DP
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Span : 2.0m / 78 3/4"
Wing section : RG14
Root : 9"
Tip : 6"
Weight : 63ozs
Wing loading : 16ozs sq ft
Length : 50"
Ballast : Haven't used any yet
This was the first plane that I scratch built, and is still flying, so thought I ought to include it. DP was based on a plane bought at an auction called Regulus, someone else's scratch built project who must have owned a Phase 6 at one time. I had never heard of a Phase 6, just liked the look of the Regulus so bought it. Upon its demise I decided I wanted my own version with a few modifications, tweaked the fuse shape and re-designed the ply formers for strength, extra ply fuselage doublers, two meter wing of my own planform with RG14 section which I was told was fast, few other tweaks here and there, mainly to add strength. My opinon is that a plane cant be too strong, it makes them last longer, something I learned quite early on in my building, which I have carried over into my composite builds. The balsa and ply fuse was covered with epoxy and light glass, had some left over from making a couple of winsurfing boards years ago. Wing was cut from dense styrofoam and put into a press made from laminated work tops and threaded bar. Obechi veneer was stuck onto the foam with epoxy and light glass cloth on one side only, then a groove was cut out and lots of carbon tows, end grain 1/4" balsa and then lots more carbon tows glued in with lots of epoxy, before adding the other wing skin, and back into the press. Added 5/8" mahogany leading edges then sanded the whole wing smooth before glassing with thin cloth and sanding to a smooth finish. Liked the look of it so much that the top surface was left natural, painted the rest of the plane deep purple, hence DP. Initially I was shocked at how heavy it was, being used to polystyrene and balsa wings, and all balsa heat shrink film types. Its first few outings were in 20mph+ winds which it loved, have since flown it in 10-50mph winds, in a light breeze it copes well if you keep it moving, in stronger stuff its fun fun fun. Have broke the fuselage a few times but the wings remain unscathed, the lessons learnt from this build were: heavy plane good carbon spars good
DP2
Having broken the fuselage a few times, decided I needed to make a mold. The first mold I made was for the Dynamite/Flitter, and was a turned wooden plug. Having tried a lost foam fuselage, a L59, decided to use this method to make the DP2 plug. It seemed to work well, though quite time intensive to get a smooth, divet free, flowing shape. The mold was layed up with polyester resin and chopped strand mat, and remains warp free to this day. I went for a slip on nose, so its a three piece mold, allowing good access inside to consolidate tape or overlapping seams. It has a very oval shapped tail boom, and no allowance for fitting tail feathers, the plan was to have plug in v-tail halves, with the option of reverting back to the original x-tail, and would take wings from 2.0 to 2.5 metres, but initially to just bolt on the original DP wing. The first layup was awful, trying to do a purple gel coated fuselage proved to be beyond my skill level, ending up with blisters all over the place. Second layup was without a gel coat and included two layers of 6oz carbon, that made it pretty tough. Just need to wait until I break the DP fuse again, and will replace it with this one. 18 months later, still waiting. mold is in the attic gathering dust, but got the fuselage down to have another look at it. I think it would make a great base for a larger DS plane once I get the hang of it, might be life in the old mold yet.
