UK # 12-2000 (Dec)
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Electric Flight ( DECEMBER 2000 ) |
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3 Sea Bees
Bristol F2B
Dave Elias brought his Bristol 'Bristfit, from the 3 Sea Bees company. Wingspan is 94" (2388mm), length is 62" (1575mm) and gas weight is quoted as 16 lb (7.3kg). These are ARF models! Other thanminor details, the planes are ready to go. However that is with a gas engine. To convert this to an electric, Dave spent quite some time making sure that everything was perfect, and engineering the large battery pack mount and motor mounting. The front end of the Bristfit is closed off with a realistic radiator grill. You can just make out the (relatively!) little Astro 60 in behind. The prop is a reworked 23 x 12 Master Airscrew The photo at the start of this article shows the forward hatch opened up. The 60 with its 2.7: I gearbox is to the right of the photo, skewed to the right for side thrust. Just aft of the motor is the speed controller, a Tony Fiori ESC made for 40 cell motors. The large white blob in the centre of the hatch in the battery pack, 36 x 3000SCRC cells -about 71b! (3.2kg). Dave has 3 toroid coils in the plane to help suppress th( electrical noise from the large power system. |
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Large, tail dragging, WWI planes are often
awkward on the ground. If you aren't quick on the rudder, they can
ground loop. If it is severe, and with a large heavy plane this is too
often the case, considerable damage can result. Dave has addressed
this by using a piezo gyro, which, when engaged, keeps ahead of the
ground loop and the airplane straight. With a large and expensive
plane such as this, it is a wise precaution.
Look at the photo of the Brisfit's lower wing centre section. Here is the view that has always made me look for another subject! Note that it is attached to the fuselage with struts rather than directly to the fuselage as are most airplanes. With a large model such as this, the wings are going to have to come off each side rather than the more 'model-like' single piece wings. Note the elevator quadrant with the cables going back to the tail. There is also a foot step just to the rear, all part of the pre-built airframe. The rear gunner is a 3 Sea Bees figure with his 3 Sea Bees Vickers machine-gun. Just behind his back is the vertical whip antenna, necessary for radio range. As a side note -Dave crashed this model and cleaned out the fuselage from the prop to the cockpit -two weeks BEFORE these photos! So you can see that he is an excellent modeller too. |
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Electric Flight ( DECEMBER 2000 ) |
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