questions about the Fokker triplane

blueangel2304 · Post by **blueangel2304** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:03 am

thanks Xanadu, unfortunately, I'm the only one in my family that's interested in aviation so I have to do everything myself, but that's fine for me.

I have some question guys. I used the glue stick technique to stick the tissue to my plane, but didn't use any dope + alcohol and the tissues just stick to the airplane well. Well, I'm not sure what happen if I don't use dope and alcohol. Is my plane gonna break apart during flying or what without dope and alcohol? I just want to save some grams.

One more question, I used the 50/50 mixture to seal the tissue and it did its job. So now how can I paint my plane? Also, I don't know why my plane doesn't look clear like others from Virtual Aerodrome website. Those looks really great and clear.

SteveM · Post by **SteveM** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:16 pm

You can use a glue stick or dope + thinner to adhere the tissue to the plane (or even the 50/50 glue mix). It is possible to build and fly a plane with out having used any dope. You not having used dope is not a problem at all.

Yes, now that the tissues is sealed you can paint. Just be careful not to add so much paint that it gets too heavy to fly.

I think the "clearness" you are reffering to is caused by sealing with dope rather than a 50/50 glue mix. Using colored tissue instead of painting reduces the weight, and if you seal that with white glue it would look nasty. So they seal with a dope mix and the resulting translucency is preferred by many.

blueangel2304 · Post by **blueangel2304** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:02 pm

thanks Steve, you're a big help for me.

blueangel2304 · Post by **blueangel2304** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:13 pm

Hi everybody, here's what I've done so far. Connecting the wings to the fuselage is crazy difficult for me. I don't know why but they just seem don't want to near each other. I'm not feeling comfortable with the wings even though I could manage to stick them into the fuselage successfully.

Stephen Napasney · Post by **Stephen Napasney** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:53 pm

well blueangel i'm new to this type of modelling too, but it seems that you are a few aircraft ahead of me. I'm currently building my first, which is the series 500 p-40 warhawk. For my next project i was thinking of either of the WWI planes, I'm a big fan of the early years of aerial combat. In regards to questions on WWI fabric, I think it was a cotton fabric that was used on the tripes( not 100% sure). I know for a fact that the german bipe the albatros D.III was cover in plywood.

supercruiser · Post by **supercruiser** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:18 pm

Your covering job looks good. Did you say whether or not this is a display model or going to be a flyer?

supercruiser · Post by **supercruiser** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:27 pm

Oh, I see from one of your earlier posts you mention wanting to save a few grams for flight.

Or at least you were thinking about it.

Rubber band , electric, or gas power? by the way, you must have figured out a method of making the leading edge. I see from your first posts you were concerned about making the leading edge contour. Looks
like you have a good, consistent LE contour on those wings.

blueangel2304 · Post by **blueangel2304** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:54 pm

Thank you for your kindness,supercruiser. I know my model is not as good as yours but it's good enough to me at the moment. I just want to bring it up the sky.

From you guys' help, I could figure out how to make the leading edges. It's kind of simple, isn't it?
I'm gonna have this baby fly with rubber bands. Ah, I think I read some where said that the rubber band comes with Guillow's set is not good right? Where should I buy a good one for my plane?
thanks Stephen Napasney for your information. For the WWI planes, I don't suggest you to build the one like mine. It's been so hard for me, particularly if this is your second or third balsa plane. I think after this plane I should stick with the easy built kits for while.

supercruiser · Post by **supercruiser** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 3:16 pm

The rubber that comes with the kit is o.k for initial low powered flights. You won't get much out of it as far as power goes. Since , you are still in the building stage I would like to mention something before bringing up flying these models. The two piece plastic replica engine that comes with the kit is not strong enough to withstand a wound up rubber band. The rubber band tension will collapse the plastic engine. I suggest putting a spacer in between the two halves. Basically, a plastic pipe or you can make one out of wood. I can measure the dimensions for it when I get home.

blueangel2304 · Post by **blueangel2304** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:17 am

Hi supercruise, could you post a picture or something so that I can see how to make the spacer, please? And if you could give me the dimension of it, that would be great.
Thanks for let me know about the plastic engine.

supercruiser · Post by **supercruiser** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 9:16 pm

I got home and looked at my Fokker DrI. It does not have a spacer inside the engine. I must have been thinking about my Eindecker. My tri-plane used 4 strands of 1/4" wide rubber and the motor did not collapse. That was wound about 800 turns. I will try to post a photo of the spacer I used on some of my other models for future reference. I make mine out of plastic,
kittyfritters and scigs30 makes them out of balsa. These spacers are usually called thrust blocks. I know there is a photo of one somewhere in this forum. So it looks like you can just fit the two engine halves together
and leave it at that.