Bob’s C-47 Building Materials
BUILT BY BOB ALLEN
STARTED APRIL 2007 FINISHED JULY 2 2017
NICK ZIROLI PLANS
DC-3 “GOONEY BIRD” C47 “DAKOTA”
ROBART LANDING GEAR FOR DOUGLAS DC-3
140” WING SPAN, LENGTH 97”, WEIGHT 50 LBS.
2-G38 ZENOAH ENGINES, WEIGHT 4.18 LBS, 2.2 HORSE POWER
Nick Ziroli Plans and Precision Cut Kit
Wing span 140” Fuselage length 97” Weight 38-45 lbs. Engines (2) 35 to 45 cu. in. gas. Kit supplied the balsa wood in standard sizes. The items that were cut were bulk heads and ribs. All the rest balsa wood, glue, servos were bought from Hobby Town Boise Id and Action Hobbies Meridian Id.
Two G-38 engines.
Radio
The radio is a Futaba 14SG. It is a 14 channel computer system of which I use 10 channels. A R6014HS receiver is in the center wing section and all the servos are plugged into it. The receiver gets its signal from the radio and tells each servo what to do. The batteries are 6v 5000mah NiMH 5 cell C Flat Pack of which there are two. One for a backup system. A Miracle RC heavy duty dual power switch for gas plane anodized aluminum gold is used to charge the batteries while they are in the plans.
Pilot, copilot Seats and stretchers
These parts were made from a badminton racket cover. My father-in-law owned the badminton racket during the late 30’s and early 40’s. The cover was kind of olive drab color with lettering on one side. I covered the seats and the cover cracked. At first I was disappointed that it cracked. The more I looked at it, it looked like the seats had been used and I wanted that type of look. This makes the pilot, copilot seats and stretchers in this C-47 are as old an original C-47.
Hobby Town and Action Hobbies
Balsa wood, glue, epoxy, servos, plastic sheets and extrusions, steel and brass rods and tubes and wheels. Latex was used for windows
Propellers
Master Airscrew 3 bladed propellers. 16×10
Navigator’s Dome
The ring at the bottom of the dome was taken off the top of a Vienna sausage can. Navigator’s dome was made from the clear cake tops that cover the cakes at Costco. This plastic was easy for me to mold with heat over molds I made.
Windshield Wiper Blades
The wiper blades were made from a small black zip tie. The screws holding the wiper on the windshield are the head of straight pins.
Seat Belts and Buckles
The buckles were made from plastic extruded square tubes and from plastic extruded channel. The belts were made from narrow flat braded material from a fabric store and painted with Krilon spray paint.
Steering Wheel Horn
The center of the steering wheel I call a steering wheel horn is a straight pin with a round ball on the top of the pin.
Oil Cooler
The oil cooler was cut from a heater core from a car. I went to an auto mechanic and asked if they had an old heater core. They called a day later and gave me a heater core. I cut a 1/4” thick from the core.
Throttle Controls
The throttle controls were with straight pin with a round ball on the top of the pin.
Cargo Boxes
The cargo boxes were put in to hold the gas tanks and make them look like cargo. There are two 16oz. gas tanks. They are located over the CG.
Radio Shack
Bought the navigation and landing lights. Also some rare earth magnets come from Radio Shack.
Home Depot
I have purchased different items from Home Depot.
Dremel cut-off wheel
Dremel sanding drums
1/2” and 1” SCH 40 PVC pipe. The 1” PVC was purchased to build a work stand for the building of my C-47. The 1” PVC was also used to build a frame to keep the tarp off my plane while being transported in the back of my Ford Ranger pick-up down to my friend in Southern California and back to Eagle Id. I also used the 1” PVC as a paint stand to paint my plane. The 1/2” PVC is used to hold the center wing section of my plane.
Zip ties. One zip tie was used to make wiper blades for the windshield.
I have 8 Federal Standard color house paints to paint the C-47 in its original colors. Used the BEHR Premium Plus $3 dollar samples.
Nylon cord to strengthen my PVC work stand.
Nylon rope to tie down plane, tarp and 1”PVC for transportation to Southern California.
Sand paper. I used 80,100,120 and grit sand paper.
Drills. I also bought a couple of drills and drill and tap combination.
2”x4” lumber to build a frame to warp the wing tips
Denatured Alcohol. This was used to mix with epoxy to cover the fiber glass to strengthen the plane.
Ordered online
3M Acryl-White Glazing Putty was used to fill in the low areas of the fuselage, wings and stabilizer areas.
Fun4Change 