1912 Blackburn Type D Monoplane RC Airplane Plans
Build log continues for the RC airplane plans Blackburn fuselage
1912 Blackburn Type D monoplane electric RC plane
Building the Blackburn fuselage
See pictures of Alan's build of a slightly smaller version of the 1912 Blackburn monoplane here!
As your build your own Blackburn the fuselage goes together easily, and is made primarily of 1/8” square balsa with some 1/16” plywood. The fuselage is built upside down directly on the plans for accurate alignment. The plywood former F-1 serves to provide a solid anchor for the Blackburn’s firewall, battery tray, wing mount tubes, servos and rear fuselage frame.
Blackburn radio control airplane formers
I always recommend making a “kit” of a the plans parts when building from a plan. Cut out formers F-8 thru F-18 from plywood or balsa. Note that the plans show various cutouts on the formers F-9 thru F-11, and especially F-1. Adjust these openings as required to allow for your motor, battery, servo and electronic speed controller size and arrangement.
Blackburn RC airplane plans lower fuselage formers
The next step is to make the F-2 thru F-7 lower fuselage RC airplane plans formers. These formers are made out of 1/8” square balsa with scrap 1/16” balsa for reinforcement. Do pay attention to make these lower formers as accurate as possible from the RC airplane plans. These formers set the overall shape of the lower fuselage, and provide the distinctive triangular cross section of the 1912 Blackburn plane.
Fuselage top frame
Blackburn fuselage top frame front, with F-15 above
Now is the time to make the fuselage top frame front and top frame rear, as shown on the RC airplane plans. The two frames are built directly over the RC airplane plans from 1/8” square balsa. Use a bit heavier grade of balsa for strength on the RC airplane plans front frame, and a lighter grade for the rear frame to avoid a tail heavy model. When the two frames are complete, join them upside down directly over the top view on the RC airplane plans. Note that the rear frame overlaps the top frame, thus the need to glue the rear frame on the top of the front frame while the top frame is upside down over the RC airplane plans. The reason for this overlap is to allow the horizontal stabilizer to be on top of the rear fuselage frame, yet have the stabilizer (which is make from 1/8” square balsa) be level with the front top fuselage frame. Study the RC airplane plans side view and this arrangement will be clear. See how you can design a plane like the Blackburn in video clips here!
Blackburn fuselage with lower formers F-2 thru F-7
Fuselage lower formers
After the front and rear fuselage frame sections are complete and glued together (still upside down over the RC airplane plans), you can now glue on the fuselage formers F-2 thru F-7. You will see the result of carefully making these lower formers as the fuselage starts to take shape. Once these lower formers are in place over the RC airplane plans, add the 1/8” square balsa keel. When dry, remove the fuselage assembly from the RC airplane plans.
Check the fit of F-1 onto the top of the fuselage, and carefully glue F-1 in place. Ensure you have a good fit of F-1 per the RC airplane plans. Use 5 minute epoxy for strength, and to allow a short amount of time to adjust the exact placement of F-1 as the glue dries.
Covered Blackburn stabilizer with wings in background
Blackburn tail surfaces
Make the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces at this time, as per the RC plane planes the covered horizontal stabilizer is now needed to complete the fuselage construction. The tail surfaces are all made of 1/8” square balsa, with scrap 1/8” balsa for corner joint reinforcements as shown on the RC airplane plans. Try to use light 1/8” square balsa for the tail surfaces to avoid any tendency towards a tail heavy model. Bevel the leading edge of the elevator and rudder as shown on the RC airplane plans to allow for full control movement.
Cover the horizontal stabilizer before gluing it to the fuselage. I used Coverite CoverLite Cream for the entire Blackburn model. CoverLite is very lightweight, but needs an adhesive before ironing on. I used Sig Stix-It, and brushed the Stix-It to the area where I wanted the CoverLite to bond when ironed on. The CoverLite does not shrink as with normal iron-on coverings. But that is alright, as the Blackburn’s structure certainly cannot take much covering shrinkage, and the overall effect of the CoverLite applied “as is” makes for a pleasing effect evocative of the Blackburn’s era. To save weight, I covered just the top surface of the stabilizer and elevator. I covered both sides of the vertical fin and rudder for better visual look.
Blackburn RC airplane plans stabilizer glued in place
Upper Blackburn fuselage formers
Carefully glue on formers F-9 thru F-10 in the forward fuselage locations as shown on the RC airplane plans. Install the 1/8” square balsa at the top of F-9 thru F-10. Epoxy the triangular 1/16” plywood firewall braces F-18 to the crutch F-1 as shown on the RC airplane plans.
Before you glue on additional top fuselage formers aft of the cockpit, glue the covered horizontal stabilizer onto the top of the rear fuselage frame. Take a moment to study the RC airplane plans, and ensure you see how the stabilizer fits onto
the rear end of the fuselage, and aligns with the front fuselage frame.
Blackburn forward fuselage with undercarriage
Once satisfied with the placement of the stabilizer on the fuselage as shown on the RC airplane plans, go ahead and glue the covered stabilizer in place. Add the remaining fuselage formers F-12 thru F-17, which are glued on top of the newly installed stabilizer. Cut away the stabilizer covering to ensure a wood-to-wood glue joint for these formers. Install the top 1/8” square balsa stringer from F-12 to the stabilizer as depicted on the RC airplane plans, and then the 1/16” square balsa stringers from F-13 to the rear of the fuselage.
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