Tag: William Skelly

Mechanics of the Leading Edge

Indoor flying: Glastonbury CT on March 5 , Georgetown MA on March 12.

Be there!

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Our Author William S.

A flyer gasps as his model approaches the basket!

Drat my Leading Edge busted!

We recently learned about Young’s Modulus and failure stress
for balsa as a function of density (Material Properties of Balsa for FAC Modelers).

And now our engineer-author William S. is back with a follow up; Mechanics of the Leading Edge.   William tells us he took the deep dive into all this technology to solve the age old indoor flyers question “what leading edge won’t break when my plane hits a basketball hoop?“

And to think some of us see these stick and tissue models as just simple toys!  Ah yes, to the uninitiated perhaps…

Read the latest article now

Mechanics of the Leading Edge

The Scourge of the Witch Doctors

Another ripping Jack Sharpe Mystery from the author of “The Cursed Squadron”

 

BY  
William Skelly
 

A Jack Sharpe Mystery

G-2 was facing a menace that threatened its very existence: Mysterious ships, piloted by witch-doctors that could shoot down a man without a single bullet. Jack Sharpe knew something was amiss – and it had something to do with those long-range Gothas!

 

Read Story Now

 

The Cursed Squadron

Written in the classic Flying Aces style of Arch Whitehouse – this WW1 mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat!

 

BY  
William Skelly
 

A Jack Sharpe Mystery

Four pilots had been assassinated in the air during the sortie of their fifth kill. The 10th Pursuit was cursed! But Jack Sharpe was on the case, and something seemed fishy about the ghastly Hun and his ultimatum:

NO MORE ACES.

 

Read Story Now

 

Laird “Solution” Scale Model Plan & 3 View

“Download William’s 3 view and 22in wingspan model construction plan (scroll to end of post)”

 

BY  
William Skelly

 

 

The Author taking measurements at the New England Air Museum
Laird “Solution” 3 view
by William Skelly

 

 

Laird Solution Construction Plans
& 3 View Drawing

There’s nothing better than when a scale modeler builds a model from plans that he or she has drawn. 

Well, maybe there is – if that modeler/designer has developed their own three-view general arrangement drawing from measurements he has taken from the actual airplane to be modeled!

Such is the case with clubster William Skelly who trekked to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT to view the original Laird LC-DW 300 “Solution” in their golden age raceplanes collection.  William convinced Museum management to let him get up close to the one-of-a-kind aircraft and take the measurements needed to compose his own scale 3 view drawing for the Laird.  We’re thrilled to offer William’s drawing to you here as a free download, along with the rubber-powered free flight scale model construction plan he designed and drew from that 3 view. 

By using actual measurements taken from the real airplane along with perspective photos, William eliminated the foibles that often come with designing a model from a previously published 3 view drawing.  Noted model airplane designer Bill Hannan discussed the issue in one of his excellent books, highlighting the discrepancies between published 3 view drawings for the ubiquitous Fokker DVII World War I fighter aircraft.  Bill favored taking measurements from the actual aircraft whenever possible.

After taking a short break from his documenting and designing efforts (it’s not easy, but rewarding), William is now underway with construction of a flying scale model from his plans.   We’re sure he’ll do a real knock-out job of it too.

Why not download your own set of plans and documentation and join along in the build?  We’re sure William would be happy to correspond with any modeler who does.

Thanks again for your excellent contribution, William!

Download 3 View Drawing
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Laird Solution 3 View Drawing

1 file(s) 148.79 KB
Download
Download Construction Plan (print on 8.5 x 11in sheets)
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Laird Solution Construction Plan 22in Wingspan (8.5x11in sheets)

1 file(s) 5.36 MB
Download
Download Construction Plan (print on one Arch D 24x36in sheet)
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Laird Solution Construction Plan 22in Wingspan (Arch D 24x36in)

1 file(s) 8.28 MB
Download

 

Zee Zpandau!

Build a realistic Spandau machine gun for your German WWI model!

 

BY  
William Skelly

Construction Plans & How-To

The Flying Aces Club (FAC) World War I mass launch event is always a hit at our indoor and outdoor model meets (check the calendar on this site and join us to see for yourself).

FAC Rules for the WWI mass launch event specify that 3D armament must be present on all models participating.

Clubster William Skelly found that many WWI flying scale model construction plans offer sketchy, if any, instructions describing how to make the machine guns.

William tackled the issue head-on by drawing his own plans for the Spandau machine gun on his latest model of a German Fokker D VII fighter aircraft (see pics on the Photos page). 

We’re very pleased to share with you his plans and construction article.  Now you too can have realistic Spandau guns on your model. 

Thanks William!

Download Construction Article

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Spandau Construction Article

1 file(s) 178.29 KB
Download

Download Plan

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Spandau Plan

1 file(s) 591.61 KB
Download

 

Clubster Designs & Builds Retracting Gear Mechanism

Dayton-Wright RB1 Automatic Retracting Landing Gear

OK gang, we’ve heard the rumors that clubster William Skelly has been busy building a new peanut scale model with a landing gear that retracts after takeoff. 

Well, it’s official – William has completed his Dayton-Wright RB-1 model and logged his first official ROG (Rise Off Ground) flight with the gear retracting after takeoff. 

We caught up with William at the Glastonbury Modelers Spring Fling last Sunday in the Glastonbury HS gym and got the lowdown.  He even shared an illustrated design document (link under the video) so you can build your own.  Our hat’s off  to William and his nifty design!

Dayton Wright Retract Gear W Skelly 4-14-19