Building tip needed for Brodak Oriental

Hello I am in need of some advice on putting the tank in my Oriental.It is a Brodak kit and they want you to glue the tank in with balsa stock?There is no access to adjust tank height and it would be glued in?So what I am asking is how did you guys that have built one mount your tank.I know that if I have no access to it I well have a full second lap time differnce and if I spend a extra 3 hours making a access to the tank I while never need to move it.So my thoughts are make access now and enjoy flying later.Thanks for any help.
Dennis

It seems you may have answered your own question. I would spend the time now just in case you might have to adjust later. Anyway, it's bad weather out now and you can't fly it so why not take the time and do it right? Could be the right thing to do.

Dennis,
I made a hatch that covers the entire section where the tank is to be placed. There is a section of lite-ply that fits tightly between the ply doublers and the fuse formers to help keep the nose rigid. This is screwed in place (4 screws-one in each corner) and the section of the balsa that fits over the tank compartment is glued to this with holes for access to the screws. Of course since I have access to the tank, it has not needed to be moved. Good luck with your project.

>Dennis,
> I made a hatch that covers the entire section where the
>tank is to be placed. There is a section of lite-ply that
>fits tightly between the ply doublers and the fuse formers
>to help keep the nose rigid. This is screwed in place (4
>screws-one in each corner) and the section of the balsa that
>fits over the tank compartment is glued to this with holes
>for access to the screws. Of course since I have access to
>the tank, it has not needed to be moved. Good luck with
>your project.
>
>John
So what you are saying is that you made the bottom block removable betwwen the firewall and the landing gear former?I just got a good idea pictured in my head now.Thanks
Dennis

Yes, what John said! You might want to glue the tank with a few dabs of RTV silicone both to cushion it slightly and also allow it to be easily adjusted if needed later.

Dennis,
Sounds like you have a good idea on what is happening. I uses some ply blocks in the corners for attachment points. On the rear two, I had to make clearance for the landing gear. Still not very hard.

Depending on how far along you are in construction, if you build a motor mount crutch, simply glue half inch balsa cross grain between the two motor mounts in the tank area, this will add the rigidity needed for the front end. Then eliminate the former in front of the tank, or at least cut out the section that is in front of the tank. This then becomes the tank "floor" (actually top) for the tank compartment. But a piece of 1/8 inch balsa below the tank, leaving anough room for adjustment, and then the tank can be slid out the front. We put pads under the engine and move the mount up just a bit to allow for movement up or down, buy you can cut out the tank area slightly on the mount beams before construction to allow for this as well.

With this mod, we also use a "Carl Goldberg" type gear mount when using a wire gear. This is basically a block set into the bottom of the fuselage with a slot wide enough for two gear legs side by side. Mout the gear like you would in a wing mount, escept overlapping side by side, and then the gear becomes removeable and adjustable. You can even set up one gear for grass and one for hard surface this way.

Of course, if you are using an aluminum gear, you have it made already.

Leonard, does this add any or very much weight to the nose section with these mods?

>Leonard, does this add any or very much weight to the nose
>section with these mods?

Actually, it probably saves weight. You can totally eliminate the plywood former in front of the tank, unless you need the bottom half for the landing gear mount. But the cross grained balsa is very light weight--we have even done some with quarter inch between instead of the full half-inch, and if you go to the Carl Goldberg style gear mount, this is light weight, too. It adds the advantage of having the gear removeable in case you prang it, bend it, or just need to move it slightly forward or rearward for whatever reason. And since these are all structural mods, they maintain the full classic points (and can be used on OT ships as well).

Oh, and when scratchbuilding, we use 1/32 inch plywood and have even considered using 1/64 inch plywood for doublers. The engine mount/crutch assembly gives all the strength to the nose, and the plywood is just there basically to spread out the bearing load so the hardwood mounts are not attached directly to balsa.

I just put the crutch in between the engine rails Leonard.I am going to cut some of the lower part out of the front former.I am installing one of the OS Max40H engines that I have ordered the parts from you for in the Oriental.I am going to make the bottom removable as metioned above because the front of the plane is so small I do not know if I could get the tank in once the nose is finished.The fuel line plumbing looks like the next obstacle.If it was easy everyone would want to do it(For a season or so)Thanks everyone.
Dennis