1/3-Scale Cessna 185 ~ by Gunny Bumburs at Aviation Concepts

[gunny11]

oh and this one too for all us campers.

[Soaranator]

Beautiful project Gunny! Love the idea of airplane wilderness camping, perfect plane for it.

[gunny11]

Thanks and Yup, they don't need no stinking runways...

[gunny11]

Top structure continued with wing tube and root end cap.

[gunny11]

Laser cut 3/8" thick contest balsa corners are glued on.

[gunny11]

Continuing with the bottom fuse. corner sheeting. Rough shaping and sanding the contour.

[gunny11]

Landing gear cover plate.

[ARUP]

Really nice work! Seeing your Master Airscrew plane reminded me to tell you I bought myself a couple of new workshop tools...Lie Nielsen planes!

[advanfx]

Gunny,
Beautiful workmanship and detail photos. I really like the engineering thought with the tab lock construction on your kit. I see you will be using stock mufflers on yours but will one have an option to get a set of canisters installed? Can't tell from the photos so far if their would be room for them with the gear box.

[gunny11]

I never played with them, so no provisions made for Canisters. But I think it really can be done by the modeler.by using front dump style. See California Smelly Yak post #54 & 55. There is plenty of height between the bottom of the engine box and the landing gear former gussets.

[DustinI]

Beautiful! I really like the laser cut slots for the t-pins to go through and the flat spots for easy clamping of parts while the glue dries. Awesome work!

[gunny11]

Thanks Dustin, sometimes you see a better way to do things when you have all the parts in hand. Originally those gauges where from the front side without the T pin slots. Just before gluing in the first former, Duh, (smack head on forehead) I saw immediately what I needed to change to make things work out better.

[gunny11]

ARUP, Nice planes. I have 3 really tiny violin makers planes. The one in the front is 3/8" wide and plane up to an end of a slot because the blade is right on the leading edge. The one in the back is 1/2" wide and the blade is nearly vertical. More like a scraper. The one in the middle is 5/8" wide regular plane. Also a tiny Stanley one which is nice. But my first choice is the Master Airscrew because of the razor thin blade.

[gunny11]

Thanks guys for the compliments. Love interlocking tabs. They have been around for a long time. you know your parts in the right spot when things line up with tabs. Assuming things were designed right.
What's new in this kit is the use of 1/8" diameter dowel alignment pegs. Like the full scale they use cleako (sp?) pins like to hold sheet metal skins together for alignment. Well, these dowel pins will do the same thing like aligning a doubler into position when there is no references between the two mating parts except the laser drilled registration peg holes. The worst is when you epoxy two parts together and clamp on a couple of spring camps and the two parts slide and cure out of alignment.

[gunny11]

So one morning I had a Eureka Moment. The problem was how to accurately make a hole through the fuselage corner for the pull pull steering cables. Yes, I know you can butcher a 3" long slot, add a nyrod tube and putty the rest of the gap back closed. Here is what I came up with and I'll let the pictures do the explaining.

[gunny11]

And of coarse, the part that holds the brass drill guide tube has tabs on it. One on the former and one on the floor for that perfect alignment. Once your all done it simply snaps off via break away perforated slots.

[Swiss1]

Good Stuff Gunny

[Sinkhappens86]

That's slick Gunny, I like it.

[ARUP]

Nice! The drill fixture looks like a 'log' or stuffing tube for a boat's propeller shaft.