Started designing my dream plane...

[hitchface]

I am using Sketchup, as recommended by Stuey, so props to him.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/5138593.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/5131828.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/5128671.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/5123562.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/5118328.jpg

This is my first time ever using this program...lemme know what you think! Obviously a work in progress...took me about a half hour.

[oreilly]

nice work
i tried sketchup i took me a day to learn it but it looks like you now it better than me
weres the wings?
or you haven't put them on yet just the cockpit

[hitchface]

Yeah it's just a starter thing for now. I'll get at the wings sometime soon. I am leaving for a week to northern AB this coming monday and my parents are in town, so I don't really know when I'll get at it.

[David M]

Cool...totally Buck Rogers retro!

[hitchface]

Hahaha, yeah totally. I think I may have to reduce the size of the engine cowling a touch though...as cool as it is, its a little big.

[Stuey]

Looks good!

I'm subscribed! I'm looking forward to see how it develops. How will the final product be constructed? Plastic, metal, or alternative materials such as fiberglass?

[atatassault]

I just looked up Sketchup on Wikipedia. That's a nice program. Where can it be bought?

[Stuey]

http://www.sketchup.com/

The personal version has been provided for free since google bought it up.

Register & DL link (http://www.sketchup.com/?section=downloads)

[newbuilder14]

Are you interested in aviation, too? :) I like commercial planes.

[hitchface]

Stuey,

I'll be sure to keep posting pics as I make progress. As for final construction, I'm not entirely too sure. It would be a few years before this thing would ever be completed even if I started now, but I'm designing it as though I would be building it in the future. Oh and I'll be putting together the whole fuselage first, including tail. Then wings...then I'll see what I can do about an engine and a prop...save those for when I know the program better.

And newbuilder, if you haven't already, check out www.newairplane.com

[TimPoet]

Is that a fuselage or jet engine?

[newbuilder14]

Thanks for the link Justin, that's cool.

[hitchface]

NB, its not a problem. I try to keep up on the new developments in commercial aviation, so I've been gazing at that site for awhile now. My grandfather was an engineer for Delta I think it was, so he's into that kind of thing.

TimPoet, that is the fuselage. The basic idea behind this plane is that I want it to be a taildragger, two-seater cockpit, big 2 layer (might become 1 layer) radial engine and some huge bush tires. That's the basics...there are a few more details I might reveal as the design progresses, like why I chose the wing I did and such.

I know I'm already overdue on another update, but I'll get that fuselage drawn up and hopefully post it tonight.

[hitchface]

More photos! I did some more work on the aft sections of the fuselage. Didn't quite get the tail done...that is actually going to be really tricky, so it might take me awhile.

As you can see, I did a mock up instrument panel, just trying out different configurations and finally settled on something. For now. Also included some wire frame and x-ray shots of the aft sections...there must be an easier way to do this. Also finished the rear of the glass on the cockpit. I may hunt for a way to make that glass smoother, but for now I'll leave it. Have fun, and more to come!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/4585859.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/4590718.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/4604484.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/4643609.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/4696890.jpg

EDIT: Sorry for the double post. I was pretty sure that my edit period was up.

[doubledragon5]

Is that the pro version or the free one..

[hitchface]

I'm using the free version right now, just to try it out. Once I have uncovered some more features and see what it can do I might purchase the retail copy.

[hitchface]

Back at it! I just got back from one mean survival trip. Been on worse, but this was still noteworthy. I lost 15 pounds over the last 5 days...better than any diet. Anyways, I have been laboring on the tail section for the last while. I took some 'X-Ray" photos to show off the ridiculous amount if lines that are being drawn to make this thing. I think I'll direct my efforts more towards the wings for now, then the cockpit. Here are 3 photos:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/13372390.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/13365453.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/hitchface/13343453.jpg

PS. I slapped my own wrist just now. My grandfather was an engineer for United, not Delta.

[David M]

That's pretty impressive!

[hitchface]

Hahaha, the 15 pounds or the plane? Either way, I'll say thanks! I have to work soon, but hopefully I'll bang off some preliminary wing design tonight. I suspect it may look like Howard Hughes' first monoplane in "The Aviator", but I'll figure it out later.

[David M]

LOL...didn't mean the 15 pounds. I meant the complexity of what it takes to do the work.

[hitchface]

The wing sections will probably be the hardest. I will need to draw cross-sections of the design probably about 40-50 times along each wing in order to get the shape right.

[Im New]

i used a program very much like that altho i dont think its the same at all....


but it was a very complicated prgram i had to use it in my graphic design class

[Stuey]

Don't forget that you don't need to do each wing separately - it'll be perfectly symmetrical if you copy, paste, and rotate one.

[HAL9000]

Well, not rotate, mirror image to be exact.

I like the classic look of the front of the plane, but just my opinion, I don't like the way the tail just shrinks down to nothing .. it has too much of an "I didn't know what to do with it" look and probably not very good for good aerodynamics.

[hitchface]

My inspiration on the tail actually came from the Bellanca Citabria. It is a little tougher to pull off on a rounded body, but I plan on making some mods to it later, but for now it most definitely isn't finished. There are a few details left on that section that will bulk it up a touch.

And to Stuey, I knew there was a feature like that somewhere, I just had to find it. Thanks for the tip! (And to Hal for the term clarification)

EDIT: Stuey, you get props by association for your sig. Hal, glc...you guys rule.

[hitchface]

Well, I am cleaning up what I have now before I move on, so that means hiding all of those black reference lines. The only thing is that once I hide the line, it is like the sections of the plane are all broken up. A good example would be the first and second images in post #14. You can see the break in the fuselage right where it begins to slim towards the rear. Is there a way to re-draw the lines in a different color (ie blue)?