Topic: Gloster Meteor F8

Hi All,

For a while now I've been sketching out a design for a Meteor F8 for affordable EDF power. I wanted something small enough to fly on 3~4S packs but large enough to carry retracts and get off a grass strip.

I've arrived at something 48" in span, 60" in length and have allowed 2kg for servos, fans, motors, ESCs, retracts, wheels, cabling etc etc. I'm hoping to achieve an AUW of around 3kg. Wing loading will be fairly astronomical, but there will be plenty power too. It won't be a beginners' model by any stretch of the imagination though.

At this stage I intend to make a fibreglass fuselage for it (but may change my mind if I can think of a more attractive way of building a wooden structure). Before I can do much beyond drawing the fuselage side elevations, plan view and sections though, I need a wing. Fortunately, that's what I drew first.



All the spars are cut from 1/8" birch ply. The fan bearers are also the retract bearers and these are cut from 3/16" ply. The whole centre section needs to be strong because there's a lot of mass involved with this model, holes through the spars for the ducts, and a lot of hollow area to be occupied by retracted wheels in between.



The front spars are as per the real Meteor - they go straight through the ducts with the leading edge of the wing to form a D-section. Mine will also have a fairing aft to taper it back out. My ducting diverges over the spars then converges before the fans, which maintains roughly constant cross sectional area according to my scribbles. The rear spars have spectacles as per the real one, and these have 1/8" ply doubler rings to strengthen what would otherwise be a pair of very weak flanges on a beam. They wont be glued on til later though, because the wing is built with the rear spar flat on the bench, building forwards. The doublers go on the rear face and would screw up the build sequence.

Before that though, one needs ribs. There aren't that many. They're cut from 3/32" balsa apart from R4 (straddling the fan/retract bearer) and R8 (tip rib) which are both cut from 3/16" balsa. R3 exists only in front of the fwd spar and behind the rear spar. In between the spars is where the wheel retracts into so instead R2 and R4 are notched for 4 x 3/16" sq balsa stringers to stiffen the upper wing skin.



At this stage I did some comparing of my new wooden parts to my plans and realised I'd made an error in my calculations. My rear spar was 3mm short either side of the centre line (6mm overall). This called for scarf joints to repair it (I certainly wasn't going to cut that bl**dy thing out again!!).







So, satisified, it was time to discover whether all this measuring of drawings, tapping away on calculators and drawing things on wall lining paper was something I should just leave, and attempt to glue two pieces together.

First task is to glue R4 to the fan/retract bearers "FB1".





Then the other one...



Next up is to glue these assemblies onto the fwd face of the rear spar, ensuring everything was square



Once they were glued on, the front spar centre section could be trial fitted. At this point I discover whether or not the R4/FB1 assemblies are actually square on the wing - by comparing the centre lines of rear spar W1 and front spar W2.





It was, so then it was just a case of slotting in the R1, R2, R3a ribs, then assembling and fitting the R5/FB2 assemblies (FB2 being the outer fan bearer).





Fortunately it's still square in plan view and I haven't warped it yet so it's going well. I have a dinner party tonight though, the wife will soon be coming home from work and I'm covered in saw dust and my fingers are covered in CA glue. Time to clean up... 

Looks nice Jamie, subscribed 

Steve

Jamie
That looks really good - th eMeteor always was one of my favourite early jets, and I think that the 8 is about the best looking of them (certainly better than the 12,13 and 14 NF variants )
Mike

Nice to see it taking shape at last, after all the discussions!

PDR

Thanks folks 

Special thanks to PDR for his counsel, BillscottUK for his help with Profili and also to Tigger, Steve_r and my better half for the encouragement to actually build it from the scribblings  Here's hoping the damn thing flies!

I may have over indulged slightly at last night's dinner party thanks to the hostess' efforts so I'm a bit knackered and have a slightly groggy head but I fancied doing some more building.

Anything not firmly in place is most liable to being broken off where I'm involved so I opted to fit the 3/8" balsa leading edge and 3/16" sq wheel well stringers to strengthen whatever I could at this stage.



Next, I thought I'd see how the outer panel went together. The tip rib was glued onto the rear spar, still facing up from the bench. I used the Profili jig tabs normally used for building flat on the table. In this case however, I'm using them with a set square. It was reassuring when the front spar piece 'W3' with calculated and pre-cut dihedral angle fitted in nicely too.



