Hurricane Build Tony Nijhuis design

Well now that the piper cub is just about finished it's time to dig out the 62" hurricane plans.
Lets see how much of a cock up we can do with this one.
I might do it as this one being restored at brooklands museum.

looks like it.

just perusing the plans and working out my build strategy.

going to start with the tail i think and go from there.
i have to make 2 of everything ( i am building a spare plane as well)

if anyone wants one shout now or it will be too late once i have used the cnc bits.

I cracked open the plans and had a good look, its a bit complicated.
laid out the cnc pack, its 2 and 3mm lite ply about £15 worth of materials.

and 2 sheets of 1/8th balsa.
I have started cutting out the extra sides i will need for the extra planes.

I need to order some liteply and extra balsa.

As a footnote it does seem to be very heavily made, does it need to be covered with 3/32 balsa would not 1/16 do.
I am going to make 2 as per design and 1 for me using thinner balsa in some places as an experiment in weight reduction.
2.5mm balsa wing ribs instead of 2mm lite ply and i might replace some of the fuselage formers with balsa as well, especially towards the tail.
also the tail is fully sheeted, so on mine it will be open frame tissue covered.

why ??? Beard


as an experiment i cut out a 3mm balsa former to match one of the 3mm litply ones.
liteply 10 gms
balsa 4gms
so even if i doubled up the balsa to make a 6mm former it would still be lighter.

does it have to be this heavy. ??

Any spec. on the plans re weight Tony. He is a good designer and he must have his reasons, but you are the builder, and I trust your judgment. The advantage of weight is the conditions you can fly in, ie wind does not worry it as much as a lighter model. The disadvantages of course are more power needed to fly it. On balance I would prefer the weight. Do they say what weight it should come out at?

Garry

Garry i am building yours and Andy's to tony's spec using exactly the materials he specifies.
weight will be around the 8lb mark.

Mine is the one i will be building lighter as an experiment.

nearly enough parts cut for 3 front fuselage's to be built.

phew, lots of cutting.

the Merlin

the model is very near to the actual construction of the real thing.
difference being the tail which was canvas covered on the real one and is sheeted on the model.

my lightweight version will be tissue covered in an attempt to reduce the weight needed to balance the plane.

Ive just looked up the model on google and I might well have the electric set up in stock to power thr Hurricane.Ive the battery,speed controller,motor that I bought but never used.Ive also a universal mount for the motor.If you need this setup to design the build around it i can get it to you.The model needs about 800 watts and I might possibly be able to set up a test bed to see what this set up pulls,I do have a watt meter. let me know if there is anything I can do to help

well we are underway with the construction of the mk1.
ie. my balsa light weight version.
i'm doing it this way so i can iron out any construction issues before i start on the proper ones.
also i can pre cut all the balsa bits and make up 3 full kits to speed up the builds.
liteply will be here wed's, then i can crack on with the other 3 fuselages.
so by the end of the week we should have 4 part built fuselages on display.

the day started ok then went down hill.
i got this far with the mk1.




Then the misses decided that she needed a wardrobe in the bedroom.
so that was the rest of the day ruined.

while waiting for tea to cook i did get this bit done.


hopefully tomorrow i will get more done.

I have to admit that once I passed my "A" and was able to fly on my own my interest became flying.I enjoy the build of the an ARTF and love the moment when youve connected everything up and switch on and its all working.I also remember when my instructor talked me into buying a fellow club members IC trainer .I had been flying electric until then.I gathered the necessary gear together to fly IC.I would arrive at the field and get ready to start the engine.I gave myself a routine of tidyness in placing everything out and the procedure required to finally start up.Being alien to me it would take all my concentration,making sure the start battery was in the right place,the starter wires werent going to foul the prop,the fuel container and pump were out of the way.The starter was connected the right way round ,the glow start was charged,and the TX was at hand to adjust the throttle.Finally make sure the model is in its restraint and pulled forward.The little OS 46 LA would soon burst into life and be ticking over nicely.At that point ,that was enough for me,the effort and concentration i had put in to that task that now is so simple left me just wanting to have a nice sit down.But of course my instructor would be there geeing me up to have a fly and at that moment it was the last thing I wanted.Its little thoughts like this that make you realise how much you have advanced in the hobby.

well i have been plodding on with the mk1 build, still working out some construction issues before i start on the good ones.

Glue some longerons in making sure you allow for the shorter r/h side.

Pull them in and fit the cockpit back and top.

Leave to set and have a cup of coffee.
Come back after coffee and cut the 2 sides, wet and glue down.


Offer up and mark out the canopy area.
Get sanding.

Have another offer up

Then start the rear end.



Thats it for today, waiting for liteply then i can cut out more formers and get 3 more front fuselage sections built.

Looking good Tony. I'm still amazed at how quickly you can build and still retain accuracy. Your builds ALWAYS look so damn good I'm almost temped to surrender and go buy an ARF. ALMOST.

By the way - I have a set of Robart Scale Strut Covers spare. If you can use them I'll throw them in the parcel too.

hello grumps i will take anything you care to donate to the stock room.
i plan to make the stock room free for other forumites to use if they need bits.

I do not feel i build fast at all, i keep worrying that i work too slow and will let people down.