DR-1 (Sands): Builders Group - Page 56

10 May 2005, 02:05 PM

Well he sold the engine..........not the Dr.1. I wanna beleive you read that correctly hehe

Jamie

Dogtail2 · 10 May 2005, 02:19 PM

I tried stapeling a rough cut blank to a finished nose piece and then routing, but its too scary with fingers that close and when it throws, its time for new trousers. I'll try using a long piece of MDF too keep hands away.

On the subject of wheels....these people look interesting:- http://www.wirewheels.co.uk/introduction.htm

Ive heard they can do aircraft wheels too.

Rex · 11 May 2005, 01:40 PM

I have had some trouble locating the rudder arm and tailspring listed in the plans. I found the tailspring in the Wag-Aero catalog (page 31 for both parts) that arrived today. The part number for the Luscombe spring is D-210-222. Price is $121.50

The rudder arm in the Wag-Aero catalog appears to be almost identical to the one on the plans. It comes in 1" and .75" shank. If you use the 1" unit you will have to turn the shank down to make it fit. I think it will be easier to shim the 0.75 unit and since it is not a structural part I don't see any problem with using it. The price is $36.10.

Jim Bruton · 11 May 2005, 05:25 PM

Thanks for the tip Rex! Worldcruiser, could you email me your phone number so that I can call you? I want to order my spar material (and all the tubing!) from Wicks tomorrow and would like to make the same mods as you- just need to know exactly what to tell them.

Thanks!
Jim
geonav1@earthlink.net

Jim Bruton · 14 May 2005, 10:01 AM

Hi Everyone!

Ron Sands Jr. tells me that John Sandor ( john53pa18@cs.com ) has a new Warner 165/185 mounting ring that might be of interest to builders considering using the Warner.

Feel free to contact John directly for more information!

Jim

Jim Bruton · 14 May 2005, 10:07 AM

...OK, WorldCruiser was gracious enough to spend quite a bit of time with me on the phone to discuss the differences he has made to his spars in order to expedite the production of the spars. It's obvious that he knows way more about how to make mods without following an exact set of plans than me. However, it sounds like he is drawing down from all the main sources- Sands, Redfern and Engels. WorldCruiser, would make for an interesting few plan pages! Based on this being my first time building a plane, I'll probably go ahead and stick with the original Sands plans.... but I'll be thinking of his mods as I build my spars.

One thing I may do that WorldCruiser did is to increase slightly the thickness of the main spar pieces. He mentioned that originally they used birch, and we are using spruce. Apparently birch is stronger than spruce, hence his 1/8" or so increase in the midle and the tips. Even so, I am sure the wing is strong enough as is.

If anyone has more questions about this, contact WorldCruiser directly and put the info here!

Dogtail2 · 15 May 2005, 02:47 PM

Got all my rib front web fillers cut using the router, 116 of them, phew! Experimenting with the best way to nail them accurately each side of the front web. Alignment is tricky and keep bending the nails when hammering home....

Jim Bruton · 15 May 2005, 08:50 PM

Hi DogTail2,

Dry fit every rib- with all its bits and pieces in the jig before gluing. The end result may be ideally a zillion identical ribs, but each one will need its own individual sanding here and there to get you where you want to go. Make marks on the jig that indicate where your vertical stiffeners go, and you can put down the stiffners in their respective places on the rib during the dry fit in the jig- to both check for fit and to draw matching lines on the webs, along the edge of each stiffener. i hope this is making a little sense!

I would take the front rib web with the left and right nose fillers together and bench sand them, then check the fit in the jig. this was actually the place where i would baseline the positions of the vertical stiffeners. make that first little bit fit right, and within the lines you have drawn, and everything all the way back will go well.

i would also pre-nail the left side prior to gluing, the nail tip would just poke out enough to help me seat it in its "dimple" when it came time to glue. Takes the guess work out when you get down to business. i also used needle nose pliers to hold those tiny nails, and hammered with the other hand.

I feel I could probably explain this more clearly, so if i have confused you (and worried the others (!) ), then let me know- I can pull out my plans and use them for reference for you.

Best,

Jim

Jim Bruton · 15 May 2005, 08:58 PM

... even though you may "start" with the front of the rib and move back, it becomes apparent that everything will reference off the spar, so make sure you are careful with that positioning- you want your rib to stick out the same- front, back, top and bottom- from the spar for all the main ribs....

and to add to the confusion, i actually begin gluing from the rear- the rear web goes into the capstrips and i tap it into place, then push the spar block in. then i go to work on gluing and nailing the front together (yes, that's when i did it) and then insert that arrangement into the capstrips, and push it all up against the spar block and push in the wedge at the front to hold it in place. somewhere in here i have put those tiny little groove fillers in, and then in goes the wedge above the spar block and i hammer a temporary wedge in under the spar block to maintain pressure.

jim

Jim Bruton · 20 May 2005, 04:19 AM

on another forum here regarding Fokker DR-1 crashes, Fokker210 referenced 3 FAA incident investigation reports. 2 were pilot error, 1 was ...i guess.... builder error. Here is an excerpt worth remembering when you either build your fuel tanks or fly your aircraft that uses them:
AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED NO PRECRASH, MECHANICAL FAILURES. SOME FUEL WAS REMAINING IN THE FUEL TANK. HOWEVER, THE FUEL TANK WAS OF THE OWNER'S DESIGN. WITH THE AIRCRAFT IN A STRAIGHT AND LEVEL FLIGHT ATTITUDE, THERE WAS 3/4 INCH OF FUEL. BUT WHEN IT WAS TILTED TO ABOUT 10 DEGREES NOSE DOWN, THE FUEL RAN FORWARD LEAVING NO FUEL PICKUP POINT.

(the pilot ran out of fuel on Final- landed 1000' short of the runway- substantial damage!).

I don't know if this is still a problem to consider, and i don't know which design (plan set) the DR-1 was, but i guess the rule is to try and think of everything. as usual!