ingredient in a very large model, the trick is to learn where the stress points are and when balsa (no matter how thick or heavy) just won't do.

There's a lot of fun and satisfaction to be had from building and flying other people's designs, not just buying an ARTF, and in doing so you will be able to focus more on what will be right for a successful 1/10 scale Beverley.

I wish you many happy and rewarding hours with each model completed along the way.

[stuart knowles 1611]

Hello Malcolm
Ask mr google to show you 'Ivan's Plans'. Ivan Pettigrew, he has published a moderately
Large Beverley, nothing like as large as you are looking for but it may get you a boost in giving you an outline and basic structure hat you can take forward.. There are some vids on YouTube showing completed Beverley's from these plans

Interesting subject. Keep us updated of how you get on

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Yes indeed Stuart, I am in touch with Ivan, I rather fancy that his drawings will do it for me. I have been studying the concept of the Flaps and am now better informed, it is now the mechanism that I need to design or copy.

This is a massive project and will take many years to complete, but I must finish the design work and drawings first, and this will be a big job alone!