Scale Don Smith P-51 Mustang

[acerc]

Stang can keep them both. I can't afford maintenance on either one of them.

Amen brother!!!!!

 

[stangflyer]

Like to have both but both are way above my pay grade.

One think I am sure of if that lady stood in front of @stangflyer front door he would trade all of his red heads for that brunette.

Negative my friend, Ain't no woman worth the loss of a single red head. Brunette, blonde or otherwise.

 

[stangflyer]

A little progress on the Behemoth Stang right wing panel this afternoon. One would think that it should not take long to glue a few sticks of balsa together right? Not so.... I pretty much spent four and a half hours this afternoon laying in one hardwood spar, placing one 3" sheet of balsa sheeting and the leading edge to both the center section and outer right wing section. Really nothing difficult. Just taking my time and making sure it is perfect. I am at a very crucial point with the construction of the wings. With the left wing basically framed and sheeted on the top, the 2 degrees washout at the tip is set and the overall structure is rigid and non movable. By this I mean, there is no sway or movement within the wing structure. I can still get some twist out of it, but mostly because the bottom construction and sheeting are not yet in place. Not really important at this point. Once the bottom construction is complete, the wing should be Sherman tank strong. More importantly is getting the exact correct 85 degrees of dihedral angle of the right wing section in relation to the left wing section. This is achieved with the center dihedral brace that glues to the aft side of the main spars. The thought process is once one or the other wing sections is built, it is then lifted off the build table and set at the correct angle with the dihedral brace in place then start placing ribs, spars and other structure components. In a perfect world, this should be easy. Ah but therein lies the clinker amongst the glowing embers. My build table is just...wait for it...wait for it.... NOT LONG ENOUGH. Doah!! that is one massive wing fellas. So to apply a little work around, I will simply remove the right outer wing section and simply move the remaining center section and complete left wing panel to the right of the build table. This being achieved, I will then be able to measure the distance of the raised left wing panel from the bottom of the bottom spar to the build table. According to the plans, I will need to have the left wing outer panel raised off the build table approximately 10" to insure the correct 85 degree angle of the two wing halves. This will allow for the correct dihedral angle so the retracts will be set at their correct 85 degrees. I know, it sounds complicated. And for those that have been down similar roads as this, it really is easy to get the grip on the mathematics. I am going to be holding my breath until I am certain the "EXACT" dihedral is set. I fear too much could go wrong at this point. Hence, measure twice, cut once. Measure three times, place structure and glue. Measure five times and....breath. LOL

Just a couple photos of the progress today. The outer right wing panel anti rotation pins are permanently in place.

Top hardwood spar in place....along with primary center sheeting skin in place. (I needed to do it this way to insure the ribs were perfectly aligned prior to placing the leading edge.

And finally...the leading edge...

Tomorrow I will remove the outer right wing panel section and move the entire assembly over to the right and do the necessary measuring to insure the correct 85 degree angle. Then I can start gluing on the top right wing skins. Once that is complete, I can flip the entire section over and complete the bottom structure of this Behemoth wing. And all these years I thought building a 60" or 72" wing was a pain. Yeah, try working with 112" of massiveness. LOL. Thankfully the center wing section is only a mere....wait for it.... 65"! Double doah….

I will have more photos tomorrow fellas. Hopefully I will be well on my way to starting the bottom construction on this big bird wing.

 

[stangflyer]

Get prepared fellas.... bunch o' photos comin' your way. I actually made good progress on the Mustang wing the last few days. With today being the most productive in quite some time. As we left off, I needed to get correct 85 degrees angle of the two wing halves before I could proceed. So I designed a nice little "stand" for the left wing panel while keeping the right wing panel held down on the building board. This worked really well. Perfect 85 degrees. Now I can continue with the construction. I won't do much narrating as the photos are pretty self explanatory. Besides, ya'll have heard me ramble on far too much in the past. LOL.



Last photo was my stopping point last weekend. Today however...yeah, got quite a bit accomplished. My goal was to get the entire top of the wing completely sheeted. I really want to get that beast flipped and get started on the bottom. Besides, I need the building table for a few days for another project. What is it you may ask? Well...hmm, You'll see. LOL. Anyway, todays progress...



Ok, so obviously I didn't make my targeted goal. But I should be able to get the rest of the top of the right wing center section and right wing outer panel completely sheeted before I go out flying tomorrow. (Weather permitting of course) Once the top sheeting is done, I will remove the entire construction from the table and do a little prep work on project "X". Hee hee….

More later everyone.

 

[pawnshopmike]

Wow. You’ve been busy. Looking good brother.

 

[stangflyer]

I just take double pictures from different angles. Makes it look like I have been really burning the midnight oil. Kind of like magic, an illusion. Now for my next trick, I'll turn this box of sticks into a beastly beautiful flying ma-chine!

 

[stangflyer]

I wanted to go flying today. Thought I would take the FMS Mustang out for a couple of sorties. Weather was plenty warm and little to know wind. About 60 degrees. For November, that is pretty warm. But as much as I wanted to go flying, I wanted to get the top of the Behemoth Stang wing sheeted so I can start on the bottom side. So, flying was out...building was in. Got a pretty good start this morning...



Really didn't take long to get the last of the sheets layed into place...



And finally after about 5 hours, the top of the wing is sheeted...



I and my son have been building side by side by side lately. His garage is much bigger than my place. It is kind of fun building along side him again after all these years. I figured I would help him out. He seems to have stalled on his Top Flite Cessna 182. I think I will mount his wing for him...



Oh....ok, so it doesn't fit...but talk about glide slope. LOL.

Seriously speaking.... The top of the DS Mustang wing is done. DANG!!!!! When I say behemoth....I MEAN...."BEHEMOTH". Wow.



With the top of the wing sheeted, I am going to put the DS Mustang on the side for a couple of days. Maybe take a break while I get a couple other irons into the fire. One being the Top Flite RTC Giant Scale P40. The other...hee hee…. I do like my Stangs.



I picked this little guy up for a song and a dance. Brand new never built Phoenix Mustang Strega. It is the 71" 35cc version. I have a brand new 20cc gasser and considered using it. But truthfully, I want this one to hit 150. LOL.

That will do it for the DS Mustang build for a few days. I am going to get a couple other things going and will come back to it soon. Stay tuned fellas.

 

[pawnshopmike]

Behemoth is right. Holy smokes.

 

[stangflyer]

Behemoth is right. Holy smokes.

And get this.... that wing is not full length yet. I still have to add the two balsa blocks to the ends of each wing tip. Add another 6". Now "THAT"...is BEHEMOTH!!! LOL

 

[Snoopy1]

Nice to see the plane is coming along nicely.