3.3 Meter Ford Flivver

[Quinnyperks]

36x48's the largest the print shop does, and the cheapest per square inch.

True true

 

[Ryan O.]

Since the flivver is so short coupled and won't require much throw, I've decided to go with 1 elevator servo. It'll have two separate control linkages to each elevator half so if, for example, a hinge tears or a control horn's ripped out from an extra sketchy takeoff, I can still land it.
Here's the wheel I'll be using. I will use PETG with some stainless steel tubing where the axle enters. It'll have to be scaled up a little, but ib theory should work fine. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3047199

 

[Quinnyperks]

Since the flivver is so short coupled and won't require much throw, I've decided to go with 1 elevator servo. I It'll have two separate control linkages to each elevator half so if, for example, a hinge tears or a control horn's ripped out from an extra sketchy takeoff, I can still land it.

When I get back tomorrow I’ll start. I bet by the end of Thursday I’ll have an airframe.

 

[Ryan O.]

When I get back tomorrow I’ll start. I bet by the end of Thursday I’ll have an airframe.

Great, I found a way to tile the plans, so by the end of today I should have them uploaded.

 

[Ryan O.]

Here's the 36x48 tiled plans. I had to put some smaller parts inside the wing to save room and cost on printing. I still have to optimize the 30x40 plans because lots of the parts will rely on grain for strength or moldabilty (is that even a word). Expect those tomorrow.

 

[Ryan O.]

I ran into a couple of issues with tiling the plans for foamboard, one of which was my neglecting to save the file after each major step. I'll try again tomorrow morning, so hopefully I can get then uploaded then🤞

 

[Ryan O.]

Here's the foam board sheet tiled plans with everything orientated for strength.

 

[Ryan O.]

The numbers for the spars are:
Main spar: 2.5"tall, 1/2" poplar sandwiched by foam board (towards the wingtip balsa can be used instead of poplar) with the grain going top to bottom, and 208mm from the LE of the wing
Secondary spar: 1" tall, 1/3" balsa sandwiched between foam board, and 495mm from the LE

 

[Quinnyperks]

I think I’mma have to pull out of my build for a few weeks, I have too many projects and am out of glue.

 

[Battery800]

I think I’mma have to pull out of my build for a few weeks, I have too many projects and am out of glue.

How much glue does one need for a giant build?

 

[Quinnyperks]

How much glue does one need for a giant build?[/QUOTE
I have absolute not one stick of hot glue in my house.

 

[Ryan O.]

How much glue does one need for a giant build?

You'd be surprised

 

[Ryan O.]

I picked up the plans, and now it's easier to get a true sense of the scale of this plane. Since I'll be at airventure over the weekend, I won't have much time to cut them out, but on Monday I'll start and hopefully finish by tuesday at the latest.

I'm probably going to turn this into a resource after I draw up the spars, Ford logo template, and reinforcements with files for the untiled, 36x48 sheets, 30x40, and for letter paper (just incase someone out there wants it)

 

[Ryan O.]

Here's what the plans look like flattened out and taped together.

 

[Ryan O.]

I finished all the plans, but ran out of foam board after making both centers of the v stab+elevators parts. I can get some more on Thursday or Friday, so hopefully I can cut everything out then.

Looking at this elevator part in person, I'll definitely need a dual elevator servo setup.
The new propellers should arrive soon since I broke both props on the Shinden. Here's the motor I hope to use for those props:

 

[Ryan O.]

I got foam board last night and started cutting some more today. I decided to only cut out pieces as I use them to save space in the workshop area, so today I made the tail feathers. It uses the same idea from David's 200% spitfire from a while back for the hinges. The control surfaces are doubled up, and the stabilizers are triple thick. Since this acts sort of like a KF step airfoil with an extremely weak force, I've made it so that on the v-stab, any lift generated will counteract the torque from the motor. I actually used no hot glue, but just some krylon high strength spray glue to stick everything together (the v-stab isn't glued to the h-stab yet). It's actually a stronger bond than the bond between the paper and the foam, so I'm pretty confident in it. I probably saved at least 5 glue sticks of weight from the tail, which makes a huge difference due to the Flivver's short nose.

The tail off of a 1.2m plane for scale:

Here's the spray glue used:

 

[GrizWiz]

I got foam board last night and started cutting some more today. I decided to only cut out pieces as I use them to save space in the workshop area, so today I made the tail feathers. It uses the same idea from David's 200% spitfire from a while back for the hinges. The control surfaces are doubled up, and the stabilizers are triple thick. Since this acts sort of like a KF step airfoil with an extremely weak force, I've made it so that on the v-stab, any lift generated will counteract the torque from the motor. I actually used no hot glue, but just some krylon high strength spray glue to stick everything together (the v-stab isn't glued to the h-stab yet). It's actually a stronger bond than the bond between the paper and the foam, so I'm pretty confident in it. I probably saved at least 5 glue sticks of weight from the tail, which makes a huge difference due to the Flivver's short nose. View attachment 204754 View attachment 204755 View attachment 204756
The tail off of a 1.2m plane for scale: View attachment 204757
Here's the spray glue used:
View attachment 204758

That's gonna be big! I might work in a mighty mini design of this plane

 

[Ryan O.]

The fuselage is mostly done. J just need to add the turtledeck and the front top and bottom pieces. I'll also be adding a doubler where the wing meets the fuselage, and 2 shelves where the motor mount will slide in. Everything came out pretty square, and even with tape reinforcement, this thing's crazy light. If it comes out underweight, I can afford to make both spars shorter and the landing gear can be less beefy. I'm espececially surprised by how light the tail is ( and it won't get much heavier, only 3 servos just behind the cg, the turtledeck which will have the papre removed from one side, and a tail skid), so I won't need much up front to balance it out.

 

[GrizWiz]

The fuselage is mostly done. J just need to add the turtledeck and the front top and bottom pieces. I'll also be adding a doubler where the wing meets the fuselage, and 2 shelves where the motor mount will slide in. Everything came out pretty square, and even with tape reinforcement, this thing's crazy light. If it comes out underweight, I can afford to make both spars shorter and the landing gear can be less beefy. I'm espececially surprised by how light the tail is ( and it won't get much heavier, only 3 servos just behind the cg, the turtledeck which will have the papre removed from one side, and a tail skid), so I won't need much up front to balance it out. View attachment 204788 View attachment 204789 View attachment 204790

Looking good!

 

[Ryan O.]

I was out of state for a while, but now that I’m back I can finally get back to work on the flivver. I added the reinforcement shelf and turtledeck in about 2 hours, and I tried to mold the skins as little as possible before gluing them down to keep them from stronger. I worked pretty well considering I ran out of blue tape and had to use packing tape to hold everything down. After I finish the headrest’s aerodynamic cover, I’ll make the motor box while everything’s still easily accessible.