Building A Replica Aircraft. Part One

Transcription

1 Building A Replica Aircraft Part One

2 Project History Obtained a Graham Lee Nieuport 11 project in July 2005

3 Project History Intended to be a retirement project so was stored.

4 Project History Researching Nieuport 11 s (Ni11) Seems they were flown by most of the Allies French, American, Italian and Russian among others. Had settled on replicating an Italian 11

5 Project Shift Began to drift away from replicating a Ni11 - The Ni11 had been done many times - Would be compared to Ted s (not a good thing for me) - Wanted something different, preferably US Navy So more research First candidate the Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk

6 Project Shift Began a comparison to determine if an Ni11 could be reconfigured to replicate the Sparrowhawk 7/8 scale Ni11 F9C D D ft ft Upper Span inches Lower Span inches Chord Upper inches Chord Lower inches Wing Gap (0.1) (0.6) inches Wing Area sq ft Elevator Span (0.1) (1.3) inches Length cowl to Tail inches Height * inches Prop inches

7 Project Shift While the general dimensions compared favorable. Certain design characteristics defied a ready solution notably the complex landing gear and to some extent the Gull Wing center section. More Research Second candidate the Boeing F4B

8 Project Shift Another comparison was made to determine if the Ni11 could be reconfigured to replicate the F4B 7/8 scale 87.5% 80% D ft ft Actual Ni11 Upper Span % 0.9 ft Lower Span % 0.1 ft Chord Upper % 0.2 ft Chord Lower % 0.8 ft Wing Gap % 0.3 ft Wing Area sq ft Elevator Span % 0.9 ft Length cowl to Tail % 0.3 ft Height * % 0.0 ft Prop % (0.0) ft

9 What is an F4B? In Navy nomenclature the 4 th Fighter Design from Boeing accepted by the US Navy. Boeing built 186 F4B s in four marks between 1928 and Boeing also built the Aircraft for the Army as the P-12 The Army bought 366 in six marks (B-F) in the same time frame.

10 F4B s Developed in mid 1928 at company expense as a small light weight fighter for the US Navy. The -1 and 2 s had a unique structure as the fuselage was bolted/gusseted aluminum tubing. Wings were all wood (in fact the last of the wooden wing fighters in the Navy). The -3 s and 4 s differed in that their fuselages were aluminum monococque construction.

11 Which Model to chose? The F4B-3 and 4 s had the monococque fuselages (think RV s). They are out as the fuselage I have is riveted gussets and tubing. The -1 had a split landing gear and an open radial engine. The -2 differed in a cowled engine and a straight axel between the gear legs. As I am planning on using a flat A-65 a cowl will be needed to maintain the proper profile and the existing landing gear has a straight axle the choice became the F4B-2

12 F4B-2

13 More Research Began gathering as much data as I could. - The Internet (Google searches) - Drawings Scale drawings Model plans Books Ebay and Barnes and Nobles (Out of Print books via the Internet)

14 Objectives Utilize as much of the original project as possible. All modification must not compromise structural integrity. Keep as light as possible don t go overboard on detailing! Maintain the look of the Boeing with out becoming anal. Have some fun!!

15 Applying Research Drew the Ni11 airframe as designed by G. Lee with the outline of the F4B to see what fit and what didn t. F4B fuselage required a little stretch in scale to match. Ni11 lower wings required an increase in the bottom chord to fit the profile of the F4B. Needed to move the Ni11 pilot seat back one bay to fit the F4B.

16 Additional Modifications Change V Struts to N Struts Reconfigure Tail Surfaces Add formers and stringers to Fuselage Change Tail Wheel Mounting Take Sweep out of wings Motor mount for A-65 Move Seat back (15")

17 Project Progress Feb 2009 Feb 2012

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23 April 2012 Project Progress