FTFF 2015 Scratch Build: Sikorsky S-39
- Thread starter willsonman
- Start date
Well, truth be told... I wanted to have it all glassed and painted by the end of the event. Honestly, too ambitious for a single person. Had a simpler subject been selected then I could have gotten there. With the tricky engineering for the wing and struts as well as sculpting the fuselage (lots of fun curves there) it was just not possible. Friday I was at a low point as I really could not see getting it in the air. After Mike and Pat stepped in and Asbjorn force-feeding me on Saturday I was much more optimistic. The big motivator was getting the wing joined to the fuselage. It was a huge motivator and I could see the end in sight.
So, I had to isolate this one picture. This sweet little girl was so timid to ask for a tiny piece of scrap foam and was so excited to share her creation with me. One of many wonderful children at the event who were well-behaved and there for a good time with their parents.
Attachments
BridgeInspector
Flite Test Groupie
That is my sweet daughter, Hannah. Thanks for the kind words.
I'll post the ones I have. It was awesome meeting and talking with you Joshua. I really enjoyed watching this build come together over the weekend. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate that you and Keegan spent so much time going back and forth and checking out each others builds.
Pictures...
Pictures...
Thanks Sponz. Those are some fun ones. You know, I had a really good time chatting with him. Bouncing ideas and just overall banter was all part of the fellowship from scratch building. We had a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing you both again!
My film skills are about as good as my photo skills... crap. So, I present my video build log... Yeah, even my editing sucks. Got the post-flight in the middle-ish rather than the end. I think I'll stick to building.
My film skills are about as good as my photo skills... crap. So, I present my video build log... Yeah, even my editing sucks. Got the post-flight in the middle-ish rather than the end. I think I'll stick to building.
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Don't worry, you don't need to have great video skills to convey great build skills! It turned out fantastic, and I like the way you did build log update videos, it's a pretty novel idea.
Yeah, it was a bit easier than trying to stop and take a million pictures.
I got some spackle on spots last night. I'm out of town (again) for work so this weekend I may get into some disassembly/ glass work.I managed to get the camping gear all dried out and put away. I've still got my shop in disarray so that needs to go back together as well. I may do some reorganization along the way. *sigh* aaaaaannnd... I need another airplane rack. I have the Top Flite Texan and my big P-47 more or less out to be hangar rashed to death. The Gee Bee sitting on the bench with no place to store and now the Sikorsky. I just need some PVC and locations identified. I suspect the rafters will be the location of choice.
I got some spackle on spots last night. I'm out of town (again) for work so this weekend I may get into some disassembly/ glass work.I managed to get the camping gear all dried out and put away. I've still got my shop in disarray so that needs to go back together as well. I may do some reorganization along the way. *sigh* aaaaaannnd... I need another airplane rack. I have the Top Flite Texan and my big P-47 more or less out to be hangar rashed to death. The Gee Bee sitting on the bench with no place to store and now the Sikorsky. I just need some PVC and locations identified. I suspect the rafters will be the location of choice.
Looks good. If I found plans for a Waco, could you tell me if they were good or not. I also kinda want to add a hard point for an edf unit kinda like this...
see the top of my signature 
It's just a matter of thrust angles . The plan was to attach a picitini rail to the bottom of the fuselage between the landing gear legs, and puting the mounting end on the edf unit. That way it is detachable and I can maiden it with out the extra drag, weight, and weird tendencies.
. The plan was to attach a picitini rail to the bottom of the fuselage between the landing gear legs, and puting the mounting end on the edf unit. That way it is detachable and I can maiden it with out the extra drag, weight, and weird tendencies.
Sure, Other than the "what is that" factor I really don't see any advantage. Compared to the prop you will not get nearly as much thrust advantage. Unless you go with a turbine I don't see the point but I'm sure it would be fun to try. Lots of heavy batteries for a horribly inefficient EDF which will create more drag. Lemme know if you need help getting those plans printed.
Instead of making it out of an actual EDF unit it might be cool to make it a removable sound and smoke system.
MotionRC sells the MrRCSound system I use in my P-51 and it has a great authentic turbine nose that will sound better (IMO) than an EDF. MrRCSound also has a smoke system for electrics. You could skip that part and just go with the sound, but the smoke would be a neat touch. If you want to go faster it would be cheaper to just soup up the prop power system.
Thinking about this more... it could be cool to combine TWO of the RC Sound systems, 1 with the main engine noise and 1 with the turbine noise. Put them on separate channels and you could even get staggered startups on the ground. Combine the smoke system and you'd have 1 really unique (and expensive) bird
MotionRC sells the MrRCSound system I use in my P-51 and it has a great authentic turbine nose that will sound better (IMO) than an EDF. MrRCSound also has a smoke system for electrics. You could skip that part and just go with the sound, but the smoke would be a neat touch. If you want to go faster it would be cheaper to just soup up the prop power system.
Thinking about this more... it could be cool to combine TWO of the RC Sound systems, 1 with the main engine noise and 1 with the turbine noise. Put them on separate channels and you could even get staggered startups on the ground. Combine the smoke system and you'd have 1 really unique (and expensive) bird
Too true! Very expensive.
Thinking this morning about the removable wing joints. I think that I could go two ways. Epoxy or lightweight spackle. Essentially I would place a piece of saran wrap or wax paper over the outer wing, since it has the locator pegs, and apply epoxy or spackle to the joint. Join together and let it dry. Issue with epoxy is that it may ooze and then become next to impossible to remove the wing without damage. Spackle is not as durable but after shaping I can try hardening it up with WBPU. Either way will make a nicer joint between the wings than the gap that is currently there. While wood glue certainly would have prevented the balsa cap from bowing out it would have taken an entire day to dry. There was no time for that during the build.
Thoughts?
Thinking this morning about the removable wing joints. I think that I could go two ways. Epoxy or lightweight spackle. Essentially I would place a piece of saran wrap or wax paper over the outer wing, since it has the locator pegs, and apply epoxy or spackle to the joint. Join together and let it dry. Issue with epoxy is that it may ooze and then become next to impossible to remove the wing without damage. Spackle is not as durable but after shaping I can try hardening it up with WBPU. Either way will make a nicer joint between the wings than the gap that is currently there. While wood glue certainly would have prevented the balsa cap from bowing out it would have taken an entire day to dry. There was no time for that during the build.
Thoughts?
Got any microbaloons on hand? Maybe thicken up the epoxy so it doesn't want to run and would be easier to feather sand. Otherwise I'd probably go with the spackle. Or wait until glass is on and do the same thing with body filler, but that would be heavier.
