RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Before I continue posting the build I'd like to take a small personal moment. One thing that is more important to me than anything else (yes, more important than even flying) is my family. We spend a lot of time together and we love doing special occasions. Halloween is one of those fun occasions. We have our porch set up and my son and I "hide" and scare the kids. Our house is starting to get a great reputation in the neighborhood as always being scary. What's funny is my wife sits on the porch in plain view, but we still scare the snot out of them. What's fun is the teenagers that are just so tough. They know that something is going to happen, and they get that "you can't scare me" attitude, and they are still scared snotless. We had one so scared he ran all the way back to the street and jumped back in the car with his parents. The really funny part is the parents on the street, they know something is going to happen, and the laugh themselfs silly seeing their kids so scared!!!! Here's just a few pics.

I promise the build post will continue as soon as I have my fun time here!!!

Ken

bruce88123

Took the mask off for pic #2 I see.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Yep, it's pretty sad when there is only one day of the year that I can really be myself!!!!!!

Ken

bubbagates

My Feedback: (32)

Holy cow...and I thought I was ugly...[X(] Please Please put the mask back on...I can't take it anymore

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Now that the break for Halloween is over I can get back to posting. I'll tell you what, when I decided to do a build thread I didn't realize just how much work it was going to be. But it's turned into a labor of love, I'm enjoying every minute of this. I'm just glad that you all are staying with me through this process. I know one thing for sure, if I wasn't documenting this I probably could have been done with the plane by now.

Now on with the build. After getting the torque rods screw up I can continue on where I left off. Unfortunately I was a little bit upset with myself after messing up and I hurried through the step of reattaching the torque rods and didn't take any pictures of it while I was doing. So just look at the pictures from the last step and imagine epoxy in place of the Elmer's glue in the pictures. I don't normally like to use 5 minute epoxy for anything, but this is one case where it can be used without any problems. Mix up a little bit of 5 minute epoxy and use it to glue the torque rods in place. Once the epoxy has set we can start working on attaching the Center Trailing Edge section in place. Picture #1 shows trial fitting the parts in place. Since the wing has dihedral built in you will have to sand the edges of the parts to get them to fit. We'll need to sand a little bit if an angle to the edge of the parts. Sand a little bit at a time and check your work often when you are working (pictures #2 & #3). When I was satisfied with the angle that I had sanded into the the parts I was ready to attach these to the plane.

<b>Note:</b> Once again I'm at a point where I disagree with the instructions. The instructions call for attaching the center section trailing edges with slow CA. I feel that 30 minute epoxy should be used here. When I learned to build I was taught that critical structural components needed to be attached with the strongest adhesive possible, and that is epoxy. I'm not saying that the manufacturer is wrong by instructing people to use slow CA, but it's just something that I won't do.

Before we actually attach the center sections to the wing we need to check the fit. Since this is a flat bottom wing we need to make sure that the center section pieces are flat and even with the bottom of the wing (picture #4). You might need to sand a little bit off of the parts so that they sit flat with the bottom of the wing. When you're satisfied with the fit we will need to get ready to attach the parts. One thing that we need to be aware of and take steps to prevent is getting glue on the torque rods themselves. If not careful a bit of glue on the torque rod can cause all kinds of problems. It can make the ailerons stiff, or not functioning at all. So here is a point where a little bit of prevention goes a long way. Use a little bit of vasolene (petroleum jelly) at the ends of the torque rods where the exit from the brass rod sleeve it is in. This will keep glue from sticking to the torque rods. A small bit of advice here. You might want to get your own jar of petroleum jelly. I used to use the jar out of the family bathroom until my wife found some “junk” in the jar. It was actually a bit of dirt that got in there while I was using a small rod to scoop it out as I used it and I managed to get some dirt in the jar. Now that we are happy with the fit of the parts, and we have protected the torque rod from getting glue on it, we are ready to glue the parts in place. I used 30 minute epoxy to attach the parts to the trailing edge of the wing. Normally I would use tape to hold the parts in place, but as you can see in picture #6 I was able to put the parts in place and they stayed where I put them while the epoxy was drying. It's rare that I will do this, but it worked this time. If you can't get the parts to stay in place, or keep a tight fit, you will want to secure the parts while the epoxy dries. Using masking tape to pull the parts in against the wing is plenty to hold them in place while they dry. Picture # 7 shows the parts in place after the epoxy has dried.

