Digital Millwork Little Baron Fokker DR I Instructions for use

Little Baron
Indoor Fokker Dr I Tri-plane
Construction Manual
Designed by Peter Stapleton
‘pmjass’ on rcgroups.com
Little Baron RC Groups Thread
Wingspan: 27 in Length: 23 in
Wing Area: 276 sq in Flying weight: 6 to 8oz
Kit #DMRC0001D by:
Digital Millwork
8038 E. Brown Rd
Lowell, AR 72745
www.digitalmillwork.com
[email protected]
© 2005 Digital Millwork

Digital Millwork Deluxe kits are very complete requiring only your radio, battery, and
chosen propulsion system.
Items included in kit:
CNC Cut white Depron Foam, balsa and ply parts
Carbon Fiber pushrods
Control horns
Carbon fiber rods for undercarriage construction
Wheels
Velcro for battery/radio mounting
Instruction manual on CD-Rom
Printable graphic files of insignia and pilot
Items needed to complete deluxe kit:
4 Channel Receiver and 3
Servos: Servo cutouts are sized for GWS Pico servos, usa a
small 4 channel receiver such as GWS pico, Berg
microstamp etc.
Recommended motors and
ESC:
Mounts are included for IPS mount, spindle
mount, front collar or rear flange mount.
Brushless motor recommended for 3D
performance.
Brushed: GWS IPS ‘S1’ (IPS-DX2BB-1XCS)
GWS ICS 100 Electronic Speed
Control or similar
Prop: GWS 8060 SF
Brushless: CD rom size brushless motor such as
Len’s RC 17 or 25 turn or AXI 2204
series
Castle Creations Phoenix 10 ESC or
similar
Prop: GWS 8040 DD
Battery: Small 7.4V Lithium Poly battery in 700mah to 1320
mah range
Glue: Odorless Medium CA and foam safe accelerator plus
Contact Cement, Hot melt glue, or Gorilla glue
Tape: Control services can be hinged with clear packing
tape, Medex tape or with hinges of your preference.
Other common building supplies including: 1/8” drill bit, straight edge, scissors, sand
paper, hobby knife, small square, pins etc.
2

Note: This is Little Baron manual version 1.0. Before beginning
construction, you should check for an updated manual on the Digital
Millwork website: http://www.digitalmillwork.com .
Manual Revision History:
3/15/05 ver 0.9 to version 1.0
oAdded brushed motor information to specs
oChanged recommended starting C.G. to 1 1/8th inch back on middle wing
oAdded note to apply packing tape to aileron surfaces to reduce flex for
outdoor flight.
3

Indoor Fokker DR I Construction:
Step 1: Upper Fuselage
Wing and Fuse assembly
oOn a flat surface, glue middle wing to
fuselage front and fuselage rear.
Note: Painting your Fokker
This manual does not detail the painting of your aircraft as everyone has their own preferences. You may
want to paint the parts before or during assembly or you may want to wait till it’s complete. Be sure to test
your paint on a scrap piece of foam to make sure it’s foam safe. Many of the spray type paints will eat
foam if sprayed from too close of distance. You may want to consider using a water based acrylic craft
paint or even Sharpie markers. There are many threads on rcgroups.comon foam finishing techniques. As
this is a lightweight indoor model, be sure not to add to much weight when finishing your aircraft.
4

Hinge Elevators to stabilizer
oHinge the two elevator pieces to the
stabilizer. The elevator control horn slot
should be on the left elevator when looking
from the top rear of the elevator assembly.
To use tape hinges, sand a 45 degree angle on the
bottom side of the front of the two elevator pieces. With
the stabilizer on the edge of your work table, hold the
elevator piece at it’s maximum downward angle of 45
degrees and tape to stabilizer. Repeat for other elevator
half. Flip the assembly upside down and hold each
elevator piece downward at it’s maximum throw of 45
degrees and tape following the contour of the sanded
area. Repeat for other side. For better tape adherence,
you may want to coat the foam surface where the tape
will be with a thin layer of contact cement. Going over
the applied tape with a covering iron on a low setting
also seems to improve adherence.
oGlue the supplied 2 3/4“ 1.5 mm carbon tie
rod between the elevator pieces making
sure both the elevators are flat on a solid
surface.
oGlue completed elevator/stabilizer to wing
and upper fuselage assembly from Step 1.
Control horn slot on left side
5

