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

[gunny11]

And I got to see what they looked like out in natural light today.

[MarnochS]

Nice and easy simulation

[gunny11]

Thanks Scot... Once I got into a rhythm it went pretty fast. Doing one at a time from start to finish (which was a lot slower to do) I drew all the lines first, tacked the strip down and then a swipe of the iron, move to the next one. Then trim them all and seal the ends.

[blake]

Gunny,

That looks so "real" from a distance, well done!

Blake

[gunny11]

Thanks Blake!

[gunny11]

So, got bored sitting around doing nothing during the corona virus epidemic... I wanted to spruce up the corrugations a little more. I wanted to give it a more 3D look. So, I came up with a simple optical illusion. I used a black dry erase marker and drew a line up against the edges of the strips of covering. Then I wiped away what would come off. When it was all done I went back with acetone to clean it up a little more. It (the ink) does stick well to the edge of the covering material.




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[gunny11]

Here is what it looks like out at the field Yesterday! I didn't add them to the bottom of the ailerons and the bottom of the elevators.

[JimD]

"I didn't add them to the bottom of the ailerons and the bottom of the elevators."

...slacker :-)

[gunny11]

When parked you don't see them anyway, lol

[gunny11]

So, after 6 months of hibernating... I got out to the field yesterday to try out the vortex generators and stall fences.
Well, the stall fence stayed put didn't vibrate and didn't fall off. They held on tight at full speed, spins etc, etc.
As far as performance, I first thought they would just be a cool factor only until the wind became steady straight down the runway at about 5 mph. Up high I put in 20° of flap and was able to literally park it into the wind with zero forward speed and still have aileron control. Before these mods I couldn't do it. I actually yelled out to a club member to "Check this out!"
Now as far as stall speed at landing, very hard to notice the small percentage but it looks like it dropped 1 mph. I know "Big Deal" Whoopie Doo! However, I had better aileron control at the higher angle of attack near the stall speed. Ooh, Now I'm very impressed. I even did a tail wheel landing that made me giggle... I touched down on the tail wheel only and carried a little power rolling the tail wheel for 10 feet before letting it settle onto the main wheels.
Pros: The vortex generators keep the airflow attached to the wing further back at higher angles of attack, thus better lift & aileron control at slower speeds.
Cons: The vortex generators do create drag and the top end speed drop is slightly noticeable. But hey, This aircraft doesn't need to go 80 mph, it's a tug for me and I still can climb vertically. Who knows, this might actually be a good thing for aerotowing.

[gunny11]

And four more glory shots.

[stevekremer]

looks good Gunny.

[Jeff D]

Nice effect Gunny.

[Gordon McLean]

Looks great Gunny...I remember Graeme Mears had these on one of his 1/3 scale Super Cubs.

Did you print these?

[gunny11]

the vortex generators are laser cut from .015" thk. G-10. I had inquired about having them 3D printed, but the curved base was an issue and it would have to be 3 times thicker so they wouldn't break so easy. The best would have been to have them injection molded.

[gunny11]

Amazing what a little paint can do. Painted the wheel hub with Krylon Fusion spray paint (made for plastics). "Metallic Shimmer" Just happened to have this can laying around... The hub was black molded plastic. I also painted the back side of the hub and the tail wheel hub too.

[ARUP]

Great stuff, Gunny! Scale details are like Lay's potato chips.. you can't have just one (detail)!

[gunny11]

So they opened up our flying fields on Long Island a moth ago and the silver wheel hub looks great! One member commented, "You put on different wheels?" "Nope, Just a little bit of paint added."

[gunny11]

So, during the stay at home demand from the Gov. I upgraded my instrument panel. I ordered switches and dials etc. Well, I basically ordered the Grumman Lynks kit from I fly Tailies without the panel and laid out my own panel and lower instrument decals. Laser cut the panel out of wrinkled textured plastic sheet. What do you think?

[Stew2]

Looks great Gunny!! Always impressive work!

[gunny11]

Thank you!