The Triplane Tribuild! (Catchy, huh?)

[buzzbomb]

Been on the side quietly watching until now! IF the plywood used turns to be too heavy there is a simple, (but a little more expensive way of reinforcing the FB pieces. Laminate them with thin balsa, (i.e. 1mm or 1/32") using the grain of the wood to align with the landing forces will make it much stronger for a little weight penalty only.

Just a thought!

Have fun!

Been on the side watching until now? I'm thinking you weren't really paying attention, mate! You're slipping! He completely redesigned the entire support frame from landing gear all the way through the wings. At this point, only the Lord knows if it will fly, but WOW, what an effort! Laminate the foam? Heck no! Do away with the foam. That's what he's after.

I can say all this because he's my uncle and we talk a lot now, thanks to a wonderful common interest in foamboard aircraft. We've spoken more in the last month than we have in the last ten years. Not for lack of love, simply lack of mutual interest. Now we're talking and building and enjoying this hobby together.

That's not a digression from my point. Simply an explanation of why I can say what he's trying to do. @Hai-Lee, you do realize you just can't walk away from that one, right? Mate, that was foot in mouth, if ever it has been seen. Bring it. Show us. Put the money where the mouth is!

 

[Hai-Lee]

Been on the side watching until now? I'm thinking you weren't really paying attention, mate! You're slipping! He completely redesigned the entire support frame from landing gear all the way through the wings. At this point, only the Lord knows if it will fly, but WOW, what an effort! Laminate the foam? Heck no! Do away with the foam. That's what he's after.

I can say all this because he's my uncle and we talk a lot now, thanks to a wonderful common interest in foamboard aircraft. We've spoken more in the last month than we have in the last ten years. Not for lack of love, simply lack of mutual interest. Now we're talking and building and enjoying this hobby together.

That's not a digression from my point. Simply an explanation of why I can say what he's trying to do. @Hai-Lee, you do realize you just can't walk away from that one, right? Mate, that was foot in mouth, if ever it has been seen. Bring it. Show us. Put the money where the mouth is!

A fair while ago I investigated a few ways to strengthen or stiffen FB and I posted the results of what I did try as below;
Stiffening FB by coating both sides of FB with White glue; https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/stiffening-foam-board.31176/
Laminating FB with 1mm Balsa; https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/saving-my-favourite-ft-design.32479/
A spitfire build using the paperless FB with a balsa lamination; https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/balsa-foamboard-test-build-ft-spitfire.32734/

All three ended up with a much stronger FB and in the cases of the laminated builds they were even lighter than FB alone!

Have fun!

 

[buzzbomb]

A fair while ago I investigated a few ways to strengthen or stiffen FB and I posted the results of what I did try as below;
Stiffening FB by coating both sides of FB with White glue; https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/stiffening-foam-board.31176/
Laminating FB with 1mm Balsa; https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/saving-my-favourite-ft-design.32479/
A spitfire build using the paperless FB with a balsa lamination; https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/balsa-foamboard-test-build-ft-spitfire.32734/

All three ended up with a much stronger FB and in the cases of the laminated builds they were even lighter than FB alone!

Have fun!

Sure. Now you've just got build a DR1 and show that it's stronger and flys better than the other builds! Doh!

 

[Hai-Lee]

Sure. Now you've just got build a DR1 and show that it's stronger and flys better than the other builds! Doh!

Would love to but I recently received a large order from the local hobby shop and so I am working on filling the order, trying to get on with the threads I have already started as well as doing a build for a local newbie my slate is full ATM.

Have fun!

 

[buzzbomb]

Would love to but I recently received a large order from the local hobby shop and so I am working on filling the order, trying to get on with the threads I have already started as well as doing a build for a local newbie my slate is full ATM.

Have fun!

Party pooper. I'm still going to build your 80mph plane!

 

[FDS]

I have never managed to land a DR1 so it stayed on the wheels.
I found wrapping the cabane struts in fibre glass tape made them a lot stronger, even the ones on my SE5 that have been ripped in half.

 

[kilroy07]

I didn't get much done last night due to the distraction of the lozenge camo and tail weight issue... I did find my wheels though!
No, not the ones you have Buzzbomb, and don't you dare put a pair of those on your Dr.1 It won't even get off the ground!
(I have a pair of the FT light weight ones like sundown is using. I had two pair (Se.5 & Dr.1) but I broke a spoke off one as well...)

I'm wondering now... I have some "special" board called gator board... I'll have to see if the laser will cut it cleanly and if it's worth the hassle...
I still like the idea of simply using a skewer to straighten the struts.

@Hai-Lee you mentioned the grain, should that run vertically then is this instance?... I don't have any balsa on hand but the local shop is pretty well stocked. I might give the lamination a try... Both sides?

 

[Hai-Lee]

@Hai-Lee you mentioned the grain, should that run vertically then is this instance?... I don't have any balsa on hand but the local shop is pretty well stocked. I might give the lamination a try... Both sides?

If it is landing gear then run the grain down the leg for max support and if there is a chance of sideways movement then laminate both sides with the Balsa. To improve glue adhesion and remove unnecessary weight it is best if the paper is removed from where the Balsa is to be applied.

