This is a photo log of the build of my 1/12th scale (26.5″) Sopwith Triplane. I’m still building, and will update this post with new photos as I take them.
- Emax GF2215/20 60 gram Outrunner Brushless Motor
- Emax Budget 18 Amp Brushless Motor ESC
- 4x 8g EMAX ES08A Sub Micro Servo
- Prop Adapter for 3.0mm shaft
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- Landing gear assembly test.
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- Peanut butter jar cowling
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- The CG is much closer with the new component layout.
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- Checking the CG with the new component layout.
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- New component locations
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- A finished wheel
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- Plastic sheeting glued onto the foam hub cap
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- The raw materials for my wheels
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- More flying wires running rearward to the fuselage.
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- Installing the flying wires to brace the wings
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- Using a bit of floss to figure out where the flying wires will pierce the wing.
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- Decals for the tail
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- Testing the position of the middle wing
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- Testing the position of the middle wing
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- Cabanes attached to top wing with screw eyes
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- A bolt through the cabanes holds the lower wing on.
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- An early look at the paint job
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- Painting the fuselage blue
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- Gluing the horizontal stabilizer on
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- Torque tubes, aileron servos, lower ailerons installed
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- ESC and wires jammed into their compartment
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- Motor and motor mount installed
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- Right servo pocket cut and servo in place
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- Trying out the cockpit for size
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- A potential pilot checks out the plane
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- Test fitting the left aileron components
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- The channel to hold the control rod tube.
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- Aileron components
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- Left aileron servo, poking thru the fuselage
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- Left aileron servo, flush with the bottom of the wing
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- Left aileron servo, flush with the bottom of the wing
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- Might control horns make a nice fitting to bolt the struts to the wings?
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- Velcro straps to hold the battery secure
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- These magnets, on the blok, mate up with the battery hatch magnets.
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- Rare earth magnets at the rear to help hold the battery cover in place.
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- The cabanes extend through the bottom of the lower wing.
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- Another test fit.
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- Turtle deck and battery cover in progress
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- The turtle deck, taped in place.
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- The cabane struts in place.
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- Cabane struts are mounted inside the fuselage skin.
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- The cabanes are 1/2″ longer than the wing struts.
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- Half of the mono-blok test-fit together
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- A quick test assembly of the fuse, wings and empennage
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- A quick test assembly of the fuse, wings and empennage
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- All 8 blank mono-block pieces stacked in the fuselage
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- Block layer templates printed out
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- Final component layout (Photoshop)
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- Starting to lay out components in Photoshop
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- Testing my sloppy wing jigs
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- all three wings with camber and spars
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- The battery cover is nearly complete
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- I bend the camber into the wings with my fingers
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- Finished wing from beneath, showing the rolled under-camber curve
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- First test wing finished with LE spars, under-camber and ailerons
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- Bamboo skewer spar epoxied to LE of wing
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- Under-cambered wings with rib
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- Balsa airfoil / ribs
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- All the parts cut out
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- The ‘plans’ I’ll be working with