DeHavilland Buffalo

build-log
[ page 2]
 
 

 

 

 go to.....

          HOME
          PAST PROJECTS
          NEW PROJECTS
          TECHNICAL TIPS
          CONTACT ME
          FOR SALE ITEMS
         

                 
   		 


Here the strip planking on the engine nacells is started. The retractable landing gear will go in the nacells.
 
With a little help from John at Harwood Composites I finally learned how to make a good plaster mould. The plug for the cowls is made of foam and lightply covered with a layer of glasscloth.....a lot of filling and sanding follows, and finally the mould wax. This time the plaster mould looks very good.


 

Here are the finished glass cowls, primed and ready for paint.....

  

 

 
 


 


I saw this cool flashlight keychain in Canada Tire
and couldn't help but think what a nice landing
light it would make.....just the right shape.....
So I tore it all apart, saved only the essentials and wired it up for a rechargeable battery pack. It will fit into the wing easily and look good.  A plastic cover will go in the front.
 

 
       
 
February 5th.....

 

Here are the finished wingtips complete with ailerons.
The wing servos are #555 thin wing servos from Hobby City.....they will have 57oz.in. of  torque on 4.8v. They are very small and have metal gears, metal output shaft, metal control arm, double ball bearing and they are   waterproof.              .......not a bad deal at US $20.00 ea.

          
 
 

 		 Two Turnegy brushless motors will power the Buffalo. Preliminary tests indicate that the motors will easily handle the plane.....I expect the finished aeroplane to weigh less than nine pounds AUW.  Here are the specs;
 

Motor       Turnegy AerodriveXp SK Series 35-36 91
KV rating              910 RPM / V
Rated power         310W
Props used            two 11" X 10" three-blade
Battery                   5000mah Litheum 11.1v 3-cell
Speed Controller   40A. Turnegy Plus (2)
Measured RPM    
Measured draw                         
Motor & prop weight     7.5 oz.
 

The aluminum firewall mount is from Hobby City.....
it is fully adjustable and very nice quality.
 

Here is the electric retract set from EPF Hobby in Taiwan. The controller plugs into your receiver gear channel and the power is from the receiver battery (or a separate 6v. battery). It is fully electric with no servos or air supply to worry about. the travel is 90 degrees and the wheels move very slowly and realistically. The quality of the three retract units is excellent..... all machined metal construction. The nosewheel is steerable from the rudder servo. The operating units are very light and strong enough for an 8 to 10 lb. airplane. The supplied oleo legs were too small for the Buffalo so I purchased the larger oleos from RC Warbirds in Singapore.
 

 		 Here the retracts are installed in the nacells and seem to be working OK. Before cutting the nacell bottoms open I laid up a fibreglass sheet on the area where the gear doors will go. The glass sheets are the correct shape and will be cut to size for the gear doors.

April 18th.....


Nearly finished, here it hangs in the C/G machine. It will fly after I figure out the C/G  and test-run the motors.
 AUW came out at 8lbs. 6oz. which makes me happy, a little more weight may be needed in the nose.....but not bad for a 96" model.
 


Finally sitting on it's gear.....the retracts and gear doors are finally working reliably.




 

The first flight was not beautiful but once trimmed out it flew fine.....some fine tuning will definitely make it a keeper.  It is a beautiful model in the air and will be very stable.....just as are all DeHavillands !!
The  motors are adequate but not outstanding for power and the plane seems to be a little tail-heavy.....I can solve both of these problems by adding another cell to the power pack.....it will balance he tail heavy problem and give me more power too. I also noticed that the model did not want to rotate on take-off.....By raising the nosewheel only about 1/2 inch the problem went away. Clearly a little positive wing incidence is required (contrary to the plans)
 

 

 

 


home