Cessna 182 Balsa Build

[Hookdriver]

Wow....
I just found this thread. Spent last weekend putting together one of the old dare design shoestring kits. I thought that thing was poorly thought out. Turns out there are worse. Your progress looks fantastic! It makes me want to challenge myself with one of these mystery instruction kits. Keep up the great work. Happy holidays ladies and gents!

 

[Foam Addict]

I ran into a major snag with my intended build of this kit, I have 2 orders that HK has taken nearly a month to ship from the USA warehouse. I won't be able to finish it even if it does arrive, as I have a short Christmas break. Still, thanks for the great build log joker!

 

[earthsciteach]

NIGEL!!!!

Welcome to the forum, man! Long time no chat. Are you still seeking the holy grail of speed from 50 mm EDFs? Any new, fun projects? Still traveling to far away, strange places? How ya been?

 

[earthsciteach]

Cool. Yeah, balsa is gaining momentum here. It's good to see.
i don't think I've seen your twin Concord. I'll have to check that out on watt flyer.

 

[Turbojoe]

IF and that's a huge IF I ever build this overweight pig it'll be from the huge pile of contest balsa I bought from Lonestar Balsa way before they burned down many years ago. This wood is so light I have it secured to the shelf so it doesn't float away! I look at my HK Cessna kit as nothing more than a template to cut parts from properly weighted balsa. Over 13 ounces for the 37" wingspan kit AFTER pulling all the parts from the sheets just doesn't work for me. I want a general aviation plane. NOT a general aviation plane that flies at warbird speeds just to stay in the air! I do love Cessna's though and may attack this build with a lightweight contest balsa scratch built vengeance sometime in the future.

Joe

 

[artw]

I have also been busy following Joker's photos and built the tail surfaces out of balsa sticks.

before weight:



After weight:



The before weight would in reality be slightly heavier since this weight does not include glue... also the stick frames will be actually be lighter since I have not done any shaping or tapering yet. I wanted to weigh the unshaped balsa compared to the unshaped kit parts.

here is a photo of the stick framed parts. It is all 3/16" by 3x8" or 3x16" square with a few exceptions. I realized I didn't build the horizontal stab exactly as Joker did, I didn't notice it until after the big piece was already glued I don't image it will make a difference.

 

[Joker 53150]

Nice work putting the ass-end of this bird on a diet! To some it may not seem like a big savings, but it looks to me like you're going to save adding at least 200 grams of weight to the nose to balance it now.

 

[artw]

Nice work putting the ass-end of this bird on a diet! To some it may not seem like a big savings, but it looks to me like you're going to save adding at least 200 grams of weight to the nose to balance it now.

I will have to add back in 19 grams with the tail wheel, bracket, reinforcing plywood and the fasteners.
That is still 3 grams lighter than the kit tail wood!

I started a new thread to document my progress building this as a taildragger.

 

[artw]

The hardest thing I have had to do so far on this build is install the windshield.
If I had to do it again I would sheet the bottom of the plane before wrestling with it, since I probably broke 4 or 5 of the bottom stringers manipulating the airplane.

so once I got it in I had to figure out a way to keep it in. someone earlier had mentioned they were thinking of putting on a window frame, so I figured out a way to do that and at the same time hold the plastic in place.



the next step was figuring out how to do the hood, I had seen how you guys did it so I came up with something similar that could be used without having to install that small banana shaped piece of balsa:



Here is the plan to scale if anyone would like to use it



and eventually it looks like this. I had to cut down a bit of the front of it, so the edge of it was perpendicular to the cowl stringers to make the sheeting fit properly.



next update should have the fuselage sheeting done. I have two pieces taped/pinned up and curing right now.

 

[willsonman]

To bevel that down, try adding some masking tape to the plastic and then sand the wood to bevel. The lines in that area will clean up much nicer that way and you will not have a scratched up piece of plastic.

 

[Joker 53150]

Progress on my 182 has been slow-going due to work, holidays, etc. I started covering and realized quickly I was almost out of white film, so an order was placed with Mountain Models for more of their lightweight film. It's not as thick and strong as standard weight, but I really like working with this stuff. The new roll showed up a few days ago so the wing was covered first. Since the film isn't as heavy as others you can see the structure of the wings - sheeted areas, rib locations, etc. This isn't a detailed scale build so that isn't a concern to me, plus I like seeing the shadow of the balsa. The decision on what color trim to use and what design to incorporate haven't been made yet, but hopefully by the end of this coming weekend the plane is sitting pretty waiting for good weather to fly!

