Airwolf Beta builders wanted

Darwin

Member
Sep 26, 2005
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Idaho Falls, ID
OK...I think I get it. Once part 3 is assembled, the central portion of the part needs to be cut away so the wheel can be fit into it. Part 3, as we have assembled it, is the equivalent of a solid forging, when must then have the hell milled out of it before it can mate to the rest of the assembly. I agree that part 4 is a serious gilding of the lily, and should be eliminated....the only purpose it would serve is to strengthen what remains of part 3 after making the cutout, and that will be needed only if one trys to make the wheel movable (which I doubt is practical, since the parts fit so closely). One comment, as long as you're redesigning the nose wheel. As currently designed, the attachment to the fuselage is extremely fragile. I propose designing a "socket" into the nose of the fuselage (way back in step 1) and extending the length of part 1 of the nose gear so that the nose wheel assembly can be plugged into the socket and held rigidly in place. The knuckle of the nose wheel assy seems to be strong enough as is. I will post a pic of my current version of the nose gear spitwad as soon as I get it downloaded from my camera (good think I bought plenty of AA bateries).
 

silverw

Member
Mar 15, 2004
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Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
members.shaw.ca
nose gear

Through the miracles of modern sergery...the part still lives

nosepart3sm.jpg


The part could be built if theextra material is left to hold it while you are making it.
 

Darwin

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Sep 26, 2005
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Idaho Falls, ID
Sorry about the quality of the photo, but the surgeon was faced with a fairly nasty mess before starting.



I am not deep in thought.....I just glued my fingers to my chin.
 

silverw

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Mar 15, 2004
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gear

Where there is a Will, there's a way!

Actually Will, your post is quite valuable..... I never really thought about making part by leaving some material attached until assembled. Sort of like removing the sprue fron a plastic(shudder) part!

When I disected that conglomeration of parts that I had stuck together...and trimmed out the center of the fork part....it cut quite nicely....I think thats the trick, Darwin..... let it dry REALLY good before the surgery!

Now that I see where we are going, Will.... I think your revised fork part would be the easiest to construct!

Darwin, your "socket" for the nose gear, could be just a thick walled roll, inserted into the fusilage...then a short, snug-fitting rod, connecting the cylinder of the nose gear to the socket..... it could even be left "poseable"...
 

Darwin

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Sep 26, 2005
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Idaho Falls, ID
The rolled tube is the idea for the socket...however, it needs some internal bracing (read that as fuselage keel) to keep it from becoming too wobbly and easily torn off the model. Keep in mind that joint is going to have to bear a fairly substantial amount of weight, especially if a detailed interior is added. Four decades of engineering experience is telling me that, as designed, that joint is not going to hold up well or very long.
 

Willja67

Member
Feb 12, 2005
154
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Grantsville,Utah
One thing that may serve to make the whole thing stronger is the fact that the hydraulic cylinder on the nose gear is substantially thicker than on the mains. For some reason in all the studying of the nose gear prior to designing it I thought it was essentially the same as the mains just smaller. Now that I realize what it really looks like I can understand why I had such a devil of a time trying to make it look good. I will design the socket you want Darwin and I'm close to having the skeleton done so I'll send it all out at the same time.
 

Darwin

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Sep 26, 2005
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Idaho Falls, ID
Another one ready for the display shelf.....way in the back of the shelf (haste makes for a sloppy build). This has been fun....thanks for having the internal fortitude do the beta build in a public forum.

 

Willja67

Member
Feb 12, 2005
154
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Grantsville,Utah
Thank you for taking the time to build it. Just one note though. The arms that I used to be part of m6 before the revisions are supposed to go on top of the hub not the underside as you have them. I know you think the nose wheel needs some additional strength but what about the mains? Will they hold up?
 

Darwin

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Sep 26, 2005
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Idaho Falls, ID
Yes...I think the mains have enough gluing surface that they will hold up. It helps that they glue to parts backed by poster board, so have the required rigidity. (After taking the photo, I managed to drop the model. One of the mains did take a bit of damage, but it was the knuckle joint that unglued, not the attachment to the body.) I acknowledged the rotor head was upside down in an earlier post....just that I was d*****d if I was going to reattempt that fiddly little lacy cutout until I have my hands on the colored version (HINT HINT HINT).
 

allhallowseve

Member
Jul 13, 2005
357
1
16
Nicly done Darwin !! i myself am little behind on the the landgear and rototer the body all built and if my camar would work right i'd post the pic i have of it but there's a problum with program do to my d drive crashing i need take all my fileout and burn them so this can get fix soon before i lose all my papermodel :(

hopefully post pic soon

Christmas is comeing and i need a new hard drive !!!!
 

