Airdrome Aeroplanes 75% Fokker Dr1

[flyvulcan]

As if I don't have enough on my plate (Komet jet build in Australia and Lightning Bug rebuild in the US), I've now started an Airdrome Aeroplanes 75% Fokker Dr1 triplane here in the desert of the Middle East to help pass the time here. I am building the aircraft in partnership with a fellow Ozmate who is flying for a local airline. To view information about the kit, check out the Airdrome Aeroplanes website at Airdrome Aeroplanes ~ Holden, MO

 

Our first build session only lasted 1 hour and we knocked up a jig for the rudder. We traced a full sized template onto a sheet of MDF and cut some small blocks which we screwed to the pattern to hold the aluminium tubing in place.

 

 

The next day, we marked and drilled the required holes in the rudder main spar for the ribs and rudder bow. After drilling the holes, we filed them to tidy them up and removed all burrs in and around the holes. This took around 2 hours. Robert Baslee who sells the kit does this all in a much shorter timeframe, but we were being quite pedantic about alignment of the holes, and finishing/deburring of all holes. We want to do this build as well as possible.

 

 

 

 

All holes are now finished. All ribs and bows fit nicely into their slots.

 

Next, we will bend up the bow and attach all ribs/bows to the spar.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

I love starting new projects, hate finishing them

 

 

[AVOCET]

I

 

I love starting new projects, hate finishing them

I hate starting , love finishing :

Reminds me of the scripture :

 

The end of the matter is better than the start thereof .

 

 

[dazza 38]

I like their Sopwith Pup and their new SE5a kit.

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Today, we spent two hours bending the rudder bow. We started by making two wooden formers, one with a 24" diameter and one with 12" diameter. We then bent up the bow, making sure we kept the bend in 2 dimensions and not 3. There was a bit of too-ing and fro-ing as we had to make some parts of the bow with smaller and larger radii.

 

After bending up the bow, we trimmed the ends to slot into the holes we had cut into the rudder spar to secure the bow ends into. We filed a radius onto the ends of the bow so that the ends would snug up against the ID of the spar.

 

When the bow was sorted, we trimmed the 3 ribs to length and then radiused the ends to fit inside the spar tube at one end, and against the rudder bow at the other.

 

So after a bit of bending, hacksawing and filing, we now have all our rudder pieces fitting together and looking like it should. It's now ready to install the hinges and cleco together in readiness for pulling apart and prepping for final assembly.

 

 

 

 

[flyerme]

Good job, and good choice ! I should like to build the eindeckrr -

 

so I can have some one fly it whilst I shoot them down in my nieuport! Lol

 

 

[flyvulcan]

If we can get the Fokker built in time and shipped back to Oz, it sounds to me that we need to meet in the skies over NatFly/AusFly in 2016 to determine who is the master of the skies.

 

The challenge is on!

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Actually, I just noticed that you are based in Sherlock, SA. The Fokker, when it arrives in Oz will be based at Goolwa so perhaps it will be Nieuport versus Fokker over Lake Alexandrina!

 

 

[flyerme]

Sounds like a plan , even though I stand no chance!lol

 

 

[flyerme]

And I must say , it would be AWESOME having another rep so close.. Can't wait:helmet:

 

 

[flyvulcan]

I agree, it would be awesome to have our own little SA based WW1 squadron!

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Today, I tidied up the four hinge fittings for the rudder. They came in the kit as pieces cut from stock and I had to file and sand the ends to remove the scarring from where the stock was cut. All four pieces are now smooth with no scarring.

 

 

I then needed to cut a slot in one of the hinges that would mount to the base of the rudder spar. The slot is to allow the rudder bow to pass through the hinge into the spar.

 

 

After that, I drew the gusset pattern onto the .020" sheet, then cut out the pattern using tin snips. I rounded the ends on a belt sander and then finished them off by filing and sanding the edges to remove all burrs and scarring from the tin snips. They are now ready to be drilled and bent.

