I have decided to scratch build a model of the Dufaux 4 biplane from 1909, here is a short history of this aeroplane;
Dufaux 4 - the ancestor of Swiss powered flight.[/b]
This machine was the fourth constructed by brothers Henri and Armand Dufaux from Geneva. The first was a 17 kg model helicopter, the second an unairworthy monster with eight wings, and the third crashed on its maiden flight.
It was only with the Dufaux 4 that Henri, a painter, and Armand, an engineer, achieved the success they had been striving for. On 28 August 1910, Armand Dufaux flew the length of Lake Geneva from St. Gingolph to Geneva in 58 minutes and 5 seconds. A masterly performance that won a prize of 5000 Swiss francs. The same year, they founded an aircraft factory. The improved Dufaux 5 was bought by a 17-year-old Ernest Failloubaz, at that time the youngest Swiss pilot. In autumn 1911, he demonstrated it to the Swiss Army, flying reconnaissance missions during a manoeuvre. Although the experiment ended with a crash landing, it still marked the start of Swiss military aviation.
Technical data.[/b]
Original Dufaux 4 biplane
Year of manufacture Around 1909
Wingspan 8.5m
Maximum speed 78 km/h
Power plant 8-cylinder ENV piston engine
I found and downloaded some good drawings of this aeroplane on the net, I then scaled these drawings to 1:32 scale using my drawing progam on my computer. I printed out several copies of each plan onto A3 paper using my inkjet printer (I'm glad I purchased a printer that not only does A4 but A3 as well)
As the engine for this model is quite complex I have decided to built it first. I started by making the bases for the cylinders, these where cut from 0.5mm styrene sheet with a 4.5mm hole punched into the centre, I also drilled 0.5mm holes into each corner to take some bolts. I cut short lengths of 4.5mm brass tube and CA'd them into the centre holes, the bases where then aligned into two banks of four.
For the crank case I started with a length of good quality 16mm Aluminium solid rod. The first job was to turn this on my lathe down to 15mm. I then did quite a lot of filing and sanding to obtain the two flat surfaces for the cylinder bases to sit. I also cut from a sheet of aluminium the top centre section of the crank case, this was CA'd in place. I turned up another piece of aluminium to a size of 7mm, this was tapered toward the front and glued to the front of the crank case, I drilled a 1.2mm hole into the centre of this to take the prop shaft. The stregthening ribs are made from 0.8mm aluminium while the engine mounting flanges are made from 0.3mm aluminium. The rear of the crank case was filed to produce a mounting area for the magnetos. The entire assembly was rubbed down with 1000 wet and dry paper then buffed with 0000 steel wool.
I mounted the two banks of cylinder bases to the crank case, these are held in place with 5 minute epoxy, using this glue allowed me time to adjust the position of the bases and when set gives a very strong bond. The two banks are slightly off-set to each other, one set sits at the front edge of the crank case while the other set is slightly toward the rear. The cylinder bases were sprayed with Mr Metal Colour Stainless, when dry it was buffed to give a nive metallic sheen.
Des.
