VIDEO OF THE WEEK_____________

Nice video essay of the Twin Comanche. Wonder what the passenger thought of the low pass?

LAST WEEK__________________

We get an excellent pilots point of view flying a P51. What an office

PREVIOUSLY_________________

Engineering and skills combined to create the unbelivable. In the Zone

 Super light, super responsive, super performance. True aerial Ballet

{jcomments on}

THE FUN, EXTRA BITS____________

That's enough bling. On starting this project I immediately order curtain parts from Hobby King (free plug) that I needed to design around. The retracts I bought turned out to be ideal as they fitted nicely into the wing. The 'real' Twin Comanche sits low to the ground. It is the only twin that allows you to step straight onto the wing without a step. It also floats more in ground effect, something that some pilots have a problem with. The short leg means that I can't practically add shock absorption to the leg. That's OK, strong supports and soft landing... no problems.

As for the flaps, I will simply sequence them with the landing gear... Wheels Down... Flaps Down.

Lights, well I found red, green and white flashing diodes (LEDs) on Ebay. I've paired then with the right resisters and they will be in stalled on the tip tanks and fin.

Cameras, yes plural. I have two of those tiny pocket video cameras. The picture quality is not brilliant but OK on an bright day. The important thing is that they are small and cheap. I've stripped the casings off them and will design a system to easily mount them in the tip tank, looking back at the aircraft profile and one in the top fuselage looking forward over the aircraft. I will use my newly built plastic vacuum former to create clear covers for lights and cameras.

{jcomments on}

 ABOUT THE WEB MASTER_____________

Hi, my name is Neville and I am the Webmaster and the person behind this site and the RC Twin Comanche build.

I grew up around aircraft. My father was one of the first helicopter pilots in Australia. We moved house in a Bell47, chased buffalo and emu at 50 feet and I was the kid in the helicopter with Santa at the school fete. A lazy eye stopped me from becoming a commercial pilot but it didn't crush my love of flight. I've flown GA, LSA and own a Pegasus Trike. Over the years my father owned a Tiger Moth, an Auster and built and flew a Rotorway Talon. (He passed away in 2014 - Thanks Dad for instilling that love of flying in me.)

My career was in television as a cameraman, journalist and producer, a career that offered me plenty of air time in choppers and GA aircraft. At the moment I don't fly, Unfortunately, at 52, seven years ago I was diagnosed with renal cancer. That was a real game changer... It led to several major surgeries and put me on the medical treadmill, scans, test, biopsies, countless hours in waiting rooms, that is the nature of the beast. I am not complaining because it has kept me alive. I do what the doctors tell me and it has held me in good stead so far. Last year (2015), I was fortunate enough to be selected to be part of a new drug study which is keeping me reasonably healthy but the side effects slow me down. The disease is considered terminal but the new treatments are slowing it down and the latest developments give some reasonable hope of survival.

I still work doing online marketing, web development and so on for small to medium businesses but I don't stress about my work and don't need to make excuses when I need time out in the workshop. What I did need however was a new project.

I am really impressed with the new era in radio control equipment. It's so much cheaper and the advancements in electric motors... I couldn't believe the power when I recently bought and used a brush-less motor. So, if I'm going to build an RC aircraft, what should I build? Needs to be a multi, smart looking, I want retracts... Has to be a Twin Comanche, the best looking twin out there.

So, it began. There is a great deal of satisfaction in projects such as this one... take an idea... plan it... develop it and communicate it and hopefully, get some feedback.

I do not pretend for one minute to be a guru when it comes to building RC aircraft however I enjoy the mental challenges and developing my skills and... simply... I need aviation in my life.

A few photos from a life around aviation -

______________________________________

(Due to privacy concerns, I have elected to withhold my full name)

{jcomments on}

POWERED GLIDER_____________

My 2 meter, scratch built glider has had several nose in prangs and although I've had to rebuild the fuselage, the wings have remained undamaged. On this project I used two 2 meter lengths of 12mm aluminum tube with several cross section supports riveted to the spars. The flat bottomed aerofoil section allowed me to glue the spars directly to the bottom wing panel and foam was used to build the aerofoil and covered with sixteenth balsa.

The pedestal mounted motor has created a few thrust-line headaches. Sudden power pitches the nose down. I'll post more on this soon. 

{jcomments on}