"B" TEAM RACER CONSTRUCTION
Looks like there's a resurgence in B Team Race and the new rules allow some flexability instead of building the old designs. Click here for NEW RULES.
I started by looking for a pan to meet the 2", at the pilots shoulders rules and was unsuccessful, they where either too norrow or too short so, I opted for a 1/4" plate which is bolted to the 1/2" basswood crutch. My engine is going to be a MDS .28, Large cubes and the wieght ain't bad either. I've fitted it witha 3/16" venturi, alittle timing change, chrome job by Bob Oge and am quite happy with the initial results on the bench, using a modified Bartel 8 x 8 cut down to a 7.75 x 7, like the guys down under, it's turning 17,500 on 10%, this should be plenty fast considering the 100 mph limit.
The wing is a cross lamination of 1/4" and 1/8" balsa with a 1/16" plywood inlay bellcrank mount on the top and bottom. The wing's leading and trailing edge was grooved to except a 1/32" x 1/4" plywood strip for protection, tne same goes for the stab. Controls are a 2" bellcrank with .032" wire leadouts exiting out a single hole, the elevator horn is a blank unit from Tom Morris, 3/32" wire and 1/16" 4130 horn brazed on, 3/32" pushrod is used .
The next photo starts styling of the top, I've used a 2" Williams Bros. pilot and vaccumed formed a PVC canopy. 1/16" plywood is used to accurately set the shape at the nose, fore and aft of the cockpit area and top, crutch cover. I usally tack glue all the blocks in place, curve them to shape, break loose and then hollow out the 4 lb. blocks.
Below are some photos of the cockpit, the instrument panel and throttle are panels from a video game, I did alittle editing and printed them out and attached with white glue, come'on guys we're builders too!
Groove around cockpit is for glueing down canopy, it's about 3/32" deep and helps keep the glue from forming that unsightly exposed glue radius that builds up when trying to glue to a flat surface.
On the right is the fuel cutoff switch, under the number 1 is the fuel overflow and 2 is the cutoff, arrows point to the wire pinchers which is .025", the springs are .018". To assemble, the wires are bent over the brass pieces under the numbers and soldered in place, these ends are also threaded to accept a female threaded extention for activation outside the airplane and yet can be removed to allow pan/crutch removal. The unit is 1.1875" wide by .75" deep and is screwed into the pan/crutch.
Details on the fist photo of the shutoff are #1, overflow pinchoff with upper arrow pointing to the pinch wire #2, shutoff trigger, lower arrow points to the fuel, pinch wire.
Next photo, with purple numbers, #1 is the fuel shutoff pull wire, #2 is the fuel shutoff reset, #3 is the overflow.
Next photo shows the top side, uniflow line that is piped to a point on the tank, 5/16" above the fuel pickup. Note the fuel overflow tube on top of the tank, mounted flush.
Front view photo shows a key element in getting an inverted engine to restart, see the screen insert in the inventuri, this will trap a small amount of fuel to prime when refueling with the fuel cutoff open, it won't flood it, any more than a drop or two will drip out.
Excuse the paint finish on the lower photo, I had an onbroad fire once and, the scrap is from Bob Whitney doing the flying chores, he always mange to put a ding on any of my new toys, the first time out.
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