Willja67

Member
Feb 12, 2005
154
6
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44
Grantsville,Utah
I was going to send out a questionaire about the build and what you guys thought of the model but I'm too lazy for that. If you guys could just send me your evaluation of the model(or post it here) specifically what needs to be fixed or iimproved I would appreciate it.

I have designed the internal framework for the model and will be sending that out soon. Although I don't expect you all to build the model again I would appreciate it if you evaluate the frame and tell me if you think it will work.
 

Willja67

Member
Feb 12, 2005
154
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Grantsville,Utah
Okay I beleive that I have sent the revisions to all the Beta Builders. If you didn't get them holler.

I didn't send instructions so I'll give them here. As you may have noticed some parts got relabled. Like before these parts need to be laminated on thicker cardstock

F1 is the spine of the model. First slide F2(formerly(he he he) 1b) onto the front of F1 then install F3 (1c), F4 (1d), F8(2a), and F9 (new part) by sliding into the slots in F1(F9 buts onto the back of F1).

Next install F6 by sliding into the slots on F2, F3 F4, and F8.

F5 is the old 1a with an addition. Score along the top of the old part and fold the new portion down so it rests on the horizontal front portion of F1, while the original portion butts onto the front of F1.

F7 are the equivalent of the nose wheel well walls and help make the "socket Darwin requested. N1 goes between the two F7's (one side of N1 is longer than the other). This assembly then glues between F5 and F6. I know this is a case of a round peg in a square hole but I think it works and it was simple.

N2 replaces #1 (refering to the nose gear part number post) and N3 replaces #2. The arrow on N2 points to the top of the cylinder as it will be when rolled and installed. N3 glues to the bottom of N2, and the rest of the nose gear is the same as the original(note that Airwolfs nose wheel is a freely castoring assembly).

F11 is the support for the wings on the tail boom and is designed to be installed after the tail boom is in place. I don't know how effective it will be and your comments are desired.

F12 is unaltered and cannot be installed until the fuselage has been skinned. F10 is a new piece that installs at the aft end of the tail rotor driveshaft fairing(3a is still needed).

I'm sure some confusion is inevitable so ask about what I did not make clear enough(this post will only be meanigful for the beta builders).
 

allhallowseve

Member
Jul 13, 2005
357
1
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Question do you have a pic of the rotor sprated i'am haveing a problum see were they go i finshed the tail and the nose landing gear the rotor and 2 wheel left to go Sorry i'am behind on it between work , christmas , and the dam snow storm i had very little time to breath i still have pic to post if i can get the program to work with out freezing the computer again ha ha ha!!
 

Willja67

Member
Feb 12, 2005
154
6
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44
Grantsville,Utah
Airwolf is getting teeth

Being the incurable perfectionist that I am I couldn't resist the ever present temptation of designing the guns and rocket launcher for the model( How can Airwolf be Airwolf without any weapons?). The biggest problem I face is designing the tiny little gun barrels. Does anyone have a good way of designing small cylinders? I have Rhino and it will unroll the barrels just fine but I'm wondering if it's good to add a tab or something like that? Also since the barrels are retractable how would you guys suggest doing that, meaning that they get thicker towards the base of the barrel?
 

Willja67

Member
Feb 12, 2005
154
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44
Grantsville,Utah
I have been working on it fairly constant but not very fast lately. The weapons are now completed and at silverw's request the cockpit is underway and perhaps 75% done. I have to admit my enthusiasm for this project is waning. I'm considering right now just finishing it without the cockpit(or with what is ready) and sending it to the painter.
 

GyverX

New Member
Jun 23, 2004
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knoxville, TN
www.matrixlair.com
You could allways leave out the cockpit and leave it to the constuctive people, kind of like the same concept as the fidlersgreen models and the cub and what not. Its an idea but I understand your waning. Its been a long project for ya :)