In a follow-up email, Armand Writes:
Glad you like the PDV.
The genesis of this design comes from the
suggestion of one of the avid DV fliers at our club who bought a new
car and found that he could no longer transport his beloved DV to the
field. He had to get a trailer!
I suggested that I would think about building a
model which could be separated into three pieces as are many of the 1/4
and 1/3 scale planes around today. I had previously built the
1.7X DV, which had to be in three pieces, so I knew it could be done.
I started with one of your standard kits and
went from there.
I first built a fuse from 1/8-3ply that had a
profile like the center section of the normal DV. I then made
holes to accept a 5/8" aluminum tube in the fuse and the ribs that the
tube would pick up. Basically I went out to the third rib where
it intersects the spar. I then built the wings onto the fuse with
the tube in place to assure alignment.
Much of the kit was used but I had to
change/add a significant number of parts. The LG was replaced by a new
formed gear of 3/16 drill rod and is attached only to the fuse. I
did not want to add the landing load to the wings. The wings are
held to the fuse with a spring in the forward section and with an
external brace in the aft section. If I were to do it again, I
would design out the bracket which is hokey but at the last minute I
felt that the rear section was a little weak with an alignment
pin/spring arrangement.
I also used a single fin to further make the
plane more "pocketable". I scaled the size of the fin to account
for there being only one.
I hope this helps...don't hesitate to ask any
further questions about the design.
I have attached a couple of pictures of the PDV
"in-the-bones". These pictures might help you to visualize the
design.
