Supermarine Stranraer

[piker]

The fate of this particular aircraft, RCAF Stranraer 951, is an interesting story:

Basically, Stranraer 951 landed in the Pacific, west of Vancouver Island during a patrol mission on August 23, 1942, probably due to engine failure.  Stranraer 950 located the floating 951 and saw that the plane was damaged but floating, and the crew were awaiting a rescue boat as it was too rough for Stranraer 950 to land.  950 had to return to shore and as night fell, the relief Stranraer was unable to locate the floating 951.  However, a submarine WAS spotted in the area, and by day break 951 was no longer seen again and the crew was lost at sea.

I think this particular aircraft will do nicely as a building subject as it was RCAF, used during WWII to patrol the Canadian shoreline, and there are some nice pictures with a compelling, if sad, story.

[Papa]

http://www.aviationmegastore.com/supermarine-stranraer-pt1-queen-charlotte-airlines-72-006-whiskey-jack-decals-wj72-006-airliner-decals/product/?shopid=LM4b63a0dc8b6b664508d746b022&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=48261

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234949175-supermarine-stranraer-pt1-queen-charlotte-airlines-172-thunderbird-models/

http://www.airlinercafe.com/photo_784.details.large

Here is a Canadian subject not military but with lots of character.

Jack.

[Papa]

Actually, CF-BXO is the one in Hendon that is done up in RCAF squadron markings.

I think it looks nicer than the military version.

Jack.

[Michael]

So, Robert, ....

... you bought some wood.

Have you cut or glued any of it yet? 

[Wingnutz]

Actually, CF-BXO is the one in Hendon that is done up in RCAF squadron markings.

I think it looks nicer than the military version.

Jack.

I like the QCA version as well...so much so that I have QCA graphics for my Norseman. QCA operated three Stranraers and the story of each is included in QCA founder (Jim Spilsbury)'s book Accidental Airline. I liked the story of RCAF 951 but the QCA Stranraers have some pretty neat stories attached to them too! I'll go back and see what I can find about CF-BXO.  Interesting if sad story attached to the RCAF plane but pretty sterile paint job!

[piker]

Sheesh!  You guys are harsh!   

When I built the Sandringham, I chose that design over the Sunderland because of the graceful lines and colour scheme of the civilian airframe.  When I look at the Stranraer, I see it as very utilitarian and thought it would be fun to build the wartime version with open gunner positions and maybe some depth charges attached to the wing.  I agree that the paint scheme on the later version is prettier, but I thing that version loses some of it's wartime character.  Besides, I need another war bird for the great, TEMAC, Warbird day 

BTW, yes, I've started construction.  I've been creating the bulkheads which are made up of 1/8" balsa with a layer of Obichi on each side.  The two center bulkheads, where the wing attaches, will be faced with 1/32" play, and a bulkhead at the aft end will be faced with 1/64" ply where it slots into the center section of the stab for anchoring.  I only have three more bulkheads to make up, then I post a picture for ya.

[Wingnutz]

Okay, I'm looking forward to the bulkhead pictures, which raises the question..."What's the difference between a bulkhead and a former?"  Bulkhead almost sounds nautical...former sounds...I dunno...aeronautical?

[piker]

Hmmm.  I've just always called them bulkheads.  I don't know why...

From Wikipedia:

"A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an aeroplane."

"A former is a structural member of an aircraft fuselage, of which a typical fuselage has a series from the nose to the empennage, typically perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The primary purpose of formers is to establish the shape of the fuselage and reduce the column length of stringers to prevent instability.[1] Formers are typically attached to longerons, which support the skin of the aircraft."

I guess I'm making formers... Anyway.  Gotta get at it!

[piker]

O.K.  Picture time.

As you can see, I've got all my "formers" laminated and cut out and I've assembled them, upside down, onto the top fuselage crutch.  There are more to add onto the tail end, but they don't go on until the fuselage is flipped upright, as they create the structure that is mostly above the crutch.  Next up is the keel, stringers then lower fuselage planking, before it can be removed from the board.  Overall fuselage length will be about 5-1/2 feet.

[sihinch]

Looks fabulous. Kinda like a dinosaur!

[Michael]

That is the neatest and cleanest building area I've ever seen!

[battlestu]

very clean... maybe too clean

BTW how did you cut those formers so nice?

[piker]

Well, I DID tidy up before my next build, and got two, fresh, sheets of pink foam.  I need to put my batteries away.  The ones that are on the foam are holding it flat.  It was lifting in the middle.

Mike, band saw for the outsides and notches, and scroll saw for the inside cuts.  Then fine tune with a bit of sanding.  I photocopied the formers from the plan, spray glued them to the wood, cut out, then peeled the paper off.

Thanks for the kind words, guys!  I'll keep going 

[piker]

Progress has been slow on the Stranraer, but I have pushed past a couple of areas that were challenging.

Since my last picture posted, I've added the keel and stingers and started planking the bottom half of the fuselage.  Because the fuselage is built around a crutch, near the top of the fuselage, the thing is built upside down on the board and planked up to a certain stringer to make it stable before it's removed from the board.  This is a bit challenging as you have to work upside down (part of the time) and on the opposite side of the structure.  It would have been easier if I was able to walk all around my workbench.  Another challenge with this technique is the need to leave the tail end of the fuselage incomplete until the fuselage is removed from the board as that part of the structure is ABOVE the crutch. 

First challenge was planking the thing.  It felt more like I was building an old sailing ship than an airplane, but I think this is what appeals to me about flying boats    The "hull" is planked with 3/4" wide strips of 1/8" balsa, often trimmed to shape to help follow the compound curves... and there are a lot of them in this hull shape.  What you will see in the photos is the state of the planking so far, which is rough sanded, without any filler yet.  I'm quite pleased with the way it's turned out so far, and the hardest part is done.  BTW, the sanding had to be done with a curved sanding block to get into the inside curves of the fuselage shape.  This step is what I've been plugging away at, with what little time I had, over the past few weeks.

Next up, and something that moved along much faster once I was able to spend a little more time on it over the past few days (mostly yesterday), was the construction of the tail end of the fuselage.  I had to figure out a way to do this (no instructions with this plane  ) in order to keep things straight, not twisted, and in the right location.  I ended up raising the fuselage above the plan on some simple, temporary, supports, to the correct height in order to build the tail portion upside down on the plan.  I had to determine which pieces went where to create the stable structure, and the determine what the pieces looked like from the views on the plan.  I eventually built it up as you can see below (both as built over the plan, and with the fuselage sitting upright), ready for sheeting after some hard points for stab mounting and servo mounts are installed. 

At this point I'll probably move onto the wing center section construction (maybe after a little more work on the cockpit area) as that will be needed to establish the wing mounting system in the fuselage.  Of course I also need to add all the internal bits in the fuselage, like servo wiring (the tail servos will be located in the tail structure), lights, landing gear mounting hard points, etc., before I close the whole thing in with the final planking.

Anyway, I'm quite happy now that I have the fuselage to this point as I think it's looking very interesting with its unusual, 1930's hull shapes.

[Michael]

Nice! Really nice!

Your workbench, however, is disgustingly clean and neat!