Build, Design, Fly. In that order. I am building my own aircraft from scratch. I have no plans and am designing it as I build it. I am an aircraft mechanic and have collected a lot of damaged or worn parts off other aircraft and re working them to fit my build. Introducing the Frankenstein
A friend has a polished aluminium GT 40. He highlighted some of the features by scuffing up parts. The contrast looks like decals painted on. Either way, great looking little machine you have there.
3 Months well that should let you nut out a whole raft of mods for when you get back 🙂 Goodness me I better get back on my build and stop flying about so you will have something to laugh at.
I enjoy checking out the English countryside just as much as what you’re tinkering on in the shed mate. My aim over these months is to not come up with too many mods before I fly it…they can happen after!
Double Trouble in a silver bird hehehe. Awsome day hangin out and crawlin over Frankenstein. So good to see the full assembly, you got mad skills bro! I'm super proud✌
What a perfect time of day there to roll it out...absolutely gorgeous, gleaming in the sunshine. I'm personally sad you have to leave to go fix helicopters...but I did it for 20 yrs in the Marines too, so I'm there with ya brother. Be safe and I look forward to your return and more updates❤
Thanks mate, it’s so bit of a catch 22. I’d love to stay and get Frankenstein going, but going away to fix helicopters will also help pay for it. Fun times ahead
Awesome dude, im excited for you! You must come to Oshkosh someday...we are an hour flight to the south...and you guys can have rides in my Aussie powered Rans S19❤
Congratulations Don, awesome so see Frankie in the hangar and close to flying. Let me know when you're starting to test fly, would love to get some images for you.
Thanks mate. It will be very interesting to see how it goes. The Slepcev Storch and STOL King are both lighter, but perhaps I’ll get similar performance….grab the popcorn and watch this space!
When you say "no budget" I'm sure you don't mean you haven't spent any money... I imagine the "household budget" is adequate to cover most material expenses. But did the engine and prop (even if well used) require any negotiations with "the boss"?
I am very lucky to have been in the aviation business for a long time so scrounging for parts on a low budget has made it possible. I’ve also swapped my labour for certain things that were needed….like the engine, and a few other things. Without that ability, I wouldn’t be ready to fly now.
Love the polished aluminum. Love the shark mouth !!! I’m an A&P mechanic from Florida. Worked on and flew all types of aircraft. Only thing I would like to see is LARGER main tires. Great work !!!
Thanks mate, I really appreciate that. Guess what…. I have 26” bush wheels to go on. I just need to muck about a little to make sure they don’t rub anything. Almost the next thing on my list!
Don, you don't have a lot of followers but like me, I'm sure those who do are so engaged with you and your plane. This was a great video because you have been like this mystery man. Didn't even know you worked in aviation. I built my own kit airplane (Zenith CH601 XL) but it was nothing compared to creating such a beautiful aircraft that you built from scratch. I just subscribed to your wife's channel. Please keep posting your experiences with Frankenstein. I have this feeling you and your wife's channel are going to literally take off one of these days. What you've done and where you live are fascinating to many people. I'm Gary, from the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in central California. Thanks again for a great video!
Thanks mate, I really appreciate that. Nicole and I are really looking forward sharing to our adventures in the near future. Exploring the country around your area is definitely on our bucket list
My Wife laughed when you said about the dazed look when you're having a conference with the design staff, in your head, she implied I am the same (WELL I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK).😊
Леп пројект идеално за оне који знају вредности као Србин немам речи једино Теслу за примедбе да упитам али он није мрђу живима Ако се рзумемо уопште без значај Поздрав Разуму.
You and Mike have inspired me to scratch build my own plane. I’ve pondered the idea for a while and I feel I’m in the same boat as you with kits and what not so I think the next step is to build design fly 😂👍
I was RAAF Elec fitter/Avionics (22 years) and worked for a RAAF Cotntractor as an AME for 25 years. Defence is a different world. During RAAF time, helped design and build a gadget the went into the roof of the Blackhawk. Even got to ride in a new one from from Bankstown to Townsville to show the techs how to install it.. First and last time I worked on a Blackhawk.
Very different world military maintenance huh! I’m a mech/basher so they definitely don’t want me anywhere near the elec stuff! I was a basher on the pig doing R4,5&6 services. Great fun. I’ve spent a good chunk of my time on the Blackhawk as a mech/basher. Such a cool machine! They are my two favourites
Thanks mate. Empty weight is 527kg. MTOW of 900 or 950kg would be great. I know the structure can handle that, I just need to work my way up to that to see how it handles at that weight
Just so you know, you’re bloody awesome. Your willingness to share your skills and expertise, and do so in a humble way is inspiring. Keep being you, always.
Excellent! I peeked at the end of the video so I knew where you were going. Can't believe the change in shape. I'm working on a Radial Starduster Too and need to create a front windshield flange. I'm hoping that the flange will be like a large scoop with the center part missing. Thx again for the excellent video!
