RAP Fun Factory in Bargara, Queensland | Sport & recreation

RAP Fun Factory

Locality: Bargara, Queensland

Phone: +61 417 605 347

Address: 11 Rifle Range Rd 4670 Bargara, QLD, Australia

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• Sport & recreation
• Just for fun

25.01.2022 After the dramas of the maiden flight changes were made. The main wing incidence was more than halved (3.5 became 1.5 degrees), the TorqPro was sorted so it kept running and the tail wheel was made steerable. We still ran out of down trim and flying with down stick was still needed but we had a chance to see how nicely it flies. We love the sound of the big 4 stroke and the need for the down stick will be sorted. Looking forward to it's next outing. A relaxing, fun plane to fly

24.01.2022 We're playing with cockpit ideas. We've never done a cockpit, just an instrument panel so now that we have the SLA printer, just seeing what's possible. The SLA printed parts make a good plug to vac pull the styrene shapes that form the contoured panels. This is a long term project chugging away in the background. It'll be interesting to see it come to life with paint and decals for all the placards.

24.01.2022 After nearly a year of not being pilot in command solo on the Mustangs through a series of incidences, lock downs etc (2020 syndrome) which didn't boost the confidence, Patsy is now current again. The process was going back to basics like a beginner and getting comfortable flying fast and heavy again. Lots and lots of circuits on "Scrappy" (not the best looking plane) over the last few weeks to get comfortable and then yesterday takeoffs and lots of landing circuits in a sta...blized landing configuration (slow with flaps and gear down). Then when you're so comfortable with that you just don't throttle up, break the glide and you've landed. The Mustang isn't the easiest plane to land but that makes it so much more rewarding when you get it right. Might have to make a new pretty one now! (while still flying Scrappy) Thanks to Jorgo for the video and sound effects

23.01.2022 We know it's not scale flying but sh*t it's fun! We're flogging this as hard as we can to see where the weak links are before we make the next one. The only thing we've found so far is one of the leg struts broke on the bend. It made the landing a bit apprenhensive but it stayed together fine, you can see the wobble as it lands and taxied back. The 32oz tank runs the Torqpro70 so 20 minutes gives plenty of time pass the transmitter around. The legs will need some beefing up. The cowl isn't far away and then we'll start another one.

23.01.2022 The last of the 37 moulded pieces for the new Mustang "Raid Hot Mama II" have now been layed up! These are the inner 3D shaped gear door panels which give it the strength even though they're very light.

23.01.2022 The left wing of the current Mustang build came out of the mould yesterday and got a coat of Key Clear on the chrome look paint. Some weathering on the invasion stripes to bring out the details was also done before the Key Clear was applied. The nomenclature water slide decals are then applied and then a final clear coat will go over the whole thing. We make our own nomenclature by using the text in Rhino as the outline then taking a screen capture into Paintshop , filling t...he letters with black, saving as a .jpg then back into Rhino for scaling before printing out onto the clear decal paper! There's quite a bit of computer processing to get a clear, sharp decal but once you understand the process you can make anything and just print out as many as you like! For the white writing on black paint, we use white decal paper with a black surround which blends into the painted surface. See more

21.01.2022 We layed up a couple of elevators for a new Mustang and we've played with the internals design and materials. We were amazed how much weight we reduced them by. By ditching the brass tube for the hinge and replacing it with nylon tube, putting even more lightening holes in the spar, minimizing the reinforcing cloth around the edges and the joining epoxy glue (epoxy with 413 powder) we have almost halved the weight!! If we do this with all the hinged control surfaces and combined with the CoG recalculations we could end up maybe 1kg lighter. Not that it affects much, it flies great the way it is, it'd just be interesting to see if there's any tangible difference.

