Construction of a Large Scale Monocoupe

This webpage details the construction of a 116" wingspan Monocoupe. Owned by Chris Hagstrom and built by Chris and his father Allan, the Monocoupe demands a large presence when flying and sitting in the pitt area awaiting another flight. The fuse is moulded entirely of carbon fibre, the wing is fully built up with solid western red cedar spars, with entire 3mm sheeting along the bottom. The wing ribs are cut from light ply.

The paint work on this aircraft is interesting and very eye catching. The wing was first covered with Sig Koverall before being coated with Dupont Products Primer and the fuse also being coated with Dupont Expoxy Primer and Dupont Primer with flexible additive. Following this Sting Red, a HSV Commodore colour was applied with a metallic flake. The final colour is the expensive part of the project. The other colour, costing $1000 per Litre is Dupont Chromalusion Indigo Blasberry. This colour changes from Blue to Purple to Copper depending on the light and the angle at which it is viewed. Paint work is the responsibility of Chris Hagstrom and Steve Wilson from ColourCare. Following the application of the colours, a Dupont Clear Coat was sprayed on with a flexible additive. All spray painting details were taken care of within a temperature controlled spray booth.

Flight control of the Monocoupe is taken care of by a JR 3810 radio with PCM receiver. Inside the 'Coupe, Hitec Digital Coreless Servos take care of the rudder (x1), Elevator (x2), and ailerons (x2). A standard JR servos controls the throttle. The smoke system is taken care of by a Megasmoke Systems smoke pump which pumps through an easy 24oz's per flight. Powering the 'Coupe is a 3W 80B2 (Twin Cylinder 80cc). This motor swings a Bolly 26x10 Propeller, and is easily enough power to put the plane through its flying routine.

Completed in September 2001, the Monocoupe has proven to be a delight to fly. I would like to thank the following people for the help and advice during the construction of the Monocoupe:

Allan Hagstrom (Funding, building, arguements!)

Gail Hagstrom (Patience and funding)

Doug McIllwraith (Certification, Building Assistance, test flight provisions, oxy torch!!)

Neil Mathews (Advice and assistance)

Will Sipma (Dummy radials)

Steve Wilson (Paint and detailing)

Luke Cullen (Building and motor advice, test flight propeller)

Bill Robinson (THE HELPER - One Bill Per Table!)

And anyone who I have forgotten to mention who has also helped during the construction and flying!

Below are some of the pictures of the Monocoupe, from the time the carbon fibre fuse was pulled from the mould, to the recent February 2002 Scale-Fly at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast.

Dcp_0624.jpg	Dcp_0407.jpg	Dcp_0413.jpg	Dcp_0412.jpg	Dcp_0411.jpg
Dcp_0409.jpg	Dcp_04102.jpg	Dcp_0408.jpg	Dcp_0202.jpg	Dcp_0259.jpg
Dcp_0220.jpg	Dcp_0219.jpg	Dcp_0218.jpg	Dcp_0217.jpg	Dcp_0216.jpg
Dcp_0214.jpg	Dcp_0204.jpg	Dcp_0203.jpg	mono1.jpg	mono2.jpg
mono3.jpg	Dcp_0625.jpg	Dcp_0626.jpg	Dcp_0627.jpg	Dcp_0628.jpg
Dcp_0629.jpg