Staggerwing Twin - Start to Finish - Episode #2 - Stringers

[@Tadrjbs]

I can still smell the Ambroids glue. Yah, I know, I'm old. I've used CA for decades too. Ambroids was only the first 20 years. You must know how many old builders, new builders are equally in awe of your building videos Professor Tom? Question: Which of your video types do I like best? Answer: Honestly, which ever one I'm watching at the time! Wait, I really love the memories of building when I watch you. No wait, I love to hear the music while flying the models. No wait! It's the stunning beauty of your flights! No wait! It's those scenery photographs! I give up....❤❤❤

[@maxfliart]

Haha. Thx.

[@Tadrjbs]

​@@maxfliart My dad used to ask if I was on drugs? He didnt know but I never even knew about glue sniffing until I was 25! I was too busy building balsa airplanes to even think about drugs. He never understood. He just fixed cars for a living. He was in Patton's Third Army for 5 years during WW2 so I never argued with him.😅

[@demietrilazarakis283]

Thanks for sharing your technics

[@forkdevil83]

You are a master builder! Your jig design is very clever, assuring, a straight fuselage. That framework is beautiful and watching you work on this plane is soothing. Thank you for making these fine videos.

[@garthbarrett6067]

Always a masterclass in design and fabrication.

[@chriszimmerman4500]

It does not take long to realize how good of a builder you are and I really as a builder. Enjoy watching you work. You make me want to get back into building planes. Funny story. I started building a Ben buckle plane about 30 years ago. It was in a rocky point of my marriage. My lovely wife and I were arguing one night and she picked it up and destroyed it immediately upon its destruction she looked at me and said, and I quote Can you fix it? I slowly replied, no honey it’s done. She started crying in regret. I never tried to build another rubber band plane but I have built 20 or 30 RC planes and I never worried about her touching another one too funny we’ve been married 35 years now I love her very much. Thanks for the memories and bringing us along.

[@maxfliart]

Thx for sharing ur story. Not identical, but I'll also say that balsa and FF has surfaced for me throughout some of the most difficult times of my life, including the loss of parents or children. Instead of diving into what could easily spin into depression, the focused time became grounding, healing. I can't imagine my life without this productive, positive, & nostalgic distraction.

[@thomashiggins4923]

Infinite care, Tom, infinite care - a joy to watch this model taking shape. Quite alarming when the video speeds up as you are removing the temporary fixing struts. I found myself wanting to call out "Carefully does it - not so fast¨... Thanks for a moment of peace. Tom (in France)

[@maxfliart]

Ha...yes, initially I thought the razor saw could become somewhat destructive....untill I changed the angle and position on the posts. At that point, I plowed thru confidently.

[@downwindchecklist6567]

Impressive detail and precision. The jig, the pin for the CA, the tool used to copy the stringer locations across are just genius. We all have so much to learn from you! Thank you for sharing!

[@imbok]

Precision jigs and fixtures make for a straight airplanes. Carry on sir, we're here in the back taking notes.

[@harryspeakup8452]

Beautiful. The little doohickey for transferring the stringer elevations to the other side is very neat thinking

[@jeffpiatt3879]

The fact that you use the term "super glue" as opposed to "Cya", makes me happy. It is the term I grew up using.

[@zacharyschnepp4860]

It’s funny every time I watch your videos and listen to the music you put to your videos. I enjoy the video, but I also think of your daughter I have five children of my own. They’re all grown now, but every video I watch of yours I do think of her. Thanks for continuing to post videos I am subscribed.❤

[@paulnelson5314]

Fascinating technique Tom! I had the pleasure to check out a beautifully restored Staggerwing at one of the World Free Fall Conventions in the 90’s. Can’t wait to see this one soon!

[@paulwoodman5131]

Yes, can't wait to see this beauty!.😊 (but actually i kinda do enjoy the wait, art like this is worth the time)Very interesting time in aviation that twin wings & twin engines.. Beech did it with style too. 🤩

[@darrellsellers1853]

Just like looking at the bare bones version of the single engine Staggerwing at the Beechcraft Museum in Tullahoma. Beautiful work and thank you for sharing the video with your comments.