21.01.2022 Burning the midnight oil. Well not quite midnight! She’s ready for a taxi run tomorrow. Don’t know if it’ll fly, still a lot to sort out yet but the TorqPro 70 is in and running. Sweeet

20.01.2022 We know we've been a bit Fokker-centric lately but it's turned out to be a surprisingly great project. It was originally just a challenge to see if we could make a composite replica of an old wood and fabric plane and thought at best it would be something we'd chugg around with occasionally. It's turned out to be a really fun thing to fly and we wouldn't go so far as say pretty but we love the colour scheme and it's not the ugly old box we originally thought it would be.... The lozenge colours underneath are different to the top and sides but we hardly ever see it. So we made a short video to show off her "pink bits" underneath - and the new cowl which looks great in the air https://www.youtube.com/watch

19.01.2022 Tonight we joined P-51 "Raid Hot Mama's" right wing. The composite skin in the mould is not much use without these internals. They contain the wing tube, retract mount, main spar, rear spar to hang the flaps and ailerons off and the wing bolt structures. They're cut on the cnc router and go together like a big jigsaw. This is actually version 13 on the filing system. There have been lots of refinements over the last 3 years! ... This latest one has got 3mm aluminium around the retract mounts. Since the first Mustang we've done something like 500 landings and have had this inner retract rib only break twice. We don't want it to break at all so are trying this as a fix. The spigot at the top of the leg that goes into the top of the Electron retract is a designed weak point. In a rough landing we don't want the wing to break open but just bend the top of the leg which is a consumable part that we can easily manufacture. However, on the odd occasion the mount takes the load instead of the leg and that's what we're trying to fix.

19.01.2022 Making the plug and mould for the DVIII

18.01.2022 Six degrees of separation! We needed a high res, square-on photo of the current Red Bull P-38 nose art. How would we get that? Ask Michael Jorgenson of course! His reply "I'll ask Seff and Raimund if they can take a photo for you". A day later ......... ... Steff and Raimund are Red Bull pilots that fly the Lightning and the Corsair so have up close access to the hangar.

18.01.2022 The cowl for the Fokker DVIII starts with the shape cut from Bunnings foam and then plastic panels stuck on to it. The curved nose ring was cut reverse into foam, filled with plaster and then the pastic panel vac pulled over the plaster before being stuck onto the plug. A mould will then be made

17.01.2022 This 2nd Lightning isn't going to take 2 years like the 1st one. Last time each part had to be designed, master plug made and then moulded before we layed it up. Then all the internal structure had to be drawn/designed and fitted. Some of the internals will be modified but it's been flying successfully for over a year so we won't fiddle with it too much, no major changes. We're waiting on one of the components for the polished aluminium paint process before we can get some bling happening. It has to be applied over black which is why we're turning out plain black parts.

16.01.2022 How we get a really nce close fit of the rudder. Also a look at the tail wheel doors made from polished aluminium

14.01.2022 One night to lay up the fuse, last night to lay up the tail plane, elevator and fin and one more session to make the cowl and rudder and we'll have the next Fokker DVIII fuse done! That just leaves the 3 part wing and the fairing between the wheels. These things are really quick because of the low part count. A motor and firewall to install, drop the radio board in and attach the undercarriage. Soooo much quicker this time round with the moulds already made and we know it's a... proven flyer. Looking forward to having two of them to fly together

14.01.2022 We don't think we want to go on making new moulds for different planes forever. We already have good moulds for a 1/5 scale Lightning, Mustang and Corsair plus the Fokker DVIII and a slightly smaller Thunderbolt. So we're having a play with making finer detail for the planes we've got starting with a cockpit for the Mustang. Just seeing if we can cope with the down scaling in thinking from 2.3m laminar flow wings to 2.5mm writing on a rudder pedal! So far the first play is promising and enjoyable. We'll see where it goes ......

10.01.2022 Test flights on the D8 are over and it has proven to be enormously successful - it's a keeper! It's a delight to fly and we can really chuck it around - multiple loops, big wing overs ... as long as you use the rudder it will do anything. So, on with the cowl. The cowl plug is cut out of Bunnings foam and panels cut from PETG plastic. The front ring panel will be pulled over a plaster plug and then we'll make a mould of it. As soon as we get time we'll start making a sec...ond DVIII. The Torqpro is the perfect motor for this plane, it sounds so authentic and has the power to keep doing continuous loops. Really looking forward to having one each and flying them together.

