Supermarine Stranraer

sihinch · January 14, 2016, 01:03:11 PM

Michael!

What about Cliff's float plane?

bweaver · January 14, 2016, 01:20:08 PM

Thanks for bringing the plane out to the meeting. I have to say that the plane is amazing. The quality of the craftsmanship is incredible.

Carry on.

piker · January 14, 2016, 02:10:48 PM

Wow! Thanks guys.

I must admit I'm quite proud of it so far. I just hope I can do it justice and finish it off properly for the summer.

Michael · January 14, 2016, 06:17:26 PM

Quote from: sihinch on January 14, 2016, 01:03:11 PM
Michael!

What about Cliff's float plane?

Cliff's float plane was second best!

Oscar · January 15, 2016, 11:39:20 PM

Thank you for bringing the plane out for the pilot meeting. Beautiful plane. I look forward to see the maiden flight.

Wingnutz · January 17, 2016, 08:55:48 PM

As the Brits who designed the Stranraer would say..."Splendid!"
Once again, the old guard at TEMAC have provided inspiration and something for the rest of us to strive for.
As impressed as I am with the model, your skill and your courage to take on challenging projects, I'm still trying to understand how load is transferred from the centre section of the Stranraer's wings to the outer sections...the steel pins used for display look wholly insufficient for the job...think I asked at the meeting but I'm still not sure I understand...

bweaver · January 18, 2016, 09:31:40 AM

Hey Rob, draw us a picture. I think you described it by saying something about how the cables tie into the centre section, but a sketch is worth a thousand words.

Crazyflyer · February 13, 2016, 11:29:03 AM

Robert, I think this should be your next winter's float plane project!!
https://youtu.be/vNpiD9ddKCI
Just 12 engines!!

piker · February 13, 2016, 06:29:30 PM

Probably not. There are lots of prettier flying boat subjects out there in history

But very impressive!

piker · February 22, 2016, 05:49:02 PM

Work continues on the Stranraer. I've been working on it steadily for the past few months, but it still seems to move along very slowly.

Anyway... This weekend I worked on the interplane struts. There are 8 struts in total. My approach has been to cut brass plates that fasten to the wing hard points and act as fastening points for the struts and flying wires. Through these run short lengths of 1/8" steal rod. These all had to be bent to the angle of the struts, then inserted through and soldering to the brass. The struts are made from airfoils shaped aluminum extrusion with short pieces of wooden dowel glued into each end. The dowel is drilled to accept the steal rod, which will be glued in. The struts are loaded in compression, so there's no risk of the steal rods pulling out of the dowel.

The trick was to figure out how to solder the steal rods to the brass pieces in the correct orientation, so when the aluminum struts are added, they line up with the rod at the opposite end of the strut. To do this I used two pieces of aluminum tube (I would have used brass if I had the correct size in my scrap bin), joined with a piece of the steal rod. That way the tube could slip over the rod to be soldered, at one end, then extended to slip over the other end. With this in place, the two rods were lined up and could be soldered accurately. Not a huge discovery, but it solved the problem for me.

Next step was to cut and sand the aluminum extrusions length, then add the dowels and drill. Alignment of the wings, in all directions, including dihedral on each side, is critical with this step. I had to proceed carefully.

At this point I have all struts cut and ready for fine tuning. After they are all correct and glued, the next step would be to add the flying wires. But that will wait until after covering and painting.

I also added the weird LE to the elevator and hinged the ailerons. I'm getting very close to being ready for glassing and covering. Final sanding is next.

wollins · February 22, 2016, 07:51:42 PM

Gosh that looks sweet! Wanna hear something funny ... I'm looking at those pics and thinking I don't recognise that workshop .... THEN I remembered it's youR new house! Damn I'm getting old! lol! Anyways, how is the LE "weird"?

C.

Michael · February 22, 2016, 08:13:34 PM

As usual, impressive!

piker · February 23, 2016, 04:14:54 PM

Thanks guys....

The LE looks like below. It's shaped for dynamic balancing, I guess. The outer portions are symmetrical, the next section is curved up, and the next down. I assume the idea is that when the elevator is deflected, the appropriate portion, ahead of the hinge line, is exposed to the wind, reducing the load on the controls.

octagon · February 23, 2016, 06:18:38 PM

Anyone's workshop that looks as neat and tidy as that is weird.

piker · February 24, 2016, 07:58:21 AM

Can't argue with the weird part, but that room isn't my worksop. It's the upstairs bedroom that has a smaller room off the side, which I'm using for my temporary shop. That room is a bit messier

I'm taking the whole upper floor of the house off this summer, to be replaced with a nicer, more useable space... if things go according to plan.