Thomas,
That looks like top notch craftsmanship!
Very impressive.
Keep the updates coming.
Bryan
From: Rotary motors in aircraft
[mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On
Behalf Of Thomas Mann
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2010 7:20
PM
To: Rotary
motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] 2D to 3D -
P51 Scoop
I
had a bit of a setback on my scoop. I opened up a box of foam last weekend only
to discover that the wrong dimension material was shipped (2 inch vs. 3 inch.)
The supplier bent over backwards and shipped me a replacement so I’m off
and running again.
I started by blocking out two of the areas
that frame the top and bottom of the oil cooler area (which also makes up the
floor of the radiator ducting. 3lb PVC foam is used to avoid any damage that
might occur in the event of a fluid leak. You can see how this lays out on a
full size plot/drawing of the plan.

For the scoop, it’s a matter of
converting my 2D drawings into a 3D reality. I started by plotting out the
bulkhead drawings. I then figured out the dimensions of the foam material
required to block out each bulkhead section. Here I’m working on [B-B] to
[C-C]. I used a hand miter box saw to insure the greatest accuracy and cut the
various pieces.
I used 3M 77 spray adhesive to glue the
parts together. Some foams really don’t like this stuff but it’s
safe to use on the PVC foam.

Once that is complete I glued my bulkhead
drawings to the foam. This is my cut line (inside and out.)

As each segment is cut and shaped, they
are stacked, glued and then sanded again to blend the transitions between
segments. Below is the shaped [A-A] to [B-B] segment stacked on the next (yet
to be cut) segment [B-B] to [C-C].
