51fixer wrote:
John Dupre wrote:
TimAPNY wrote:
That looks great!
But I have to ask, what is gained by doing 3/4 scale over a full scale? It seems like it would not be that much more work or money to make it full scale. I guess I'm just curious, that is why I ask.
Tim
For one there is the overall size. 3/4 scale might just make a project doable given the size of the workspace etc. Then there are the engines, 6 cylinder Continentals are less expensive than a pair of Merlins. It will be interesting to see how it looks when assembled. The Mossie was never known for having lots of rudder authority, especially at low speed, so I wonder if they made the vertical surfaces larger to compensate.
The Merlins were around 15-1600 hp each. Total is around 3000.
The Continental puts out maybe 350 for a total of around 700.
At 3/4 scale you will have maybe 1/2 the original empty weight but less than 1/4 the original horsepower.
It is a daunting project. I wish them well. Must have been fun to build it.
3/4 scale ends up being about 42% of the original size when you look at it from a length x width x height basis. 75% x 75% x 75% = 42%. Then you figure in reduced material thicknesses and you're probably at 30% of the original weight. The wing area is 75% span x .75% chord = 56% of the original.
Similarly, if you cut the cockpit dimensions to 75% of original, the space inside nets 42% of the original's cube.
This kind of thing makes it hard to scale down airframes, 'cause they don't make 42% scale pilots.