The horizontal leg of the piece could have a different grain direction either on a single side or both if the forces on landing try to crush it along its length,

No need to make it too thick as it just adds extra weight, just a layer of thin balsa is most strength for weight.

Have fun!

 

[Vimana89]

I still got my DR1 kit. Gotta order some small parts, resolve an issue with a motor and get a little time on my hands,but I'm confident to try it soon. I'll probably have a marathon day where I build it and my other mini scout in one go, would probably be as much effort as one scratch build together. It will be new to me, as I don't even have biplane experience beyond a sim. To me, biplane on the sim felt like something between a trainer and a 3D plane with a lot of drag.

 

[buzzbomb]

I still got my DR1 kit. Gotta order some small parts, resolve an issue with a motor and get a little time on my hands,but I'm confident to try it soon. I'll probably have a marathon day where I build it and my other mini scout in one go, would probably be as much effort as one scratch build together. It will be new to me, as I don't even have biplane experience beyond a sim. To me, biplane on the sim felt like something between a trainer and a 3D plane with a lot of drag.

Welcome to the madness, @Vimana89! @sundown57 hasn't posted about it, but he's having motor problems. @kilroy07 is exploring one of @Hai-Lee's ideas to strengthen the struts, @mayan has been otherwise occupied, but I think we'll be seeing some content from him soon and I will be posting progress pictures of tonight's build time, later on tonight.

There's no hurry, we just do what we can, when we can, but if you want to marathon build then go for it! Just make sure to post some pics!

I haven't flown a multi-wing outside of a sim either. I just fell in love with the DR1 in the Phoenix sim. I could not believe how tightly it could roll and loop in the sim for a 3ch aircraft. I have no idea if it's going to be like that in Real Life, but I'll soon find out! Now, you will too! How cool is that?

 

[sundown57]

yeah, your right about the motor problem. I wanted to set the throws and check directions of the rudder and elevator before I went out. Last thing I did was throttle it up and NOPE. no throttle up. i recalibrated the esc to no avail. It seems to rev ok to !/4 throttle then it starts like a screaming noise and bogs down. sounds almost like a bad bearing. but my maiden is on hold till I figure it out.

 

[buzzbomb]

I got a little bit done tonight. I spent a whole lot of time getting my iron clean from the melted foam that was stuck to it. I tried this that and other, the trick turned out to be crank the heat up all the way and drag it over a folded paper towel. Took a while to work all that out.

So, wanting to avoid melted foam on the iron, I spent a ton of time trying the lower heat settings. Too much time. I finally ended up cranking it up to 5/6 of it's capability or 387 degrees F. That temp setting seems to work well, it's the method that has to be modified. I ended up starting the iron on the foam at a shallow angle and as it melted, I'd change the angle of the iron to more like 80 degrees from vertical. Towards the end I figured out that the foam is still molten for a little while and just takes a pinch of the fingers to get it to stay where I wanted it to be.

It sounds like an inordinate amount of time spent on just the horizontal stabilizer and it was. Melting the edges together not only looks good, but it seals it from the elements and adds so much lateral strength to the foam. I want to perfect it. I'm still working on it.

As per my usual, she is far from perfect, but everything is square and she's coming along nicely. All I should have to do tomorrow is make some phone calls. The day shouldn't wear me out too badly. Maybe some more building tomorrow night! I'm not planning on sealing the main wings. I should, and I know I should. Just contemplating it is too much at the moment. I want to (carefully) finish the build and get the bird in the air. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

 

[mayan]

@mayan has been otherwise occupied, but I think we'll be seeing some content from him soon

You are right about that. It's Pesach here and the kids are on vacation so trying to push in more family time over building alone time. I will however start my build to night, so beware; a lot of progress will be made!

 

[FDS]

It’s much easier to do all the rounding off on the edges before assembly. Well I find it easier.

 

[buzzbomb]

It’s much easier to do all the rounding off on the edges before assembly. Well I find it easier.

Completely agree.

 

[mayan]

Alright so I started the build but haven’t gotten as much progress done as I wanted to . I am so tried that I was falling asleep while building and that’s no good. One must know when to call it a day, and I did just that. Here is what I have done so far.

Tomorrow is a new day and I might be able to find some time to do some more building, although the chances are low because it’s another holiday eve day and we have a family dinner. Also my dad came to visit from India and I want to spend some time with him, so we’ll see how the day goes. Good night for now.

 

[degriz]

This one is a few years old, I used white plastic credit card material glued to the inside of the struts for extra support, They blend right in.

 

[mayan]

This one is a few years old, I used white plastic credit card material glued to the inside of the struts for extra support, They blend right in. View attachment 129858

What an amazing paint job .

 

[kilroy07]

This one is a few years old, I used white plastic credit card material glued to the inside of the struts for extra support, They blend right in. View attachment 129858

Wow, that is awesome. Is that a specific historical plane? (It looks familiar)....

 

[buzzbomb]

That's a fantastic build! I love the pilot and machine gun! Does she still live? You could take her up with us, and "Re-maiden." We won't mind that it's not her first flight!