Next we will be ready to attach the ailerons.

Pictures
1. Test fitting the Center Section Trailing Edges
2. Sanding the Center Section with a small angle so they fit properly
3. Sanding the Center Section with a small angle so they fit properly
4. Test fitting the parts. Make sure they are flat with the bottom of the wing.
5. Using petroleum jelly to protect the torque rods from getting epoxy on them.
6. Parts epoxied in place and waiting for it to dry.
7. Completed step.

Until next time

Ken

PipeMajor

My Feedback: (1)

Hallmark used to sell a cassette tape of Halloween sounds - witch's cackling, creaky doors, cats howling, etc. We'd set out a set of speakers outside. Most of the kids loved the sounds and music. We also had a dark calico cat which would sit in the window to watch the kids coming up to the house.

One segment of this tape had a spooky female voice warning, "I wouldn't go near that house if I were you...." One young purveyor who was halfway up the driveway heard that and immediately turned and headed off.

BTW, statistics show as much, if not more $$$ is spent on Halloween as on Christmas nowadays.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

We have a CD like that too. We picked it up at Hobby Lobby (the craft store, not the hobby shop). My wife has a set of speakers that look like rocks that she has in her garden in the front yard, so we had those sounds piped out front too. It was great. We look forward to halloween every year.

Ken

MountaineerFan36

Hey Ken!

The build is looking great!

I have question for you that is way off topic!

My company has a vacancy in Lawton, OK. We have a contract with your local utility AEP. If you know anyone with a Forestry, Biology, Horticulture, Environmental Sciences background looking for work, send me a PM so I can get them some information.

Thanks,

Joe

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

MountaineerFan36,
I don't know of anybody that fit's that description right off of the top of my head, but I'll keep my ears open for you.

Ken

shd3920

Here is my contribution to your color scheme contest. I worked for about four hours on my Microsoft Paint program on Windows and I really enjoyed designing this.

Hope Seabee1 and his sweet, precious daughter and all the rest of you all like it.

Here it is.

I can not upload it [:'(] [:'(] [sm=punching.gif][&o][:@]
Says not supported even though it is JPEG.
Only way you can see it is in My Yahoo Profile ---------------------------------------------------------->
[link]http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tigerdude426/detail?.dir=3370&.dnm=5fc4.jpg&.src=ph[/link]

Please go see it and consider using it.

Thank you.


~ Steve "Tigerdude" Dus ~

riond

Ken,

My battle buddy got me into flying RC Electric's just before we deployed to Iraq back in Feb 04. When we got back Feb 05, he brought his trailer of planes over and we headed to the local airport. I live in a smaller town but the local flying club have a field off to the side of the normal runway. He has quite a few gasers and he put a trainer in the air for me to try out. I'm hooked. It just so happens to be a SIG LT-40 just like the one your building. Well, within 2 weeks of flying it, he found a used one for sale for me and I bought it. I've got to fly it a couple of times so far with his help and a buddy box. I went on ebay and found a build kit and have it on my work bench at home. I'm printing off everything your writing and pictures too. Keep up the great work and hopefully next spring, I'll be able to send you a picture of My new plane built with your help. Thanks again.[8D]

Ric

elenasgrumpy

My Feedback: (4)

riond, I just wanted to say thanks for your recent contribution, & sacrifices in Iraq. I'm glad you're back in the world now & getting a chance to enjoy flying! I noticed you used the word Hooked, well that's exactly right & there is no known cure available at this time, welcome to the desease![X(] Have fun flying my brother.