Step 2: Lower Fuselage
The kit comes with mounts for 4 different styles of motors:
IPS Stick Mount
Spindle Mount
Rear Flange Mount
Front collar mount
See step 9 for mount details
oChoose the mounting type that fits
your motor and test fit it and your
motor in the fuselage profile. If
your motor does not fit in the cutout
provided, mark and cut the fuselage
profile to fit.
6

oTurn the upper fuselage assembly
completed in step 1 upside down.
The elevator control horn cutout will be on the right side
when looking at assembly from rear when upside down.
oMark the center lengthwise of the
medium (2 3/4”) plywood
undercarriage mount.
oGlue the medium plywood
undercarriage mount to the bottom
of the fuselage/middle wing
assembly so that the centerline of
the mount aligns where the middle
wing joins the fuselage.
7

oHold the profile in place and mark
where the undercarriage mount will
be and cut out profile to clear
mount.
oIf you are not using GWS pico
servos, check servo fit. If you need
to enlarge the servo mounting hole
do so now and modify the plywood
servo reinforcement or make a new
one from balsa to fit your servos.
oGlue the rudder/elevator plywood
servo reinforcement in place on the
top of the fuselage profile.
oGlue the tailskid onto the marked
location on the fuselage profile.
Tailskid can be glued on either side
of the fuselage.
8

oGlue the fuselage profile into place.
Tabs in the fuselage profile will fit
into slots in the upper fuselage
assembly. Use your square to set the
fuselage profile perpendicular to the
upper fuselage/wing assembly.
9

Step 3: Lower Wing Preparation
oUse a pen or Sharpie to lightly
mark the centerline on both the
upper and lower surface of the
bottom wing. (the upper surface has
the strut locations marked.)
oGlue the balsa leading edge to the
front of the upper surface of the
lower wing. Make sure the
cutouts in the balsa leading edge
line up with the rectangular strut
marks in the wing. Round the
balsa leading edge with sandpaper
if desired.
oLocate the large plywood
undercarriage mount (3 7/8”) and
mark it’s centerline width ways.
oFlip the wing upside down and
glue the large plywood
undercarriage mount so that it is
centered on the front of the wing
with the holes in the mount
toward the front of the wing.
oGlue two of the foam strut
supports over the rectangular
holes on top of the balsa leading
edge on the top side of the wing.
Need photo – there is a photo in step 6 of foam strut
supports on upper wing. Check webste
www.digitalmillwork.com for manual updates.
10

oGlue the long set of plywood
aileron linkage horns (1 ½” x
3mm) into place on the bottom
ailerons.
(The bottom ailerons are the smaller ones)
oUsing tape hinges as in Step 1 or
your preferred hinging method,
attach the lower ailerons to the
bottom wing. Don’t forget to
make a left and right side one.
Optional: You may want to apply a
layer of packing tape on each side of
the ailerons to stiffen up the control
surface, particularly if you expect to
fly outside in light wind. The tape can
be applied now or after painting.
11

Step 4: Lower wing attachment
oAlign the fuselage profile on the bottom wing and check fit.
oPush the two long struts carefully through the center wing/fuselage assembly. (The
struts lean forward)
oUsing centerline drawn on lower wing in previous step, glue lower wing to bottom of
fuselage profile.
oPosition the long struts into the holes in the balsa and foam reinforcements on the
bottom wing and glue to bottom wing only. The bottom of the strut should sit flat on
the surface of the lower wing inside of the balsa cutouts.
oUsing your ruler, position the center wing on both struts so that it is parallel to the
bottom wing and glue to struts. (Place a couple 1/16 scraps of plywood under the bottom wing
beneath where the struts attach when measuring to make up for the 1/16th L.G. mount under the center
portion of the wing.)
12

