Bidule 170

[BobM]

Started working on the Bidule this week. I have quite a collection of hardwood and trip stock to use for reinforcing the fuselage. I am also going to use either carbon fiber cloth or fiberglass cloth to reinforce where the elevator/rudders attach to the fuselage in the rear.

Still sorting out the engine mount. I have a local metalworking business that does CNC work looking at my drawings to see if they can make the mount for me. I am also thinking of a simple black of hard maple as another option or ply plates glued with slow setting resin to the correct depth. I also have the round standoffs that can be inserted into the wood plate so there will be less crushing of the wood surfaces.

I made a drawing of the mount, somewhat complex, but it shows what I think would work out of solid aluminum that is then cnc milled properly.



The headers for the DA 170 arrived the other day. I talked with DA about them and they suggested using the KS Comfort Mount Headers, 28mm. These are 11" long as recommended by DA and have 2 portions of the header length that can be bent as needed. This should work to get the proper drop of about 120mm to 130mm for the canisters on the bottom of the fuselage.

I'll work on the fuselage and mount tomorrow and hopefully have some pictures to share tomorrow evening.

[gunny11]

Remember guys if you need any CNC cut ply engine spacers, let me know I can help.

Aviation Concepts

[BobM]

I started preliminary work on the Bidule 170 this week. I have been test fitting some of the various pieces and looking at where to reinforce with ply, balsa and hardwood tri stock, and also some carbon fiber cloth or fiberglass with slow setting resin.

Looks pretty good overall.

It is a big plane though. I have mounted the DA 170 temporarily and have the prop and 5" spinner in place to start making some measurements for the spacing from the firewall to the back of the engine mount.

​The DA 170 needs to have standoffs that place the back of the engine mount plate 1.625" from the firewall. I don't want to use individual standoffs due to the size and power of the engine as well as the distance from the firewall.

There are a couple solutions I have thought of so far, and I'm certain there are many others that you guys know that would probably work better than my ideas.

I found a company that makes custom made mounting standoffs: Blazing Star Products.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blazing-Star-Products/196888440362524?ref=profile

They produce CNC rectangular mount blocks for the specific engine and dimensions out of aluminum block. The resulting standoff is actually a rectangular piece that is then routed out inside, but has all 4 of the mounting positions for the thru bolts connected by material that is not routed or machined away. They look very strong as well as relatively lightweight.

I'm not sure if they are actively producing them right now. I put in a message on their FaceBook page and haven'y had a response as of yet.

The other option would be a built-up wood spacer or standoff. This could be a series of rectangular ply plates that have the center cut out so it looks like a box without a top or bottom. I would leave enough material around where the bolts go through to make sure it is strong enough to retain the engine and not let to rotate due to torque. This would be put together using aircraft grade ply and slow setting resin to make certain it is strong enough. It can also be wrapped on the outside by a layer or two of fiberglass or carbon fiber cloth and slow setting resin to make it more reinforced.

I think there are a couple companies out there that make items similar to these. I know I saw some CNC ply plates of 1/2" and 1/4 aircraft ply that are then glued together to make the proper spacing of the final standoff.

I decided to go with the Spectrum servos. A6260 HV for the ailerons, flaps, and elevators. A6150 HV for the rudders, nose wheel steering, tow release, engine throttle and engine choke. A Spectrum PowerSafe 12 channel receiver and a pair of Li Ion 5200Ah batteries for the radio system. A 5200Ah battery for the ignition with an electronic optical ignition kill switch from Evolution engines.

Mejzlik 28.5 x 12 prop, Tru Turn 5" P-51 3 blade spinner with lite backplate.

I'll use MTW110H canisters for the exhaust system, but I have to work on the headers as I need a drop of about 120mm for them to fit the placement of the engine on the fuselage. I'll use a pair of mounting rings on the bottom of the fuselage to hold each of the canisters so they don't flex or move and cause the headers to eventually fail. The bottom of the fuselage bottom will be reinforced on the inside with additional ply plates and trip stock where the attachment rings are placed.

I know that MTW makes flex headers to 90mm. Not certain if I might be able to use silver solder and a torch with the individual component kits that MTW has and make my own custom flex headers to the right drop dimension. Jim, Len, and Steve....you may have some good ideas about this and if a 120mm drop might be too much and result in too much stress on the header system.

Here is a picture of the fuselage with the landing gear and engine temporarily in place for measurements.


