1/10th scale Blackburn Beverley.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thank you John and Phil for your comments. I did expect such answers, if you note I did suggest that the nacelles would need to be very "robust" if they were to take ballast. I do not really think that there is enough space to make them sufficiently robust in any case. It was just a passing idea. However, there is an excellent space ahead of the nose wheel that will lend itself perfectly as a ballast compartment. The batteries will also perform some ballast function as well.

The frames that I glued in last night have settled down very well and are nice and square, and so I decided to add the remainder of the frames up to and including G2 (G2 is the point where the tail plane leading edge fits). Having glued them in, (just the bottom joints) I dry fitted the remaining frames and did some "observing" and noticed that G2 was too wide, although its shape is about right. Also G3 is too narrow, again the correct shape. I removed G2 as soon as I noticed this error, the glue not having set. So it looks like I will need to modify G2 and re-make G3. I hope this does not have a knock on effect to other frames.

[ian redshaw]

I too am with John and Phil on the ballast placement. On your model there is no advantage to having any ballast in the nacelles as the front end of the fuselage is almost twice as far infront of the CofG as the front end of the cowlings. Imagine you'll have enough space in the nose!!!

Ian.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thank you everyone who has commented on the ballast issue. All is clear.

The first picture show the modified G2 frame. You can see the right hand side of the frame has been altered and this was used as a pattern to remake the new frame. The original G2 had a large area cut out of the centre, this was a short sighted error as this frame takes the front of the tail plane and needs a smaller hole for this. All may become clear as I make the tail plane and show the fitting of it.

Today has been very busy sorting out the back end. It is a nightmare! I suggested that only the G6 frame would need remaking, it turned out that frames G2 to G6 all needed remaking for a variety of reasons. This is now complete and the horizontal frames at the rear end have also been cut but need fettling to fit properly. However, I have done a dry run as per the picture, and it looks as though everything will fit properly. I have yet to make the new G6 frame and will measure this from the set up later on. It is difficult to establish the datum in this area as the shape of the fuselage causes it to rise steadily above the datum line, hence the nightmare.

Once this part of the fuselage has been fully framed up and glued, there will be a massive amount of jobs to do on the fuselage as a whole. I must do all these before I start on the tail plane etc. There will be little progress to see, but I will endeavour to detail the jobs that I have to do, as I go.

I am undecided regarding some triangular braces in the boom, It may still need some?

[Phil Clark]

I wouldn't worry about any bracing in the rear boom.......it may serve a purpose now (pre sheeting), but once the stringers & sheeting are on I think you'll find it'll be completely rigid (the boom is in effect a long tube). Knocking out diagonals after sheeting will be tricky given the tight confines of the boom + all they'll do is add unnecessary weight in the rear end.

Phil

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Another frustrating day. Lots of fettling and messing about to get the bits to fit together in a satisfactory way, and no matter how careful I am, there is almost always something else goes wrong. It all fits dry, then once the glue is on, there is something that does not want to fit. WHY!

Meanwhile, the back end is wobbling about like a sapling in a force eight. I decided to fit up the tailplane mounting box as this will assure some squareness right at the back. My thinking is that if this is stable, then squaring the boom will be a little easier to do? I have carried out an exercise with spirit levels and a plumb bob and line to establish how things are going and it rather looks like I will achieve an acceptable line right through the model. However, the dorsal spine has a kink in it but this does not seem to prevent general squareness. I will assess this kink once the stringers are glued in and some stability achieved. If I have to make some mods to the spine, I can do it better when the wobble is removed?

The box we see in this picture is my idea of doing several things in one place. The tail plane will be located by lugs in two places, one at the leading edge, and the other roughly where the elevator starts. The tailplane, which has dihedral, will have a corresponding box underneath which will have the locating lugs and the servos for both the elevator and the rudders.This assembly will be lowered into the box and slid forward to locate the lugs, and then a bolt and captive nut will lock it in place.

It's all very good in theory!

[John Rickett]

Malcolm,

You'll find it much easier, both at the building stage and then at the field, if you put the elevator servos in the tailplane and the rudder servos in the fins, with a short straight rod to each surface. The servos will then stay permanently (mechanically) connected and all you will have to do is plug them into flying leads which can terminate in the box you're building.

As there will be 4 servos, one way to ensure you do not cross connect is to use Multiplex connectors in the wiring loom. Each connector has 6 pins and they are arranged male/female, so when you get to the stage of laying out the loom, reverse one of the connectors and then there will be no chance of a subsequent crossed connection. These things can be obtained in red as well as the usual green, so that could also help to avoid cross connecting.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thank you John for the advice. I think this is an excellent suggestion and will incorporate these ideas into the design, as I go. I have about 1.1/2 inches to fit the servos into. Can someone please suggest which types are suitable for this?

Not a lot to do today, just gluing in the stringers on the boom. Firstly I had to think on my feet how to jig the assembly and this came to me easily and seems to be just the job! A few straight pieces of wood and some clamps and the six foot level has provide a straight line and some rigidity. I just hope it maintains the correct position when removed tomorrow. The second picture shows some braces I included to ensure squareness. These are not glued in but could be if really needed? I accept the suggestion made by some of you that this will not be needed when the skin is added later, but there is a mass of work to do before I can even think about the skin.

