Are you Dawn Patrol pilots still out there? How about some more pictures of your warbirds? I will post some of mine as soon as build something worthy. The planes that are posted so far are amazing!! Keep sending them!! It's almost as fun to look at cool warbirds as it is to fly them. Well maybe not that much fun but when the weather isn't cooperating it's all I've got!!!

Still waiting for the wind to die out so my Fokker triplane can take to the skies and hunt for Sopwiths and Spads!!!

I just dug out my plans. They're from a Flying Models article. Designer was Bryce Petersen. Wing span is about 38" , area 880 sqs, weight six lbs. Since the r/c equipment shown is ORBIT I'm betting a LiPo powered electric could beat tht weight.

My juices are starting to run, but I've got to built a couple of transportable planes first.
WT

Hey Walt,are those 38" plans for a Fokker DR1? If it is that would be a great size for a triplane. But man, cutting out all those wing ribs would be very time consuming!! What do you cut yours with? I'm new to the scratchbuilding part so I was wondering if you had any time saving tips on parts cutting that you would be able to share? I love building kits but I have avoided building WWI planes, (especially triplanes because of all the ribs!!) because I don't know a good precise way to cut them. What are you thinking that you might use for power? I know, I know, I ask too many questions but I'm on a quest for knowledge!!! And you sound like you have alot of experience.

Sorry I wasn't more clear; yes, the plans are for a DR1 Triplane. The nice thing about the DR1 is that all the ribs are the same. I'll make a pair of templates out of either ply, aluminum or bakelite; rough the ribs out on a band saw and then sand to the final air foil. The templates take more tme than the ribs.

If the Axi I have in my just finished Sea Fury (may test fly it later today) proves out I'll probably go with one in the DR1. An outrunner in a model of a rotary engined airplane seems natural (-:
WT

Thanks for filling me in Walt! I would be very interested to see pics when it's complete!! I have three rc fokker triplanes, and about seven plastic kits in various scales. Along with 3-4 books on Fokker triplanes. I really enjoy watching my triplanes fly around in the sky. Some of the other guys I fly with though think the only "cool" planes are overpowered 3D planes. I have a couple of those too and they're fun but they're not triplanes!!!!

I just finished my Direct Connections Sea Fury. Will test it as soon as the winds die down. It is done in the "Furias" Reno Racer color scheme (do a Yahoo search for Furias flies again and you can get a good look at it) I was going to start on some easily transported planes for next year's vacation, but looking at that Tripe is changing my mind (-:

I made a flying club summer meeting (I usually can't because of work, but I was on vacation), when I put the Camel up everything stopped and when I landed (without tipping over!) I was surrounded by club members who hadn't seen it before. Feels good!
WT

Studied my DR1 plans last night. I was wrong about the ribs --- there are three different types. It's a real builders plan as the construction article says things like "build the fuselage sides on a flat surface." There are very few wood dimensions given. It uses 1/8 sheet sides rather than a built up fuselage --- quick, but I gotta think about it.

I also noticed that there's no spring in the l/g, but I think I can use the basic idea in my Camel's gear for a bungee cord system (just like the full scale). I'll probably go with a pull/pull system for controls and make the rudder and horizontal stab removable for travel.

Guess, I'll take a few former and rib drawings to the copy shop and stop at the LHS for some balsa stock (unless I decided to raid a kit I'm no longer interested in building).

Whne I get going, I'll try to post some photos.
WT

Anybody else notice that we have more replies in our WWI thread than even the WWII guys? Pretty impressive!! And I thought that I was the only one interested in these "little pieces of history"!!!!

You know what they say two wings are better than one:)

Well, I've found enough wood in my stash for the fuselage sides, ribs and firewall. So I'm going for the Tripe.

I've studied the plans and come up with a few changes that reflect the 25 years since the plans were drawn. for example the dsign included a very complicated cable system for the ailerons since there were no servos that would fit in the win at that time. I'll go with the new Hitech thin wing servos like I've got in my Camel.

I'm still debating between the Axi 4120/18 and the 4130/16. The plans call for a 14 inch prop which looks pretty scale and either engine will spin one, albeit with quite a difference in the number of cells.

My building plan calls for cutting all 60 ribs from the same templates and then modifying then as needed for construction. This ensures conformity for the rib profile and reduces the number of labor intensive templates I'll need to make.

I guess, maybe you can tell I've really gotten into this project.

Oh yes, I found a really neat (and easy) color scheme that I've never seen before on a German site buried deep in Google's Fokker Dr.1 search results. If you find it great, but for now it's my secret. (-:
Walt

due to CG concern, you should take the 4130/1-, still batter than the 4120 + lead...:)

I used the 4130/16 on 6S with 14 *12 APC E or 15*10.

