Fokker DVII (oz12570)
About this Plan
Fokker DVII. Profile scale free flight model WWI GHerman biplane fighter.
Quote: "Your Fokker D-7, by Robert C Buenzly.
The D-7 is one of the easiest World War One airplanes to recognize due to the lack of external bracing wires. This clean looking aircraft was one of the strongest planes made during world war one. Pilots discovered that this fighter had an uncanny ability to stand on its tail without stalling or spinning.
I wanted to build a handsome, sport profile model of a biplane of the World War I era and the D-7 proved to be what was looking for. This .020-powered free flighter is a very rugged model and will provide you with many hours of fun flying.
Begin construction by cutting the fuselage and wing parts from a medium-grade balsa. The fuselage is made of three pieces from 1/8 sheet balsa. Lay the right fuselage side on your work bench. Glue the middle fuselage piece to this. Be sure you have cut out the slots for the wing pylon P-1, the tail skid T-1, and the landing gear. The slot for the landing gear is for the wire only; the ply pieces L-1 fit outside the fuselage profile. That is, the three-ply balsa fuselage is 3/8 thick; it is five-ply where the plywood pieces L-1 are located.
After the glue has dried, glue the plywood parts P-1, T-1 and L-1 in place. Glue the left fuselage piece to the middle fuselage piece. You now have three fuselage pieces glued firmly together with the plywood parts sandwiched in the middle. You can temporarily pin this assembly together, and put it aside to dry.
The wings are made from 3/32 balsa. Drill small holes in the wings to accept the struts which are made from 1/8 dowel. Sand the ends of the wing struts similar to the shape of the nose cone of a rocket. Use a drill smaller than 1/8 dia to make the holes. If you don't have a drill, use the point of your balsa knife to make the holes. Work slowly and be careful not to split the wood.
To make the wing dihedral, pin one of the top wing panels to your work bench and glue the other wing in place. Raise the tip of this wing 2 inches from your table. You can cut a piece of scrap balsa to a 2 in length and pin to the wing tip. A small strip of silk or Silkspan may be glued over this joint for strength. Glue the bottom wing together in the same manner. Make the two stabilizer parts from 1/16 hard balsa. Glue together and lay aside to dry. The tail is made in three pieces - the fin, the rudder and the lower rudder piece - from hard 1/16 balsa, Glue the fin to the rudder and put aside. The bottom rudder piece is not glued at this time.
Cut out the motor mount from 1/8 aircraft plywood, available from your hobby shop. Drill four holes large enough to accept the screws for your .020 engine. Cut out the two nose stiffeners from 1/16 plywood. The two motor mount braces are made from 1/8 plywood. Glue the two nose stiffeners to the fuselage front. When dry, the front of the fuselage should be sanded so the plywood motor mount will have 2 degrees left thrust. (Measure the two-degrees on paper, using your protractor and transfer this measurement.)
Glue the motor mount in place using plenty of glue. When this is dry, glue the two 1/8 plywood nose braces to the top of the stiffeners. These braces lay on top of the nose stiffeners and are glued to the fuselage and the back of the plywood motor mount.
Buy a pair of 1-1/4 inch World War I wheels made by Williams Brothers, and a piece of music wire that will fit into the holes of the wheels. Bend and cut the landing gear wire from this piece. Glue the landing gear in the slot that you cut in the three balsa fuselage pieces. Paint the entire plane with two coats of thinned clear dope. Use a fine grade of wet-or-dry sandpaper to smooth the wood. When the dope is dry, glue the bottom wire to the cutout in the fuselage bottom. When you are sure this is dry, glue the four 1/8 dia dowel wing struts in the holes in the bottom wing. When the glue begins to set, glue the top wing to the pylon P-1. When doing this, line up the four wing struts to the holes in the top wing; this is the hardest part of the construction, so have plenty of patience and take your time. Be sure your wings are perpendicular to the fuselage. Let this assembly dry over night. It is best to use straight pins to help secure the wings in place while the glue is drying.
Glue the stabilizer to the notch provided in the fuselage rear. Glue the fin and rudder in place. A small triangle can be used to check the tail to be sure it is perfectly vertical. If you can't find a small triangle in your local five-and-ten-cent store, check an office equipment supply store. They gen-erally carry drafting tools. You'll find that a triangle is a very useful tool. Use it to guide your knife when cutting straight edges, such as your wings.
Now that you have glued the tail surfaces in place, the lower rudder piece can be glued to the bottom of the stabi-lizer and the rear of the fuselage.
The entire aircraft is painted with clear dope. Add a little thinner to your dope, and I wouldn't advise using more than one color coat. Remember, the lighter your model is, the better it will fly. You may use craft trim tape and decals to decorate your D-7. Paint the plane with the color of your choice. It is best to use a high visibility color such as orange, red or yellow.
Since the author had a large field available, there was no danger of his 0-7 flying out of sight. You may need to limit your motor run. While dismantling the engine is not always recommended, one way of cutting down an engine run is to partially fill the tank with small balsa blocks and to time the resulting engine run until you have the desired run. Or the fuel can be measured out with an eye dropper and timed for run, after which the same amount of fuel can be added for each flight. The model flies well but is fairly heavy and not inclined to glide very long.
Bolt your .020 to the firewall. I used a 5-1/4 x 3 prop and the plane moves out pretty fast. Before you use power, test glide the model over tall grass. You should strive for a long straight glide. If the ship dives, bend the rear of the stabilizer up and, if it stalls, bend the stabilizer down. Your first flight should be under reduced power and with a little left rudder. Experiment until the ship flies in large circles to the left, if you should develop any problems in trimming the aircraft, try to get an experienced free-flighter to help you."
Direct submission to Outerzone.
Scans from dfritzke, cleanup by Circlip.
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(oz12570)
Fokker DVII
by Robert Buenzly
from Junior American Modeler
March 1973
15in span
Scale IC F/F Biplane Military Fighter
clean :)
all formers complete :)
got article :) -
Submitted: 14/10/2020
Filesize: 216KB
Format: • PDFbitmap
Credit*: dfritzke, Circlip
Downloads: 510
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