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Beechcraft 18
- Thread starter Stoneboat
- Start date
Rhino
Super Moderator
The rudder trim on a Beech like that on is on the center console, above the floor, vertically. Anne Hotgren-Pellegrino is a family friend. I love this airplane model. I cain't recall the "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, world Beechcraft having floats. My Momma's (God rest Her) favorite movie! Poor Buddy Hackett!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i415QwSj0Og
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i415QwSj0Og
phantom II
Master at Arms
And here it is
Cheers, Christian B)
Cheers, Christian B)
Thanks fellas.
Anyway, a brief update. After a few cold beverages the engineering department figured out a way to attach the floats. I followed the kit instructions and installed the internal wing structure in and on either side of the nacelle.
I then cut a 1&1/2" length of 3/8" dowel...
And split it down the middle. You don't need 1&1/2", more like 1&3/8", but the extra can be cut off so the part can fit precisely where it's supposed to go.
A quarter of an inch from one end of the split piece of dowel, grind off a bit of material so it will fit into the rear of the wheel well and also into the semicircular cutout in the aft spar of the wing internal structure.
Repeat for t'other side.
Turn the wooden part over and round off the edges so's it'll fit the interior contour of the nacelle, Then cut the part until it'll fit precisely between the aft spar and those two little brackets on the inside of the nacelle, that you see in the first picture.
Viola! the half-round side of the dowel fits up against the cutouts in both spars...
...While the other side fills the gap between the wheel well sidewalls...
...Leaving room to add the landing gear doors later after the float fittings have been installed
Copious amounts of 5-minute epoxy was used to glue those suckers in place. It'll be a nice sturdy installation. (He said just before the first one falls off.)
I have the wing halves glued together, thus the engines are installed, and I knocked together a set of Hoerner wingtips for the model. To that end, I cut off the kit wing tips at the aileron outboard hinge. then glued and pinned a 3/4" length of 1/8" basswood to the cut end. Much firkytoodling with sandpaper and sanding sticks and I got a passable rendition of Mr. Hoerner's product. That tip mod also calls for a minor mod to the trailing edges of both ailerons in order to keep the wing planform symmetrical. More about that in a subsequent post. I also have cut away the elevators and will rework and reinstall them in the drooped position.
Yep, I found it. It's a little knurled wheel below the throttles, that I have already installed. The trim position indicator is a little arrow shaped affair that points right or left, immediately above the wheel. I thought that wheel was the aileron trim, but had to scratch my head in wonder as to why the aileron trim should be so prominent and the rudder trim - a much more important function - was relegated to somewhere more obscure.
Anyway, a brief update. After a few cold beverages the engineering department figured out a way to attach the floats. I followed the kit instructions and installed the internal wing structure in and on either side of the nacelle.
I then cut a 1&1/2" length of 3/8" dowel...
And split it down the middle. You don't need 1&1/2", more like 1&3/8", but the extra can be cut off so the part can fit precisely where it's supposed to go.
A quarter of an inch from one end of the split piece of dowel, grind off a bit of material so it will fit into the rear of the wheel well and also into the semicircular cutout in the aft spar of the wing internal structure.
Repeat for t'other side.
Turn the wooden part over and round off the edges so's it'll fit the interior contour of the nacelle, Then cut the part until it'll fit precisely between the aft spar and those two little brackets on the inside of the nacelle, that you see in the first picture.
Viola! the half-round side of the dowel fits up against the cutouts in both spars...
...While the other side fills the gap between the wheel well sidewalls...
...Leaving room to add the landing gear doors later after the float fittings have been installed
Copious amounts of 5-minute epoxy was used to glue those suckers in place. It'll be a nice sturdy installation. (He said just before the first one falls off.)
I have the wing halves glued together, thus the engines are installed, and I knocked together a set of Hoerner wingtips for the model. To that end, I cut off the kit wing tips at the aileron outboard hinge. then glued and pinned a 3/4" length of 1/8" basswood to the cut end. Much firkytoodling with sandpaper and sanding sticks and I got a passable rendition of Mr. Hoerner's product. That tip mod also calls for a minor mod to the trailing edges of both ailerons in order to keep the wing planform symmetrical. More about that in a subsequent post. I also have cut away the elevators and will rework and reinstall them in the drooped position.
phantom II
Master at Arms
Very nice problem solving . I am amazed at your use of different materials 
. I have not seen that in years .
