Fokker DRVIII Bipe - Sweepstakes Entry

Started by ashok baijal, April 02, 2014, 04:31:42 PM

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ashok baijal

Well everyone is building a plane so why not me. I had built a Hawker Hurricane last November but still not flown as my receivers are still to be unpacked. (My aeromodelling stuff was lying packed in my old house in Lucknow for last 6 years because of my frequent transfers. Now retired). With the sweepstakes on , I thought why not build one more biofoam electric. While I used to fly glow powered planes earlier, I am absolutely new to electrics. I have started building a World War I model - a Fokker DR VII biplane.

The build uses a laminated construction technique where the fuselage is built of seven pieces of 6mm biofoam. Cutouts have been made for the battery, esc and receiver.

I hope that the build gets completed by 15th. So here are the build photographs

ashok baijal

The plans were traced on a biofoam sheet

ashok baijal

#2
.

ashok baijal

And then cut

ashok baijal

#4
Next step was to laminate the fuselage parts, beginning with the innermost two layers. The fuselage was reinforced with a Carbon fibre strip (seen at the lower end)

ashok baijal

And then gluing the remaining layers to form the fuselage. The front part has 7 layers. The right hand side has openings for the ESC and servos while the left hand side has opening for the servos and receiver. Channels have been made for passing the wires

ashok baijal

The tail section has 3 layers with appropriate cuts for the tail feathers

yash10896

All the best sir !!!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
And clean cut i love them  {:)}

Regards
yash :hatsoff:
Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful

ashok baijal

Next step will be to sand the fuselage and build the wings. Updates will follow....

K K Iyer

Quote from my post of 24th March in Indore Bipe thread:

"This Mr Ashok Baijal has come out of hiding.
He started aeromodelling in 1982.
Now retired and has all the time in the world.
So watch out for him.
Please welcome Mr Baijal to RC India"

Now we know why he is searching for a compressor for his airbrush!

sanjayrai55

Indeed Iyer Sir!!

Really fascinating build Mr. Baijal sir!

utkarshg13

"If you were born with wings, do every thing you could, for flying."

ashok baijal

I started into aeromodelling when I was in class V in early 60s. My first build was a balsa glider which was gifted to me by my taiji (aunt). The price of the kit was less than Rs 10.a neat sum during those days.Next was a large glider I had purchased from hobby centre in 1970. The kit was around Rs35  at that time. It crashed on its maiden as I forgot/ was unaware of ading a nose weight. When we met in 1982 it was my first powered model. The diesel engine costed Rs250 about 20% of the montly salary we used to get as officers in a bank. Many stories in between which we can share separately.

utkarshg13

Sir where did you lived in Lucknow?
Things were so cheap in those days, although, it was a big amount in those times.
:hatsoff:
"If you were born with wings, do every thing you could, for flying."

ashok baijal

#14
Thanks for the encouragement.

I explored various options for cutting. First and cleanest is access to a laser cutter cnc machine which was not a viable option. Next was to build a hot wire cutter. My power.supply for my nicd charger had a fuse rated at 2.5 amp which promptly blew up on attaching the nichrome wire. And no spares so this option was  closed till I go to the market maybe once the weather cools down. So back to a cutting blade.
The trick for a clean edge is to have sharp blades. I use 11 no surgical blades which I buy in bulk. I used 3 blades for cutting this model. The second trick is to cut oversize and leave an edge of around one mm. The next step is to sand the edges for a perfect shape. In short cut a d sand edges flush..

ashok baijal

I used to live in India Nagar. Since I have only one son who is currently in Bangalore I sold off the Lucknow house and shifted to Bangalore. Still I have lots of things to attend to so I will be back in the north in mid june and be back by year end. So aeromodelling will really restart next year.

yash10896

sir i was in indira nagar till 2004 now live at sahara states,jankipuram area will definately try to meet you when you will be in lucknow sir

Regards
yash :)
Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful

utkarshg13

I too live at Indira Nagar Sir. Very happy to see people from our city joining back again.
"If you were born with wings, do every thing you could, for flying."

ashok baijal

So the build continues. Today morning I checked up whether the fevicol had dried, which it had. So before the morning cup of tea I sanded the edges and had a nicely shaped fuselage

ashok baijal

Next was a check that the tail feathers would align properly in the slots. So a dry fit and they fit in snugly.

ashok baijal

Then it was time to check if the slots for the wing were also properly sized. And yes the wing fits in and is perfectly horizontal

ashok baijal

So time to start work on the wings. Everything snaps into place till now

ashok baijal

The wings have a KFm panel which sits on the lower side. The KFm panel were cut in two pieces though one would have been better. The wings are strengthened with a carbon fibre rod. Also two pieces of balsa wood are arranged at the spots where the struts would come. A slot is cut for the carbon fibre just near the edge of the KFm panel and then the wing is left to dry after applying a coat of Fevicol

ashok baijal

The upper wing, however, has a dihedral of around 10 degrees. As such the wing panel has to be bent. For doing so, I scored a line in the middle using a flat metal scribe and reinforced the back side with tape before bending it

ashok baijal

Next came the issue of bending the carbon Fibre rod which is not possible. So I prepared a small jig which is nothing but a scrap piece of wood and I attached a few nails to act as a guide for placing two pieces of Carbon Fibre rod. I inserted a small piece of wire to stiffen the centre at the required angle. Added araldite and tied a piece of fibre glass thread to the joint and I have left it to dry overnight.