Thanks mate I appreciate that. A Starduster with a round engine would be awesome! I made a windscreen trim for both cockpits on Frankenstein. I can’t remember if I spoke about it in an earlier video(I think I talked about this in the engine cowling series for the air exit flange I made for the lower cowling). What I did was to use the flat wheel like I used for these flanges to get the material to form. I used a bigger skin with the basic cut out of the front section of the cockpit, then progressively formed the flange up in the skin where the windscreen would attach to. With a bigger skin you can control how the skin/flange forms better. For Frankenstein, and I’m guessing for the Starduster, the shape of the windshield piece follows the curve of the top of the fuselage as well as the shape of the cutout for the cockpit. That means the angle of the flange to attach the windshield to changes slightly from one side, to the middle, to the other side. Give the bigger sheet the shape of the top fuselage and slowly add the required stretch to the flange until you get the angle you want, then cut out the piece from the bigger skin to suit. If this doesn’t make sense, I do apologise. The work coffees were really strong today! Let me know and I’ll try and give you a better explanation
@@donwtsn Thanks so much for taking the time to point me in the right direction. I have been looking for some guidance on how to approach the project. You are correct in the assumption about the shape ("the shape of the windshield piece follows the curve of the top of the fuselage as well as the shape of the cutout for the cockpit"). We have the assembly for the rear cockpit but not the front. Your description makes perfect sense. I'm sure I'll destroy a bunch of aluminum before I'm done, but that's all part of the learning experience. BTW. The radial engine is a Continental 7 cylinder 220 HP 80 year old engine. It hadn't been started in over 20 years but came to life on the second revolution. If you're interested in taking a peek at the first engine start, here is a link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NSqambFC7Nw.html Thanks again!
@@stanhelmle5363very cool! There’s just something about radial engines huh! An extra measure of awesomeness. The airframe looks great. Have you started to cover it yet? Take your sweet time when using the English wheel, especially when getting close to the right shape. Don’t be tempted to hurry things up by doing a couple extra passes. A lot of the time, one extra pass than what you planned is enough to overshoot things. Usually that’s when you discover new expletives! Fun times!
@@donwtsn Oh, yes! Discovering new expletives! Been there and done that. LOL! Regarding the fabric, we have the fuselage and all control surfaces done. Getting ready to do the wings. Never thought that I'd have to learn to sew (rib stitching) at age 74! We went with Oratex fabric. All black with the trim being a metallic flake blue. The avionics (Garmin G3X) are here and ready to be installed! Again, I appreciate your taking the time to guide me in fabricating the front windshield. I'll let you know how it turned out (hopefully with few expletives).
That’s definitely a consideration I’m seriously thinking about. I also know I’ll be flying around with a basic tool kit so it’d be weight that’s useful. Still thinking about which way I want to go
What will the tundra tires do to the forward CG issue? To give you an idea how sensitive ailerons can be, I reskinned an aileron on an Arrow. It would not trim right again by bending the tab on the other aileron. Finally found out that Piper stacked these skins on the shelf at Vero Beach and some of them on top where forced on the pile enough to spread out the trailing edge radius. A new skin was put on and cured the problem.
I don’t think the tundras will affect the CofG much at all. Although I will be checking the weights between the two when I swap them out. It will increase the angle of attack on the ground/3 point attitude which I’ll need to be careful about. Yes, ailerons can be sensitive to things like that huh. I remember doing flights after rebuilding aircraft to get them to fly right, the smallest of adjustments is all they needed and the affect was significant. Fun times
You might want to put some interior padding and something to cover the sharp edges of the channel section . I spent twenty plus years fighting ,now, CASA to get an experimental category (and the SAAA who were responsible for ANO 101.28 that imposed full FAR 23 certification on only local amateur build designs ( of which my Opal from 1976 was the only such aircraft not of "overseas design" and so exempted from anything (I worked in the US in the experimental category on the prototype HP18 sailplane and was probably the only Australian to have done so, I thus have a great interest in the safety of anything built and to preserve the hard won freedoms allowing EXP now.
The use of a tachometer set-up from a diesel or any other similar source will yield a far safer method of generating an rpm signal. You can easily install a signal generator using an automotive "wheel speed sensor", mounting it in close proximity to a tiny rotating magnet attached to the crankshaft/propeller .......thus preventing the possibility of ignition failure due to a short in the circuit.
Excellent video mate, you’re making excellent progress. On the tacho conundrum, you can either spend lots of time, money and frustration emulation a Robinson engine tachometer that picks up signal from the retard points on the right magneto, or do the quick, easy, cheap and arguably more reliable thing and just throw a mechanical tachometer and a cable in the big girl.
It’s looks awesome. So glad you went with that font, and it fits perfectly on the tail. The only screams coming from that front seat are going to be in awe and delight!
