Scale World Models 1/3 Super Cub Project

[Bartman]

i was wrong, it is rag and tube but i guess they use a lot of carbon fiber to get the weight down so it can qualify as light-sport, a lower category of aircraft certification than standard category

That metal that wraps around the fuselage under the windscreen on a Cub is known as the "boot cowl" and it looks like it flares out below the windscreen and then angles down as it wraps under the lower longeron. That might be how they were able to get that radius worked in there.

 

[Bartman]

Started removing the binding wire on the landing gear and was able to weld the two main joints this evening. I haven't welded anything in seven or eight years so don't zoom in too closely on these pics but I think they're plenty strong and will help the gear to look a little better when they're wrapped with fabric. I'm going to try to make the bungees functional so that's why I'm stopping for tonight.

 

[49dimes]

Not bad Bart!

 

[Bartman]

thanks 'dimes!
i was looking at full scale Cub pics last night for some ideas on the bungees and it made me realize how much work would be involved in trying to make these gear look closer to scale. so i think i'm going to just weld up the other two joints and put a couple of barbs on the lower cross-wire to hook a rubber band around the two cross-wires (a' la SIG 1/4 scale Cub kits) for some shock absorbtion. there's a lot more to do so i'm going to pass on getting too hung up on the landing gear. this is a "project" after all and the gear aren't the focus of the "project"!

 

[camss69]

You might look at how the BUSA scale gear are done for ideas if you need them. They are scale and functional, I have a them on my cub obviously. I don't think BUSA sells them if you don't buy the kit but I could be wrong on that.

 

[Bartman]

the kit gear might be different from the scale Robart gear but Balsa USA offers the Robart gear as a replacement for their 1/3 scale Cub.

http://shop.balsausa.com/product_p/1017a.htm

confusing.

Can you take a close up of those gear on your plane? a nice shot from the front would be helpful. I'm trying to just put the frickin' gear on without making a big deal out of it but once the welder is out and I'm cutting and grinding I can get a little carried away! Maybe I should just buy the Robart gear and be done with it.

 

[camss69]

That's interesting on the gear, has it always been Robart gear that BUSA has used?

When my buddy was building the plane I remember he could get the gear welded (brazed?) together or he could get it as a kit. He was saying how much the gear were and he paid extra to have them weld it all together and we were talking about how expensive it was. I saw it before he put it on the plane and it wasn't painted and the legs didn't have the covering on them, he did all that.

Anyway, it's not important but now I'm just curious if they are Robart gear or something else. I'll get a pic in a few for ya.

I think the gear are important, unless you just want to stick something on there to make it fly. It's kind of a distinguishing feature on a cub IMO.

 

[camss69]

Ok, so here's the pics, this isn't Robart gear, I found the manual and scanned it for you. The instructions are detailed in how to build the gear.

The pdf should be 4 pages, it doesn't look like it uploaded right.. Let me know if it's only one page, I can send it to you.

 

[Bartman]

my brain is saying "don't waste time on the landing gear!" and my other brain is saying, "suck it up and make a nice set of gear!"

I'm going to run to the dumb depot and see what sizes of steel rod they have available. Maybe I can rig something that is a little better than the stock gear but not quite fully scale. I'll have to grind off some of what I've already done to do a nicer job and make functional bungees. What is the distance between the attach points for the bungees?

 

[BalsaDust]

Who needs landing gear just hand launch and belly land it. No worries there. LOL