Mark

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

No cure? Sure there is.
Take two airplanes and go flying in the morning

bubbagates

My Feedback: (32)

I'm gonna have to remember that the next time I play hookie from work

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Well, once again my schedule got a bit crazy this last week. This time it was helping out with a project for my son at school, and no matter what my time for my family comes first (yes, even before airplane time. ). So anyway, back to the build. We're ready now to start preparing the ailerons for attaching.

The first thing to do is locate both of the aileron stock for this step. As noted in picture #1 we have both of the ailerons that we labeled back when we inventoried the kit before we started. I mention it here because the stock that we will use for the elevator in later steps could be mistaken for the ailerons if you're not careful. The elevator stock is roughly the same size, but it's not as long as the ailerons, and this is why we labeled everything so that we wouldn't mistake later on. A small side note here, I was a little disappointed with the aileron stock provided in the kit. What I didn't like was that the density of the wood in the aileron stock was drastically different in the two pieces we have provided in the kit. While it shouldn't affect anything in the final build I would prefer if the density of the wood had been closer to each other.

Here is another good point to label your pieces “L” and “R”. Just like before, it's easy to mix them up which could cause problems later on. Now that we have to two labeled we need to measure in 1-3/8” from the inside edge of each aileron and mark this spot (picture #2. This is where we are going to drill for the torque rods to attach to the aileron. Once we have the spot marked we are going to use a 3/32” drill bit to drill out the hole for the torque rod to sit in. Before you drill it helps to mark the drill bit 5/8” up the drill bit, I used a Sharpie® marker to mark the drill bit at this point. This is how deep we want to drill this hole. It's important to mark this because if we drill too deep the drill bit will come out the sides of the aileron. While we want to avoid this happening, if it does happen don't panic because it's fairly easy to fix later on (we can fill the hole with balsa filler when it comes time to sand the plane). Now that the bit is marked we'll go ahead and drill out the hole for the torque rods (picture #3).

The torque rods will sit recessed into the ailerons when they are installed, so we're going to have to dig out a channel for rods to sit in. The instructions that come with the plane tell us to use a hobby knife to dig this out. While it's possible to do this, I think it's a very ugly way to accomplish this task and there is definitely a better way to do it. You'll need to get a piece of brass fuel tubing (picture #4), and then you'll need to sharpen the edge on one end. Use a hobby knife to “shave” the inside of the tubing (picture #5). This will make a very sharp edge on the end of the tubing (picture #6). Continue shaving the inside of the tubing until it's sharp enough to easily cut through balsa (test on a scrap piece of balsa before using it to cut the aileron). After you have the tubing sharpened we'll use that to cut a groove into the aileron from the edge of the aileron to the hole that we cut for the torque rod. Don't try to cut the groove all at one time. Cut a small groove at first, and then continue to cut a little bit at a time until the groove is deep enough for the torque rod to completely fit inside the groove (pictures #7, #8, #9, & #10). Place the aileron on torque rod on the plane to test the fit. The aileron should fit like in pictures #11 & #12. Take your time and continue to work the groove until you have a good fit of the torque rod. Trust me, this is an important step in that it will make a huge difference in the way that the ailerons will move when they are installed on the plane. A good fit here will help ensure that the ailerons move smoothly and without any binding, so take your time.

Pictures
1. 2 ailerons pieces as labeled when we inventoried the kit.
2. Measuring where to drill for the torque rods.
3. Drilling the ailerons for the torque rods.
4. Brass tubing to be used to cut groove.
5. Using a hobby knife to sharpen the brass tubing.
6. The sharpened brass tubing.
7. Starting the groove with the sharpened tubing.
8. Cutting the groove.
9. Continuing the cut.
10. The complete cut.
11. Test fitting the aileron.
12. Ensure that the torque rod fits totally inside the groove.

