Userofmuchtape&glue
Posted a thousand or more times
Crud thats big.
What batteries ya gonna use?
What batteries ya gonna use?
Mighty "Mini" PBY-5A Catalina - WWII Flying Boat
- Thread starter localfiend
- Start date
Wow! Is that a one-piece permanently attached wing? Curious about your transport solution - or even how you get it out of the workshop at that size
cgoffroad
Member
I am blessed with double French doors behind my workspace and 207 acres of deer farm to fly. So yes it is hard mounted. I am waiting on the final build weight to work in the motor and battery selection. The nose has an HD fisheye camera and a transmitter built in the vert stab. I have problems with hunters trespassing on the game farm. This should help spot problem areas.
I love it. There are other guys controlling their planes with 4g and travelling more than 10 miles. With one of those, you'd be able to check the whole estate from your bedroom. An infra red camera would be cool too. You could then even check at nighttime:
kilroy07
Legendary member
Soo... I'm guessing 2.75 FFARs then?
buzzbomb
I know nothing!
That video? Honestly. That's scary Shiat when you think about it.
cgoffroad
Member
I used the plans available on this site. I just scaled it up to plot on 60” paper.
wavetrain75
Member
As a bit of trivia, a PBY was scuttled after the rescue of the sailors from the cruiser USS Indianapolis, the ship that delivered the atomic bomb across the Pacific and then torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
https://www.dc3dakotahunter.com/blo...dianapolis-sailors-from-massive-shark-attack/
https://www.dc3dakotahunter.com/blo...dianapolis-sailors-from-massive-shark-attack/
m00ndancer
Member
Just finished my Mini Catalina, the most complicated build I've done so far. First twin engine too. Still things to do like paint and stuff. Decked it totally in water resistant foam instead of poster board. She's not pretty but she's mine. Will post photos later after maiden.
Battery800
Elite member
Can anyone make a closer step by step tutorial, or even a build video? I would really appreciate it since I’m stuck on some of the parts
Tench745
Master member
It's not entirely obvious where everything goes, but between the pictures on pages 3 and 4 of this thread, and having the pieces in front of you, I'll bet you can figure out where most, if not all, the formers go.
The tower looks like it has a central pylon that sets the distance between a top and bottom plate on the pylon. Then the outer skin wraps around that.
Battery800
Elite member
My main concern is that I don’t think he ever made a final version so the newer parts aren’t the same as the latest plans. Also I can’t seem to find how the hatch goes together
Battery800
Elite member
Tench745
Master member
Okay, I'll bite. I'm cutting the parts now to see if I can help figure this out.
Battery800
Elite member
Let me know if you figure it out!
Tench745
Master member
Okay, so here's what I've got. It looks like a couple sub-assemblies.
First sub-assembly is parts A, B, and C. The long side of support A points aft. Support C has the cutout to allow the wires to pass up the pylon and makes up the top of the Assembly. This assembly glues down to the top of the fuselage between the curves for the tower base.
The outer skin of the pylon, labeled "Wing Tower," wraps around this sub-assembly and glues into the slots of the fuselage.
The next sub-assembly is tower supports D,E, and F. E goes in the front, F towards the rear. I'm not positive if they're supposed to mount flush to the top or the bottom of the assembly though.
My best guess, is that this sub-assembly glues to the inside, top of the pylon to reinforce where the wing will mount.
The wing would glue in on top of this. I've only duplicated the relevant portion of the wing for this example. See how Support E blocks the hole in the wing? Makes me thing something here isn't quite right and that support E should maybe have been mounted flush to the bottom of Support D. And there is no way to close the gaping hole in the back of the pylon like this.
And if I have any guess the "Center Wing Support" glues inside the wing to reinforce where the slots are cut into the wing to mount the pylon. Line up the holes.
That's what I've got. Personally, I feel like there's probably enough strength in the "Wing Tower" alone that you could leave out supports A-F and greatly simplify the construction.
First sub-assembly is parts A, B, and C. The long side of support A points aft. Support C has the cutout to allow the wires to pass up the pylon and makes up the top of the Assembly. This assembly glues down to the top of the fuselage between the curves for the tower base.
The outer skin of the pylon, labeled "Wing Tower," wraps around this sub-assembly and glues into the slots of the fuselage.
The next sub-assembly is tower supports D,E, and F. E goes in the front, F towards the rear. I'm not positive if they're supposed to mount flush to the top or the bottom of the assembly though.
My best guess, is that this sub-assembly glues to the inside, top of the pylon to reinforce where the wing will mount.
The wing would glue in on top of this. I've only duplicated the relevant portion of the wing for this example. See how Support E blocks the hole in the wing? Makes me thing something here isn't quite right and that support E should maybe have been mounted flush to the bottom of Support D. And there is no way to close the gaping hole in the back of the pylon like this.
And if I have any guess the "Center Wing Support" glues inside the wing to reinforce where the slots are cut into the wing to mount the pylon. Line up the holes.
That's what I've got. Personally, I feel like there's probably enough strength in the "Wing Tower" alone that you could leave out supports A-F and greatly simplify the construction.
Battery800
Elite member
Thank you!
