[rbwater]

RC Friends,

I am preparing to build a DH83 Fox Moth from a plan purchased in the UK. It is a close relative of the Tiger Moth - shares wings, tailplane, undercarriage & engine but has a small cabin to hold up to 4 passengers. The plan is very true to scale but has no building instructions so it is taking some time to work thru' it to identify all parts, etc. It calls for a couple of materials I have yet to find here in Canada. These are:

Beech (hardwood) in 1/4" and 3/16" thicknesses &

Dural (an alloy of aluminium, magnesium & copper used in full size aircraft)

Has anyone come across sources for these (preferably in the Toronto area) or made appropriate substitutions in their own builds? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Attached is a photo of the full size version I am using as my protoytype.

RB

For wood substitute pretty much any hardwood (Maple) would suffice.

For "Dural" use 60621-T6 Aluminum, it is fairly readily available from industrial metal supply stores.

Ed S

[Ken Currell]

What sizes (TxWxL) are the pieces of beech that you are looking for?

[Mike Emilio]

Rb, , ,
I have alot of small pieces of sheet aluminum cut-offs.

Your welcome to come over and have some. Keele & Bloor area.
Let me know.

One condition, , ,
Do us a favor and add Toronto into your profile.

[Mike Emilio]

Rb, , ,

I see you added Uxbridge on your profile.

Seems like a long way from me. Perhaps a nearby metal supplier in Uxbridge???

[rbwater]

Mike,

Thanks for the offer but based on Ed's info. I managed to buy a cutoff piece of T-6 aluminium from the Metal Supermarket in Scarborough. As you say Uxbridge is a fair distance out in the boonies!!

RB

[robonline]

Model builder sometimes call beech, bass, pine and spruce, hardwood because they are harder than the balsa we usually use, but they are all softwood to the rest of the world. So, beech, bass, pine and spruce are softwood and are interchangeable with each other. Maple is much heavier than beech but stronger. Not often used for structures, but was popular for engine mounts in the early years of R/C.
Rob.

[Nuker]

RB

There is a place in Oshawa that you can find a great variety of woods, Peacock lumber on Ritson Road between Hwy 2 and Rossland. Chances are they'll have exactly what you need. I've had great success getting unique pieces that I've need there in the past.

I am curious is there a reason you need the actual hardwood or would something like Spruce work?

Pls post pics, sounds like a great project.

Bob

[rbwater]

Nuker & RBOnline,

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look @ Peacock Lumber (happen to be in Oshawa tomorrow for a meeting). The plan has Spruce in several places. The Beech is in high stress areas such as in the fuselage where the lower wing joins & at pivot points for the fold back wings & at interplane strut mounting points. See attached excerpt from plan for example.

I will post some photos but it will be a while before I have anything significant to show.

RB

[Ken Currell]

I have lots of small pieces of maple.
Send me a PM and I'll give you all you need. As for the 7" wide piece I would substitute 1/4 inch thick Baltic birch aircraft grade plywood. Thin pieces of any solid wood that are only 1/4" thick and 7 inches wide will warp badly. Just for the record Beech is not a softwood.