Andy's Project Page
Hi, I thought I would put this page up to let you guys see what I'm working on at
home. Diane has graciously allowed me to have one of our bedrooms as a hobby
room. I have built a bench around two of the walls with cabinets along one of the
walls. Diane always says if there
is a tornado, she's getting under the hobby bench.
Tuesday Oct. 26th 1999
I received my Vario EC-135 Fuselage. I went to the Helicopter Expo in Dallas this
past spring and fell in love with the Shreveport, La. Life Flite EC-135. I knew that
if I ever decided to build a scale model this was what I would want. I only have one
photo of the full size, but am planning a one day trip to Shreveport to take a few photos.
These first photo's are of the fuselage out of the box.
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I have decided to start this project by cutting and shaping the windows.
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I will continue to update this project as I go. The side and back windows have been no problem, but now I have to cut the large front and chin windows. That doesn't leave a lot of fiberglass in the front.
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Wow!!! I made it. The front and lower chin windows are out. I was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I have also cut out and begun shaping the window glass for each window. I think I am going to glue the chin windows in and the back side windows. The front and front two side window will be held in with the Vario 114 window strip. But that is much later.
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Next, I found all of my necessary wood parts. There are four large plywood sheets with a great number of parts. I guess these are parts for many different kits. It appears that Vario goes in and cuts an X on all the pieces not being used by each particular kit. Once I cut them all out I was left with what is shown in the lower photo. I matched each piece to the plans and wrote it's number on the wood.
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I use thick CA to glue the base together. There are three lower braces towards the back and one at the front that supports the platform a good 2 1/5 inches off the bottom of the fuse. The kit comes with a round fiberglass tube. This will make the opening in the bottom of the fuselage so that air can get to the engine. After the tray is glued in I will open the hole in the bottom of the fuse and trim the fiberglass ring level with the tray. I'm sure I will hear from people to fiberglass the tray in place but, my friend and scale adviser Steve Higgins has always said to use Zappa Dapa Goo. It is very easy stuff to use and stays flexible. Also, his Careflight that is going on 4 years old and has won the Mt Pleasant scale competition the last 3 or 4years gets flown every weekend and is showing no signs of wear. That is proof enough to me that Goo works. So I'll try it.
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I received the rest of my stuff today. The EC-135 will be powered by a Rossi .65. This motor is suppose to make somewhere around 3.5 hp. I think that ought to do it. Also, I received my mechanics. I chose the Sky Fox mechanics for the Fenestron Tail. This mechanics set comes with a speed up gear to turn the tail faster and include the 4 bladed Isometric head. I do not have blades yet but I don't need them until I finish the helicopter. I also received my cockpit, nice fuzzy red seats. I think I have most everything to continue.
Dilemma #1: I think Vario has sent me the incorrect pipe for the EC-135. When I ordered the engine set, they said they would swap the long "club" pipe for the one called for in the plans. Should be no big deal, I'll give them a call and get the right pipe.
Dilemma #2: All of a sudden it hit me as I was looking at the swashplate. This thing is 4 servo 90 degree CCPM. My JR 10sx should work fine but I sold it and got a 10X. Guess what, no 4 servo CCPM. I'm calling Horizon tomorrow to see if it can be turned on. If all else fails, I have an 8103 that will work after I send it in to have the CCPM turned on. But, I will sure be disappointed if I can not use my 10X.
July 20th 2000
Well, after a long break I'm finally going to get back on my project.
I have solved my two problems:
#1: A simple call to Vario got the correct pipe on it way and I now have it.
#2: I have a very cool little box that allow you to run CCPM without having a CCPM transmitter.Your transmitter treats the heli as if it is a regular single servo per input machine. The little black box changes it to 3 or 4 servo 90 degree CCPM. Problem solved. An added bonus is that I can now run a couple of gyros to help steady the ship both left/right and fore/aft. This is supposed to helpdramaticaly in forward flight with multi bladed heads.
The box is a Quick UK Part and I have them at the shop. $60
It looks like a helicopter.
July 6th 2001
Ok, So it's been awhile. Here's the excuse. I was scared to death of the tail. I could not figure out how to get the Fenestron glued in. I would walk by it sitting on my bench, pick the tail up, look at it and decide "today is not the day."
Well, Tuesday I decided to enlist the help of one of our scale gurus, Steve Higgins. Steve told me to bring it up to the shop and he would help me put it in. Later he called and said he was doing some glass work at home and for me to let him take where he could watch it.
I jumped at the offer. If any of you have seen his 222 Careflight you understand that Steve knows what he is doing.
He brought it back to me today, and it looks great. He did it a little different from the way Vario wants it installed. Steve's way is not only better but also doable. Plus I can remove the Fenestron and the boom for painting.
Thanks Steve
July 2004
Ok here's the deal. The EC-135 flew about a year and
a half ago. Basically it needs the header shortend a bit and it would be good to
go. A few weeks later a friend of mine was working on his Camanche and
needed to borrow the blade grips. We did it and the Camanche flew.
So why hasn't the EC-135 been finished?
Well, if you have ever talked to me or been around me a couple of times... It might come up that I do have another hobby as well. My wife would call it an obsession. My daughter calls it the the loud car. I kinda have a thing for Pontiac GTOs and last year I spent the Spring restoring my interior. New dash, new chrome, new seats, new... So that's why the EC-135 hasn't been finished. Blame it on the goat. And yes, I would love to put a 2004 GTO beside the one in the garage.
Here's a picture of my GTO being judged at the Pontiac Southern Nationals at Ennis.
1970 GTO Judge
RA III 400 engine
Turbo 400 Transmission
OK, I couldn't stand it.
Dec.15 2004
2004 GTO
