Albatros D II / D III news

[Von Writter]

Sheppo AKA Chris wanted me to post a few of his progress pictures for you all. He has her on the gear and the tail feathers are rounding out nicely

[sheppo]

Thanks Troy

My computer is tits up again, its easy to take images but impossible to download them from the Iphone or post 'em to a site. Im just finishing off the axle wheel retaining rings while I'm awaiting a real set of wheels. The new house is still in limbo so the new shed is waiting for both this and the 50 year record rains we are currently having here. Lets just say it's a bit "moist" outside....the shed is flooding a bit for the first time since I built it.

Chris

[tengew]

great to see you hit this mile stone....

[sheppo]

feels like a millstone at times...

[hank jarrett]

Question for the experts in Albatros construction. I have a friend who is repairing a Taylorcraft L-2B and needs some information on making a curved plywood fairing that goes around the landing gear bungees.
When you are preparing the plywood for bending to put on the fuselage of the D-III are there any chemicals you soak the plywood in to make it easier to bend? When I used to build models (many eons ago) we would soak the wood in water with Amonia to soften the wood. When the wood dried out on the form it would hold the shape, but that was a model, not a full size airplane with my soft pink parts going along for the ride.
What are you using (to treat the wood, we have the forms) to form the Albatros plywood around tight corners?
Hank

Knowledge never becomes obsolete! Just the people who forget it.

[ulpilot]

Steam and gentle pressure.

[Koloman Mayrhofer]

hallo,

there is not a single part in the albatros covering which needs special treatment beside of soaking with water.

in ww1 plywood was casein glued so steam was not an option. the design was layed out in a way that the material can be used without to much problems.
we do have a problem nowadays in as far as the phenolic resin glued plywood
is much stiffer than the original. but have the advantage of using hot water.

there was a limited production of blood albumin glued plywood in the united states during ww1 which could have been steamed but i have no proof if in which aircraft this material was used .

cheers
koloman

[Gabriel Voisin]

Dear Koloman,

was the plywood at the Albatros not so similar applied as it was for the construction of the Pfalz,...........in many layers on a form.

Surely you can remember the company-documentation from the Pfalzwerke, I mean the movie of Eberhard.

Thanks and greetings Matthias

Question:
Had Eberhard told you that I need a couple of drawings of the Militäry Bleriot control?

[Brad]

Originally Posted by hank jarrett

Question for the experts in Albatros construction. I have a friend who is repairing a Taylorcraft L-2B and needs some information on making a curved plywood fairing that goes around the landing gear bungees.
When you are preparing the plywood for bending to put on the fuselage of the D-III are there any chemicals you soak the plywood in to make it easier to bend? When I used to build models (many eons ago) we would soak the wood in water with Amonia to soften the wood. When the wood dried out on the form it would hold the shape, but that was a model, not a full size airplane with my soft pink parts going along for the ride.
What are you using (to treat the wood, we have the forms) to form the Albatros plywood around tight corners?
Hank

Knowledge never becomes obsolete! Just the people who forget it.

Hank,

Just a note: Bending any type of wood is best accomplished with HEAT, not chemicals. Steam is usually the medium used to get the heat applied consistantly to the wood, but it is the HEAT more than the moisture that softens the wood for bending. Steam delivers the heat in an even, consistant manner. I'm familiar with using Ammonia too, but I'd be afraid it might interact with the glue.

I've seen some nice videos about bending wood with just heat (around a hot pipe) and it is amazing how well it works... but that is for narrow (maybe 1.5"-2" wide pieces of about 1/4" thick wood.) I suspect it may be difficult to keep the temperature even along a length of pipe to do that with plywood. Steaming will apply a virtually even temperature to the whole piece, and thin plywood only takes a few minutes to soften in a steam box.

With modern aircraft or marine ply, heat and moisture from steaming will not affect the glue at all, unlike the plywood used in WWI.

[j ferguson]

Hank,
It might not meet FAA standards, but there's a product called bendable-plywood. it has parallel grain plies rather than perpendicular and if you use the 3/32 thickness and a heat gun can be curved to radii around an inch. I've used a lot of it for furniture type things on the boat.

john