 

[Joker 53150]

Covering has been taking much longer than expected. Not because it's difficult, but due to lack of time and having a ton of other projects around the house to take care of. My color scheme will be pretty basic, as this isn't a flashy high-performance plane. Simple red on white, and I'll cut some vinyl graphics at work to finish it off.

 

[Foam Addict]

She looks very elegant! Nice job!

 

[earthsciteach]

Beautiful!

Did you bring any of your planes to FTFF last summer? It just occurred to me that I didn't see your Navion. You need to bring that this summer.

 

[Joker 53150]

Thanks! For planes at FTFF I brought the following:

Hobby Zone Super Cub, foamie.
Hobby King Mini Skywalker, foamie.
Mountain Models Lucky ACE, balsa kit.
Mountain Models Switchback, balsa kit.
Hobby King Red Swan, balsa kit.

All of these could be hand-launched, which was a concern since I normally take-off from a paved surfaced and didn't know what to expect for runway conditions. The ACE and Switchback did pretty well on grass since I put bigger wheels on before heading to Ohio. The Super Cub never left the car, as I enjoy flying the other planes more. The Navion would have been nice to bring, but getting enough speed to take off on a grass surface with small wheels would have been an issue.

For FTFF '15 (assuming I can make it) the plan is to bring the 60" span Nieuport 12 I'm building from foamboard, the Lucky ACE (can't leave home without it!), maybe one of the Red Swan variants. Also a couple planes from my dad's hangar for him to fly, meaning we'll probably need to use my car top carrier to make it all fit, as that Nieuport 12 is HUGE! I've printed the Storch plans to 200% and have the foamboard for it, but doubt I'll be able to get it started in time for FTFF '15.

 

[dja2424]

Thanks for the Thread! Need feedback on my project.

Hi all. New to the forum, though I've been watching this thread for several weeks with interest. I just started my 182 build a few days ago and wanted to say thanks for all the good info here. Especially thanks to mindstorm88 for posting the files to dropbox and to the OP for all his detailed photos, tips and wisdom.

Call me crazy but my goal is to turn this build into a float plane, possibly adding flaps. I bought the HK floats for the EPO 182 that look to be the right size. Still need to figure how to mount them and how/whether to add a water rudder.

My thoughts on the flaps were to use the stock aileron setup for the flaps (shortening the control rods) and mount two servos in the wing for the ailerons. I'm not sure that will work since the spars are so short/narrow, but haven't ruled it out yet. Not sure about the possibility of going to a one servo flap, one servo aileron configuration, but that's another option. I've got 6 & 8 channel receivers available if needed.

Any feedback from more experienced builders on the above would be appreciated. So far it's going well. Got most of the fuselage done except for the ribbing. Yes, this is my first balsa kit build. Plan on taking it slow and learning a lot as I go. I have some minimal experience flying, crashing and repairing a J3 balsa cub (which got me interested in doing a kit build).

Thanks again,

dja2424

 

[Joker 53150]

Until I get mine airborn to know for sure, I think adding flaps and floats would add way too much weight to an already heavy plane. I'm not saying it can't be done, but if I were going to try it I'd probably put the basic airframe on a major diet first.

 

[dja2424]

What would you suggest eliminating for this diet? I'm not sure all the sheeting is necessary . . . I saw the stick built tail parts which could help. Other ideas? Thanks.

 

[Joker 53150]

The tail is especially heavy. Not only the horizontal/vertical surfaces, but the structure inside the tail as well could be lighter. The balsa sent with my kit was very heavy and could be swapped with lighter stuff. The wing is over-built in my view, and could have been designed lighter.

But keep in mind that mine hasn't flown yet so I can't do more than compare against other kits I've built which have had lighter wing loading. Maybe this will fly very nicely, although I expect it will require me to keep the speed up.

 

[dja2424]

Yeah I was thinking the flaps would be a good idea to slow the landing speeds down, knowing that floats would make it heavier right off the bat. I don't really have a frame of reference for what is heavy wood vs. light. Most of the balsa in my kit seems very lightweight/fragile, while the plywood seems pretty dense/sturdy.

I haven't got to the wing yet, but that will probably determine how to proceed. Not sure I can even get servos in the space provided by the wing depth, so that may be the determining factor for that.

Has anyone out there actually finished and flown this plane? It would be great to hear some flight reports! Anyway, gonna plug along and see how it goes. Thanks for the feedback. Any other is welcome.

dja2424