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<\/a>two booms, the wing center section, and test cabin #3.<\/p><\/div>\n
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I’ve been slowly working on another project.\u00a0 This one has been on-going for years – since at least 1994, maybe longer.\u00a0 It is one of my favorite planes – Johnny Livingston’s 1933 Cessna CR-3.\u00a0 This will be an 18.5″ span model.\u00a0 Why that size?\u00a0 That’s a slightly-involved story.<\/p>\n
A few years earlier, I had built Tom Nallen’s Livingston Monocoupe Peanut model.\u00a0 That got me into researching the Monocoupe, Livingston, and the CR-3. \u00a0 I learned that over the years, Livingston had done many, many successive (and successful) modifications to the Monocoupe and it became a very potent race plane.\u00a0 He then replaced it with the CR-3.\u00a0 He did two things that influenced me:\u00a0 1- the wingspan of the Monocoupe ended up pretty close to 24′ – which would convert nicely to 24″ – making a nice model, and 2- he took the motor from the Monocoupe and had Cessna build the CR-3 around the motor.\u00a0 The CR-3 came out close to 18.5′ span, so continuing with a 1′:1″ scale, 18.5″ would be the size for the CR-3 model.\u00a0 Wouldn’t it be great to have models of Livingston’s racers; the Monocoupe and the CR-3, in the same scale?\u00a0 (P.S. I have collected 13 pages of photo documentation of changes Livingston made to the NR501W Monocoupe over the years he owned it – too much?)<\/p>\n
I still have plans to do both, but for some reason, I’ve pushed the CR-3 much closer to the front of the build list.\u00a0 I have been re-working the old plans for years.\u00a0 I hope I am moving in the right direction.\u00a0 The old plan certainly had potential:\u00a0 Paul Boyanowski built the prototype back in ’95 and it flew great, winning its first contest.<\/p>\n
Anyway, how much nose weight will the big, round-engined, short-nosed model need?\u00a0 I am hoping its around 10 grams.\u00a0 It is completely backwards to start a build there, but here is why I ask.\u00a0 Here is another project that worked out this weekend – the dummy Warner Scarab engine for my 18.5″ model.<\/p>\n
I made one and it ended up about 10.3 grams with the Gizmo Nose Button front half.\u00a0 I decided to try again, thinning the parts as much as I dared to make them lighter.\u00a0 I saved over a gram on just the seven cylinders and 2+ grams overall.\u00a0 Attempt #2 weighs 8.1 grams.\u00a0 I need to make a new nose plug and I might be able to trim a little off of that, too.<\/p>\n I will admit – that’s a funny place to start on a flying stick and tissue model.\u00a0 Maybe I will get to the rest someday!<\/p>\n glue the cylinders to the crank case<\/p><\/div>\n first attempt finished<\/p><\/div>\n attempt 1 on the left, #2 on the right<\/p><\/div>\n attempt 1 on the left, #2 on the right<\/p><\/div>\n finished #2<\/p><\/div>\n I think that will work for the model – it seems like a good representation of reality<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems like forever since I posted, but the calendar says its only been 10 days.\u00a0 I did take a bit of time off to visit my brother in Alabama.\u00a0 Then, I had to concentrate on filling orders from those … Continue reading <\/a>It all started with this photo of the original nose of the plane.\u00a0 Notice the simplicity of the engine installation:\u00a0 simple cylinders, a simple cover over the crank case, and simple baffles between the cylinders.\u00a0 I like simple – and usually can do simple.<\/p>\n<\/a>Next match the simple real to the simple model.\u00a0 I only need to do half an engine – the front half.\u00a0 Figure out how to lay out the cylinders and the crank case and how to integrate\u00a0 a nose plug into it.\u00a0 Not terribly difficult (remember to keep it simple).\u00a0 All that was left to do was to convert the two-dimensional line drawings into 3D printed parts.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>