 

 

 

[bexrbetter]

As if I don't have enough on my plate (Komet jet build in Australia and Lightning Bug rebuild in the US), I've now started an Airdrome Aeroplanes 75% Fokker Dr1 triplane here in the desert of the Middle East to help pass the time here.

Fokker hell.

 

Actually, I just noticed that you are based in Sherlock, SA. The Fokker, when it arrives in Oz will be based at Goolwa so perhaps it will be Nieuport versus Fokker over Lake Alexandrina!

I'll run the barby under the bridge and shout the beers.

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Fokker hell.

That's what the pilots of the opposing Nieuports, Spads and Sopwith Camels and Pups will be saying in 2 years time!

 

In the meantime for me, it's Fokker relaxing to go out and work on it.

 

 

[flyerme]

What the Fokker ! :no no no:In 2 years time I will have accumulated enough kills to be an ACE, you may out perform and out gun me but all them kill stickers I will stick on will surley make me a formidable opponent?

 

Ahh who am I kidding:surrender:

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Ahh who am I kidding:surrender:

Who are we both kidding? With my deteriorating eyesight, I'd probably be lucky to see anyone, let alone shoot anyone down! And I haven't pulled 6g for a few years now, I'd probably black out in a 30 degree turn... Oh I hate getting old...

 

 

[flyvulcan]

I started today with fabricating the gusset between the rudder main spar and the rib to which the rudder bell crank is mounted. This gusset is made from .020" flat sheet, about 6" x 3". I wrapped a sheet of paper around the rear spar at the rib location to determine the flat plate distance from one side of the rib, around the back side of the spar to the other side of the rib. I then marked this distance on the gusset plate equidistant from the centre of the plate. These two lines would be bend lines.

 

I wrapped the plate around the rear spar to get the correct diameter for the gusset, then bent the gusset at the two bend lines that I had drawn on it. Once bent, I then trimmed the gusset sides to shape using tin snips.

 

I then marked the gusset for where I needed to drill it to mount. I then clamped this gusset to the spar/rib, ensuring correct alignment of the rib and drilled the spar and rib, then clecoed the gusset in place.

 

 

 

 

I next checked the location for the rudder bellcrank and drilled the mounting holes in the bellcrank.

 

 

Then I clamped the bellcrank in place and drilled the mounting holes through the rib to mount the bellcrank.

 

 

 

That was it for today. There was the usual deburring, filing, sanding etc. and it was a very pleasant 2.5 hours for me.

 

 

[flyvulcan]

After yesterday's session, I decided I needed to figure out how to bend the gussets better and more easily. After a bit of thought, I came up with an idea (I should have simply asked someone experienced!). Anyway, I had a 4"x4" block about 15" long with a V shaped groove cut into it that I was using as a jig to hold tubing while I drilled it on the drill press. I used this block as a base for my "bending tool". I bought a 12" length of 1" diameter copper pipe to use to wrap the gusset around.

 

I simply clamped one end of the copper pipe into the groove and placed the gusset that needed to be bent across the groove in the 4x4 under the tube, making sure the bend line was parallel to the pipe/groove. I then pressed down on the free end of the pipe which pushed the gusset down into the groove and the gusset formed around the pipe. To finish the bend, I clamped the free end of the pipe into the groove, then used my hands to bend the gusset further around the pipe until the required arc was completed.

 

Here are some pics that might explain it better.

 

 

 

Once the gusset had been radiused, I then had to put two small bends into it to complete its shape. I used two wood formers clamped into a vise with a suitable bend radius sanded onto the bending corner.

 

 

With the gusset all bent up, I used the same technique as for the gusset in the above post to secure the gusset in place. I needed to ensure that the ribs were perpendicular to the spar and that all the ribs were aligned in the same plane. Here are the pics from that excercise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was 2 more hours of fun!

 

 

[flyvulcan]

I had a brief foray into the workshop yesterday. I share a buddies workshop and he is building an RV7. I ended up bucking rivets for him for longer than I worked on my own project, but hey, that's what this aircraft building gig is all about; camaraderie and helping each other out.