The washout is clear to see here:



The remaining ribs, R6 and R7 were slotted in. I had a bit of a panic at this point because the depth at the rear spar was miles off. Eventually I realised I'd cut a 1/4" sq notch out adjacent to the rear spar for the aileron servo hatch mounts - so it was fine afterall 





As before, anything not braced with angle irons is probably going to get broken off here so the leading edge was fitted to protect the ribs forward of the front spar



And that's as far as I've got. The other outer panel needs to be built, then I'll turn my attention to the wing aft of the rear spar. It's lunchtime though 

One more while lunch is cooking - it's now symmetrical. Trailing edge next...

At this rate it'll be ready to test fly at lunch time tomorrow 

I'm certain I'll make a spectacular return to form as far as build speed goes the moment I walk into work tomorrow morning 

Anyway - here is the trailing edge of the wing. I used a strip of rock hard 1/4" balsa (that was straight, obviously) to jig the trailing edge portions of the ribs using the Profili jig tabs.



Next was a bit of faffing about with the flap spars and flap servo hatch mounts (3/16" sheet and 1/4" sq balsa respectively).



That's it so far. I'm undecided whether to fit the crutches for the nacelles next, or build the outer wing panel trailing edge (which is mostly aileron). I'll probably work outwards, so that's gonna be the nacelles which I haven't cut out yet.

Looking good.
BTW,what happened to the Canberra?

Hello,

I sent the Canberra plans to Belair and am awaiting the arrival of a laser cut kit. I got fed up cutting, and I'd made an error in the wing assembly so it meant starting over. Leon tells me it should be ready within the next couple of weeks 

Still waiting for Belair, blimey, he must be busy!

Will keep an eye on this one Jamie

Yeah it was originally going to be the end of February, but it's no real problem - it's only a hobby 

I've cut out the nacelle crutches and glued them on. There are several dimensions to check during this procedure, including the exhaust diameter. The ducting rests against the inside edges of the crutches, and the nacelle planking is flush with the outside edge.



And here's one against a 12" rule for an idea of scale. Pretty low aspect ratio huh? 



Working towards the ailerons next, I discovered a line error in my plans - which I came in to correct and thought I'd post up the progress so far. Dinner can't be long now either. 



The longer one is correct. I'd transferred the dimensions of both the aileron hinge spar and aileron leading edge spar onto R6. It's only supposed to be the hinge spar. Due to sheer luck however, the short ones no longer need to be made, and will become the aileron ribs for the R6 position instead 

Almost forgot these bits 

More of that rock hard sheet of 3/16" balsa was used as a dihedral brace to join the inner and outer fwd spar parts together outboard each nacelle, incorporating the sweep.



This will be sanded flush with the top and bottom surfaces of the wing before skinning.

Just trying to decide whether to go start the ailerons too tonight, or watch a film with my wife 

What film are you away to watch?

Very nice Jamie
 I hope you are watching a film with your good lady and not reading this reply ............It's good to give a little back now & then

Hi All

Jamie superb build mate I will be watching all the way, keep up the good work

Take it easy
Gary

Nice to see it coming together Jamie!

 

Nice Jamie, keep it up 

what a crackin model!!

very intrested in this
 

great model very interested one to watch

Thanks everyone 

Firstly - I went for Option 2 last night and sat down for a while with Mrs Duff... it was only Star Trek Voyager. I didn't know she was a Trekkie when I married her 

So far though, she has indeed helped me to keep it up  ... I'm quite easily distracted and get annoyed when things don't go as well as I want/expect. Whilst musing the subject of build speed and dedication with Steve Rickett he told me that his wife (whom I apparently went to school with  ) just marches him straight back into the workshop whenever he comes out moaning. Well, my wife heard about this and has adopted a similar strategy of bullying me into doing 'stuff'. It seems to work, and to be honest I don't like my job just now and I'm genuinely looking forward to modelling when I get home again.

I can see this slowing down when I need to buy some bits for this though. I'll need a pair of Wemotec Minifans at £30 each, a pair of motors, a pair of 60A ESCs, a set of retracts and 4 HS-81 sized servos. I don't fancy eating beans on toast for a couple of months 

Easy Jamie!.........Just find a load of old stuff you don't really need and ebay it! That's what I done, and my collection of 1/6th scale pilots have gone off to start a new life as far a field as Dubai. I decided I was a little too old to still be playing with dollies and now I have a nice new model awaiting putting together, an engine to go in it and most of the gear to fit it out........... much more useful

I decided I was a little too old to still be playing with dollies

One is never too old to play with dollies - the problem is that the dollies no longer wish to play with one.
Mike

This looks great M8 
Watching with interest 

Talking of star trek I think you build at warp factor 10 

I got the aileron hinge spars on then went on to build an aileron. Unfortunately I tried to shape the leading edge of the aileron too quickly and trashed it, so I broke it in half and feel better - but it's wasted most of the evening.

