Tom Morris Take-Apart Hardware?

[steve pagano]

Any one have experience with it? I would like to make my next plane a take-apart for ease of transportation and storage.

[Alan Resinger]

Steve,
My first question is to ask how advanced of a builder are you?  By far the easiest way to make a take apart airplane is to make the wing removable in one piece and also the tail if you really need to cut down on size.  This is fairly easy to do and adds a small amount of weight to the overall project.
The Tom Morris system enables you to take the wings and stab/elev off in panels.  It is a lot more involved and requires a high skill level in building to make sure that the alignment is correct, that the structure is strong enough for the purpose and that the weight doesn't get out of control. 
I've built various CLPA ships using both systems and in fact my next ship will be built in that manner. but I will use the simpler of the two systems with a one piece removable wing and a removable tail.
Alan Resinger

[steve pagano]

Not the most advanced builder! but do to lack of transportation i was thinking of making a take apart were the wing comes apart in two panels and the fuse comes apart. Something i could take on the bus to the field Which is about a hour and 1/2

[Alan Resinger]

Steve,
I'm not trying to discourage you but you are really getting into some advanced building techniques.  What type plane are you planning on building?  It would probably need to be a full fuselage model to make the wings be mountable in 2 pieces.  I have seen a couple of 2 piece profile fuselages but the wings remained in one piece mounted to the front fuselage half.
I think you should still think about keeping the wing in one piece.  I traveled from Vienna, Aus to Munich on the train one year carrying a 60" long wing and full fuselage with the tail permantly attached with no problem.  Of course if you have a spare $2000 lying around you could buy a ready to go PA model built by the Ukranians.
Alan

[Rudy Taube]

Hi Steve,

I second what Alan said. Unless you have a great deal of experience try and keep your take-apart plane as simple as possible. If you have a friend in R/C get a look at his plane and it will be very clear how easy it is to make the wing come off of your CL plane. All my R/C planes have the wings come off and many of them have the tail and LG come off too. This makes transport very easy. ... One hint: some of our CL planes have a weak point where the rear of the wing meets the fuselage. When glued in this is OK. When made removeable this weak area needs reinforcement.

If you want the tail removable there are several ways to do this. For our relatively small, 50" to 60", CL planes the easiest way to make the tail removeable is to glue  a ply tab (approx 1/8"x1"x3") to the top of the fuselage, recessed 1/8" to make a flat surface for the tail. Lay the tail on top, then drill trough to the ply tab on both sides of the RD/Fin. Put in blind nuts on the bottom of the ply tab and bolt the tail on from above. If you glue a tab on the RD/vertical fin too, it can be held on with the same two bolts. It is very easy to do. Reinforce where needed and modify to fit your plane, and the level of "finish" you require. ;-)

Any CL take apart will be made easier if you use the Quick disconnect Ball Connector from Sullivan for your Flap and EL ball link connection. The 4-40 size is Part No.  562.

THE IDEAL WAY:
to do it is the way a lot of our R/C 3D planes, and all of our R/C pattern and IMAC planes are done. They all have Aluminium or Carbon Fiber tubes for wing spars and Stab spars. These tubes slide into larger tubes that are glued into the wing and stab ribs (or into foam wings/stabs). This system makes the four small flight parts you are looking for. If you make the LG easily removeable too, this makes for a small, easily transported package.

I am NOT recommending that you try this method unless you are willing to design and build a CL plane from scratch, not an easy task! ..... Everytime I try to do a major modification to a kit or design, I end up wishing I never went "off the reservation", and wish I stayed with the tried and true methods the designer used!     

Someday I hope to have the time and energy to design a CL plane using the light, strong, "Take-apart" methods that I use on all my R/C planes. Hopefully Pat Johnson, Randy Smith, Bob Hunt, or some other top designer will design one for us so we can all save space in our shops, and drive smaller fuel efficient cars to the flying field.

If you plan to travel by bus, with the plane always staying with you, then you may want to consider making a simple FoamBoard (or cardboard) box for your take-apart plane to protect it from travel "bus rash".

Good luck with your adventure. Please keep us informed on how your project works out. 

Regards  

[Steve Helmick]

The guys I see with 'take-apart' stunters don't put them together at the field, rather in the motel room, then take them to the field in one piece. When they're flying locally, for practise or contests, the airplanes come out of the car in one piece...even PW's B-17. In short, I'm not sure you'd be happy with all this assembly/disassembly, plus it would be a lot of wear & tear.

Our local buses have bike racks on the front...you might ask if you can put your model (in a box) on that. It would be pretty scary, tho, with the wild drivers on the roads these days.  Steve

[Rudy Taube]

Hi Steve,

I agree with you that taking apart and putting together the typical (present complex design) take-apart CL plane would be a PITA if you did it every flying session. I was suggesting the much easier KIS system we use in R/C A/C. Especially if you just make the wing and the LG removeable.

RE: wear and tear, I have many planes that have hundreds of flights on them and have been taken apart every session. I have friends that have over 1,000 flights on a plane that has been taken apart after every flying session. Four of my planes have WS 104" or larger with 96"+ fuselages. If we could not take them apart each flying session, we would need a really big truck to carry them in! ;-) Even in pieces they still take up a lot of room in the shop.

To solve the 1st Steve's "bus" problem it would only take a removeable wing and removeable LG. This is VERY easy to do, and would only add 1 or 2 oz to his plane. Two small 1/4"x 2" pieces of dowel in the front of the wing, with a small thin piece of ply in the fuse. A small ply brace in the fuse at the rear of the wing area, tapped 1/4"x20, and two short 1/4x20  Nylon bolts. And two more 1/4x20 Nylon bolts to hold the LG on and off. ..... Simple and light. If you moved slowly it would still take less than 3 min. to assemble at the field. Well worth the time to be able to transport it on a bus, small car, ease of storage, etc.  ..... BTW, it's amazing how helpful removing the LG is to making our planes easier to transport in a small space.
IMHO: It is well worth the time to make these easily removeable if you have constraints like Steve's. 

Regards,