Timberhawk Kids Plane Project

Aero_Octaveus · #1 12-08-2018, 03:46 PM

Here is a quick story about the Timberhawk kids plane that I built this summer. Its a ~1/2 scale replica of a P-40 Warhawk built out of wood in the style of those wooden dinosaur kits. The intent is to build a plane that kids could sit in, work the controls, see how it all works. But most importantly....Inspire them to fly!
https://youtu.be/D_qzbKhm1Mo
After finishing my wing kit on my RV7A, and getting my pilots license. Money was too tight to order the fuselage. I still had the desire to keep building and I've always toyed with the idea of building a kids plane. After working the local airshows I always thought there wasn't really much for the kids to take part in. (In Canada, we have a lot of look but don't touch). The EAA young eagles discovery flights are always a hit, but so few spots are available. I wanted something really fun for them. I met Dina Jammaz from Elevate Aviation and she thought it was an awesome idea and really encouraged me to build the plane. She has some contacts with Volvo of Edmonton and they were more than happy to fund the project. So spent the Christmas break in 2017 designing approximately half-scale replica of a P-40 Warhawk.

It was really important to get the scale right. I need to make sure the kids would fit in the cockpit. But most off all, I wanted the plane to be larger than life for them.

Aero_Octaveus · #2 12-08-2018, 03:54 PM

The only way I can ensure that the scale is correct was to get a profile view of the target audience. Fortunately my two kids are ages 6 and 9 so this works perfect. I had them pose in a sitting position and then took pictures. I was then able to transfer their outlines into AutoCAD and then I can begin the task of drawing the aircraft around them. This allowed me to get the size right, they can fit in the plane and yup! The plane was big enough to make it impressive!! 13' long and a wingspan of 16'. Little did I realize at the time just how big this was!

Now that we had the design. I used the printer at work to plot all of the various pieces on paper. Using an old technique for painting, I used a ponce wheel to trace all of the outlines of the pieces and used black chalk to trace nearly all of the pieces onto plywood. (Baltic birch to be exact). Fortunately I had lots of help from everyone at the Edmonton Home-built Aircraft Association and EAA Chapter 30. Lots and lots of hours when into cutting all of the pieces and shaping them. We didn't have access to a CNC machine, so we did everything with band saws, drill presses, routers and sanders. I was really impressed at how excited everyone was to be part of the project.

Aero_Octaveus · #3 12-08-2018, 04:04 PM

It was always stuck in my head that I wanted a cool cockpit. I wanted the cockpit to be as much like the real thing as I could. Why? Tell me that you don't love looking at the RV interior pictures! Everyone is always peaking inside the cockpit. At first I though about buying a wooden kids chair. I searched IKEA, then Amazon, Lowes, Home Depot. Nothing. I was forced to build my own seat. So I went to work, I was going to make it simple at first. But as I rolled into the construction. I just didn't impress. So I went to work. Cutting, sanding, cutting, trowing away pieces and cutting. By the end of it my kids were so annoyed with me because I kept asking them to sit in it so I could measure and check fit. In the end, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. Do you think Classic Aero would cover it?

Aero_Octaveus · #4 12-08-2018, 04:16 PM

Assembly of the fuselage was so much fun, but took an incredible amount of work. Its funny how things just slap together in your mind, but in real life - Not the case. Lots of painstaking work and measurements and router jigs were put into good use. I used very long strips of Douglas fir as stringers, clamping them to the sides of the bulkheads and marking locations. The amount of time taken to router all the pieces and get fitment anywhere near the Vans Kit took an unbelievable amount of time. (Really makes me appreciate my RV7A kit even more). I should make a special mention that I designed the entire plane with furniture style hardware so that the entire plane can be assembled and disassembled for transport. A special mention and thanks to my wife as I kicked her van out of the garage for the summer to make some room for the plane.

Aero_Octaveus · #5 12-08-2018, 04:24 PM

I reach a point where things where build up to what I had designed. Now i was into prototype fabrication. I was extremely difficult to figure out how to build the forward and rear spars. I needed the geometry to work and also allow me to easily remove the wings. Ive never spent so much time measuring and using laser levels. Did I mention the amount of slivers yet??? Took me a couple of weeks and a couple of tries but I finally figured out how to build the spar bulkheads.

The only part that I hadn't done any work or design on was the main landing gear. I knew that I had to attach the gear to the main spar and try to keep the stance as wide as I could to ensure stability. I had toyed with the idea of using wheel barrow wheels as the main gear, or even garden tractor wheels. At this point the EHAA/EAA club found some landing gear off an old homebuilt aircraft that I could use. I was having quite a time making the gear work. About four tries with different materials over three weeks. I even had to consult with a structural engineer to deal with the torsional stresses that the raked gear presented. I wanted to be sure that aircraft was strong enough to have mom and dad stand on the wings when little Johnny sat in the plane.

Aero_Octaveus · #6 12-08-2018, 04:31 PM

Once the plane was more to its final form, the creativity flowed from everyone. PVC pipe for the exhaust was quickly replaced with stainless steel tips. Ducey Avionics was happy to supply some dead instruments for use in the cockpit.

https://youtu.be/D_qzbKhm1Mo

I really think it was a cool project. I hope you think so too!
Now! Back to aluminum on the RV7A

DaleB · #7 12-08-2018, 05:45 PM

Too cool! Looks like an awesome project.

Aero_Octaveus · #8 12-17-2018, 09:53 PM

Thanks Dale. We had lots of fun with it over the summer. The best part was watching grown-ups try to fit in it! Now we know what its like to be in a formula 1 plane

Guy Prevost · #9 12-18-2018, 06:47 AM

What an amazing undertaking! Nice work!

ppilotmike · #10 12-18-2018, 10:15 AM

Really cool project, Garet. I did the same thing with my RV-10 build (i.e. got sidetracked into building a pedal plane with my daughter). See link below, in my signature. I don't regret it at all! It was really neat to build something with her and it has inspired a whole lot of kids.

I think your project shows more promise than mine, because only little kids can fit into the one I built. However, it doesn't stop the older kids from trying!

Are you guys going to come to Oshkosh with your P-40 in 2019. I'd love for my kids to see it up close.