Step 5: Fuselage top assembly
oAlign in center of upper
fuselage and glue the cockpit
cutout on top of the upper
fuselage. Be sure the center
strut hole is lined up.
oGlue the gun deck in front of
the cockpit. Make sure center
strut hole is aligned.
oGlue the rear deck behind the
cockpit.
oGlue the center strut into the
fuselage assembly.
oRound nose with sandpaper
if desired.
13

Step 6: Upper Wing Preparation
oGlue the balsa leading edge to the top front of the upper wing. Round the
leading edge with sandpaper if desired. . (The top of the wing does not have the
strut locations marked on it).
oFlip the wing over and glue three foam strut supports over the marked
rectangles.
14

oGlue the short set of aileron horns (13/16”) into place on the top ailerons.
oUsing tape hinges as in Step 1 or your desired hinging method, attach the ailerons
to the top wing.
Optional: You may want to apply a layer of packing tape on each side of the ailerons to
stiffen up the control surface, particularly if you expect to fly outside in light wind. The
tape can be applied now or after painting.
15

Step 7: Top Wing attachment
oGlue the top wing into
place on the struts
making sure it is parallel
with the bottom and
middle wings.
16

Step 8: Rudder
Note: The supplied plywood control horns are 2 pieces to provide more surface area in
contact with the foam control surfaces. Slide the two pieces together and glue with CA,
then glue into place in the slots provided in the control surface.
oUsing tape hinges as in step 1 or
your preferred method, hinge the
rudder to the vertical stabilizer.
oInstall the control horn on the right
side of the rudder.
oGlue the rudder to the fuselage.
oAdd hinges to bottom of rudder
after assembly. Be careful not to
interfere with elevator operation.
Need picture – check website www.digitalmillwork for
updated manual.
17

Step 9: Motor Mount
oIf you had to cut the fuselage
profile to fit your motor in Step
2, mark and cut the front
fuselage doublers to fit. Two
sets of doublers are provided,
the solid ones are used for a
front collar type engine mount
and the cutout ones are for
mounts using the IPS stick (IPS,
spindle, or rear flange mount).
oInstall the motor mount type you selected:
IPS mount
oGlue the cutout fuselage
doublers into place on either
side of the fuselage.
oTest fit the IPS mount stick
into place and mark the length
needed to properly position
your motor so that the
propeller will clear the front
of the fuselage.
oCut the stick to length and
glue into place allowing slight
right thrust by making the rear
of the mount stick flush with
the surface of the left doubler
and the front of the stick flush
with the surface of the right
doubler.
18

Spindle Mount
oGlue the cutout fuselage
doublers into place on either
side of the fuselage.
oFit the spindle mount adaptors
onto the IPS mount stick and
place your motor in the
adaptors.
oTest fit the IPS mount stick
into place and mark the length
needed to properly position
your motor so that the
propeller will clear the front
of the fuselage.
oCut the stick to length and
glue the spindle adaptors onto
the stick and the stick into
place. Allow slight right
thrust by making the rear of
the mount stick flush with the
surface of the left doubler and
the front of the stick flush
with the surface of the right
doubler.
19

Rear Flange Mount
oGlue the cutout fuselage
doublers into place on either
side of the fuselage.
oSlide the rear mount plywood
plate onto the IPS mount stick
and test fit the stick into the
fuselage.
oSlide the mount plate back
until your motor fits properly
and mark the IPS mount stick
at the front of the mounting
plate.
oCutoff the IPS mount stick
and glue into place in
fuselage. Allow slight right
thrust by making the rear of
the mount stick flush with the
surface of the left doubler and
the front of the stick flush
with the surface of the right
doubler.
oTest mount your motor to the
plate and cut off excess
material on the mounting
plate.
oGlue the mounting plate onto
the IPS stick.
20