I really have to wonder about the placement of the rudder trim myself .
It looks more like it was intended for a function of the copilot.
Cheers, Christian B)
. I have not seen that in years .I really have to wonder about the placement of the rudder trim myself .
It looks more like it was intended for a function of the copilot.
Cheers, Christian B)
Very nice problem solving . I am amazed at your use of different materials
Cheers, Christian B)
Thanks Christian.
I use anything I can lay my hands on if I find it works. I live a long way from a hobby shop, so it's not like I can pop in and pick up what I need otherwise. I had originally envisioned adding a block of wood inside the top of the nacelle, but I think this is a better fix.
Very nice problem solving . I am amazed at your use of different materials
Cheers, Christian B)
Thanks Christian.
I use anything I can lay my hands on if I find it works. I live a long way from a hobby shop, so it's not like I can pop in and pick up what I need otherwise. I had originally envisioned adding a block of wood inside the top of the nacelle, but I think this is a better fix.
I suspect the Engineering dept already had the solution in mind, just used it as an excuse for some cold beers. :drinks
"What if something happens?"
"What could happen to an Old Fashioned?" :facepalm
sharkman
Master at Arms
Amazing what you can do recycling a beer can and some wood!!
I was, picked up an ICM kit this summer in between all the other work! Thanks for the offer though!!!
I was, picked up an ICM kit this summer in between all the other work! Thanks for the offer though!!!
Hmmm.. it appears my thinking has become transparent. :laugh:
No problem sharky.
On to the Hoerner wing tips with a brief stop at the engines. I took some pics of the engine installation and can no longer find them. I downloaded them off my camera, and they seem to have disappeared into thin air while being transferred to the Beech file. :S
Anyway, all I did was glue the engine to the kit firewall, then epoxy that into the bottom half of the nacelle, then glue the two wing halves together. This is what the right one looks like, all nestled away in its' cowling.
This is the kit wing tip that must be removed at the aileron outboard hinge line.
That done, I glued and pinned a length of 1/8" bass wood to the wing, slightly longer than the missing tip and equal to the chord of the wing at that point.
Much firkytoodling with various grades of sandpaper - finishing with 1200 grit - and you are left with a reasonable facsimile of a Hoerner wing tip. There is a pronounced wash out with those tips, and I was able to achieve some by sanding the underside. In addition, the underside curves upward to join the top of the wing, and that adds a bit of trompe d'oeil and fools you into thinking the washout is actually more than it really is. I think.
Here's the difference between the two.
The kit ailerons follow the trailing edge of the kit wing, and have a bit of curve at the tip...
...Which must be removed. I cut away a short length of the trailing edge and glued a piece of scrap in place, then sanded it to an angle that follows a the rest of the trailing edge.
One down, one to go. (Actually three to go. I had made the wrong tips for this aircraft - I found out later - when I found another pic of the airplane on Google images.)
Uros talked me into cutting away and repositioning the controls. The ailerons are already separate units, so I began with the elevators. After gluing the upper and lower halves together, I used a razor saw and a # 11 blade to cut the elevators from the horizontal stab. This leaves an unsightly gap with square edges that should be beveled out to accept the rounded leading edge of the elevators. I scraped away some material using the back of the # 11 blade, then cut the end off a fingernail 100 grit sanding stick and used that to bevel the edges.
Time to correct the wing tip. There are any number of pictures of Hoerner wing tips on the net, and some show the trailing edge as being square while others show the trailing edge as following the trailing edge of the wing. I went with the square version as default, but then found a pic of HZA that shows the airplane has the trailing edge that follows the trailing edge of the wing. So... more firkytoodling.
Left...
...And right.
That problem was corrected. Then I found that when I cut away the rudders I had done the aerodynamic balances wrong. That elicited a shout of 'What are you doing up there?" from Mrs. Stoneboat, when I happened to use a well-known Canadian expression that involves a frozen porcupine.
