Airdrome airplanes.

[Slick Goodlin]

Darn it, when did that stop working?

We can restart it. Come onnnnnnnnn….

Learning new things is never bad and what’s a set of plans if not a chance to learn?

[Colonel]

Plans built is ambitious. First you need to learn to weld up a tube fuselage from a pile of pipes, then you need to learn to cut and glue up a wood wing from a pile of timber (admittedly epoxy glue is a lot easier) .... then learn fabric ... then firewall forward engine/prop/cowl with all the controls, fuel and electrical.

20 years of your life. Kids these days get quick build kits and they still take 5-10 years to do them.

[Slick Goodlin]

That’s the nice thing about Baslee’s Airdrome kits, they’re all aluminum tube blind riveted together. I’m not sure there’s a weld to be found anywhere on them. Fabric work spices things up but nowadays we have waterborne Stewart and pre-painted Oratex covering systems, either of which can be done in your living room if need be.

[David MacRay]

Several Airdrome kits such as the Camel, have a welded tube fuselage.

I think it is somewhat affordable ($1995 us extra) to get them pre-welded by Mr Baslee.

[Slick Goodlin]

From what I’ve seen their weldments are a little on the under-engineered side.

[David MacRay]

It has lots of triangles, the pictures look pretty good to me.

[Slick Goodlin]

It has no lower front spar carry-through.

[David MacRay]

Ah.

I have been watching this build.

The Australian fellow is nice and particular too. For example he doesn’t like the mig weld spatter and plans to buff it off and make his plane a bit nicer.

I guess I like to think I might make one a bit more refined like he is.

I think the spirit of the kits is, “You’re building a replica of something that was hand made in 1915.” It’s going to have character.

[Colonel]

Ignore the snobs. Mig welding a tube fuselage is just fine. You have to heat the clusters to stress relieve them is all.

Many certified aircraft had their tube fuselage mig welded.