Falcon0988

My Feedback: (16)

Well, I went to the airshow at MacDill and saw the B-25 Panchito fly. What a beautiful bird. It closed the deal for me. Less than a week later, the plans were on my doorstep, and one week later, my wood order came in. I went and bought a scroll saw to speed up cutting out the parts. After I cut out the parts, I stopped for a week, and did other stuff. I finally got ready to build, and this is my progress after three days. I would be farther along, but I ran out of glue. I plan on using Flitemetal to give it the same finish as Panchito. I was wondering, do I have to fiberglass before applying flite metal? I already have the mechanical retracts to use, and I plan on having gear doors that raise only when the gear go up. For engines, I wanted to go with the .25s I have, but this thing is going to be to heavy, so I'll probably end up buying .40s. First picture is the crutch. One is the gear, tanks, and engine mounts. Another is of the spars and blocks mounted to certain formers. The Last is the formers being mounted.

Falcon0988

My Feedback: (16)

Next set of pictures. the main spars in picture 3 are cut from 1/16" ply. Since I can't leave my planes on the building board (no room), I took a small metal bar that hangs the plane vertical by the crutch, keeping it straight. I'll use it, until all the stringers are in place. Once in place, the fuse should stay straight, and I can work on it on my building board.

Falcon0988

My Feedback: (16)

Last set for now. Nearly all the stringers are in place. After they are done, the next step is the horiz. stab.

FliteMetal

Yes, the surface should be prepared as if you were going to paint it to achieve the finish desired. Use .6 ounce to the sq yd glass cloth from Gator RC as it has equal thread diameter in both directions. Remember to use ZAP Finishing Resin cut 40% with alcohol to permit ease of application and fast laydown wicking. This is easy and quickly accomplished. Use a 3" wide foam paint roller from Walmart to apply the epoxy as it will distribute the resin evenly with even pressure across the entire surface.

I recommend you read our application instructions contained within the FliteMetal.com web site. That will further explain the application and finishing process. The B-25 has virtual flat surfaces because of the lack of compound curves and will therefore cover quickly. If you have more questions feel free to ask.

Falcon0988

My Feedback: (16)

Thanks for the response. I plan on fiberglassing now, but instead of finishing it like Panchito, I wouldn't mind doing a scheme in camo. The first picture is the nose gear, gear door and and a hatch I made for access to the nose gear steering and retract servo. The second is a side view of the gear retracted. The third is the nose gear and door open. The fourth is the forwardarea sheeted. I did this now to add strength, as my hand are to big for these stringers. They keep snapping on me. For the gear, I made a close outline of the real doors, but I didn't include the second door. Since this plane is smaller and I'm not using air cylinders on the doors and I don't want the weight of servos to open and close the doors. The door is hinged with CA hinges, so that when the door is open, they are "neutral" and a thread across the opening is what pulls them closed. I'm worried that the air flow might cause the door to close whie the gear is still down. I may end up using micro servos to open and close the doors, I would just need to sequence them with the gear somehow. I wanted to start on the horizontal stab., so I made the elevator connecting rod and Palmer shows, which has to be soldered the right way to work. I went to Gator tools ( It seems as if everything in FL is Gator something or another), and I bought a 99 cent butane refill, a $1.33 pencil torch and then some silver solder and flux at Home Depot. Before I learned how to light it right, the control valve jammed (It's what I get for being cheap). So I went on ebay and bought a $12 propane torch so that'll come in soon, I hope. We are going on a surprise vacation (to me at least) to North Carolina this weekend and staying in our friends cabin. I wish I could take at least one of my planes with me, but no such luck.

Falcon0988

My Feedback: (16)

I've built most of the center wing section and the nacelles. He includes instructions with the plans, but I get more confused by trying to read his abbreviations than to just build and design it myself. I ended up buying a set of B & D retracts. They seem sturdy. I've run the airlines, and mount the gear. I didn't think the firewall would be very strong this way, but it isn't moving. I'm going to build a hatch on the bottom of both nacelles to give access to the fuel tank. Instead of doing a bomb drop, I installed the air tank on the CG. A hatch just infront of the bomb bay gives access to the nose gear steering servo and the retract servo. I am rethinking the gear doors. I'm trying to make this as simple designed as possible, so that I don't spend an hour at the field trying to make everything work right. I'm trying to see if I can put in a center main tank, since I can only get about a 6 ounce tank in the nacelles and I plan on using two Super tiger .40s to power this thing.

Flak

My Feedback: (1)

Falcon0988,
I am covering my Ziroli B25J Mitchell in Flite Metal. I glassed the plane first. Remember, any blemish will show through the Flite
Metal. I have the fuselage almost completely covered. She is looking great. Take your time if you go this route. Good luck.

"Keep 'Em Flying!"
Flak