Albatross D.III Build

First off I want to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas!

With the Christmas rush finally over I actually made it out to my shop today and started working on the Albatross.

The plane I'm building is a 1/3 scale D.III. I'm useing plans by Dave Johnson which are featured in this months Issue of Model Airplane News.

Wing span is; 118" top wing, 112" bottom
Length is; 95.5"
Weight is; 35 lbs
Power is a G-62

I managed to get about 4 hours in before my wife found me! But I was able to show a little progress.

I am makeing templates out of 1/4 inch lexan for all formers and ribs. I got about half of the ribs done today. This plans show 16 different ribs. The formers will be a cinch after doing all these ribs!

Once I get the templates done I'll be able to start makeing some saw dust! Then I'll have something to take pics of and post.
I'm slooow but steady, so posts won't always be frequent.

Scot

Wonderful Project! I built a 1/6th scale Albatros DIII from my own plans in the mid 1980s. It was a fun building & flying airplane, although somewhat underpowered with my .61 O.S. 4 stroke. It was an enjoyable project! Do you have a semi to haul this thing in ? I was hoping to upload a photo of my plane, however, the software on this site states it exceeds the 50.0 Kb size. The color scheme I chose is directly from Squadron Signals "Albatros Fighters" of a Jasta 11 plane. It's my understanding the solid red nose probably didn't exist. Good luck and I for one will be back to see your progress!

Mark DeSchane
Park Rapids, MN

[DJ]

Have fun!! It is a very nice flying plane. If you get stuck holler out. I don't post much but I'm always lurking about. I can send construct pix if you are interested. Also, If you haven't already bought the 62, Get a Fuji 64 EI instead. More vibration free and better power.

DJ, Thanks for the offer, I will definantly be doing a "brain drain" on you for all the info I can get. And all the construction pics I can get too !!

I have found one very minor uh oh on the plans, two different ribs are listed as T-10, is one a doubler? I don't think it will be too hard to figure it out once I start the actual construction.

I'll have to read the construction article again, (already have about a dozen times) to remember some of the "how'd he do that?" questions I've had.

As for the Fuji 64 EI.....I've got to really work on that one....It may take a while to convince my wife that it really will make everything in life a much more wonderful experience. But I'm already working on it!!!

This is actually my second Albatross attempt. About 2 years ago I started a 1/4 scale D.Va , plans by Lyle Pepino ( think I spelled that right). I got the wings and fuse framed up before work forced me to set it aside for about 8 months. SPRUCE STRINGERS AND HIGH HUMIDITY DO NOT MIX !!! Needless to say the fuse was very badly warped and twisted when I got back to it, and the wings weren't in much better shape!

So I say what the heck...LETS BUILD A BIGGER ONE!!!


Mark, I would love to see pics of your bird....I still haven't decided how I'm going to detail mine yet and am looking for every pic I can get my hands on!

I really appreciate the offers of help from both of you and I'm sure I'll call on you as this project pokes along !

Thanks, Scot

[Lucky Dog]

Here ya go Mark. Linked it from the RC Dawn Patrol photos page (4)



Someones nice SSWDIII is there too.

Great looking plane Mike! Hope mine turns out that nice!
I'll check out that site!

Scot

Thanks Mike for photo download help!
Mark DeSchane

You know, how this plane started is sort of interesting. At some time in the early 1980s a company in RCM which produced spinners, was offering one for an Albatros. This plane being a favorite of mine, I had to buy one. I held onto it for about a year and then finally started the plane. I determined that the spinner's size was closest to 1/6th scale, so that became the determining factor in the model's size. You really can't see the wing colors however the underside was sky blue and the tops had sort of a dark green with chestnut colored center sections. That is a William's Bros. pilot and wheels. I used a Clark Y airfoil. I was interested in a fun to fly airplane, and not all out scale. I sold this plane on Ebay a couple years ago (wish I hadn't done that now). Supposedly the new owner was going to take it to Rhinebeck. I don't know if this ever happened.

Mark DeSchane

David,
I tried to e-mail you but AOL kept kicking it back as undeliverable. I sent you a private message in here.

Scot

Since my son is here for the holidays I decided to teach him how to use the scroll saw and let him cut out the lexan template guides of the ribs and fuse formers.
He did an excellent job and I will try to get the pics attached to this.

The only problem is he flies back to Syracuse tomorrow. now I'll have to do my own cutting til summer when he comes back.