1/4 Scale Charlesworth ASK13

[Elliot Howells]

Peter, that's a great idea!

you can swap the aerotow nose out for the SLES nose when you've not got a tug to hand

Happy new year! Elliot.

[Cliff Evans]

Peter, that's a great idea!

you can swap the aerotow nose out for the SLES nose when you've not got a tug to hand

Happy new year! Elliot.

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

[John Vella]

Peter, that's a great idea!

you can swap the aerotow nose out for the SLES nose when you've not got a tug to hand

Happy new year! Elliot.

Me thinks you're joking Elliot, but you are abit early for April Fool. Happy New Year , John.

[Elliot Howells]

you old guys! so easy to wind up xx

[Peter Balcombe]

With the nose release in position, the release servo installation has been completed & actuation pushrod installed.
After a false start, I decided to fix a 3mm Liteply plate across the fuselage immediately behind the 2nd former. The servo plate then clips onto this plate at the front & is secured using a couple of rear brackets, allowing it all to be removed if necessary.

Meanwhile, although the Cabriolet canopy was originally built to Jilles' plan and used 2 pegs at the rear, plus a sprung loaded catch at the front for fixings, it has now been modified to replicate the full size hinges to allow either the Cabriolet or closed canopy to be fitted interchangeably.

Current status shows the Cabriolet canopy hinged on the RHS, but not yet secured on the LHS.
Simple pin hinges were made using 1/4" wide brass strip , plus 16 SWG brass rod & tube which could be easily soldered together. The fuselage side of the hinge has 2 tubes, whilst the canopies have 2 pins. The hinge pieces are all glued & screwed to the respective frame parts.
The plan is to make the catch using a similar tube/sliding pin arrangement. The full size has 2 locking pins, connected by a rod so that the canopy can be released from either seating position/via the ventilation sliding ports.

Balsa pieces have been shaped for each of the 4 nose block quadrants, so the next job is to make up some moulds to allow pieces of church roof to be cast & then epoxied into place

The final piece of upper turtle-deck has also been fitted as well as small spruce blocks in the cockpit floor where the skid rubber retaining split-pins will be secured later.

[Peter Balcombe]

Although the Cabriolet is now ready for the locking mechanism to be installed, I decided that I would get the alternative full canopy sorted first. The idea is then that I can get the more visible Full canopy release mechanism sorted and then mate the Cabriolet canopy to the fuselage locking system.

So ... with a set of new full canopy frame parts kindly cut by Cliff, the basic canopy frame was quickly put together & hinged as for the Cabriolet version.
The full size uses a long locking rod on the LHS which slides in bushes in each cockpit & engages in short tubes immediately forward of each bush. Short handles are welded to the rod in each seating area just forward of each clear view screen to allow the handles to be reached via the screens from the outside.
However, reaching in through the screen often leads to damage, so a modern Mod. is to have a short handle welded to the locking rod, which moves in a rebate cut in the lower surface of the canopy frame, either at the front or middle of the canopy, for external release purposes (Many thanks for the info. Gordon).

I bent up a length of 16 SWG wire to replicate the release rod & then made bushed plates (as per the fuselage side of the canopy hinges) which were glued & screwed to cockpit coaming & canopy frame in 2 places.
The external release is still to be made & fitted, but this will essentially be another bushed plate which will cyanoed to the locking rod in the appropriate position to suit a rebate yet to be cut in the canopy frame.

[VinceC]

Very neat indeed. I might use that on my present model

[StephenB]

A very neat job on the canopy retention mechanism Peter, first class workmanship as usual. And scale too!

Having seen this I'm wondering if the magnets I currently have installed for the canopy retention on my Fauvette are up to the job!

[Peter Balcombe]

Many thanks Stephen.
I think that I fitted 4off 6mm diameter magnets on my Fauvette canopy & they were fine.
Peter

[Barry_Cole]

Very neat indeed. I might use that on my present model

So what are you building Vince???



BC