I'm back - making progress, slowly. Took a week off, spending it out in Steamboat, CO. Beautiful, blue sky weather. No RC, but I did learn how to ski moguls (again - it had been 20+ years since being in the bumps) and in the trees! If I get back there in the summer, I'll have to look up the Yampa Valley Skyscrapers, just south of Steamboat.
- H-stab top sheeting in place, working on the bottom sheeting; note the same balsa/ply laminate used for extending the sheeting rearward 1/4" past the TE spar, forming a pocket, as on the full-scale aircraft - a detail not on the plans.
- Wrapping the last of the bottom sheet to form the leading edge
- Sheeted stab, with elevators and V-stab temporarily placed on fuse
Carbon fiber may not be new, but its not the latest technology used on this build. Here, are shown the E-flite release mechanisms and 3D printed bomb pylons from
Dynamic Balsa. Apparently, I'm the first to receive these. The mounts allow the E-flite release mechs to just drop in, with easy access to the manual release and reset button.
Being 3D printed, the finish is a bit rough - but with some sanding and high build primary, they will look great. The mounting surface is flat. Therefore, I'll add a sheet of balsa to it and sand this to conform to the center wing section's bottom air foil shape. Might be able to shape the printed plastic, but sanding balsa to shape sounds easier.
Also arrived from
Dynamic Balsa: Canopy kit, canopy rails, seat belt webbing/hardware and 50 cal. barrels. I may return the barrels and ask Brian to drill these out for installation of gun flash LED kit from
Electrodynamics. Concerned that the equipment I have may not be well suited for drilling the bores out and just ruin them.
From Mirce's build log, saw that he had two air canisters, side by side, above the engine box. At 1/6 scale, I have room for one canister, which was sufficient for the Byron - so, I've decided to steal this idea, putting a single air canister above the engine box.
Also, Mirce has his elevator servos, one for each half, mounted next to the engine box, in front of the CG. I'm going to steal this idea also - though I need to start fitting the cockpit kit and confirm that I have room for the control rods to pass between the fuse side and cockpit walls. If this works, I'll see if I can then do the same for my rudder/tailwheel servo - it may need to be mounted behind the cockpit wall. The more working weight I can put in front of the CG, the less balance weight I should have to add. My Byron had 2 lbs of deadweight in the nose for balance. Should need less with this Ziroli design, as the built up tail surfaces feel a lot lighter than the foam/balsa sheeted Byron tail surfaces.
Next, I want to complete the V-stab sheeting and installation of my balsa/ply overhang strips for the ailerons. Then, I need to start working on servo mounting and controls, cockpit install, before finishing fuse and wing sheeting.