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Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

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Max Wright
Posts: 198
Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

Here's a photo of the prototype . . .
Caproni Calif A 14.JPG

and here's how I received it . . .
Caproni Calif A14-1.JPG
Caproni Calif A14-3.JPG
Caproni Calif A14-5.JPG

Apparently Caproni were quite prolific builders of two seater gliders and the A-14 was the only single seater they ever made. Going by the photo, it looks like it flew OK.

I liked the look of the A-14 as soon as I saw it - even though it was quite broken.

The first thing to do was re-glass the inside of the cockpit and then begin the restoration by using 1 mm carbon fibre rods and spruce spars.
Caproni Calif A14-6.JPG

Then I commenced rebuilding the control devices, including an inverted servo for the cable release and a pull/pull servo for the fully flying rear stabiliser. I also added a retractable undercarriage and a servo for that.
Caproni Calif A14-7.JPG

The doors were made from the centre of a toilet roll which was fibreglassed. Hat elastic is the spring which closes the doors as the wheel retracts.

In the crash, the wings tore out of the fuselage, so more glass and epoxy were required to rebuild that area.
Max
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Max Wright
Posts: 198
Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

Caproni Calif A14-8.JPG

A bit more work on the cockpit innards.

Caproni Calif A14-9.JPG

There is a bellcrank inside the fin root and a push rod powering the T bar which operates the full flying stabiliser.
The pull/pull servo in the centre of the cockpit (see above), operates the bell crank.
That took some micro fiddling and faffing to find the hole in the top of the push rod and insert the cross pin.



A 15mm carbon fibre rod was used to replace the flat spring steel wing joiner which was twisted into a pretzel in the crash. A piece of plastic 20mm conduit was then inserted where the old carriers had been and epoxied in.
This further strengthened the fuselage at the wing roots, tying the whole section together.

Caproni Calif A14-9a.JPG

The old reliable Bosch laser level was used to check the alignment of the fin, fuselage and wing joiner.

Next - rebuilding the cockpit base and canopy.
Max
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Max Wright
Posts: 198
Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

The cockpit base and canopy were both smashed - although I had the major pieces which I taped together to get an idea of how it looked.
Caproni Calif A14-10.JPG

I first made cardboard templates of the three parts of the cockpit base, and then cut two sets of plywood copies - one of which I set up on the fuselage and glued braces into them so they would retain their angles.
Caproni Calif A14-11.JPG

Once the glue had set, I made a single rib based on the remnants of the canopy and having regard to the height of the pilot figure.
I filled the interior with polystyrene foam and then cut seven notches in the rib and drilled seven corresponding holes in each of the end plates. Seven 1mm carbon rods were inserted which gave the shape.

Then I plastered it with drywall putty which was sanded to shape and then painted with putty paint undercoat.
Caproni Calif A14-13.JPG

This made the buck for pulling a canopy of 1mm PET G sheet.
Max
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Max Wright
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Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

Now I returned to the second set of plates I cut for the canopy base.
Caproni Calif A14-16.JPG

A small dam was glued around the edge and the 5/8" magnets were epoxied in.
Caproni Calif A14-17.JPG

Then I set about recreating the environment shapes of the cockpit and loosely placed the pilot.
Caproni Calif A14-18.JPG

Caproni Calif A14-19.JPG

Some puttying later, the whole thing was painted.
However, I wasn't happy with the angle of the pilot, so I angled the base on the disc sander.
I had previously glued a block on the bottom, which took the angle.
Caproni Calif A14-20.JPG

Then I pulled the canopy on my vacuum forming machine.
Caproni Calif A14-21.JPG

I installed the 3mm LED which will become the power ON indicator, trimmed the canopy and glued it in place.
Caproni Calif A14-22.JPG

I used 9mm automotive pin striping tape to simulate the canopy frame.

In the next episode, I turn my attention to the wings.
Max
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Max Wright
Posts: 198
Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

OK Wings

The spoilers are well made plastic jobbies, but the torque drive from a servo mounted in the fuselage was beset with problems.

So I decided to mount thin servos in the wings and close couple them to the ends of the torque rods.

Late last century, when this model was made, thin wing servos apparently weren't around.

First, I have cut out a pit in the wings.
Caproni Calif A14-32.JPG

After cleaning out the foam, I epoxied a 2mm ply doubler inside the 1mm skin of the wing.
Caproni Calif A14-33.JPG

Then I placed a special tool designed for the purpose, inside the pit to force the 24 hour epoxy to its thinnest.
Caproni Calif A14-34.JPG

As the epoxy oozed out of the gaps around the side, it was scraped away with a pointed stick.

The residue was wiped away with isopropyl alcohol.

Tomorrow I will continue with boxing in.

Cheers
Max
B Sharp

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by B Sharp »

I rather liked the way you set up the canopy form with 1mm carbon rods Max. I must remember that the next time I need to do a canopy.
Brian. :)
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Max Wright
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Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

Thanks, Brian.
Max
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Max Wright
Posts: 198
Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

Now that the space has been boxed in by epoxy and ply, I turn my attention to the mechanism . . .
Caproni Calif A14-35.JPG

I removed the aluminium torque tube from the spoiler box and cut it to length.

Then I took a piece of 1mm piano wire and bent it into a U and passed it through holes drilled in the tube.

Then I wrapped a piece of copper wire around the piano wire and soldered it together, pushing the spare end into the tube.

I took a cross type control horn and reamed it out so that it was an interference fit on the servo spline and then screwed it into place.

The cross horn and the piano wire form a universal joint.
Max
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Max Wright
Posts: 198
Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

So, the box has been fitted out and the servo has been attached to the torque rod.
Caproni Calif A14-36.JPG

I've made a 2mm styrene cover plate and soldered in an extension for the spoiler servo.
Caproni Calif A14-37.JPG

. . . and I've crimped on a lead for the aileron servo cable.

I'm waiting for the glue to set up (and for the countersunk head screws to arrive).
Max
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Max Wright
Posts: 198
Joined: 10 Mar 2020, 19:57
Location: Clayton Bay South Australia

Re: Aviomodelli Caproni Calif A-14 . . after the crash.

Post by Max Wright »

Test fit the wings with only the anti-rotation pins in . . .
Caproni Calif A14-38.JPG

Just noticed that the wings are swept back. :shock:

That should be interesting.
Max
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