 

I disassembled all the ribs from the spar so I could lay the spar back into its jig and confirm the marks on the rudder bow where the bow will be attached to the top of the spar. Once I had done this, I placed a 1/2" drill bit inside the cutout in the top of the rudder spar around which I could bend the top of the spar to flatten it against the drill bit (which simulated the rudder bow). I initially placed the tip of the spar in a vice with some cloth to protect the aluminium and squeezed the sides together in the vice. This worked pretty well on a rough level but left a small amount of scarring on the aluminium which I wasn't pleased about. The cloth was supposed to prevent that.

 

After the rough flattening of the spar end around the drill bit, I needed to finish the bending of the spar sides over the drill bit. My clever RV7 builder mate suggested I use his rivet gun to tap it into shape. Well, that technique worked a treat and the top of the spar was bent nicely around the drill bit. Now I didn't make it a tight fit over the drill bit as I wanted to check the alignment of the bow through the slot, so I then placed the spar into its jig, slotted the bow into the slot in the top of the spar, installed the ribs into their slots in the spar (but without their gussets holding them in place).

 

It was at that point that I was sidetracked into the riveting job and I didn't get back to completing my task of finishing the join of the spar and bow. There is still a little tapping to do of the spar sides to bring it in flush with the bow tube, as can be seen on the following photos. That will only be a few minute job at the start of my next session.

 

 

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

This is fantastic info for anyone interested in these kits, thanks for posting fv!

 

 

[flyvulcan]

My pleasure GG. If anyone can learn from what I'm posting, that's great.

 

Whilst I've only got the tailplane kit so far, I'm sure the same techniques will be used on the rest of the aircraft. It's a very straightforward build process, but it's the little tricks that I am learning that will make the process easier. No doubt, I'll find better ways to do it along the way and I'll pass those on.

 

In the meantime, I'd better get back into the workshop!

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Today I fabricated the gussets that hold the rudder bow to the front side of the spar as well as the gussets for connecting the ribs to the bow.

 

As usual, the gussets started as sheet that I had to cut to shape, bend, trim, file, drill, sand and mount. Then came the dis-assembly and deburring. It was a little challenging in that the plans do not call for gussets on all these joints so we did not have drawings for the gussets. Some of the joints, according to the plans, call for a dowel to be inserted into the end of the rib or bow, and then a hole is drilled through the bow to put a wood screw through the bow wall and into the dowel in the end of the rib. In our opinion, this technique is not the best to hold the frame together, hence our move to gussets on all joints.

 

Here are the pics from today's work.

 

Firstly, fabricating the gussets:

 

 

Then mounting them:

 

 

 

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Today, I finished the lower rudder rib/bow gussets with the usual, draw it, cut it rough, drill it, fit it, remove it, trim it, file sand and deburr, refit it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

Some of those joints seem like they would be a whole lot easier TIG welded?

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Some of those joints seem like they would be a whole lot easier TIG welded?

They probably would be!

 

The technique to make these joins as recommended by the manufacturer is a very quick and simple process. However, while it is quick and simple, we as the builders and ultimately the fliers of this aircraft want to have 100% confidence in the integrity of our aircraft and we did not feel that the manufacturers quick and easy gave us that confidence. I suspect that welding these joints would probably take a similar amount of time to the technique we are using but with the thin walled aluminium tube that is used, I would anticipate a high risk of encountering problems using the welding technique. While the gussets technique that we are using looks quite labour intensive, now that I have experience in how to do it, it is going together much more quickly.

 

Welding would require getting hold of a welding system, setting up jigs, being super careful during the welding process of thin walled aluminium (not easy from what I have read), annealing all the joints after, hoping that alignment is maintained throughout the entire process...

 

That's way too hard for a simple bloke like myself ... That said, I shall probably learn to weld steel for my next project (after the Komet, Lightning Bug and Fokker that is ).