Scratch Building Class - Norseman Build

[piker]

Hey!  I know there's a lot of Norseman building going on out there!  How about a build thread on the classes' progress?

What are you guys up too?

(Jack, encourage the guys to get on here and share their experiences... not just progress, but challenges, learnings, rewards, tools, deep thoughts, etc. and include pictures  )

[piker]

Some Inspiration:

Norseman flying in Red Lake

[Papa]

This is a build blog primarily for the members of the Inaugural TEMAC Scratch Building Course. Anyone is welcome to join in but please do not hijack the thread. It's about learning to build with wood. Six members signed up and have formed a very enthusiastic group. Ron Brott and Dave Henry of Pinnacle Hobbies have been very supportive with advice and financial incentives for which we are very grateful. The introductory meeting was on March 4th and the courses are being held in a large meeting room at the Malvern Community Centre, 30 Sewels Road in Scarborough. Any  interested club member is free to check it out. The course is held on a Monday night at 8:00 pm. The remaining schedule is:
April 15
April 29
May 13
May 27
June 10
June 24 (Rain Day)

The students are:
Eric Adams
Bill Quantock
Tom Stilo
Brian Michez
John Aurich
Bert Dunk

I decided that in order to learn how to use tools and get used to wood a kit would make a better start than pure scratch building. That will bee a graduate course for next year. I chose the 63" Noorduyn Norseman kit from Unionville Hobby. I chose it because it is an iconic Canadian design and Unionville is a local kit maker.

Frank van Beurden is leading the build and is working ahead of the students so he can point out any pitfalls and also show his methods for tackling problems. The first night was spent talking safety and looking at various techniques and of course opening the box. For their first assignment the class was asked to assemble the stab and fin and rudder and to bring them to the next night for review.

Here are some pictures of the group.

Jack.

[Papa]

The second night was last Monday and we had much discussion regarding the fit of pieces in the kit. It would seem that the kit has been upgraded a few times and some of the cutting templates and build instructions don't quite add up. No big deal we all have solved the issues in different ways.

I have chosen to model "Buffalo" Joe's personal Norseman, CF-SAN. I have also decided to make it a permanent float plane so the floats will be fixed in place and not be removable. Since I'm modelling it after a real plane I'm making a few small changes such as adding a sub fin and including counter balances on the elevator.

In the pictures I show how I finished the rudder and fin. The counter balance on the rudder did not fit the contours of the rudder trailing edge and the fin did not match the front of the rudder counter balance shape. Very minor so I just sanded the curves to match and made it a little more scale looking. I also straightened out the bottom of the rudder where it joins the fuselage. This is more of a straight line than a curve on the prototype.

I sanded the rudder and elevator to give them a more scale like thinner section at the trailing edge. I decided to add the counter balances to the elevator after I had sanded a round edge so I cut the edge and was fortunate enough to only require a 1/4" square piece to get the correct shape. That's it pinned in place now i need to sand the edge again. I use small 1/4" round shaped blocks which makes the job quick and easy but more particularly, uniform and even all round. I gave each student one as a gift so they too could be nicely rounded off. LOL.

The task for the students until the next meeting is to build the wing. Frank brought a building board with a completed right hand wing and built the left hand wing while we watched. Quite a revelation in technique and speed. he explained how he chooses crooked spars to work against each other to nullify the warps.

Jack.

[Papa]

Now that everyone is busy building their wing I thought i would share a few observations and pictures with you.

1. The ply brace is cut with a saw blade and this leaves fine slivers so sand the edges. You don't want the slivers in your hands nor do you
    want them in the glue joint.

2. I followed the instruction sequence and I used Gorilla Wood Glue. This sets up fairly quickly so you need to have everything ready to go. The
    ribs are a nice tight fit so I used a small tack hammer to make sure they were in contact with the lower cap strips. A very gentle tap is all it
    needs.

3. I used 5/16" x 1 1/4" Trailing Edge that I cut down to 5/16" wide instead of the 1/4" sq TE called for by the plan. I had some old stock lying
    around that I had bought in Florida. This has the perfect slope so I don't have to sand it to shape.

4. The instructions show the leading edge being sanded to shape before adding the top sheet. I won't do that. I'm going to glue the top front
    sheet first and then sand it to shape. I will plane an angled edge to front of the sheet so it will mate with the LE correctly.

5. What I plan to do is to glue about 1/4" of the front of the rib and all along the LE. Pin it in place and let it dry. Then, using a brush I will
    put glue on all the remaining portion of the ribs and use weights to hold the sheet down. This should ensure a nice straight and flat sheet.

6. I used the mini bar clamps to hold the leading edge in place as it had a slight warp. I bought these in Dollarama when it was still a real
    dollar store. They come with plastic jaws but they mark the balsa so I just discard them.

