DeHavilland

DHC-6-300 Twin Otter

 


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 December 2010.....

Another Ivan Pettigrew model......the last one was so much fun to build that I just have to do another..... Like the Buffalo, it will be electric and probably have the same brushless motors. The model is 1/9 scale, wingspan is 84". I expect the weight to be around 7lbs. It is very lightly built and therefore should be a really slow and scale flyer.
 

                           

 The fuselage framing is in a jig to keep things straight until the sheeting is on. The plans call for sheeting on the top and bottom only but I think I will sheet the whole fuse.....it will be stronger and the covering can be painted easier.

     
 

  



 

The tailfeathers are framed up here, The elevators are operated by a single hidden servo located in the rear of the fuse.....nothing will show from the outside. The rudder is pull-pull with the servo forward and kevlar chord to the hand-made horn. The underside of the horizontal stab is glassed to the base of the rudder for strength. The fuse will be full-sheeted.

 
             

     

     


The nosewheel is made to be steerable as well as shock-absorbing.....it steers from the rudder servo with kevlar pull-pull cables.....most of the small parts are fabricated.
 

 
                             
Here the main landing gear are installed. ....I found some light alum. sheet that will be lighter than the steel piano wire legs called for in the plans.   The underside of the nacells are strip planked and coated with 1/2oz. glasscloth and resin.....the wood is sanded thin in spots. Foam plugs for the cowlings will be used for a mould to make the final engine cowls.
 

    

 

 

Here the upper side of the nacell is shaped.....I used both strip planking and pink foam to get the correct shape. The glasscloth will harden the surface and make it a uniform texture for painting.

 

 

 
       
 

 
Here the pink foam cowl plug has been glassed, filled, painted and sanded smooth.....I made a split mould of  fiberglass because I have had trouble in the past trying to break the cowl out of a plaster mould. The split mould worked really good.

 

Now I need to make two cowls and fit them to the nacells.

 
 
 

      

The slats on the aileron are made using waterslide decal material.....the background color of the ailerons and flaps is white so I made the slats on white decal paper.....There are 12 slats on a single 8" decal. The slats are made on Microsoft Word the same way as I make windows. (see the Technical Tips page for the article on "Windows for Models"). These slats are made the same way.
 

February 2012.....
 

 

 
               
 		 After some delay I am finally getting around to painting and graphics......I'm again using latex paints and the results are looking good. The graphics are made on my computer and printed on waterslide decal paper. There will be a final coat of Nelson's flat clearcoat on it to seal in the graphics and make the painted surfaces easier to clean.
 
The motors are installed here, mounted on Turnegy aluminum adjustable mounts.

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      Motors                     Turnegy D3536/9
      KV rating                 910 RPM / V
      Rated power             370W
      Props used                two 11" X 8" three-blade
      Battery                      5000mah Litheum 11.1v 3-cell
      Speed Controller      40A. Turnegy Plus (2)
      Measured RPM
      Measured draw         32 Amp., 350W
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The battery pack is under the hatch near the nose. A separate 4.8v pack is used for the receiver, also located up front.

  

 

March 2012.....Roll out day!! 

          

.....A very pretty model, thanks to Ivan Pettigrew the designer. Remarkably, this model weighs out at 7.5 lbs. which includes the battery pack (AUW).....Very light for a 84" model.

 



            


 
           

  

 

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