09.01.2022 Maiden flights can be exciting and this one was up there with the best! But, dam, the thing flies well - eventually. The big thick, undercamber wing with 2 degree incident created SO much lift it needed full down trim and then half down elevator stick to make it flyable. It also had way too much aileron travel which made for a very exciting first take off. Lots of elevator sub tirm and a rethink of the aileron rates made for a comparitevly sedate 2nd take off. We had issues... with the TorqPro70 which saw two dead sticks but it was a breeze to land. She floated in until it got down to tree level where the camo green made it disappear! The summary of the first flights will be to redo the wing struts so there is zero incidence on the main wing and investigate why the engine is stopping but apart from that, it is a brilliant flyer, can't wait to get it into the air again. Also, if you get into an ugly flying situation, don't give up. Keep fighting til you win! She weighs in at approx. 12kg, 2.4m wingspan and the TorqPro70 had loads of power. This whole experimental project was to see if we could make a composite copy of a fabric covered, wooden plane. The answer is a very resounding YES. So the discussion became what's the next one? - Tiger Moth or Albatros? lol

08.01.2022 Now that we've started on the 2nd Lightning we're looking back at photos of the build of the 1st one to remind us how we did things. Scary to see how much work went into it! This is a rough collage of the build pics we took from making the plug, panelling the plug, making the moulds, laying it up then fitting it out and flying over the last three years. The new one will be flying 2021

07.01.2022 It's ALWAYS exciting to open up the Mustang moulds and another beauty like this comes out! Thrilled This is Raid Hot Mama II and she's actually better than the first one. Each time we do the chrome it gets a little better, must be slow learners! Before the chrome is sealed to stop it tarnishing, we weather the painted areas to bring out the panel and rivet detail. The nomenclature and nose art decals also go on at this stage before a final clear coat is applied.... Happy campers

06.01.2022 Even though this is a brand new plane, the DLE-55 RA in it is actually 4 years old. For some reason it blew a bearing when it was only about 6 months old, with a very noticeable puff of smoke. It was Christmas/New Year and we couldn't get spares from DLE Australia as we normally do due to the holidays so we went into the local bearing shop and they recommended C3 bearings for the rpm that this motor does. Not ones to die wondering we gave them a go and this engine hammers! ... It's still going strong 3 1/2 years later with solid use and it's noticeably slicker than any of the others. Has anyone else played with C3 bearings? Good or bad experience? This motor used to be in Patsy's "Lil Mil" and now we draw straws to see whose plane it goes in now

04.01.2022 Fokker cowl mould made and being trimmed. It’s obviously longer than scale but allows us to trim it to fit any size motor - one size fits all. We’ll be able to paint and lay it up I. The next day or so

04.01.2022 All we need now is a pilot with a long silk scarf The cowl was painted and layed up today and will be popped out tomorrow. In the spirit of all the hardware coming from Bunnings ie cheap and cheerful, we went and got 20mm x 3mm steel for the undercarriage, replacing the aluminium that broke. It's a bit heavier but won't be an issue and it won't break.

04.01.2022 The Red Bull Lightning has begun! We layed the right boom halves up yesterday, painted in black and the chrome will be applied on the outside after cleaning up the join lines. For those that are playing along at home (there are some and they've been asking questions which is awesome) these pictures should help explain about the vacuum bagging lyaers - peel ply, perforated release film, breather mat, paper towels and then the bag that the moulds go into to be vacuumed.

03.01.2022 Inspired by Mike Paty's "Scrappy" build, we've made our own 1/5 scale version of an internal support for the spinner

02.01.2022 Using Rhino to create paint masks by extracting shapes from the 3D model.

01.01.2022 Raid Hot Mama had a landing "incident" (no names, follow my eyes ha ha) However, the wings were totally unscathed but it's easier to build a new Hot Mama than to fix the old fuse. That's why we have moulds! To get 2 Mustangs back in the air as quickly as possible we rummaged around the shed and cobbled together a "Scrappy" made up from parts we had plus the wings and rudder from Raid Hot Mama the 1st. We've only had to make new elevators, a spinner and a canopy windscreen frame. It should be flying by next weekend. It will be artistically challenged but perfectly functionally while we make Raid Hot Mama II and incorporating some new innovations. Always exciting