K5054NZ Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Hi all! Now, how many of you have heard of the Pietenpol Air Camper homebuilt? Lovely little machine, designed in the US in 1928, and commonly powered by Ford Model A or other auto engines. Two-place, built almost entirely of wood and apparently a great little plane to build your, um, building skills. I like 'em, and I think it's highly doubtful any kits are available. So, I'm bashing a Novo/FROG 1/72 DH.60 Moth with some other machines - and a bit of scratch - to come up with a representative machine somewhere between 1/60 and 1/50 scale. As it stands, the components are from three kits. The fuselage is a shortened Moth one, the mainwheels and horizontal tail feathers are sanded down Revell 1/72 Se.5a, and the engine, exhaust and prop are pilfered from a 1/48 Cessna O-1 Bird Dog. As yet I'm not too sure where to source the mainplane from (plans exist to build the 1/1 machine's wing in three pieces - I may do the same here), but I have a couple of 1/72 bipe kits to nick struts etc from :). I'll keep you posted. Should be a bit of fun after all those boring racers :P Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BOC262 Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Good luck with your build! What a great subject--one of the all time great homebuilt airplanes. My great uncle and his best friend built one back in the 1930s. Instead of a Model A they used a Model T engine which apparently did not develop enough power to get them airborne--good thing too, because neither one of them knew how to fly! After hours spent trying to get it off the ground, Uncle went home to dinner and while gone his friend destroyed the airplane in a fit of rage. Back in the late 1990s, shortly before he passed away, he gave me the plans--he had kept them all those years! Unfortunately, they were so brittle from age they disintegrated into little flakes when I tried unrolling them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K5054NZ Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 (edited) Thanks for that story! The Piet seems a lot more common than I first realised. Here in NZ we have only two examples that I know of, but I think more may come along. For reference, I've spent many a pleasant hour at Airliners.net and the Pietenpols website. I have a set of their Air Camper plans and an info pack winging their way to me - this purchase was what made me think "I'd like to see if I can build one in model form first!". Well, being such a simple aircraft in reality seems to translate to a fairly straightforward scale build! The wing is a mix of (dark grey) Novo/FROG Moth and (light grey) Airfix Tiger Moth wing sections, sawed and sanded to shape. Much much sanding to get the very thick DH.82 section to at least be close to the thickness of the DH.60 components! Damn your inaccuracy Airfix! :banghead: Speaking of Airfix, I raided the wreckage of a 1/72 Bristol F.2B Fighter for a horizontal tail, cut down and sanded to resemble that of the Piet. I'm quite pleased with the result! Empennage on and cabane struts in place. These were raided from, thats right, the Airfix Tiger and Novo Moth kits. Course, after hacking the Tiger bits to pieces I saw that the Moth kit had more accurate, and thinner, triangle cabanes! Argh! The Bird Dog's Lycoming - middle two cylinders removed to become a 4cyl of some kind - as well as prop, exhaust and Se.5a wheels behind. Despite the fact that 4cyl Piets seem to not need the big radiator, I'll include it on mine as I see it as a signature part of the design . Where I'm at now. The interplane struts came from that 1/48 Bird Dog, sliced lengthwise and shortened slightly! Now that they're in place I see the wing seems a bit short in span, but ah well. It'll look like a Piet, and that's what matters to me . Thinking about paint scheme atm. Will wear an NZ civil rego (ZK-***). More as and when. Edited September 1, 2008 by K5054NZ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K5054NZ Posted September 2, 2008 Author Share Posted September 2, 2008 Update time! Apologies for the fuzziness, but this shows all struts and airframe together. All that is to be added now is engine and mainwheels. Wheels on and painting has begun! The delightfully glossy Tamiya Blue is the fuselage colour, just three coats and she looks grand. I decided on a simple scheme, inspired by Kingsford-Smith's Fokker VH-USU, oh a blue fuselage and silver mainplanes and empennage (Tamiya Chrome Aluminium). Struts and wheel hubs are silver, and you can see the engine and prop are in place. I intend on painting a simple woodgrain on the prop :). The radiator is cut from a Roden 1/72 Albatros D.II mainplane. Final update in the next few days - probably will just handpaint the rego, and the minimal rigging can wait until I invest in a pair of tweezers :P. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ross blackford Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 :P Hi Zac, I've just arrived back from the Watts Bridge Fly In. There was a beautiful little yellow Pietenpol with a Continental engine there. For some reason it didn't move all weekend. I'll post some pics of it when I get them onto my computer. :), Ross. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 (edited) Hi Zac. I have not heard of it till you posted this lovely story...It is such a PRETTY little thing.... I am sure your Model will be just as MAGNIFIQUE as the real thing.. Looking forward to seeing more ... HOLMES. :blink: Edited September 3, 2008 by HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ross blackford Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 :) Hi Zac, here are a few pics of the Pietenpol that was at Watts Bridge this last weekend. These last two show the Pietenpol basking in the late afternoon sunlight on Sunday. , Ross. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K5054NZ Posted September 3, 2008 Author Share Posted September 3, 2008 I've just arrived back from the Watts Bridge Fly In. WB's Festival Of Flight is somewhere I have desperately wanted to visit for years! Thankyou so much for the pics of this lovely wee Aussie example! Seems the Continental could be a good option if you couldn't track down a Model A.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ross blackford Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 :D Hi Zac, You're welcome mate. I agree about the Continental being a good substitute for the Model A Ford engine. Somehow, I don't think I'd like to be flying one with a dirty great radiator blocking all of my forward view. There is now another option in the Jabiru 2200 engine of 85 hp. This little one is in much better condition than one I saw years ago at Camden. That one did have the original Model A engine and I can remember thinking "Strike, fancy taking off in that thing." I can understand why the one that BOC262's great uncle and his mate built wouldn't fly. Not only was the Model t engine underpowered, but also far too heavy. A mate once asked me to give him a lift with the block for one of these and we couldn't lift it safely, we had to get assistance or break our backs. , Ross. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K5054NZ Posted September 4, 2008 Author Share Posted September 4, 2008 (edited) :D Hi Zac,You're welcome mate. I agree about the Continental being a good substitute for the Model A Ford engine. Somehow, I don't think I'd like to be flying one with a dirty great radiator blocking all of my forward view. There is now another option in the Jabiru 2200 engine of 85 hp. This little one is in much better condition than one I saw years ago at Camden. That one did have the original Model A engine and I can remember thinking "Strike, fancy taking off in that thing." I can understand why the one that BOC262's great uncle and his mate built wouldn't fly. Not only was the Model t engine underpowered, but also far too heavy. A mate once asked me to give him a lift with the block for one of these and we couldn't lift it safely, we had to get assistance or break our backs. , Ross. :) Thanks for the headsup! I've also seen pics of one in the US with a Rotec radial. Not so sure about that, but a Jabiru sounds like it may be a good bet. Perhaps to stay with the vintage theme a C65 may be nice........ Besides, I don't know my chances of finding a suitable Model A engine here in NZ! :P Edited September 4, 2008 by K5054NZ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Hello Zac, Any more updates and final piccies....if you have finished it that is...I have been waititng for you to update the thread... Looking forward to more pics soon.. HOLMES. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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