Until next time

Ken

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

After cutting each aileron for the torque rods we'll need to mark the location for the CA hinges. Position each aileron on the plans and mark the locations for the hinges (picture #1). Once you have each hinge marked on the ailerons go back and mark the center of each hinge (picture #2 & #3). After the hinge slot is cut we will drill a small hole in the center of the hinge in order to help CA wick into the hinge, and that is why we are making the center location. Once we have all the hinges marked we want to place the aileron on the torque rod on the wing. Slide the aileron so that the torque rod is centered in the notches that are cut out of the center trailing edge sections (picture #4), and make sure that there is a gap between the aileron on the center section so that the aileron can move freely (picture #5). When you are satisfied with the position of the aileron then we'll mark the hinge location on the trailing edge of the wing. Deflect the wing so that you can see the hinge locations that are marked on the aileron and transfer those marks to the trailing edge of the wing, including the center marks (picture #6).

Pictures
1. Using the plans to mark hinge location on the ailerons.
2. Marking the center of each hinge.
3. Hinge locations marked on the aileron.
4.Center the torque in the notches.
5.Ensure that the aileron moves freely.
6.Transfer the marks to the trailing edge.


Until next time

Ken

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

After the hinge location are marked we'll need to mark the center line on the trailing edge of the wing. The center line doesn't need to be marked on the ailerons since the bevel on each aileron is the natural centerline. There are several ways to mark the centerline of the trailing edge, some are difficult and some are easy. I'm going to show a couple of the easier ways to do it. Before I describe the easy ways to mark the centerline I'll tell you about the hard way, and what's funny is the hard way is probably the way that most people will try right off the bat. What's so hard about this anyway? Don't you just measure the trailing edge and cut that in half? Sure, if the width of the trailing edge is a nice round number it's easy to mark half of that. But nine times out of ten the width is going to be some fraction that's really difficult to cut in half. Ok, try marking half of 19/32”. See what I mean? So here are a couple of ways to make it a bit easier to mark the centerline. The first way can be done with a standard ruler, and the second way requires a separate tool to be purchased.

The easy way to mark the center of the trailing edge with your ruler is to simply pick a measurement that you can divided in half easily. In picture #1 I used 1/2” as my reference. Now turn the ruler at an angle so that the two marks of your measurement are on the edges of the trailing edge, and then mark the center point of those two points. Use the same procedure to make a center mark on the other side of your hinge location, and then use your ruler to mark the centerline through the hinge location (picture #2). Neat and simple.

The second way involves buying an extra tool. I'm talking about [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK262&P=7]Great Planes Precision Hinge Marking Tool [/link] . (Picture #3) It costs about $3, but if you keep an eye open sometimes Tower Hobbies will throw this tool in as an extra when you buy something else. This tool is really pretty simple. It consists of a plastic body that have two plastic feet on the bottom of it that are hinged, and on the center of the body there is a small pointed metal stud. This metal stud is what marks the center line. To use this tool you need to place it on the tailing edge of the plane and turn it so that both feet are firmly in contact with the top and bottom edges (picture #4), then push lightly down so the stud is indented enough in the wood to mark it and pull the tool down the tailing edge (picture #5). This will scribe a line in the center of the trailing and is fairly foolproof. If you can get this tool for free I'd say to go ahead and get it, but otherwise I'd say to just use a ruler and save the three buck.

So now we should have all of our hinge locations marked and ready to slot in order the install the CA hinges.

Pictures
1. Using a ruler to find the center of the trailing edge.
2. Marking the centerline of the trailing edge.
3. The Great Planes Precision Hinge Marking tool.
4. Placing the marking tool on the trailing edge.
5. Using the making tool to mark the center line.
6. The hinge location marked and ready to be slotted.


Until next time

Ken

kerrydel

My Feedback: (2)

When it absolutely, positively HAS to be butterflies..........


Just draw up one butterfly picture, then photocopy it to whatever size you want. Then make a cardboard (or even better use styrene) template of the different sizes. Trace around them and voila, butterflies galore.

Kerry

(bottom stays the same as before)

shd3920

Anyone check out my contribution yet? I worked for about four hours on my Microsoft Paint program on Windows and I really enjoyed designing this.

Hope Seabee1 and his sweet, precious daughter and all the rest of you all like it.

