Making Molds of Classic Pattern Plane Fuselages & Parts to Keep them Alive for all of us to Enjoy!
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RE: Making Molds of Classic Pattern Plane Fuselages & Parts to Keep them Alive for all of us to Enjoy!
Don,
My Mach 1 kit arrived today. Awesome! Your workmanship is first class. Looking forward to the Aurora 60. Anything new in the works?
Leo
Klasskotemo
NovaRossi Engines
B&D Retracts
My Mach 1 kit arrived today. Awesome! Your workmanship is first class. Looking forward to the Aurora 60. Anything new in the works?
Leo
Klasskotemo
NovaRossi Engines
B&D Retracts
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I have been working everyday on orders and molds. I need to at least double the size of my shop and have been looking at building a larger one soon. I just finished the Aurora Mold yesterday and will start making the Aurora kits next week, I have quite a list of Aurora paid orders waiting for me to ship. I will ship as fast as possible for all of the guys that have pre ordered. Thanks for the Support everyone.
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New Aurora 60 Molds
Here is the new fuselage mold for the Aurora 60. I had already made the Chin cowl mold and some parts so I thought I'd show them again. The Chin cowl is made from an original part. I have not made the first fuse yet but will do one tomorrow and then I'll post the pictures of it. The Canopy for the Aurora 60 also shown.
Last edited by frequent flyer; 08-10-2013 at 12:06 PM.
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Aurora 60
I took a few pictures of the Aurora fuse, and some of it with the canopy and cowl taped into place. I made a 1/16" x 1/4" recessed area on the bottom so the the chin cowl fits into it nicely to flush out with the fuse. You can't really see it very well in the pictures. I also use Carbon Fiber tow in the nose and wing saddle area as I do on all my fuselages for strength in these areas.
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Very nice work Don!
It's interesting to see how you handled the wing LE area on the fuse. The wing fillets look very good. I also wasn't sure how you might deal with the nose ring area given the wood version has a split ring consisting partly of the wood fuse and partly of the glass pan. Does the pan fit right behind the nose ring of the fuse where it's a little recessed?
Will you be cutting and selling the kit with formers or perhaps just some hand drawn templates for the FW and other formers? Could the fuse be built without a wing LE former (i.e., dowels) just using a block to anchor the wing down with a bolt? Is it stiff enough? Did you make any modifications to your original pan mold or is it the same pan that you made a couple of years ago?
Just throwing out some questions and thoughts in case others have some ideas on it as well.
David
It's interesting to see how you handled the wing LE area on the fuse. The wing fillets look very good. I also wasn't sure how you might deal with the nose ring area given the wood version has a split ring consisting partly of the wood fuse and partly of the glass pan. Does the pan fit right behind the nose ring of the fuse where it's a little recessed?
Will you be cutting and selling the kit with formers or perhaps just some hand drawn templates for the FW and other formers? Could the fuse be built without a wing LE former (i.e., dowels) just using a block to anchor the wing down with a bolt? Is it stiff enough? Did you make any modifications to your original pan mold or is it the same pan that you made a couple of years ago?
Just throwing out some questions and thoughts in case others have some ideas on it as well.
David
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HI David
I went right off the original plan. The leading edge area of the fuselage where the wing fits into is very stiff and a small strip of ply can be epoxied inside and a couple of dowels in the leading edge of the wing would be very strong. A piece of ply is epoxied in the rear of fuse to bolt the rear of the wing on. Typically I do all of them that way.
The chin cowl is the original I have always sold that is right off the plan. It was made from an original that Chuck sent me.
The nose ring shape is also right off the plan and very strong as is. The cowl is simply sanded out to fit the bottom half round shape of the fuse and the sides fit right into the relief I made into the design of the fuse. You can also cut or sand off the lower half of the nose and use the cowl as is because I have made the lower half of the nose ring solid. So either way it works out. I've found that I sanded just a relief line across the the front lower half of the nose ring and the cowl in its original form can fit into the recess works nicely.
I am in the process of cutting templates for all of the kits for a firewall if I haven't already done so. Most all of the plans, original or ones that I have draw that come with each kit have templates for the firewalls. I can cut a 5 or 7 ply firewall for anyone that wants one.
I will draw a plan specific to my kit as I have done for most of the others already. I just takes time. I supply a copy of the original for now.
I went right off the original plan. The leading edge area of the fuselage where the wing fits into is very stiff and a small strip of ply can be epoxied inside and a couple of dowels in the leading edge of the wing would be very strong. A piece of ply is epoxied in the rear of fuse to bolt the rear of the wing on. Typically I do all of them that way.
The chin cowl is the original I have always sold that is right off the plan. It was made from an original that Chuck sent me.
The nose ring shape is also right off the plan and very strong as is. The cowl is simply sanded out to fit the bottom half round shape of the fuse and the sides fit right into the relief I made into the design of the fuse. You can also cut or sand off the lower half of the nose and use the cowl as is because I have made the lower half of the nose ring solid. So either way it works out. I've found that I sanded just a relief line across the the front lower half of the nose ring and the cowl in its original form can fit into the recess works nicely.
