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Albion 5m Electric soarer

All non-scale topis should go in here for discussion.
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Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Back in the 80s, John Hall (who makes the Pat Teakle Sailplanes range fuselages) used to market a number of fuselages/wing kits ranging from a 2metre ‘ish’ Prelude up to a 5m Albion.
As with the 100” Diamond electrified & fitted with 3m aileron & flapped wings last year, I have now designed a laser cut built-up wing for the Albion. John will be making the fuselages available again & Cliff Evans will include in his range as a short kit in due course
So... with building board recently made empty upon completion of the Salto, it’s on with the Albion :)

The wing was designed using DevWing & then the build drawings produced in devCad. The wing is designed in a similar polyhedral format as before, but now with ailerons, flaps plus an option for commercial top opening brakes to allow the builder to chose his weapons.
The wings are mounted using a 15mm flat steel joiner at centre height on the fuselage, which has large canopy & over-wing access hatches. The tailplane is a lowish mounted AMT type. The round nose section is nicely suited to motor installation & I am planning to use a Turnigy Gliderdrive encased Outrunner in this build (capable of 800w on 5S).
As there is a 4 part wing, the panels are <48” long, so easy to build indoors on my “office” desk top, rather than heating the workshop.

First up is the rudder, which is being built on a simple jig to prevent twist. The shot below shows internal ribs slotted into the false LE being built up onto the RH skin. Once the balsa horn area reinforcement has been added, the LH skin can be fitted prior to the TE and angled LE.

I’ve also started preparing the 1st Inner wing panel spar/web assemblies which will use 1/4” square spruce spars each side of the central web, top & bottom to form a true I-beam structure. One spar has been added to the bottom of the web so far & I’m about to add the one the other side before starting to slot the ribs into place.
Attachments
3D wing representation
3D wing representation
Rudder build
Rudder build
Wing spar assembly
Wing spar assembly
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Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Assembly of the spars is very quick, particularly if you use 48” lengths of spruce as this avoids the need to splice & there is very little to cut off.
As with most laser cut short kits, the wing structures go together very quickly, so one inner panel framework is nearly assembled & glued apart from the rear top spar, with the 2nd inner panel not far behind.
The shot below shows the most complete unit, viewed from the outer panel join.
The flap servo mounting plate is in place, but the brake servo plate has been omitted as electric brakes will be fitted in due course.
The flaps will be added later - fashioned from 2” wide balsa TE stock.
Attachments
Left Inner wing panel
Left Inner wing panel
B Sharp

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by B Sharp »

Sounds like my type of aeroplane Peter. I shall be watching with interest.
Brian.
simon_t
Posts: 89
Joined: 17 Mar 2015, 21:45
Location: Herne Bay, Kent

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by simon_t »

Brian, you may remember Dave Charles flew an Albion in BARCS Opens back in the day. Was a very competitive model back then, with a good glide and able to move around the sky. Like you - looking forward to seeing this project develop.

Simon
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Peter Balcombe
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Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Brian/Simon,
Can you remember which wing section Dave Charles etc. tended to use?

I’m currently using SD7037 on this build, but the flat sided fuselage around the root area makes it easy to accept any other section.
When I got the sample fuselage from John Hall, he said that he used to sell as a fuselage only - letting the builder add whatever wings they wanted.
I’m not sure that Pat Teakle made anything for the Albion, but may have made some ‘specials’
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Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Meanwhile, the wing joiners have been installed in the 1st Inner panel, with the gaps between spars/joiner box/web filled with 3mm Liteply & epoxy to form a solid unit.
I removed the small rib sections within the joiner box slot (used to hold the rib together until installed) using a junior hacksaw blade, although a deep razor saw would also do the job, going in from the top on Rib1 & the bottom on Ribs2-4. The joiner tube has been left protruding as it will go through a further ply root rib to be fitted after sheeting.

The small cruciform tabs of the circular panel joiner slots were care full cut out with a scalpel & then the hole cleaned using a 6mm dia. rat tail file.

The rudder has now has both skins on plus top, bottom & TE strips fitted. These still need to be shaped & the LE added.

The first tailplane structure is being constructed, with top spar still to be fitted, plus joiner tubes, prior to fitting the top skin. 1” balsaTE will be fitted to the rear, plus curved balsa block tips to mirror the wing planform.
Attachments
95488870-B113-41C9-B50F-B18A441069C6.jpeg
2A32CC53-AB2C-48B3-BB81-FD11CB37114F.jpeg
B Sharp

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by B Sharp »

Simon, Aaaah, Yesssss. Well remembered young man! Well there is a blast from the past!

Peter, not sure what section Dave would have used, but SD 7037 is a reasonable choice. I used it myself on a couple of Eliminator 135 models that I built for my son and I to compete in RES thermal events. It is quite a lifty section but you can drive it around if you require to.
Brian
simon_t
Posts: 89
Joined: 17 Mar 2015, 21:45
Location: Herne Bay, Kent

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by simon_t »

Yes I think the 7037 will be a good choice. I would have gone for an SD3021, but also with flaps - as you have flaps you can reflex a bit for penetration, and I’m not sure it’s too different to the 3021 then (it may be slightly thicker and/or more cambered). If you wanted a bit more speed the MH32 is a fantastic all-rounder.

Simon
simon_t
Posts: 89
Joined: 17 Mar 2015, 21:45
Location: Herne Bay, Kent

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by simon_t »

Just looking back at Kai Erdmann’s ‘F3J Thermal Tips & Techniques’ book from the ‘90s (which also features a young Brian Sharp) to see if it it featured the Albion - It didn’t, but did feature Dave Charles later Albran, which used a modified Albion fuselage with T tail, and his own wings. He used Eppler E193 section for this. It was a large model at 4.9m span, but very pretty and featured early upturned wingtips.

Simon
B Sharp

Re: Albion 5m Electric soarer

Post by B Sharp »

Simon. A Young Brian Sharp! Really! A YOUNG BRIAN SHARP!! Was it in print or hand written by monks in a monastery? I think I need proof of that.
Brian. :D :D :D :D :D
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