[@laurentparenoz2792]

Super bien merci pour votre partage, vous êtes une référence dans le monde du modelisme, very very good gentleman

[@maxfliart]

Thank you.

[@robertmartin7637]

Beautiful work Tom!

[@harrykeel8557]

The plane is coming along. Love the assembly jig for the fuselage. As much as it pains me to even imply, it favors the Dragon Raphipe. Forgive my spelling. The stark outline of the single engine version is what grabbed my attention to start. But this iteration is cool.

[@malavshah5997]

Simply Amazing. Eagerly awaiting the next episodes of the Staggering Wing build. Learnt such good and unique but simple techniques for line-up.

[@maxfliart]

Thx, Malav. See u in the spring!

[@GuzziIan]

Thanks for sharing this technique. What a great way to make this type of fuselage.

[@williamrobinson7435]

Beautiful! Lots to learn here. I had wondered wether there might be an element of trial and error in doing the stringers on this. Thank you Tom! 🌟👍

[@maxfliart]

Thx. For a new design, especially as curvy as this one, I knew that my initial notches would merely be "suggestions". In the end, I was pleased with their eventual locations.

[@williamrobinson7435]

@maxfliart Indeed it came out right, and the framing jig really facilitates this. My work associates me closely with boatbuilders who are capable of projecting the monocoque of a clinker built double skiff from just the stern, the keel being the only surviving timber projecting further than a yard or so forward of the steering thwart. They use a piece of string or three, and knowledge of marque of river rowboat in question.. Then they put up a vertical for the prow, and so on and so forth, by inference and work until we can wheel her out to the 🎶sound of fiddle music and with flowers, wine, cider and pasties, and launch her.. So I DO appreciate the skill you're showing here; I think folks are going to have to practice this, not so easy.. ✨🌟👍

[@garthbarrett6067]

Very clever symmetrical marking tool!

[@leonardwilliams8109]

The work of a master! Thank you for the great tips!

[@briansilcox5720]

Excellent! Can’t wait to try this type jig and tooling.

[@JefferyHall-ct2tr]

Hi Tom! I can only add to what everyone else has said. Beautiful! Too bad Beechcraft didn't at least build a prototype of this plane! Fascinating design!

[@maxfliart]

Thx. All I can do is follow thru as best I can, and...maybe they'll take notice. Merely a shout out would be nice. Time to sand the nose planking...

[@mjkluck]

Looking good, Bubs.

[@getcevsv6638]

Ждём продолжения!

[@maxfliart]

Thx.

[@CliffHarveyRCPlanes]

Fascinating video Tom, thoroughly absorbing and educational 👍

[@maxfliart]

Thx, Cliff. Learning a lot so far on this build.

[@52TONBI]

凄い精密な制作工程で感服いたします！

[@maxfliart]

ありがとう。プロセスを楽しんでいただいて嬉しいです。

[@rickhall4318]

Tom, you make it look so easy!

[@TheMendipman]

Fascinating to watch the master at work! Noel

[@maxfliart]

Thx, Noel. I'm enjoying it.

[@TheBillcool2]

That is such a good idea laying out the structure around it to hold it while working on it I'll have to try that sometime thank you very nice project. I usually build RC controlled planes I'm not much into the rubber powered anymore.

[@gullywompr]

Ultra informative, thanks very much.

[@michaelgillespie1206]

That is sweet.

[@bobmillerick300]

Very nice build log series. I would love to get a digital copy of these plans for producing one for RC.

[@maxfliart]

Let's see if she flies first. 🙂

[@bobmillerick300]

@@maxfliart Yeah, I figure I would let you do all the testing and work out all the bugs first. lol 😀

[@GrotrianSeiler]

Wow.

[@martimagel]

Congratulations on a nice build of this unik desing!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@maxfliart]

Thx.

[@XXfea]

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful 😍

[@user-te8uj6bm5j]

Thank you Tom for this captivating and highly educative series. In the previous video, I saw that you glued your drawings on paper onto a balsa or foam sheet, the outcome being perfectly flat. When I do that, it always ends up concave with drying. Is there a trick to know please ?

[@maxfliart]

Thx. I glue the formers onto the balsa sheet gently with a purple or blue glue stick. Doesn't seem to curve the balsa. If it's on too tight, just float on some alcohol to desolve the glue.

