The Fun Begins Here.
After nearly a year away from the workbench, I needed to hone my building skills on a project other than the Stinson. I decided to build a Big Lazy Ace biplane from Skymaster Industries. Just before Christmas of 2001, I called to order a kit--only to find that Chuck Cunningham was only selling plans now. I ordered a set of plans just before Christmas, ordered some template material from See-Temp, and a box of balsa and ply from Balsa USA near the end of January, began making parts (with the help of fellow Sundowner, Walt Beike, near the end of February. Walt cut all the wing ribs and 1/4" ply parts for the project on his new bandsaw.
|
Once all the parts were cut out, I began with the tail feathers. I altered the shape and size of the fin and rudder. I changed the angle of the leading edge of the fin to fit the triangular stab, and changed the rudder to overhang the top of the fin.
|
With the thought of finishing the plane in pseudo-military colors, the stab and elevator parts more closely resembled those of a Stearman used to train the military pilots. The plans showed a single tapered balsa piece on the top of the structure to give it a bit of an airfoil. I added 4 extra false "ribs" to help support the covering. It turned out just fine.
|
The plans showed a 1/4" thick trusswork fuse, and called for the sides to be filled with 1/4" balsa sheets to about 2" rear of the single cockpit area. Vertical sheets of 3/16" balsa were to be used as forward fuselage doublers.
I substituted 1/4" square balsa sticks layed in an "X" pattern, then substituted 1/8" lite ply doublers, leaving open spaces between them for lite ply fuselage formers instead of the balsa ones.
|
Cutting lightening holes in the ply doublers helped keep the weight down, and looked plenty strong. Pieces of 1/4" plywood were added to the sides, in lieu of solid hardwood cabane blocks. The intention was to sheet the entire forward fuselage with 1/32" veneer plywood, once the foredeck and fuel bay hatch were framed.
|
Once the fuselage sides were framed, the firewall and lite ply bulkheads were epoxied in place. A BIG fuselage (7" wide and 11" tall at the firewall). Once the epoxy dried, it was just a matter of joining the tailpost and adding the balsa bottom sheeting to box in the rear of the fuselage.
Didn't want to bend the heavy piano wire for the mains and cabane work, so I recycled the heavy aluminum main gear strap from my demised giant Laser, cut it in half, and made my own two-piece main gear -- saving me about $40 for a single piece 7 1/2" wide gear strap.
|
Both wings use a common rib, and plans showed the final span to be 84". Since I never build exactly to plans, I cropped all four wing tips 2". I shortened the shear web spacing on the bottom wing (it builds from tip to center) and made two wing panels for the lower wing. Made the generous barn door ailerons as part of the structure, cut the dihedral by half, sheeted all, and added the wing tips. This resulted in a 75" span lower wing.
I then framed the (no dihedral) upper wing, changing the rib spacing to result in an 80" span. The ailerons on the upper wing are slaved from the lower wing servos, so that saved some work. The trailing edges of both wings were done in hardwood to keep the hangar rash to a minimum. All ailerons were cut out and finished after the completed airframe was jigged to the workbench and the strutwork was completed, just prior to covering.
|
Once the wing panels were framed, the bottom wing mounting plate was epoxied to the fuselage, bottom wing located and fastened, then it was time for the cabanes to mount the top wing. Walt helped with the design and fabrication of this part of the project. Soon, the cabanes were in place. Made from sheet aluminum and bolted in place, this save a lot wire bending and all the work associated with setting up wire cabanes. To me -- it looked better too.
After the cabanes were in place, I built an access hatch (not shown on the plans either) to gain access to the internal engine mounting bolts for the G-62 and maintenance on the fuel system.
|
Once the forward formers (including the rear cockpit former) were in place, and satisfied with the forward hatch, the entire front of the fuselage was sheeted with 1/32" plywood. The cockpit cutout was trimmed to shape, and the fuselage (IMHO) is much stronger than what was shown on the plans.
|
Although most of the Lazy Ace designs I have seen in the past don't use a cowl, per se, I ordered one from Fiberglass Specialties and it arrived only a few days later in a big cardboard box. After a couple hours of drawing lines and dremmelling, the cowl fit over the G-62 without having to remove the exhaust.
Not a lot of extra space in the front opening, but the cowl did compensate for the downthrust in the firewall and it centered on the prop shaft with just enough room so it doesn't rub.
|
The building room is too small to get a clear look at the completed airframe, so here it is on its first time under natural sunlight. Lots of trusswork still showing, but finally -- an idea of what supports the covering.
|
Eight days after covering began, I had worked my way through ten rolls of Ultra Cote film. The 12" roundrels are not decals or vinyl graphics. They are all cut from Ultra Cote. There are two of them on the lower surface of the bottom wing to match those on the top wing.
There is no red on the bottom wing. Instead there are three dark blue stripes, one of which is the fuselage color on the center of the wing. Test flights (4) were done around noon on June 23rd, in 96 degree temperatures with overcast skies. The bright yellow and dark blue stands out very well. Only a few clicks of trim were needed, and the G-62 ran without hesitation until I hit the kill switch. As of 9-17-02, the plane has a total of 20 flights on it. For more pics of the finished plane, click HERE . Thanks for your help on this project Walt. Sorry you missed the maiden flights, but you will have your turn on the controls real soon.
|
