cwrr5

My Feedback: (32)

Nothing says you have to follow all the steps in sequence... ie: when waiting for the stab to dry, work on the wing, fuse, whatever. Unless the maual really sucks, then it should be broken down into major areas. Make sure you keep track of where you are as you complete a step, in case you have to leave suddenly, then come back to it.

bruce88123

Yep, if you have the work space you could have several assemblies going at once. Of course, if you feel intimidated still, just take your time. We're just trying to give you options.

RAGII

How time flies when you are having fun. I started assembling the stabilizer and finished 1-1/2 hours later (lots of sanding). I was amazed that 1: it took me that long and 2: that it seemed like 1/2 hour. It is done and the glue is drying as I type. I might maiden a combat plane tomorrow if the weather holds, so might not be much building but we will see.

I never thought about building ahead while the glue is drying (it seems way to obvious) as I had it ingrained that I MUST follow the steps with jumping ahead. As I get longer build sessions I most certainly will do that.

Here is the latest glue up.

Rob

R T W

Tail feathers on this plane look the same as on the Pete "n" Poke
I have just started the Wing of mine after completing the tail feathers.

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

RC Ken - is the slow poke a '2nd', '3rd' or '4th' plane? Your covering job on yours is just plain cool!

RAGII - enjoying your build thread. Lots of pics - nice! [8D]

It's pretty cool when you take your first piece of the build off the board once it's dried.

I made a lot of progress on mine this way too. Plus I didn't have to wait to move on. Kept busy for a solid two weeks on my LT-40. Can't wait til I get my SSE kit.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Somegeek,
sorry that I haven't answered this yet. Had a couple of nightmare days this week and I didn't get on here, now I'm behind in all the posts and have to catch up. As far as to what plane the slow poke can be, it could be a second plane but I would recommend to hold off until you have some experience on a second plane. The slow poke flies slow and is fairly easy to handle, but it does have a little bit of adverse yaw to deal with. It's not much and it can be handled by mixing aileron and rudder if you have a computer radio, but it is there and could be a little unnerving for a fairly new pilot.

Hope this helps

Ken

RAGII

Well, I got some more building done tonight; finished the elevators. Tomorrow I attach the connecting rod between them and then move onto the wing (yahoo). I have a hectic week of work so I decided to take Friday off. I am hoping to finish the yard work in the morning[:'(]and then build in the afternoon. So far I have not encountered too many issues other than inconsistent die cuts that cause a lot of sanding to make the pieces fit[:@]. I have managed to avoid cutting myself or gluing myself together, so I guess it is not a real build yet. I have still have plenty of opportunities to still achieve one or both of those yet.

Until the next update,

Rob

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

Hey der' fellow cheesehead - that's comming along quite nicely! And you know, being just a bit down the road in Port Washington, it's my responsibility to formally invite you to bring the finished product down to the Astro-Wings fly-in on August 5, 2006 in Grafton.

bruce88123

August 5, 2006 - I sure hope it gets done before then.

RAGII

krossk,

I do not know if I am allowed to fly in Grafton, or with someone from Port Washignton, being an ex Bulldog from Cedarburg and all . Where in Grafton do you guys fly?

Bruce88123,

You are not the only one. If I am still building this kit in August, someone needs to put me out of my misery.

Rob

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

RAGII,
If you're still building this kit in August?? That's an acceptible situation as long as you have started at least 3 other kits!!!!! I've got a plane that has gone on and off the building board for almost 2 years now!! Someday I may finish it.

Ken

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

Well, I'm only from Port by marriage, so I can't hold anything agaist you. Besides, if you turned into an R/C flyer, you must have turned out allright. We fly at the WE Energies site on the southeast corner of Hwy 32 and I-43. You can check out [link=http://www.astrowings.com]www.astrowings.com[/link] for details and pics from past fly-ins.

I didn't figure you'd take until August to finish it - I figured by then it would be fully tested and flight-worthy.

BTW Bruce - You're welcome to bring your's too!

bruce88123

I appreciate the invitation but it would be a rather long drive.

rik1024

My Feedback: (1)

This is my slow polk in the air it has a saito 65 on it and is real fun to fly i think you will realy like flying it .

RAGII

I was finally going to get back to building (we has a couple of nice days so I went flying instead of building) and I came across something that does not sound like the best idea. I am at the point of installing the joiner wire for the elevators. With the piece that came with the kit I am drilling right into a joint or at best, parallel along it. This seems strange to me as it will significantly weaken the joint. Maybe the epoxy will add back the strength. I was thinking of getting a longer rod and then installing it farther from the CL of the stab so it will not be near the joint. Any thoughts on this?

tsands

My Feedback: (3)

the glue joint is MUCH stronger than the wood grain so don't worry about it.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

RAGII,
Go ahead and drill it with the supplied wire. You'll be fine. Once you put epoxy in to glue the joiner wire it will be ok. I thought the same thing when I built mine, but I haven't had any problems with it at all.

Ken

RAGII

OK, next issue to resolve. When drilling the holes for the joiner wire one of my holes was not very parallel and I went through the other side. I have attached pictures of the problem. I tried to save as much as I could, but with all the dry fitting to get the elevators flat and square most of the balsa ended up falling apart. I have that side epoxied right now but am not very confident that will be sufficient strength. Any ideas or thoughts on how to fix? My first thought was some fiberglass over the area.

I knew I should have waited for my small cordless to finish charging instead of using my large one. I could have also probably done this by hand. Time to get a set of hand drills (or attachments to make my own). More tools .

Rob

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

RAGII,
Ok, I know that this seem like a bit of a problem. But there is fix. We're going to cut out the damaged balsa and put a new piece in. If you have some hardwood, or even ply, we'll use that to replace the damaged wood. Basically what you need to do is cut out the damaged wood, and then epoxy a new block of wood into the area you cut out. When you replace with new wood you want it to fit as snugly into the elevator as you can get. Use the picture as a guide and cut out the damaged wood. Cut your replacement to fit tightly. Use 5 minute epoxy to lightly coat the edges of your replacement block, and then press it into the elevator.

Hope this helps

Ken

RAGII

Ken,

Do I remove half the thickness in the area you highlighted, or the whole square all the way through and basically rebuild the elevator to the predrilled condition?

Rob

bruce88123

The whole square. Sorry. Also a good excuse for a drill press. Cut new piece slightly oversize and sand til it fits snug.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Bruce,
Thanks for the cover. Yes, the full square. And bruce is correct about a drill press. If you have one you will want to dry fit your squares, mark where the wire goes, and drill them with a drill press before you glue them in. In fact, even with a hand drill you might want to drill your holes before you glue them in.

Hope this helps

Ken

RAGII

Bruce / Ken,

Thanks for the tips. I will try this and see how it turns out. I have a drill press, I just need to use it. Hope to get back to building Thursday and Friday (out of town for the weekend).

Rob

RAGII

OK, I have done my repair. I damaged a little bit more as I was trying to remove the material and joiner wire as it was already epoxied in place. I just traced out that portion of the elevator and made a complete new piece out of some balsa stock I had. What do you guys think? Look good enough to continue?

Rob

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

RAGII,
Heck no, it looks like crap. Scrap the whole project!!!!!!

Just kidding of course. You did a great job of recovering from a mistake. We all make them. So fix it and move on. You're doing great. keep it up

Ken