DH6 (oz15591)

 

DH6 (oz15591) by Peter Rake 2000 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

DH6. Radio control sport scale model of the WWI biplane trainer. Wingspan 36 in. For electric power with geared 400 motor.

Quote: "This extremely simple model has long been on my 'must build' list, as its very angular lines and boxy shape are so full of character. Models need something to make you actually want to build them. With some it's their history, with others it's their sleekness, and with yet others it is their very quirkiness. Such is the case with the DH6, De Havillands' ugly duckling.

Perhaps after such a defamatory statement I should make the case for why the DH6 would be such a good subject for a model. Its very simplicity is the main factor in its favour because there are no complicated curves to worry about, no awkward struts or complicated u/c, no difficult bits at all in fact. This all makes for an easy to build, lightweight model that is ideal as a first plan built scale biplane.

This being the case, I will deal fairly closely with the construction of the model. Not a 'stick part A to part B description' since, if you're ready to build from a plan, you shouldn't need that. Since you will already have a pretty fair idea of the basics of building a model, I'll run briefly through the procedures involved but pay more attention to the areas that may fox the less experienced builder. There isn't actually too much that should give any problems, but better safe than sorry.

Equipment: This is a good place to start since, if you're new to small electric powered models, you'll need to know what you're letting yourself in for. All right, relax, it doesn't involve vast quantities of your hard earned cash. If it did, I wouldn't be building it! As drawn, the model is intended to be powered by what is probably one of the most inexpensive combinations available, an MFA Mini Olympus gearbox fitted with a Kontronic Rondo 7.2 volt motor/speed controller. At around £30 for the complete package, it's hardly likely to break the bank. The money you saved here should be used to ensure that you buy a pack of 7x500AR Ni-Cads by Sanyo. These have the added advantage that they will accept the higher charge rates that the cheaper chargers operate at - I've found that many of the cheaper cells won't.

The control functions are provided by a Jeti 4 micro Rx and two 9g servos. This combination has proved to be very reasonably priced and superbly reliable. With the deals that are about, it need cost very little more than standard sized equipment. A very worthwhile investment if you are at all likely to become serious about this type of model. The model will handle the extra weight of a standard Rx, but definitely not standard servos. So, now that you know what goes into the model, I suppose you'd like to know how to build her? This won't cost much in either materials or time.

Wings: Begin here, since you'll then have the most tiresome part done with - rib cutting. Once you do, in fact, have all the ribs cut, you'll find that the wings build very quickly. Start by making sure that when you marked out the rib template you also marked the locating dowel positions, get it right at this stage and fitting the lower wing panels will be easy. Now mark, notch and gusset all the ribs into which struts fit and we're ready to begin building.

Pin down the trailing edge and spar for the centre section and which ever pair of wings you are building. Top and bottom wing panels are exactly the same except for the strut notches, bottom surface of the top wing and upper surface of the lower wing. Now, having slotted the relevant ribs for the 1/16 ply dihedral brace, glue the ribs in place. Lean the root ribs on the wing panels in slightly to allow for dihedral but ensure that all the other ribs are perfectly vertical. Build the dihedral brace into the c/s during this stage of the assembly. Once the glue is dry, add the leading edge, the wing tips and the 1/4 x 1/8 strips in the c/s and allow to dry. Don't look now, but that's a pair of wings ready to sand!

There is no c/s in the bottom wing, so this will go together even quicker. Now we come to the hardest part of the whole operation, joining the top wing panels to the c/s. Just make sure that it is the top panels that you use or you will have a problem. At this point the dihedral brace is simply a rectangle 1/8 x 1/2. All the shaping is done after the wings are joined, thus avoiding any temptation to align the wings to the brace rather than the c/s. With the c/s pinned firmly down to the board glue each wing panel in place. Ensure that the root rib is flat to the board and that the tip is packed up as indicated on the plan..."

DH6 from R/C Scale International November 2000.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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DH6 (oz15591) by Peter Rake 2000 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz15591)
    DH6
    by Peter Rake
    from RC Scale International
    December 2000 
    36in span
    Scale Electric R/C Biplane Military
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
    got article :)
  • Submitted: 30/09/2024
    Filesize: 565KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: Circlip, RFJ
    Downloads: 395

ScaleType:
  • Airco_DH.6 | help
    see Wikipedia | search Outerzone
    ------------
    Test link:
    search RCLibrary 3views (opens in new window)


    ScaleType: This (oz15591) is a scale plan. Where possible we link scale plans to Wikipedia, using a text string called ScaleType.

    If we got this right, you now have a couple of direct links (above) to 1. see the Wikipedia page, and 2. search Oz for more plans of this type. If we didn't, then see below.


    Notes:
    ScaleType is formed from the last part of the Wikipedia page address, which here is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airco_DH.6
    Wikipedia page addresses may well change over time.
    For more obscure types, there currently will be no Wiki page found. We tag these cases as ScaleType = NotFound. These will change over time.
    Corrections? Use the correction form to tell us the new/better ScaleType link we should be using. Thanks.

DH6 (oz15591) by Peter Rake 2000 - pic 003.jpg
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DH6 (oz15591) by Peter Rake 2000 - pic 004.jpg
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DH6 (oz15591) by Peter Rake 2000 - pic 005.jpg
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DH6 (oz15591) by Peter Rake 2000 - pic 006.jpg
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User comments

Here's a photo of mine [pic 006]. One of my favourite Peter Rake plans; very simple to build - the full-size plane was designed for easy construction and repair while training pilots - and a great flyer which, although it will handle light winds, is at it's best gently floating round on a calm day. No need for masses of power either - I used a cheap 90 watt bell motor, 8 x 4 prop, 25a ESC, 9gm servos and a 2s 1500 battery. Plenty of space to install the radio gear in this model. The characteristic exhaust pipes were made from plastic drinking straws courtesy of my local Wetherspoons. I must have got the balance correct on this model as it would land itself after just throttling back on final approach. This would be the perfect model for anyone who's never built a WW1 plane before.
Steve Storey - 13/10/2024
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* Credit field

The Credit field in the Outerzone database is designed to recognise and credit the hard work done in scanning and digitally cleaning these vintage and old timer model aircraft plans to get them into a usable format. Currently, it is also used to credit people simply for uploading the plan to a forum on the internet. Which is not quite the same thing. This will change soon. Probably.

Scaling

This model plan (like all plans on Outerzone) is supposedly scaled correctly and supposedly will print out nicely at the right size. But that doesn't always happen. If you are about to start building a model plane using this free plan, you are strongly advised to check the scaling very, very carefully before cutting any balsa wood.

 

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