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Thread: Building a Fokker D VII

  1. #101
    Here is the start of the vertical stabilizer. The first thing that got done was the small tube was welded to two sleeves. You have to get the angle just right as the two larger tubes slip through these sleeves and must meet at the right point. The apex gets bolted to a Fokker clamp that rides on the front cross member of the horizontal stabilizer. The rear bolts in at the top of that upright bracket at the tail post. I hope this weekend to make the two 1 mm brackets that get welded at the upper and lower terminus of the V.S. so that I can then mount the rest of the rudder gap filler. There is also two 10mm X 2MM bolt sleeves that get welded across those two ends. The upper one is for mounting stabilizing wires and a rudder hings and the lower is for mounting to the fuselage and a rudder hinge bolt.
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  2. #102

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    Looks good, and a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  3. #103
    10/24, Well it needs some cleaning up and to be trimmed but here is the vertical stabilizer. I know they are poor pics but today I welded on the U shaped bracket top and bottom and then a 10 X 2 mm bolt sleeve was through at both locations. I think I am going to move the fuselage up into the ceiling so I can start making the horizontal stabilizer, rudder, and elevator next. I already made these four tail feather pieces once before in aluminum but was not satisfied with the structural integrity of tube and rivet construction for a 2,000 lb plane with 1,000 lbs of thrust.
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  4. #104

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    Hmmm, how much heavier is the steel for the horizontal stab/elevator in steel than aluminum?

    You may wind up stretching your engine mount a bit for W&B.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  5. #105
    I think it was 15% difference Frank. This plane is being built as it was 100 years ago. My bare engine though will be 200 lbs lighter. Then I get to add a few things like a battery and such that they didn't have in 1918. The pilot is the big weight difference but I am down from 279 to 239 and still dropping. Hahaha

  6. #106

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    I actually made a chart for W&B on my Nieuport to make things easy for myself:



    Yellow means that one is on the edge of CG envelope in the square, as the math did not match my chart perfectly.

    I cut it off at 200 pounds because I'm still well below it (though at one point I was 180 pounds!). Of note is that the pilot weight pushes the CG back far enough to matter. If I were a beefier fellow I'd have to add some weight to the nose.

    The first option would be to run a reinforcing sleeve through the axle or use a heavier gauge of tubing for it. I may wind up doing that anyhow if I bend this replacement. It's a sort of weakness in the design, and everyone I know has bent at least one in both the Graham Lee and Airdrome models. Butch told me to throw the supplied one away or sleeve it from the start, but what does he know? So what if he's been flying tube-and-gusset replicas for 25 years.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  7. #107

  8. #108
    Horizontal Stab progress

    11/5/17, No where near done with this piece but made more progress today. First I cut and jigged up the leading edge tubing which is the smaller tube at the front of the triangle.
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    Next I welded up two more of the short riblets making four to chose two from. I notched the two that I chose and they are now jigged up at the back corners of the triangle (third pic) and are only about 9 1/2" long.
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    Third I welded up another medium sized riblet (the two thin tubes welded to the short piece large 37mm tubing (sleave). I wasn't happy with this one and welded a third. You can see these medium riblets in the first pic.
    Fourth pic is of the simple fixture for welding up the medium and long riblets. I may weld up a fourth medium one before resetting the fixture for the longest riblets that get welded to sleaves. More rain tomorrow so I should get close to slipping the sleaved riblets over the leading inner frame tubes. If I'm lucky may do some tack welds.
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  9. #109

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    Yet another dumb question! The coping at the end of the large tubes isn't quite flush, as if the one the elevator attaches to is a bit too short. Am I missing something?
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  10. #110
    Frank,

    The spar tube isn't too short as it is cut to length. The 45* tube is long. I am getting smarter with more experience, It is hard to weld on an edge without melting away base material. The spar tube (90* cut) is actually thicker at the welding point and easier to weld than the piece that was notched on the 45*. If I had thought about it I would have left them both long until the corner is all welded up. To answer your question briefly, the excess will be trimmed later.

    Glad you are getting your mug back in the wind with BeBe before winter.

    Jim

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