The Bf-108 Taifun was the first stressed-skin general aviation aircraft and was way ahead of its time. The knowledge learned on the Bf-108 was used to design the Bf-109 – The main German fighter of WWII.

Several models were developed. Basically the only difference was the engine and propeller used. I will be modelling the B version with the same argus engine used in the Fieseler Storch. The similarity between the Bf-108-B and Storch cowlings are striking.

The Bf-108 was initially produced in Germany, but later on in the war, in France as the Nord 1002 Pingouin.

Many BF-108’s are still flying today.

Specifications:

Wingspan: 10.5 m
Length: 8.3 m
Height: 2.3m
Weight Empty: 860 kg
Engine: Argus AS10
Max Speed: 315 km/h
Range: 1000 km

First step is always to import the 3-views into Alibre and scale them. All my planes are scale 1:5 and this is no exception. I won’t go into details here, except that I have a really detailed 3-view with lots of formers, so this should be a really quick design. It is a step up from my previous designs, in that it has a retractable landing gear.

Scale dimensions:

Wing Span: 2.10 m
Length: 1.66 m
Height: 0.46 m

Drew the fuselage formers.

The 3-view that I am working from has a lot of formers on it. Unfortunately they are a bit “out of shape” and needs to be cleaned up a bit.

My initial attempt of making an assembly was to fixed the formers onto a center crutch drawn in middle of each former where the thrust-line is situated. This is the easy way, as the thrust-line is on all the 3-views. However, it’s not possible in real life to align anything this way, as it will cut through the cockpit. So, I used the side-view to draw the buttom of the fuselage and use that as the longeron crutch.

Next step is draw the engine box, cut out the cockpit windows and the cockpit ‘pit’.

Then we need to add cut-outs for longerons. Finally we can add lightening holes in all formers

Found this gem of a book in a second-hand book store. Should be here in a week or so.

After adding the remaining fuselage formers and cleaning up their shapes, I drew a motor box. The prop is quite high up in the cowl and with a little help from my friends, I found a solution:  Mount the Dubro engine mount upside down and angle the firewall.

The result is rather good. Although the Dubro engine mount is @#$#%*^ expensive at $35, this is a very viable solution. I might cut my own engine mount out of a piece of aluminium to save some money.

The motor mount box is of interlocking construction to distribute the thrust throughout the airframe.

The engine is the OS FS91S II, but I might change it to a Saito150. The original plane uses an Argus engine which is a V8. I initially wanted to angle the engine inside the cowl and make a dummy cylinder to make it look like a V8, but there is no room. I’ll have to make a “dummy” Argus engine instead.

So far I have spent 2 days on this, on and off.

I have contacted a Bf-108 expert in Germany. I should receive a truckload of information about this airplane within a couple of weeks. YAY!

I wanted to start working on the wings of this aircraft today, but discovered that the fuselage formers did not align up properly. So, I had no choice but to clean up the fuselage formers first. I know it looks quite similar to before, but now it should be straight and with smooth transitions between each former.

I have finally received confirmation from Germany that the documents for this aircraft are on their way. It should be possible to continue soon.

I finally received spare parts catalogs, technical manuals and pilots notes for this aircraft from a guy Germany. There are almost 2000 pages, but not a single manufacturing drawing. However, the information is still very useful, particularly when it comes to the detailing of the model.

The Bf-108 Taifun was amongst one of the aircraft at the Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis 2012 fly-in, and I now have a really good walk-around of the Bf-108 which will come in handy later on in the build.

I have tried lofting the front part of the fuselage, and the first former after the firewall is completely off. I think the best way is to remove the wing fairings from the fuselage formers and redo the first former.

• Clean up fuselage.
• Loft area before windscreen where fuselage goes from concave to convex.
• Fuselage stringes.
• Elevators.
• Rudder.
• Empenage area.
• Wings.
• Wing attachment area.
• Cowl.
• Landing gear.
• Landing gear attachment area.
• Lumps and bumps.
• R/C Scale installation.