[@tomfaires1700]

Beechcraft is going to wish they really made one after yours flies.

[@marktaylor8659]

Very nice. When you begin the sanding process, will you be sanding a scallop in the formers between the stringers?

[@maxfliart]

Yes, eventually.

[@thomasarnold9747]

This video came at a good time as I am just starting a build. I have used a reusable wooden frame before but I like the foam board as they are cheap enough to throw away when done. I do have a question, though. What prompts your use of Titebond as opposed to some other "releaseable" glue for the frame-and-former vertical sticks? I am thinking of Duco or Elmer's Clear, or maybe even glue stick? I have found Titebond to be pretty solid to cut loose so easily and between the stringers too.

[@maxfliart]

Thx, Tom...I hear you. I've never had issues with releasing the frame from the posts after a few light swipes with an X-acto, but I can see where that access thru the stringers can get a bit tight. I'll try one of ur options next time.

[@kenkingsflyingmachines2382]

Well, that's just pretty cool. It reminds me of drafting/planking wooden model ships. "Fairing the Lines" is what they call it. Clever marking tool, but how soft is the lead you use? Pencils on balsa is such a crap shoot for me. The line can end up so wide, you may as well not have a mark at all. Or it disappears into the grain. I know...I just need to be better. 😅

[@maxfliart]

Thx, I use 4B soft lead. Keep the point sharp and it'll do fine on soft balsa.

[@collinmccallum]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@aeromodeller1]

1/16" square strips of hard balsa glued 1/16" back from the face of the sandpaper on both sides of the notcher automatically sets depth. 3-view drawings include a foreshortening. Anything that lies within a plane parallel to the view will be drawn the correct length. Anything that departs from a plane parallel to the plane of the drawing will be drawn shorter that the true length. It is common on plans to have things like landing gear struts shown on a separate drawing "true length". Theoretically you can plot the positions of the stringers from a side view and a front view of the cross section onto the bulkhead. The side view gives the x and y coordinate and the front view gives the y and z coordinate. The resulting points should make a smooth stringer curve. This assumes the drawing locations were correct on both views. Unfortunately this is not always correct. I am often surprised to find drafting errors on model drawings. This is often because the drafter was working from a photograph and did not understand the way a photograph differs from an orthographic (drafting) projection. A common error is to build the fuselage framework on top of a side view plan. The actual longerons bend out of the flat plane and are actually slightly longer than the side projection. In most cases the difference is not noticeable. With stringers, this is not a problem, because they will be built in 3D, not flat on a plan. The best way to get a smooth plot of stringer locations is to pick only a few locations where you can be fairly confident of the actual positions, plot those locations, tack a stringer on and adjust it, then mark the locations. Once you have all the stringer locations marked, you can look at all of them together to judge for consistency. What are good starting points/ The front end, the back end and the widest part of the fuselage. The widest part is judged from the top view. Sometimes you must start with a top view and aside view and then sketch in the shape of the cross section. A common error here is working from a photograph to get the depth of the round fuselage. For example, the Albatross fighters. The camera view reduces the apparent depth. The lines of sight are tangent to the surface at points offset from the centerline, where the vertical dimension is less than at the centerline. This will result in a side view that is too narrow. Bill Hannan has written about this. He compared several 3-views of the same aircraft and they were all over the place. These discrepancies may not be important to our toy airplanes. If your model, plan or photograph does not look exactly like the real airplane, this may be the reason. A photograph is not an orthographic projection, where the points are projected on parallel lines to a plane. With a camera, the lines are projected on a cone through a point at the center of the lens to a plane.

[@ryderphillips4464]

When you do one half and then the other of anything, always duplicate your mistakes.

[@Tadrjbs]

By the way, we can easily watch the builds for 30 minutes too. 15 seems too short to me.

[@tvideo1189]

First in! Nice series, really like your beautiful models. Do you do any RC conversions at all?

[@maxfliart]

Thx. Sorry, never have.

[@rossnolan7283]

It looks like it will be too nose heavy...

[@maxfliart]

Chances are...but I'll do what I can to fend that off. Hopefully the tail ballast monster doesn't appear too large.