Copter Doctor
Elite Veteran
Location: daleville/ft.rucker, al
| while putting my new 50 size airwolf together i remember the days of my 30 size airwolf and how much fun it was. i also remember some really inconvenient things about the fuse i always wanted changed. though much of it was minor, i decided on one major thing, the top cowling. if you ever needed to get into the fuse or remove the mecchs, the one piece top lid required rewmoveal of the rotorhead to get the mechs in and out. i thought this to be unacceptable so i cut the front section from the aft section right thereon a panel line that just happened to be conveniently located in the right spot. now we all know when you cut fiberglass, the two parts separated almost never hold the original shape and if you have had to cut out your doors and such you know what i mean. what i needed to to do to prevent this was make a bulkead and install it on the rear of the front half and the front of the rear half. a plug-in system is then utilized to make attatchment and removal easy. the rear half can now be attatched to the main body, secured with screws and then the front half can be done the same.
the next thing i neede to do was mount the tail finon the right side of the fuse so the tailrotor can be on the left side. unfortunately, the fuse comes molded to accomodate the tail configuration of the machines it was designed for and this isnt the scale configuration for most fuses. since i am using a belt driven tail mechs, flipping the tail is fairly simple. now i have to redo the fuse to match.
a little glasswork was needed here so i cut og the bulge with the flat spot that is the fin mount and used plywood, epoxy and filler to make up the same arrangement on the other side. as for where the tail rotor comes out, i now glass that whole opening closed and will cut the new hole with my dremel. some construction paper is also used to help mold the new contours into the fairing whenre the fin willbe mounted.
issue 3. i have built dozens of the funkey fuses to date and have never used any of the vertical fins suplied. why? they are all wrong!! not one is shaped right. (i do have to say though that the 50 size md 500 series fuses' vert fins seem to have changed that. they look flawless in shape and size to my uncalibrated eye )
anyway i have a box overflowing with unused vertical fins from many of the 30 size fuses and some 50 and 60 sizes as well. (all funkey)
no worries though, they are easy to make. i laminate balsa with that paper thin plywood/birch. before the other side of birch is glued in place, i route the channels for light wires and tail skids. i have tried running wires thru the fiverglass fins and it isnt a fun job. not to mention the threading in of tailskids seem only to hold up a short time and can easily break if it was called on to do its job.
here are some pics, more to come.
       
drive a rotary, fly a rotorcraft |
