Post updates on your replica projects here

20 June 2002, 08:32 AM

Wolfenbill,

way to go on the fokker projects..and I hope all gets better soon with you and your family. Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance.

wolfenbill · 30 June 2002, 06:04 AM

Saturday was a good workday at Old Kingsbury Aerodrome. Team Fokker was able to make good progress on construction of the lower half of the control column. Work also progressed on addressing a minor problem on the horizontal stabilizer surface. Once the lower control column is finished and the horizontal stabilizer is finished, both can be mounted to the fuselage, elevator control lines can be run. Once it is determined where the lines pass through the outer surface the horizontal stab and elevator can be covered and doped. Work was also done manufacturing more pieces for SE5a ribs. Our Canuck is in the final stages of fuselage covering and we hope to fly it by the end of summer.

wolfenbill · 30 June 2002, 06:10 AM

Sorry, I forgot to mention that it is the Fokker D.VII on which we did most of the work this past Saturday. *Attached is a photo of the livery we plan to use. *It was von Hantelmann's aircraft that suffered defeat, at the hands of several SE5a's and a Sopwith Dolphin, while flown by

Kurt Wusthoff. *The rudder has already been covered, doped and painted. *That cross really looks nice.

wolfenbill · 27 July 2002, 10:37 PM

The weekend of July 20-21 was busy at the Old Kingsbury Aerodrome. Work continued on the control stick for the D.VII. We also took one step away from authenticity in the interest of safety and added a firewall in the aircraft. The original did not have this feature. The horizontal stabilizer that had been built was slightly altered to improve the fit between it and the elevator. All were mounted to the fuselage and wires were run from the control stick to the horizontal surfaces. The wire was used to determine the penetration areas of the fabric that the control cables will need to pass through and run properly. As a bonus the wires allowed us to sit in the cockpit and actuate the elevator.

No work has been done on the Canuck lately as the prime mover on that project suffered damage to his house as a result of the recent flooding in the Texas hill country. Once he gets that problem squared away, he should be back to finish covering the Canuck fuselage. The wings are finished and covered.

Work has finally begun on the Bristol F2B project. A new team has begun preparing the layout of the fuselage. The work will eventually result in the production of three aircraft.

Production of wing ribs for other aircraft has slowed down during the hot and humid gulf coast summer months. Things should pick up when things start to cool down here at the end of September. The Bristol wing ribs are somewhat similar to the SE5a ribs, lots of little pieces of wood and a couple of long ones, each. Don't know why they didn't discover the wonders of plywood like Sopwith, Fokker, Pfalz and others.

Brad · 6 August 2002, 08:39 AM

We have gotten our materials list for the "flying surfaces" of the Eindecker put together. Based on pricing in the most recent Aircraft Spruce catalog, it looks like the structural materials for the wings, ailerons, and tail surfaces will run just about $500. This doesn't include the foam and wood for wing ribs, nor does it include the covering. A rough estimate of the total cost minus engine and instruments is taking shape, and it looks to be ~$1500 or less. I am pretty happy with that figure.

I just got back from the EAA "Airventure" fly in... Oshkosh will really build your enthusiasm for a project.

Brad

wolfenbill · 7 August 2002, 08:07 AM

Brad, you lucky s.o.b. I imagine that Oshkosh would be a superb inspiration. Keep us posted on your project. When do you start to make sawdust?

Brad · 7 August 2002, 09:58 AM

Hmmmm... more like aluminum shavings for the most part.

The only wood is some 1mm or so ply for the capstrips on the foam ribs. Structurally, it's all aluminum tubing and cable bracing.

We are actually ready to start from a plans perspective- the plans are ready for the prototypes... (revisions WILL of course be made as we build, I am sure!) We just have to do a couple of things:

1) Finalize WHERE we are going to do this. One of the guys has a hanger, but it is temporarily full. My garage has plenty of room, but the better-half likes to PARK there- imagine that!

(Ok, ok, the RX-7 Turbo parts car in the other half really needs to go. Just gotta pull a few more parts then I can scrap it. I'm "hybridizing" my convertible RX-7 with a turbo drivetrain... the convertible wasn't offered in the US with the turbo! The driveline is in, gotta finish rebuilding the engine and put that in, as well as a few odds and ends and some spare parts that I want to keep.)

2) Convince our respective significant others that NOW is the time. It's best to build with the female-type's blessing... otherwise you WILL suffer.

Mine was pretty impressed with the $30K kit T-51 (Titan's 75% P-51 replica) and was shocked when I explained just how LITTLE mine will cost. Having her take her pic next to Robert Baslee's Eindecker (75%) helped too. Just a little more convincing and I can do it without fireworks.

(Oh... frankly ***I*** was pretty darned impressed with that Titan replica too... VERY nice and it's all flat-wrapped, no compound curves in panels!)

Brad

wolfenbill · 11 August 2002, 06:56 AM

This weekend saw plenty of work being done at the Old Kingsbury Aerodrome in Texas. Bill Broussard and Gary Marsden were busy covering the horizontal stabilizer and the elevator of the Fokker D.VII. Work was not finished but it is starting to look like an airplane. Tom Gaylord, with some assistance from Bill Broussard and Roger Freeman began taking apart the Ranger engine that will be rebuilt to power the D.VII. A separate team is now starting to build the fuselage of a Bristol F.2B. Some members of the team build Bristols on weekdays and RV-7's on weekends. Work continues on the Canuck which is nearing completion of the fuselage covering and installation of the OX-5 engine. Work is also being continued on a Rearwin Ken-Royce, a beautiful post-war two seat biplane. One of these days we're going to wake up with all kinds of new airplanes around.

Brad · 22 August 2002, 06:47 AM

I was cleaning out the garage and ran across some of that pink foam insulation that was left over from a project that the daughter did for school (she, with my help, built a replica of a section of the Great Wall of China- foam, covered with grout for color and texture) and started thinking. Hmmmm... Composite sandwich... ALBATROSS FUSELAGE! So... together with the guys, we started churning out ideas. Here's what we came up with: build bulkheads first, a sandwich of foam and glass. Simple and basic. Cut sections of foam to "plank" the fuselage, and glass the inside. Glass them to the bulkheads. Sand the exterior to shape. Cover with a layer of veneer or 1/64" Finnish Birch ply. Cover THAT with a single layer of glass using the West System with 207 hardener- gives a transparant finish so it just looks like varnished wood. Add a light coat of UV-inhibiting varnish. Of course the cockpit-to-firewall section will have additional reinforcement, an aluminum truss.

Looks like the Eindecker plan is shelved, at least until we see if this is feasible.

Brad

wolfenbill · 1 September 2002, 11:43 PM

Work at Old Kingsbury Aerodrome continues. I spent the weekend rib-stitching and taping the elevator and horizontal stabilizer for the Fokker D.VII. My aching hands. Not an easy job for an old codger. Also started fabricating the gun triggers for the D.VII (did this when I tired of stiching). The Brisfit fuselages are starting to take shape under the hands of Rex Johnson. I guess I'll have to start making wing ribs for it. The Canuck is undergoing the final put-together. Work on the OX-5 has slowed a bit and won't be continued until after a business trip and the Reno Air Races. Also the entire set of wing ribs has been completed for a Rearwin Ken-Royce, a rare post WWI bird, orginally flown by Jean Larine (sp?). We're going to need a new hangar soon.