More later.
Don't know that Canadian expression but I can imagine the reaction.
Excellent craftsmanship.
Excellent craftsmanship.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Really coming along nicely!
Hey I no longer have a "War Department" so I can vent in any way I see fit. (Also means I am more content and relaxed)
Hey I no longer have a "War Department" so I can vent in any way I see fit. (Also means I am more content and relaxed)
:salute
Skinny_Mike
Well-known member
This is really cool. Love all the scratch building!
uros
Active member
phantom II
Master at Arms
Looking very nice . Our fleet of twin beach were all different from one another .
Different wingtips and exhaust . Guess we did not have a Super twin .
Very interesting build . Even learning new words
Cheers, Christian B)
Different wingtips and exhaust . Guess we did not have a Super twin .
Very interesting build . Even learning new words
Cheers, Christian B)
Thanks for the kind comments fellas.
John, that looks pretty much what I wound up with, with the wing tips. That's what, an H model, with an airstair door.
Anyway, more on the tail feathers. After the stab had been cleaned up to my satisfaction and a slice of styrene added to fill the gap between the upper and lower halves, I added a bit of scrap styrene to the leading edge of the elevators and rounded it off to fit into the stab.
I decided to give the model about 20-degrees of right rudder - as if it was approaching a dock from 90-degrees and then turned to the right to align the airplane with the dock. I cut away both rudders, but I still wasn't sure how the left rudder would turn right. What Beech designed was, the fairings between the rudders and the horizontal stab kind of telescoped into the horizontal stab as the rudders moved from left to right. Lockheed avoided that with the L10 from the same era, they split the rudder into an upper and lower section to achieve the same result.
For the Beech, I cut off the kit rudder fairings and built new ones that gave about 20-degrees of right rudder throw. Left side...
..And right side of the stab.
So here's what 20-degrees of right rudder looks like on the left side...
...And what 20-degrees of right rudder looks like on the right side.
You will notice that the left fairing has telescoped into the left stab, while the right fairing has slid out of the right stab. That isn't really the case here since I've cut 20 degrees off the left fairing and added 20 degrees to the right one, but that's how it works. I've seen the video. I am becoming confused, I think I'll go have a cold beverage. Maybe two.
Finally, here's how the tail feathers will look once everything gets glued together.
You will also notice that the aerodynamic counterweights on top of both rudders are wrong. This is how they're supposed to look. Left side...
...And right side.
Up next, the convertible Beech 18.
John, that looks pretty much what I wound up with, with the wing tips. That's what, an H model, with an airstair door.
Actually that Canadian expression has its roots in an old Hawaiian expression involving a pineapple. :woohoo:
Anyway, more on the tail feathers. After the stab had been cleaned up to my satisfaction and a slice of styrene added to fill the gap between the upper and lower halves, I added a bit of scrap styrene to the leading edge of the elevators and rounded it off to fit into the stab.
I decided to give the model about 20-degrees of right rudder - as if it was approaching a dock from 90-degrees and then turned to the right to align the airplane with the dock. I cut away both rudders, but I still wasn't sure how the left rudder would turn right. What Beech designed was, the fairings between the rudders and the horizontal stab kind of telescoped into the horizontal stab as the rudders moved from left to right. Lockheed avoided that with the L10 from the same era, they split the rudder into an upper and lower section to achieve the same result.
For the Beech, I cut off the kit rudder fairings and built new ones that gave about 20-degrees of right rudder throw. Left side...
..And right side of the stab.
So here's what 20-degrees of right rudder looks like on the left side...
...And what 20-degrees of right rudder looks like on the right side.
You will notice that the left fairing has telescoped into the left stab, while the right fairing has slid out of the right stab. That isn't really the case here since I've cut 20 degrees off the left fairing and added 20 degrees to the right one, but that's how it works. I've seen the video. I am becoming confused, I think I'll go have a cold beverage. Maybe two.
Finally, here's how the tail feathers will look once everything gets glued together.
You will also notice that the aerodynamic counterweights on top of both rudders are wrong. This is how they're supposed to look. Left side...
...And right side.
Up next, the convertible Beech 18.