Anyway, here's how the rest of the wing looks now. I think I was onto a loser with the aileron anyway so I'll try a different approach tomorrow night.

Rightio. It feels like I've almost ground to a halt already 

I've got that aileron nailed though. It all went horribly wrong yesterday, but today went a bit better fortunately.

Without going over the 'how not to do it' ground, I started this aileron with the 3 Robart hinges and soft balsa blocks.



The leading edge of the aileron spar was rounded and thus the radius gave the correct position for each of the 3 hinge points. These were drilled into the spars/blocks and the leading edge cut to give the desired movement.





Next, the aileron ribs were added, sanded to final shape (checking washout frequently) and the top skin made from 1/16" balsa was cut out and glued on. I'll leave the bottom skin for now whilst I decide how I want to actuate that ailerons.





Deflections checked:







Doesn't look like much at all and I'm a bit disappointed that this is all I can post. I guess it's just one of those things though. I have to make another one still. Hopefully that'll be quicker now I know what I'm doing with it 

Your grass need cutting!

That's not my grass!  I cut his other grass earlier tonight (he has MS). I'll get that done next week 

I've had to commit most of the weekend to a wedding from which I did not get home until almost 2am last night. I've just built the other aileron though, so next stage will be the flaps, then onto the nacelles.

Apologies for the time being - there's little changed to look at 





I was introduced to someone intimately familiar with Meteors though, including the F8 which was most insightful. He'll be of assistance along the way in some capacity I'm sure 

I've had to commit most of the weekend to a wedding from which I did not get home until almost 2am last night. I've just built the other aileron though, so next stage will be the flaps, then onto the nacelles.

He returns to model building on the first day of his honeymoon...

RESPECT!!

PDR

It wasn't me who got married yesterday. I was just the best man 

Respect should be immediately retracted 

Last night saw another mini milestone passed - namely the bonding on of the first wing skin.

This involved a fairly tedious process of sanding (the dimensions which were wrong have been noted on the plan so I can improve it) the ribs and spars flush. This took a couple of hours as thin balsa ribs glued to plywood spars means plenty of scope for chewing up the wrong wood in error.

The skin was made from light 1/16" balsa butt joined on the bench using the sticky tape technique. The glue joins were pre-sanded on the bench and the skin was bonded to the wing using Titebond wood glue which is thick and slow drying. The leading edge was tacked with CA, and the whole lot weighted down firmly onto the jig tabs with a pile of magazines.

This morning the magazines and pins were removed and the trailing edge is ready to be trimmed. Alas work has got in the way again so it wont be until tonight before the latest pictures can be uploaded 

I think I'll book some annual leave today...

As pledged:



It's not a big deal really but I'm pleased to have the first skin bonded on now. Time to make some more 

One more little bit. Just taking this one step at a time. It wouldn't do to beaulox it up at this stage. This bit is now drying. More tomorrow 

I see she's got the pillows and duvet on the sofa ready for you - presumably you'll be allowed back into the bedroom once the build is finished...

PDR

When and only when!


I'm trying to negotiate a concession though - sleeping on the shed floor is becoming uncomfortable!

Musing at lunchtimes as I often do, today I have mostly been pre-occupied with how this thing might look when finished.

I'd have liked to have done a green and grey one, but there are some nice silver ones with colourful tails etc.

My grandfather (now 84 years old) was on 43 Sqn when he worked on F8s though, and they were silver with the 43Sqn black & white chequer board. I feel almost duty bound to paint mine in that colour scheme. 43 Sqn are only an hour or so down the road at RAF Leuchars still as they were in the early 1950's so they are, along with 111 Sqn, the 'local' fighters.

Using slow drying glue means that I can only safely do little bits at a time, lest me drip glue onto expensive things that don't need to be glued and other marriage-ending indescretions.

Still it's getting there. I'll keep posting these rather uninteresting photos and posts to prevent my attention and ethusiasm waning.

One more section then onto the nacelles. That'll make it look a lot more Meteorish 

Last one for tonight... the top of the wing is now fully sheeted. Next task is to start on the nacelles. I haven't really given a huge amount of thought to that yet. Fortunately I have a 9 hour day at work tomorrow to ponder the best way forward