I am in the process of cutting templates for all of the kits for a firewall if I haven't already done so. Most all of the plans, original or ones that I have draw that come with each kit have templates for the firewalls. I can cut a 5 or 7 ply firewall for anyone that wants one.
I will draw a plan specific to my kit as I have done for most of the others already. I just takes time. I supply a copy of the original for now.
Last edited by frequent flyer; 08-14-2013 at 10:31 AM.
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Hi David
I went right off the original plan. The leading edge of the wing is very stiff and a small strip of ply can be glued inside and a couple of dowels in the leading edge of the wing would be very strong. A piece of ply is added in the rear of fuse to bolt the rear of the wing on. Typically I do all of them that way.
I went right off the original plan. The leading edge of the wing is very stiff and a small strip of ply can be glued inside and a couple of dowels in the leading edge of the wing would be very strong. A piece of ply is added in the rear of fuse to bolt the rear of the wing on. Typically I do all of them that way.
The chin cowl is the original I have always sold that is right off the plan. It was made from an original that Chuck sent me.
The nose ring shape is also right off the plan and very strong as is. The cowl is simply sanded out to fit the bottom half
round shape of the fuse and the sides fit right into the relief I made into the design of the fuse.
round shape of the fuse and the sides fit right into the relief I made into the design of the fuse.
I am in the process of cutting templates for all of the kits for a firewall if I haven't already done so. Most all of the plans, original or ones that I have draw that come with each kit have templates for the firewalls. I can cut a 5 or 7 ply firewall for anyone that wants one.
If the tank was somehow mounted directly to the FW (using a cylindrical tank for example), the tank floor might not be needed but this assumes the fuse glass and FW area is stiff enough to simply support a 1/4" ply nose retract plate.
I will draw a plan specific to my kit as I have done for most of the others already. I just takes time. I supply a copy of the original for now.
I look forward to seeing someone build one of these!
David
#468
I took a few pictures of the Aurora fuse, and some of it with the canopy and cowl taped into place. I made a 1/16" x 1/4" recessed area on the bottom so the the chin cowl fits into it nicely to flush out with the fuse. You can't really see it very well in the pictures. I also use Carbon Fiber tow in the nose and wing saddle area as I do on all my fuselages for strength in these areas.
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Hey Don,
That Aurora fuse is just plain SEXY............. I just love the sleek lines of this plane and the Atlanta, along with the Blue Angel. Keep up the great work.
Take care,
David
That Aurora fuse is just plain SEXY............. I just love the sleek lines of this plane and the Atlanta, along with the Blue Angel. Keep up the great work.
Take care,
David
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David
If you reading, I saw you were discussing the Tipo's back on pg 11. I just got a large Tipo from Russ a couple of days ago to mold and he said it was a Hippo Tipo, it has a 69" wing and is about 5" longer than the 720 Tipo I have, however it doesn't have the pipe recess on the side as other Hipo 's that I've seen. Do you know if it can be a Surpass or did they make the Hippo with and without the pipe recess on the side?
If you reading, I saw you were discussing the Tipo's back on pg 11. I just got a large Tipo from Russ a couple of days ago to mold and he said it was a Hippo Tipo, it has a 69" wing and is about 5" longer than the 720 Tipo I have, however it doesn't have the pipe recess on the side as other Hipo 's that I've seen. Do you know if it can be a Surpass or did they make the Hippo with and without the pipe recess on the side?
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David
If you reading, I saw you were discussing the Tipo's back on pg 11. I just got a large Tipo from Russ a couple of days ago to mold and he said it was a Hippo Tipo, it has a 69" wing and is about 5" longer than the 720 Tipo I have, however it doesn't have the pipe recess on the side as other Hipo 's that I've seen. Do you know if it can be a Surpass or did they make the Hippo with and without the pipe recess on the side?
If you reading, I saw you were discussing the Tipo's back on pg 11. I just got a large Tipo from Russ a couple of days ago to mold and he said it was a Hippo Tipo, it has a 69" wing and is about 5" longer than the 720 Tipo I have, however it doesn't have the pipe recess on the side as other Hipo 's that I've seen. Do you know if it can be a Surpass or did they make the Hippo with and without the pipe recess on the side?
some pictures would be interesting to see.
It is not a Surpass that's for sure. This was a smaller square model with longish moments designed for 4-stroke 90's and conventional gear. I think the specs were either 63" or 64" square - I think 63". The Hippo Tipo was the largest as far as I know but I am not familiar with the span. I am also unsure of the area but it was either 750 or 825 squares. I believe there was actually a fifth version known as the Tipo+ but I think Dick gave different names to the same model on occasion and the Tipo+ may actually also be the Hippo. I actually had this info at my finger tips about four years ago but it now escapes me.
In any case, at 69" span, it certainly sounds like an 800+ square bird. There are a couple of people I can think of who could shed more light on the matter with some pictures - one of them would be Dick Hanson himself.
I should add that Paul and Ralph asked Dick to tell the story of the Tipo's in what I think is the first NECPO newsletter. I don't have it handy but it should be up on the web site.
David