DJ's 1/4 scale Albatros DIII - Page 3

JohnFitz · 19 May 2007, 03:31 AM

J, This would be a better choice in my humble opinion. Not as complicated as the bird you found will be to duplicate. Do you really like the flat nose look? The OEF 153 series had a more rounded nose as I think you know. Do you have the Datafile 19? Looking forward to more pic's.

jtisch · 19 May 2007, 08:11 AM

Yes, I have the #19 Datafile. I got outbid for the Japo book on the DIIIs on E-bay a few weeks ago

,will keep looking. I haven't made a final decision on which nose style to go with yet. My only concern with the round nose version is that it may tough to get the magneto all the way in.I have to draw the profile of the round nose on the plans more accurately to see if it will work out. I don't mind the spinner-less(flat-nosed,as you describe) look though. I could do Brumowski's other red DIII with the 1,000,000 little swirls all over the machine!

J

Koloman Mayrhofer · 19 May 2007, 09:11 AM

hallo,
there is no difference in the gap and chord between german and austrian build albatrosses.the fuselage is longer due to the longer austro daimler engines used on austrian build examples. but this additional length is only in the front so the basic layout of all formers and bulkheads is identical.
the most noticeable external differences are the different way of plycovering and that the filler pieces at the bottom wing root front and rear are plywood on most german and aluminum on all the austrian planes .
and of course the versions without a spinner which was typical austrian
cheers
koloman mayrhofer

jtisch · 19 May 2007, 03:16 PM

Koloman, thank you for the information. Aren't you the builder of the two full size DIIIs?

J

Koloman Mayrhofer · 20 May 2007, 11:32 PM

hallo ,
yes thats me
koloman mayrhofer

jtisch · 21 May 2007, 12:12 PM

Okay, let the gluing begin!

Since I am going to extend the nose, I returned the firewall to its original position.Also since I didn't have 1/2" aircraft grade plywood around, l decided to make the firewall out of 3/8" ply and a lamination of 1/8" ply. This may turn out to be a good thing, though. In the photo I have the 3/8" ply firewall epoxied in place and am using the 1/8" ply lamination placed in there as a square to keep things aligned while the glue dries.With the formers on, it was difficult to use a triangle on the outside of the fuselage box sides so that piece of 1/8th ply came in handy. When that is dry I will glue in the 1/8th ply in its proper place.. As you can see I drilled a 3/4" hole in the ply lamination piece as well. That will act as an extra (third) support for the alignment tube when adding the rear formers and prevent the tube from sliding.Well, at least from sliding forward.

J

jtisch · 21 May 2007, 04:13 PM

Anyone interested in a kind of mini build-a-long like my previous post or should I just post updates now and again? I don't know how many of you have these semi-kits, and so many of you guys are such fantastic builders.

Thanks again to Koloman for his input. For those of you who haven't seen his work, there are some photos over at the Aeroforum.Truly magnificent!

J

P.S. Happy Birthday to L-Dog!

22 May 2007, 03:34 AM

Do a build thread, I would be most interested in it!

Lucky Dog · 22 May 2007, 10:03 AM

Jtish,
Yes, please do a build thread if time allows.

And thanks for the "Happy Birthday". It was the big "50".

jtisch · 22 May 2007, 11:44 AM

One thing I forgot to mention is the cutouts for the grooved hardwood blocks that hold the LG and cabane wires. There was no cutout for the bottom (landing gear) block in the ply fuse sides so I had to cut those out. Also check the size of the blocks you use. Perhaps I got mine from a different source but mine were thicker(deeper) than the ones shown on the plans so I had to make the cutouts deeper. This is so much easier to do BEFORE you start gluing things together.

J