The third picture show the rear location bar for the tail plane. This is 1/2 x 1/2 spruce.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

I removed the "splint" and all is OK except that the tail plane mounting is not quite horizontal, it slopes backward a little. I may have to consider some major surgery to correct this as the tail plane attitude depends on this being correct. I may consider adjustment to the tail plane to correct the fault, but I will do whatever is the best solution. I must also consider the appearance of the thing, not just the integrity!

These photos will be that last of the whole thing for a while as the main construction of the fuselage is now compete with many little jobs still to do, and one big job, the undercarriage! There is one other job that is very important, and that is the connection regime of the two main halves. This needs to be about right, although very simple to achieve. As is the case with scratch building, ideas change as we progress. In this regard I have decided that in addition to the main wing mounting box, to add a small location tube to the main plane. This will use the sleeves embedded across the fuselage and in the wings to take the aluminium tube in the usual way. My original idea was to glue some dowel into the wings and locate this into holes in the wing root, this clearly is not good enough. This will also help to strengthen the undercarriage mounting which is located near to this tube. Lots to do before the construction of the tail plane and wings etc, I must stay in control and not get carried away! I am hoping that the tendency to make cock ups is under control when I start the wings, I must not get excited and rush into this.

Another idea I have been considering is to install some flexible conduit for the wiring. Can anyone point me towards the best type for this please.

I have used this impasse today to do some chisel sharpening, all very important of course

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Surgery day today. I had to marmalise the stringer joints and cut through the ventral spine between frames G1 and G2. It was a simple matter of gluing in a pair of splints to maintain a 3/16th inch gap in the spine. This was enough to produce the correct angle on the tail plane mounting, as can be seen on the spirit level. There is a small issue with the squareness across the mount but this will be easily rectified when the skin is attached, I have a plan. Tomorrow I will need to repair the stringer joints. The odd thing is about this kind of surgery, is that the net strength is actually improved due to the patches and splints etc.

[Ret Vinsent]

No Malcolm, Keep posting, It will be interesting to see how your design develops and how you deal with issues that come up. No-one has to read the thread if they don't want to and, to be honest, this forum is not that busy.

Looking good so far

adsolutely agree, as for me I enjoy observing other*s works and steps toward success! be sure to post!)) thank you for sharing

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Had chores to do today so had little time in the workshop, but did some repairs following the surgery. The pictures tell the story. The first picture shows that the lateral level at the back end is looking pretty good. There will not be a lot of wrestling to square things up when sheeting the boom. Second and third pictures show the repairs in progress and the fourth shows the stiffener for the front location lugs of the tail plane being glued in place. Had fun weaving the camera through the frames for this shot.

[paul needham]

Another idea I have been considering is to install some flexible conduit for the wiring. Can anyone point me towards the best type for this please.

Hi Malcolm, for this I use Estes BT-5 rocket body tubes, http://tinyurl.com/l3ht78y they weigh next to nothing, to join them I just cut a piece approx 1.5'' long, split along its length to fit over the ends of the tubes to join them and then a couple of drips of CA job done.

[Phil Clark]

Another alternative are 'giant' kiddies drinking straws.......I got a pack of 25 straws, 1m long with 6mm bore from Amazon........flexible enough for slight curves, transparant so you can see easily when feeding cables through + weight thick end of nowt.

Phil

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Lots of tiny things done today, some gussets and little pieces of wood glued into open joints etc, making them stronger. I have started to make the lower linkage struts at can be seen in the internal picture. These struts are part of the connection regime for the two main halves of the fuselage, and are made from 9mm plywood.

Some things will have to wait for a while as I am running out of materials, must do some ordering!

I have had a look at some flexible conduit on eBay and Amazon. There is some ribbed 3/8" ID plastic stuff that will be perfect. I have some curves to navigate and most importantly from the wing roots to the nacelle bulkheads. Thank you to you chaps who made some alternative suggestions.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

I am taking a bit of time off from the Beverley project, perhaps a couple of weeks or so. I am making an item for the workshop that can be seen elsewhere on the forum.

See you all later.

[paul needham]

Waiting for your return to this project, have you seen the Beverley display at Newark air museum ? very interesting, the cutaway model is scaled at 1/12.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

My first post on this page for a couple of weeks, still got bit of work on the workshop chair, I'll post about that when it is finished.

However, some new stuff has arrived for the Beverley, the 4.1/2 inch wheels, all ten of them and the 3/8 ID conduit for the wiring loom. This conduit, about 32 feet of it, weighs less than five ounces, so will not impact on the overall weight too much, just need to decide the best way to fix it in place?

[Ken Bones]

Good work, interesting project.
Bonzey

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Made a start on the undercarriage drawing today. Slow going at the mo, but have established a few important measurements and positions. I think I might make a full size (1/10th) drawing of the stub wing wotsits to make it easier to see what I am doing. The drawings so far are all 1/20 scale and I have been doubling the measurements to produce the 1/10 scale model parts. Watch this space!

[Denis Brown]

Glad to see it progressing again