Unfortunately I still can not upload it

Only way you can see it is in My Yahoo Profile ---------------------------------------------------------->
[link]http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tigerdude426/detail?.dir=3370&.dnm=5fc4.jpg&.src=ph[/link]

Please check it out.

Thank you.

bubbagates

My Feedback: (32)

Tiger,

I got it to uploaded for you

PipeMajor

My Feedback: (1)

Man, I love the smell of nitro in the morning!

PipeMajor

My Feedback: (1)

Man, I love the smell of nitro in the morning!

shd3920

Thank you, bubbagates. Wonder why it wouldn't upload for me. All my other graphs upload fine.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

After the hinge locations are marked and the aileron it drilled and cut for the torque rods it's time to dig out/cut the slots for the CA hinges. A little background for anyone who doesn't know what “CA hinges” are. They are basically a piece of plastic sandwiched between two sheets that can be bonded with CA adhesive. The installation of CA hinges requires a slot cut in both sides of the material to be hinged. The hinge is inserted in both side and then CA adhesive it wicked into the hinge. The CA will use capillary action to be pulled all the way down the hinge and it will bond with the wood it is inserted in to. After the CA sets the hinge material can still be flexed, this hinging the surface. A couple of quick notes about CA hinges. First, CA hinges are a “one time only” material. Meaning that you can't put CA adhesive on just part of the hinge, you much do the entire hinge at one time. This means that you must have the hinge inserted properly in both sides of the hinge before you apply the CA. I won't go into what happens if it's not, but trust me that's not fun. Second, when you cut your slot for the hinge to be inserted into you also need to drill a hole in the center of the hinge. This allows the CA it pull all the way to the end of the hinge by way of capillary action.

Ok, now for cutting the hinge slots. One of the best tools that you can own is the [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK263&P=ML]Great Planes Slot Machine[/link] . What's sad about this tool is that you only use it for about 5 minutes on a plane you are working on. That's about how long it will take you to cut all the hinge slots on a plane with this tool. If you are going to use CA hinges in your builds this is probably one of the best $20 you can ever spend. For the sake of this build, and for those who haven't purchased a Slot Machine, I'll describe how to cut hinge slots without the Slot Machine as well as how to do it with one.

First, the hard way. Manually cutting the slot. This isn't hard to do, it just takes some time to get them all cut. When we cut the slots we want to cut the slot just “thick” enough for the hinge to slip into, but there needs to be resistance when you insert the hinge. The reason is that you want the hinge to be in contact with the wood on all sides so that it is bonded to the wood. If it's not the hinge will pull out in flight, and it doesn't take too much to imagine what the results will be if that happens. It's really hard to describe how to cut this slot using a hobby knife. You really “just do it”. Take a look at pictures #1- #5 and you should get an idea on how to do it. I'll try to describe it if I can. I start by first using the tip of the knife to score the line where I will cut. I will do this several times going a little deeper each time. I will then start at one side of the marked area and push the knife in all the way to the hilt, then pull it out and move over and push it in again. Keep doing this until you are at the opposite end of the marked area. Picture #4 shows something that I like to do that helps clear the slot and make it just about the right width for the hinges. I will insert the knife on one end of the area and then I will work it back up the slot with the “dull” side of the blade, meaning the backside of the knife. This will clean the slot out and get it ready for the hinge. After you have the slot cleaned out and the hinge will snugly fit into it we need to drill a hole in the center of the hinge line (picture #6). I use a 1/16” drill bit and drill all the way thorough the trailing edge. Although it doesn't seem like it would be, this hole is very important. I ensures that the CA adhesive will wick all the to the back of the hinge. Without the hole it becomes an “iffy” guess if the CA will work all the way back. Once again, it's better safe than sorry. So take the extra minute it takes to drill the hole. After the hole is drilled stick the hinge in the slot, we're done with this slot. Wasn't that easy? Sure it was, and you only have 15 more to go!

