1923 B3 'Charlotte II' in 1:3 Scale

[lenb]

Super Michael.

See you in a few weeks in Indiana...

[DennisB]

I think Michael may have some sort of family connection with Fred China, what else would explain the sort of subjects and engineering genius behind builds such as this one. I'm going to have to travel east to absorb some of the "zen" happening on these models.

[ARUP]

Thanks for the comments and interest! DennisB, the Asiago book is pretty neat! You won't regret getting it. I hope you bring your Super Dimona to the next Horizon aerotow. I'd like to see it up close and personal! Mike, I just like to build and do whatever it takes to get the job done. I really appreciate your compliment!

I finished the main body of the fuselage frame and now have to add the upper center section pylon. It fairs into the fuselage rearward and becomes a knife edge. I may make the fin removable to try flight without it as was done with this bird 'back in the day'!



I have the door opening framed in place. There are gentle curves everywhere on this fuselage so it is a little trickier to build than it appears. Great care used to keep the tailpost slots accurate. The perimeter of the frame will get a good truing with the 'T' bar sander. More to come. Good night!

[yyz]

Yes, simply amazing. Everything about this build is a masters class. Truly inspirational!

Thanks Michael

Mike

[DennisB]

Michael, I might have to go the Horizon Aerotow to see the Charlotte, this build is amazing. And I don't know how it got by me but I just ordered this book from Cumulus Soaring, I thought I had them all but I missed this latest from Vincenzo Pedrielli.

[ARUP]

Shop time... four aerotows later! I ain't complainin', though. The Charlotte fuselage is being built inverted.The center pylon/ headrest will get added later. Side views were used to get the forward curved top decking packing supports fabricated. Forward longeron bows are laminates of 1/16" balsa cut in the proper radius and laminated with CF and epoxy. They were built up to a 3/8" square cross section. This needs to be strong because the tow release will anchor at this area. The fuselage formers are simple rectangles. They are getting 3/8' balsa added to their perimeter edges. The lower longerons (upper in picture) will get laminated in place this weekend.

[ingrahal]

I did the same thing on the Cherokee. N72DG had the rudder cables coming out through slits in the covering. I used string to determine where the exits would be and noted the measurements. Then after covering I new exactly where to cut the slits.

[ARUP]

Ain't it the truth! We need to get the aerotowing fever started around here. I'll have to have a look at some of your Klemm documentation. That's easily worth a family pizza night out and beer, right?
I have been busy! Fairleads for the control cables were made from brass tube, bent and support structure cut and everything epoxied. The rib that these attach was re-inforced with 1/32" ply. Cable exits were built. I used short segments of fishing line connected to the control surface horns in order to get the exits placed correctly. Fiddly but easy enough!

[Dion Dunn]

Kelly, you and I continue down this strange long lost brother path. I have more websites and documentation saved for a planned Klemm build than you can imagine. I've temporarily shelved the plans to focus on the Sparmann mainly because I found so many Klemm-modelled examples already out there I started to want something even more different than the Klemm. However, I still love the design and think one would make a great tow plane - and you know we need a good one around here.

[ARUP]

Jason, I hope you build AND fly a scale sailplane soon! It's so much fun! I hope I can do the Klemm justice. A little more work has been done on the Charlotte II. A jig for setting the hinge height off the table has been made along with a jig to set the gap of the LE of the control surfaces from the TE of the wing. A center rib was reinforced to carry the hinge more robustly where the control surfaces horns are located. Cap stripping has commenced. Once they are on and the paint dries on the hinges and horns then they can be installed so the pull-pull cable exits can be fashioned.

[Spookyeng]

Thanks Michael. Looks like the Klemm will be going to a good home! Very interesting wing shape, I like it, a lot! I think I may buy a glider kit to build once we get settled. I may never fly it, but it sure would be fun to build! Talk to you soon! Keep up the great work!

Jason

[ARUP]

Here are construction pictures of the right wing. Spar anchors are marine plywood. These hold the diagonal spars for the extended portion of the wing. Once done both wings will get some glassing of these joints to really tie the diagonal spars to the main spars. The root rib is 1/4" marine ply and has to be hand fitted to the spar ends. They are left removable for now so the bell cranks for the control surfaces can get fitted to them later. After a nice long meticulous 'T' bar sanding session the false LE strips got attached. The straight edge was used to insure they remained fair.

[ARUP]

Hey... thanks for checking in here! Can't wait to get the Klemm and build it for motor-gliding and towing. I have a remote starter unit that can get fit to the gasoline powered engine that I'll put on it, too!
Here is the basic left wing structure... all 87" of it!

[Spookyeng]

Looks great Michael, I am looking forward to following along!

[ARUP]

The front spar is parallel to the board but the rear spar isn't. The shear webs get custom fitted into the rear spar incrementally as the spruce was bent to be level with the board for the outer extended portion of the wing. It wasn't a difficult thing but just tedious. The 'angled' spars were fitted and measured for shear webbing. Again, another simple but tedious process. There was a lot of measuring going on to keep everything aligned! The TE with gussets got installed. The false LEs with gussets got installed. The tip with gussets got installed. Epoxy used here. CF tow will get added later.