Bob


​

[Swiss1]

Remember Bidule owners, we can help you out with Servo's Receiver and Engines or anything else you may need!
Thank's Asher for your order.
The Model Box 205 978 8787

Jeremy and Ben
SCC AAA TT

[lenb]

Ignition Kill

http://www.horizonhobby.com/optical-ignition-kill-switch-evoa100

I've been using the Spectrum 6260HV servos and I have to say they're pretty powerful.

As a separate note : I still like the Hitec 7955 servo for any retract installation, since standard "retract" servos all see to be gutless.

[BobM]

Many thanks to Scot also for making the trek north and picking up the planes !

Just wanted to ask what people are thinking of in terms of servos for the plane.

My thoughts are to use high torque metal geared HV serovos such as the JR 8911HV or the Spectrum A6260HV. These would be for the major flying surfaces: ailerons (2), flaps (2), elevators (2), rudders (2), tow release (1), and the nose gear (1). Lower torque metal geared servos would be used for the throttle, and the choke.

My plan is to use a PowerSafe 12 channel receiver and dual 5200mAh Li Ion batteries for the radio equipment and servos.

An additional pack for the electronic ignition on the engine, somewhere between 2600mAh to 5200mAh. This should be more than enough to run the engine for quite a while without problems I would think.

In addition to this an electronic ignition cut-off of some sort, onto style, that can be used for the engine. I think there are several out there that aren't too expensive and are very reliable.

Looking forward to hearing everyone else's thoughts on this.

Bob

[lenb]

When Icare-rc informed us the planes had arrived in Canada, one of our club members, Scot Stewart offered to drive up to Canada and get them for us ( three of us were in CT for the Aerotow ).
It was a 10 hr round trip for Scot, so to make it worth his time, he opted to pick up an H-Models 6.6m Arcus while he was there for himself.
Getting the planes hand delivered without the chance of shipping damage is a good deal in my book

It pays to have great friends.
Thanks Scot.


Len

[Asher Carmichael]

Pete,
Bob M arranged a shipment of 2- 170's and 2-111's from TopModell France via Icare. I drove to my work to pick mine up.... It came FedEx from Icare.
The 170 is 1299 Euro and the 111 is 749. This did not include shipping to Icare or to my work.
I've been wanting to try a trike tug for awhile and the Bidule seems to be well regarded.

[Xroadie]

Drove up and picked mine up last week.
To Arab, Al, that is.

Where did you have to drive?

How much are the kits?

[Asher Carmichael]

Drove up and picked mine up last week.






To Arab, Al, that is.

[Swiss1]

So who picked up the Bidule's, as "The Transporter" was not available

Jeremy and Ben
SCC AAA TT

[Asher Carmichael]

Stephane,
Thanks for the links to Pascal's photo build. I always enjoy following his work.

Bob, Len , Jim, below is a link to RC-network.de thread on the Bidule 116. There are some good "heads-up" points regarding vulnerable areas. I imagine some of this will apply to the 170 as well. The thread is an early version of the 116 model. I believe most of the issues mentioned in the thread have been addressed but it would be prudent to look at some strengthening as Bob has mentioned. Google translate does enough to get the basics of the thread.

I'll be going with HiTec servos(5645 on surfaces and 7955 on nose gear and release), basic Jeti radio install and I'm considering a DLE 120 on cannisters.

http://www.rc-network.de/forum/showt...ghlight=bidule

[BobM]

Ok.....so I take a while to make tables, what can I say........it is like a fine wine, it takes time to age to perfection.

Honestly, I am working on the Bidule............I already have been thinking about the excuses I will use for how long it takes to get it completed

Need to decide on the servos and electronics that will be installed and get that in place so everything is there as I build. I should have all that done in the next couple days here.

Hey Len, don't you have one also ? We should both be sharing our builds here..........although I bet yours is already close to being finished !

I'll have photos this coming weekend...........like many have said "it isn't real unless there are photos !"

Bob

[Steve P]

He was finishing that table for my junior prom.

We want airplane build photos!

[lenb]

Great to have this, thank you Stephane.

Kit looks good overall. I think there will be a few areas to reinforce a bit more just because of the use the airframe will have as a tug. Should work out well though.

I will be using a DA 150 in mine with MTW canisters and flex headers for the muffler system, attaching them to the bottom of the fuselage on the outside.

Likely starting the build in about a week or two and I will post information and pictures as I move forward.

Bob

"As soon as I get the table finished and out of the shop, should be in a week or two, almost done, just have to finish it now"


If I had a dine for every time I heard that!!!!!


lol

LEN