Timthetoolman1

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I decided to post some photos here instead of jacking the winter build thread.
It's just some random photos, not a complete build. I should be painting this week and fly it next week.

Here's the pre-electronics balance shots.

Timthetoolman1

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Cool method for glueing on stabs. Add silica to the epoxy to thicken it then use a syringe to apply it. Then smooth it out.

Timthetoolman1

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I use (2) layers of 2 oz cloth on the control surfaces and place them between mylar (so I get a smooth finish) and place in a vacuum over night. I get extemely straight, stiff, light control surfaces that are smooth enough that they have to be roughened before they will take paint...like glass.

Timthetoolman1

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The original box that the donor plane for the mold came in. Funny thing, a guy at a club I attended for a warbird event saw the fuselage in my car and said, 'that ain't no Dirty Birdy, I had one and that ain't it'. I just softly laughed because the box was laying next to it.

Timthetoolman1

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Here's a photo of my elevator after it came out of vacuum and before it was trimmed.

Timthetoolman1

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I created a jig to cut out a servo tray and the gear block slot so I can make wing construction faster in case I had an 'incident'[:@] I use a 3/4 bit in a router with a collar attached. The servo hatch covers I cut on a buddy's laser for free dollars. Ok, maybe I toss a couple bucks in the kitty. I've used the jig on 4 other guys' wings.

Timthetoolman1

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Here's the fuselage getting prepared for molding.

countilaw

It's good to see a Dirty Birdy that's NOT an ARF. Good work. Can't wait to see it in the air.

Frank

fireman7875

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It's good to see anything that's not an ARF.

Brian

Timthetoolman1

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Hopefully Frank it will be flying at Thunderbird's SPA in April.

Yah, not a big fan of ARFs for some things. I was really suprised that the ARF DB was so heavy.
Besides, I'm using it as build and flight practice for a Macchi 200 I'm building with a Moki I'm excited about that but it's been on the bench for 2 years already (life got in the way).

Tim

Gene Margiotti

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Love DB's of any flavor!! I would love to see more of your vacuum bagging and fiberglassing work. If you have any pics or list of materials lying around post them. I'm sure that there are others out there in need of a little tutoring!!

Fantastic job.

Gene

Timthetoolman1

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Gene,

The one of the best help videos for some information is a video on vacuum bagging glider wings by Phil Barnes. He will go over the Mylar technique. I get my glass from Fibreglast.com and the Mylar is .014" and is bought locally.

Tim

Timthetoolman1

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Here's a link to buy the videos http://home.paonline.com/hayman/PAGE2.htm

I think I used (2) layers of 2 oz cloth on the control surfaces. (2) layers of 3/4 oz on the wings and stabs and the fuselage was (2) layers of 6 oz (won't do that again...too many holes). I think the best fuselage layup will be (1) 3/4 oz, (1) 3 oz, and (1) 6 oz or maybe even another 3 oz. My fuselage was around 15 oz. I can't remember if I had the firewall installed at that time but according to my weight schedule it was installed.

Gene Margiotti

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Tim,

That info is awesome and inspiring, thanks!!

And great job on the Dirty Birdy - love them.

Gene

patternwannabee

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Sprinkler,

I like your Router Jig. Never occured to me to make a big one to do both LG block and servo hatch cutouts. And they're reversible so you can do the other wing as well.

How do you keep it flat on the wing? do you use shims or otherwise?

Do you use a lightweight trim router, or regular?

Timthetoolman1

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I put the wing in the bottom shucks (spelling?), place the jig on the wing, and clamp the whole assembly to the table with the large blue and yellow Irwin clamps at each end.

I use a full size plunge router. I put a LONG 3/4" bit (longer than usual Home Depot has two different sizes in the Diablo so you'll need the longer one) and intall the 3/4" collar in the router and place in one of the slots to cut. I first push the bit down till it touches the skin and set this to zero. Then I set the stop to the depth I need. I think I go 7/8" on the servo trays and 3/8" on the square part of the landing gear block. With the dowel part of the landing block, where the pin of the wire gear slides in, I plunge down till I hear it hit the table...not really, I haven't ruined a set of wings yet, but I do go down about 7/8" or so on this one too which is just about to touch the bottom side of the wing top skin. Everything is on the jig so I don't have to remember it.

Tim

Timthetoolman1

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One more tip. Any time I'm going to use epoxy on a firewall or stabs where I may need a slight build up of epoxy like a fillet or don't want the epoxy to run I add silica to the mix. It makes a really strong bond and it doesn't run like epoxy alone. I bought the 3M Hysol and it still sits in my shop 'frig because the silica works just as good. Sometimes it's by the name Cabosil Silica (a name brand) or Thixotropic Silica (Thixotropic just means it's a thickening agent) or Coloidal silica. Each is just a bit different. I've use it from West Systems, Fibre Glast, and CST. It comes in big bags or small containers. Disclaimer: READ HEALTH AND SAFETY WARNINGS...DON'T INHALE.

patternwannabee

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Thanks for the detailed explanation, Sprinkler T. I would have thought the jig would need more than just clamps to hold it securely to the wing, but if you've done it successfully, then I'll have to give it a try also.

In the past, I've made small jigs for a router cutout. I've used a dremel with the router base and built a fence around the jig to the shape of the cutout, but keeping the jig on the wing always proved problematic. I've also tried a cheapie Harborfreight trim router, but their chucks don't always hold router bits accurately. With a jig the size of yours, it should be easy to use a full size plunge router to achieve the result. Thanks for sharing.

Timthetoolman1

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Here's a bit more of the hinging system. The scale guys will like this. The material used is G10 which is a fiberglass sheet in a variety of thicknesses. I use a thin piece to line each side of the trailing edge of the stab and wing and use a thicker piece for the hinge itself which has a hole in it with a small yellow inner part of a Sulivan Gold-N-Rod as a bushing. The rudder, for instance, gets a piece of carbon tubing that is sized so a 2mm wire pushrod can slide easily in it (which also slides easy through the smaller Gold-N-Rod).
Once the stab TE and the control surface LE are ready I install the hinge system this way:
Slice through the control surface LE and carbon tube slightly larger than the thicker G10.
Place th G10 hinge in the slots and run the 2mm wire through them to hold them in place.
Lay the control surface in place behind the stab and mark on the stab where the hinges are hanging in the control surface.
Cut out these locations on the band saw bigger than the size of the G10 hinge (it will get filled with epoxy so a 30% larger is fine).
Sand a groove in the stab to recieve the thin G10 'cove' if you're going this route.
Tape around the slots and stab, then apply epoxy (thickened) and slide the large G10 hinges into the TE of the stab.
Install the thin G10 cove on both sides of the TE just before the epoxy sets up (if you want to do this or you can seal the hinge with tape or covering later).
I use CA to install the cove material. I think it's .010" thickness or around there.
The stab shown below with the square piece of bass for the horn mount is from the Super Kaos (my control surfaces are so stiff they don't need a hard point because I use multiple layers of glass).
The last photo is the .010" G10 cove I made. I'll give details if anyone is interested.

Tim