7. Using a hobby saw can some times be frustrating as the kerf is so fine. Kerf is the width of the teeth. It will often bind as tensions in the
    wood become active while sawing. An old cabinet makers trick is to have an old piece of candle handy and rub it on the blade. This lubricates
    the blade and makes the cut much easier.

7. All web sheets are not created equal, in fact almost no two were the same. To speed things up I used one of my bar clamps as a protractor to
    transfer the actual measurement and then trimmed the web piece to size.

That's it for now. Let's see some other students work and pictures.

Jack.

[Papa]

Here is what I'm after. I decided to use Ultracote Cub Yellow and Light Green. Any Opinions??

I also am planning to use 6mm CF rod inside aluminum shapes for the float attachments. Any comments pro or con??

Jack.

[Papa]

Just finished putting the bracing wire on the elevator. I like to use plastic tubing on these wires where they are in the elevator. For this I used some 1/8" styrene tubing.

Drilling a 1/8" hole in 1/4" stock can be tricky so I used three sizes of drill bits 1/32", 1/16" and finally 1/8".

I cut the styrene tubing using a cable stripper which avoids collapsing the tube. To make the groove for the wire I used a mini "V" grooved gouge and a fine round rat tail file.

Here are some pictures.

Jack.

[Ededge2002]

I have an OLD black and white photo of one I found long ago that hangs in my house. Its markings are CF-MLP  RCMP Ottawa.   Going by the markings and the aircraft history the photo is between 1949-59 

[Papa]

Hi Ed, here's some information about that Norseman.

Jack.

Norseman Mk V, Constructor's No. N29-40, Canadian Reg. CF-MPL. 
Aircraft sold to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Feb. 11, 1949. 
Paint scheme: Wings and tail surfaces, yellow, fuselage and undercarriage dark blue.

Subsequent owners (dates of sale):

   5/20/59 to Bradley Air Service, Carp, Ontario
   9/26/60 to Arnold E. Bradley, Chicoutimi, Quebec
   10/10/61 to Bradley Air Service, Carp, Ontario
   11/20/64 to Mattagami Skyways Co. Ltd., Moonbeam, Ontario

On May 5, 1965, MPL crashed at Cooper Lake (49/02N, 20/59W during a landing in a rainstorm. 
The pilot and two passengers were killed. 
Two other passengers were injured.

[Wingnutz]

" The counter balance on the rudder did not fit the contours of the rudder trailing edge and the fin did not match the front of the rudder counter balance shape "...from Jack Higgins Norseman post.
My rudder wasn't too bad but the curves on the elevator counterbalances were way off (I'm building the larger Unionville Norseman and will no doubt have slightly different problems). If the plan is correct, the stab was off by about 3/16"...so, added a 1/4" sq to the stab leading edge and rebuilt all four corners of the elevator and the part of the stab affected...the photo attached shows what I decided to do and also, a wonderful throat soother which gets rid of all the balsa dust! They didn't mention this at class but I sure find it helpful!Thanks to all involved in organizing the class...I'm having a great time and learning too!

[Wingnutz]

Nearly forgot...I did the most crucial task today and ordered the graphics! That'll really enhance the model's airworthiness and flyability! I also ordered foam cores for the floats...38", using 75-80% of prop to rudder post as a guide.

[sts41]

"Here is what I'm after. I decided to use Ultracote Cub Yellow and Light Green. Any Opinions??"

Hi Jack
I am using Cub Yellow Ultracote. I am using the full weight one(HANU884). It is VERY forgiving for a new builder like myself...I wish I was there to follow along with the group. Cub/Norseman, pretty close in building styles.

Have fun guys

Steve

[Papa]

Hi guys, what progress are you making?

I have just completed the wing. Waiting on some servos to install but otherwise all done.
I had no surprises and it went together very nicely. I plan to use bolts to hold down the wing.
Be sure to add the doublers where the two wings join, leading edge, spars and trailing edge.

Let's know how you're doing.

Jack.

[Bert Dunk]

 :)Hi Jack I have a few questions about my wing construction. The rear notches in my wing ribs appear to be forward of rear spar, is the best solution cut the 1/8' off the the rear of the rib so everything lines up?

Cheers,

Bert 

[Papa]

Bert and I sorted it out on the phone so he is well on his way to completing his wing.

How's every one else?

I made a tool for cutting hinge slots that makes a slot in less than a minute.
Have a look at the attached photos.

1. 1/8" Fret saw blade, break off about 3 to 4 inches.
2. Handle off an old foam paint brush.
3. Epoxy blade in hole with teeth set to cut on the pull stroke.
4. 5/3" drill bit that fits an electric screw driver.
5. Drill hole in centre of slot, insert blade and make one half of the slot. Turn the blade over and complete the slot. Bonus you now have a nice grove in the centre of the slot for CA etc.

Jack.