I do want to point out one very important safely note. Never ever pull the knife towards you or your hand. Remember that balsa is a very soft wood and won't always stop a knife blade that has slipped. I know that saying this seem like I'm saying the obvious, but sometimes it's really easy to concentrate on your work and not pay attention to where the knife it going. I learned when I was 13 years old building a plastic model. I had a knife slip while I was pulling to towards me and it went into my left hand. It made a 4” long 1/2” deep cut that took 25 stitches to close. Since then I have always made sure that I know where the blade is going to go if it slips, or more importantly I know where it WILL NOT go! Please take the time to think about it while you are working.

Ok, now we did it the hard way, so let's do it the easy way. I can't say this enough, get a [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK263&P=ML]Great Planes Slot Machine[/link] . Before you ask, no I'm not getting kickbacks (I wish I was ) from Great Planes for advertising. This is one of the best tools that I've seen in awhile. If you are going to do much building it really is worth the $20 if you plan on using CA hinges. Ok, so how do we use it? As with anything else that we do when building, you need to practice on scrap wood first. Trust me on this one. If you grab the Slot Machine for the first time and try to start cutting slots in the trailing edge you WILL be building new wing because the trailing edge is screwed up. It can chew through a lot of soft balsa wood in a heartbeat. So get some scrap balsa (hey, another good reason to save all that scrap wood from the kit!) and practice. Keep practicing until you can accurately put the blade on a marked line and cut the slot without cutting anything outside of the line. It's well worth the practice, because once you get the hang of it you can cut all 16 slots in the wing in the same time it takes you to cut one slot using a hobby knife. Pictures #8, #9, and #10 to show cutting the slot. The only real advice I do give is don't force the tool, just a little pressure and feed it as it cuts. If you force the too, especially in harder wood, you'll wind up bending or breaking the blades. When you order the tool you may want to pick up a couple sets of replacement blades. Murphy's law will kick in. If you buy the blades you'll probably never need them, but if you don't buy them then you will break a blade for sure because you don't have a replacement. After you have the slot cut, just like cutting them manually, you'll need to drill a hole in the center of the slot (picture #11). After you finished stick the hinge in and move on to the rest of the wing (picture #12)

Cutting the hinge slots on the trailing edge of the wing you'll need to cut the slots in the ailerons themselves. There's nothing too much different in cutting these than there was cutting them on the trailing edges. The only thing I would point out is that you'll want to take a little bit of extra care with the slot machine so that it doesn't “jump” or “wander” off of the tip of the bevel. Other than that it's pretty much the same as doing the trailing edge. If you feel a bit edgy or nervous about cutting them you should take a few minutes and practice first. Get some scrap balsa and sand a bevel onto it so you can practice on. Once you feel comfortable after practicing go ahead and cut the slots.

Next we'll be putting the ailerons on the wing and trimming the tips off.

Pictures
1. Cutting the hinge slot with a hobby knife.
2. Cutting the hinge slot with a hobby knife.
3. Cutting the hinge slot with a hobby knife.
4. Cutting the hinge slot with a hobby knife.
5. Cutting the hinge slot with a hobby knife.
6. Using a 1/16” drill bit to drill a hole in the middle of the hinge line.
7. Completed cutting the hinge slot and ready for the next one.
8. Cutting the hinge slot with the Great Planes Slot Machine.
9. Cutting the hinge slot with the Great Planes Slot Machine.
10.Cutting the hinge slot with the Great Planes Slot Machine.
11. Using a 1/16” drill bit to drill a hole in the middle of the hinge line.
12. Completed cutting the hinge slot. Only 15 more to go!!!

Until next time

Ken

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

These pictures I'm posting to show cutting the slots in the aileron stock. The same methods are used to cut these slots as what were used to cut them in the trailing edge.

Pictures
1. Cutting the hinge slot with a hobby knife.
2. Cutting the hinge slot with a hobby knife.
3. Cutting the hinge slot with the Great Planes Slot Machine.
4. Cutting the hinge slot with the Great Planes Slot Machine.
5. Drilling the hole in the middle of the hinge line.
6. Completed slot with hinge inserted.

Until next time

Ken