POLIKARPOV I-16 RATA
- Thread starter rockyboy
- Start date
Thanks! Love these cartoonish shaped planes - they just look so silly floating around!
Hey there again Carmine!
It's been a rough couple months (for everyone) but I'm pulling myself back together and getting back to things that "bring me joy" like building stuff.
Didn't know about the washout proliferation on jet fighters, but it makes perfect sense - especially in the fly-by-wire jet days before so much computer stability control was introduced. I bet that split second pilot feedback in terms of the mushy feeling saved more than a few lives.
And if the I-16 only had a little higher service ceiling or a more powerful engine/climb rate against the second wave of ME109s it faced, a lot of things could have gone differently. They were able to keep air superiority over the first ME109s they faced, but Germany changed their engineering faster than the Soviets in this case.
Back on the spinner build, I was able to pull the two sections apart (clear gorilla glue is great for wood to foam joints, and it doesn't expand like the brown stuff). The bolt head sticking out of the bottom plate on the left is where the prop nut will be, and the toothpick locating pins are almost straight up and down - but with just enough miss-alignment that they provide great holding pressure when the two halves are put together. No need for magnets or screws to keep this spinner together!
I chucked it up in the drill press after some rough knife shaping, and with a little sandpaper and file work had a reasonable shape in about 10 minutes.
The Rata was produced with two different spinner shapes - one with a sharper cone shape and a central tube sticking out the front, and one with more of a mushroom or button rounded profile that I'm targeting here.
Waiting for a 2.3mm collet type prop adapter that fits on the motor shaft to arrive - not going to be using this o-ring style mount with the spinner setup.
Next I'm going to spackle and sand the spinner a few times to build up a little bit of a harder surface, and then lay on a few coats of WBPU. Once the prop adapter is here, I'll do the final fitting of the prop slots cut into the foam on the back side.
Javiester
Elite member
I have found a store in Russia that sells Master Series style plans for a little more than one euro, they also have a Youtube channel with the construction of the model
I have painted him with the republican colors of the Spanish civil war that he fought against the fascists
this is the real model of the Madrid air museum
And so I have almost finished in the absence of a detail that you can appreciate
the canopy
almost 700gr without battery, 950mm wingspan
I have painted him with the republican colors of the Spanish civil war that he fought against the fascists
this is the real model of the Madrid air museum
And so I have almost finished in the absence of a detail that you can appreciate
the canopy
almost 700gr without battery, 950mm wingspan
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Felicidades te ha quedado niquelao!!. Que callado lo tenias. A ver si lo vemos volar.
Javiester
Elite member
te lo dedico a ti y al as de la guerra civil española José Maria Bravo que volo con el en la guerra civil
https://ruspania.blogspot.com/2018/09/jose-maria-bravo-el-piloto-que-escolto.html
Me siento muy halagado por la dedicatoria. Muchas gracias. Aunque creo que el Sr. Bravo lo merece mas que yo.
Realmente has aprovechado bien el tiempo. El Mig tambien está espectacular.
Bravo good sir! And working retracts too - awesome!
She looks beautiful! Thank you for sharing here!
My progress today doesn't look nearly as nice - just put a coat of plaster spackle on the spinner. Not nearly as exciting.
Javiester
Elite member
thank youBravo good sir! And working retracts too - awesome!
She looks beautiful! Thank you for sharing here!
My progress today doesn't look nearly as nice - just put a coat of plaster spackle on the spinner. Not nearly as exciting.
View attachment 179300
I follow your thread is one of my favorite models
but I still feel unsafe to fly wooden planes
It's ok to fly wooden planes - you can glue them back together just like the foam ones! They just end up in more pieces if the landing is bad.
Javiester
Elite member
It was the first plane that I prepared with the needle cutter
I have not painted the Mig 15 and I have removed the landing gear because it weighs 1kg with the battery and I'm worried I'm doing another with xps to see if I lighten it at least 200gr
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Javiester
Elite member
It's ok to fly wooden planes - you can glue them back together just like the foam ones! They just end up in more pieces if the landing is bad.
I love working with wood but it is a lot of time invested and I still don't have a suitable place to fly
the clubs here are saturated or as there is a lot of demand for the new laws they have raised prices
With a little sanding, some water based polyurethane coats over the spackle, and a quick coat of paint she's looking good enough for me!
Let's see how this looks on the plane...
I like the profile, it's maybe a little longer than I'd like but I can trim a little off the back once the prop comes in and I can fit it into place.
And while I'm working on the front end, I wanted to provide some cushioning from the battery since we're belly landing this one. Scrap foam from a bushless motor package works well for this! Pinned in place temporarily, but it'll get hot glued in place.
Time to finish up the wing - control horns installed in the ailerons, and throws tested and move just fine.
Now that everything (except the prop and collet) are installed, let's check the balance....
Wow - pretty darn close! I don't think I'm going to need much dead weight at all to get this right!
Let's see how this looks on the plane...
I like the profile, it's maybe a little longer than I'd like but I can trim a little off the back once the prop comes in and I can fit it into place.
And while I'm working on the front end, I wanted to provide some cushioning from the battery since we're belly landing this one. Scrap foam from a bushless motor package works well for this! Pinned in place temporarily, but it'll get hot glued in place.
Time to finish up the wing - control horns installed in the ailerons, and throws tested and move just fine.
Now that everything (except the prop and collet) are installed, let's check the balance....
Wow - pretty darn close! I don't think I'm going to need much dead weight at all to get this right!
TooJung2Die
Master member
Good looking spinner. Can't wait to see how you secure that to the propeller.
Thanks! I'm going for a setup like this one from the late, great, John Morgan on his foam Rata build:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=37186308&postcount=485
TooJung2Die
Master member
I see! The prop nut holds the plywood disk. Clever. Did you leave the paper on the DTFB? I'd worry about the paper de-laminating.
TooJung2Die
Master member
That's another clever solution. I don't understand a word of Russian and I was able to understand exactly how he made the spinner. 👍