Walt: what is scale size for the prop?? mine is 30" and I used the 4130/20 on 20 cells and one of Tom Hunt's reduction drives 2 to 1... works great...

Thanks for the input on the Axi's. I guess it's pretty well settled; it'l be the 4130-16 unless I get a great deal on a 4120. The difference is three ounces.

I'll try to find an exact number on the prop's scale, but every photo I've looked at shows the prop extending from just below the top wing to just above the axle. On my plans that's 14 inches.

By the way, when I add in the ailerons the top wing comes out to 48 inches not the 38 I mentioned earlier (must've been tired, couldn't have been the after work beer).
WT

Just got back from flying my triplanes!! I took my brushless Kavan Fokker and my DV Flighttech Fokker. It's a great morning when you get to watch triplanes patrol the skies. I just changed my DV Flighttech Fokker DR1 over to brushless. I put a Fegio brushless in a GWS IPS gearbox, Castle Creations Phoenix 10 ESC, and a Thunder Power 2 cell 900mah lipoly. It gave it a power boost and going from a 300mah NiMh pack to a 900mah lipoly (with no weight gain), greatly increased my flight times!! If you have never taken a look at this small tripe go to dvflighttech.com and check it out!!! Pictures of mine are posted in the Gallery. Mines the "okay" looking red one. There are also some pretty cool videos of it flying both indoors and out. If you need a small WWI plane to fly indoors during the winter, this is it!!! Gary Villette, the designer of this plane has been a great guy to deal with. It's a fun semi-scale build of depron foam with a unique rare earth magnet wing strut system so if you have a bad landing you just snap the wings back on and live to fly another day!!! I can almost smell the castor oil now!!!!!!

Hey Walt, you putting that triplane together yet? Hope you'll post pictures of the build as you go. Interested to see how it's built.

I should have some photos to post on Tuesday. I kitted it last Friday and have the fuse 85% done; the horizontal stab built, but not sanded and the bottom wing ready for the trailing edge material.

It's been a bit of a tough build as there are no, none, nada instructions. You have to really study the plans and think about what you're doing to figure out what the designer intended. A real (but very enjoyable) challenge.
Walt

P.S I know it's the wrong site for this, but I maidened my Direct connections Sea Fury (finished as the Reno Racer Furias) today. 8.25 lbs, Axi 4130-20 on a 9S2P LiPo pack, 14/12 APCe prop. Real nice flier.

Where are those photos Walt??? Don't leave me hangin'!!!!!!! Post a thread for that Sea Fury too!! I'd like to see it.

Okay, Okay, I finally got a couple of photos of my progress on the DR.1. I've never posted photos before so i don't know what will happen.
there will be on of the rib template (I recut some bad ribs from another project) and on of the "kit". Nearly everything else is sheet or sticks.

I now have the fuse, all three wing and the horizontal stab framed. Unfortunately my digital camera is kaput so I'm using film which delays things.
Hope this works
Walt

Attachment 1132

Attachment 1133

Okay you asked for build photos: here are the results of eigh days of buildin (20 hrs)
#1 framed fuselage nopse view
#2 framed fuse vertical view if top
#3 vertical view of bottom
not simple formerless construction; light, but very strong. Partial bottom sheeting was added to stabilze the fuse until the top was fitted. Much strength gained frin the motor bulge.

#4 mid wing under construction, Bags are lead shot .
#5 top wing. Note simple 1/4 square jig undr rib trailing edge.
#6 three wing minus tips and ailerons for top.
#7 sophisticated engineering tool for scalloping trailing edges.
#8 tail group
# 9,10, 11 what it's all about <VBG>

Don't know what I did wrong, but I'll try again. maybe too much data for one post so I'll try breaking them into groups
Walt

Okay they're telling me the files are too big. Don't understand as the other pics were accepted. The difference is that I scanned these myself and the others were from a Walgreen's floppy. Guess I'll go back and re-scan at a lower rsolution and see if that works.
sorry about this.
WT

Dri
 

Walt please post your pics ASAP. I'm burnin to see the build. Marty

Now they're telling I need to manually resize. I've no idea and it's a beautiful day for flying. I'll fiddle with things later.
sorry,
Walt

Third time didn't work; going for four.

Anybody out there who can help me with my problem?

I resized the photo in photoshop. Followed the instructions under Advanced Post Manage attachments and didn;t even get an error message, but no photo on post. )-: