wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

This summer I picked up a second hand (actually third hand I believe), Seagull Edge 540 v2 in receiver ready condition. In the same transaction I came to be the owner of a second airframe of the same plane. I have been flying it since, but have had the desire to recover it in a more interesting scheme. A month or so ago I scraped the wing pretty hard in a gusty cross wind landing and later have a wing blown off the table as I was packing up. This was the final prompting I needed to start the recovering effort. In order to keep a flying plane while I was working I put the wings from the spare onto my flying plane with the plan to recover the second airframe and either move everything over, or if funding allowed, to finish out the second airframe.

I figured I would chronicle my efforts here for people (hopefully) learn from. The first few posts cover what I have already done, in general chronological order.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

I didn't take pictures of everything. I figured nobody really care to see a picture of the wing with half the covering torn off as I took a heat gun to the Monokote. I peeled all the covering from the first wing and aileron. This was the wing the scraped the runway on landing and was later blown off the table. The wing tip was well scraped but nothing was broken. The outside rear corner of the aileron was broken when it hit in the wind. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. It took me an evening to cut a new cap for the wing tip and to repair the aileron. Then I started the covering. I went with Monokote as the local hobby shop had the colors I wanted and the original plane was covered in it and had held up pretty well.

My base color is "bright yellow". I almost when neon, but now I'm glad I didn't.



Before anyone points out the minor wrinkling on the aileron, I will point out that this is my first attempt at covering and, despite the picture, it is actually pretty smooth. The flash on the camera, as does direct sun, really brings out any wrinkles.

As you can see in the photo, I opted for Dubro nylon hinges instead of the original CA hinges.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

After the wing was covered in the base color, I taped tissue paper over the wing and drew out the pattern I wanted. Now I wish I had taken pictures, but oh well. Next, take the tissue paper off, cut out the patterns, lay them on the appropriate color Monokote and cut the trim pieces.

The trim for the leading edge is metallic red.



The trim piece actually wraps completely around the leading edge. It was a bit harder to get on, but it leaves a very smooth leading edge with no seam.



In the above pictures, the red trim has only been laid down with Windex. I later went over it with the covering iron and the edges with trim solvent. Perhaps a bit of overkill, but I really doubt it will ever peel.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

This is a three color scheme, so one the red was sealed down to the wing it was time to add the next color, black.

Here I've added the black "hockey stick" as well as the aileron section of the red and black. The yellow strip is not trim tape, it is actually the underlying base color.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

The underside of the wing is done in 2.5" metallic red and yellow. It was a whole lot of red squares to cut.

You can see here the bottom in the process of having the squares laid down. The top side wing tip is done in 1" squares, but no pictures of it in progress.



I spent a fair amount of time with the trim iron sealing all the edges and laying down all the partial squares, but in the end, it turned out pretty good, I think.



And here is the top side.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

Now, my expectation was the second wing would go much smoother than the first as I had learned a few things and already had most of the covering cut. So I took the heat gun to the second wing and stripped it down. That's when I found out that the recovering was going to turn into a repair/rebuild.

It turns out that three of the ribs toward the root of the wing were broken completely through.

Looking from the root toward the tip.


Looking back at the root.


I cut away the bottom front sheeting and removed the wing tube socket.



I didn't have to break anything to remove the wing tube. All that had been holding the wing together was the covering.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

I have cut and glued in three new ribs. The old wing tube socket is being used to align the holes and ribs for gluing, but it will be replaced with a new one which is currently on order. Everything is tacked in place with thin CA and then a bead of Sig Bond is run down all the joints.



I have glue the top side cap strips on the new ribs and repaired the hanger rash on this wing tip as well. Pictures will be posted later. This evening I put the leading edge sheeting on. It is currently sitting under weight drying. I won't be able to do the trailing edge until the new wing tube socket arrives since I need to be able to get to the inside of the first rib to glue the plywood doubler that the wing tube goes through.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

Here you can see the two top side cap strips have been glued in place.



And here is the new wing tip. I haven't filled any gaps yet, but still, it has a pretty good fit.



Over the last couple of days I have applied and sanding the leading edge sheeting.





If I ever have the opportunity to rebuild these wings again, I will add half ribs to the leading edge between each of the full ribs from the servo mount in to the root of the wing. Even prior to sanding the sheeting will flex pretty significantly in between the ribs. I managed to get everything sanded down pretty strait and flush, but it further reduced the strength of the sheeting. Right over the third rib, the sheeting is pretty thin.

Tonight I glued in the one bottom side cap strip and glued the sheer webbing in place.



At this point, I am pretty much at a stand still on this wing until the wing tube socket shows up.

ChrisK7

My Feedback: (14)

For your first covering job you get an A+ in my book, looks great. I like the design and the colors.
I've never used trim solvent, what does it do for you? Do you use it instead of an iron to apply monokote over monokote to keep from getting gas bubbles?

basman

Not that this answers your question directly but I removed some covering that had been laid over other covering from factory, I noticed that there had been heaps of pin holes put in the lower covering. I was wondering if this stoped the air getting traped when laying the overlapped covering? I am going to try next time and see if it works.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

Well, I suppose it depends on how you use the solvent. I, of course, didn't follow the instructions which say that you wet surface of the base with a light coat and then lay down the trim on it. If you do this, you are not supposed to have to use any heat. I just used it to seal the edges of the trim down to the base color. It is very aggressive stuff and will cause the colors to run at the edges where the pigment is exposed.

To lay the trim, I coated the trim piece in Windex and squeegeed it down real good. After letting is set overnight, I ran over it with the covering iron set just hot enough to set the adhesive. I then went over the edges with a trim iron at a slightly higher temp to make sure the edges were set well. Anywhere I got sizable bubbles I poked the trim with a pin and them used the trim iron to work the bubble out. I probably had about a dozen spots on the entire wing where I had to work bubbles out. I think the key is to go slow and be patient. In this case, more is not better.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

The pin holes put in the under laying covering is to let the gasses escape as the trim is ironed down, I've used trim solvent in the past and had the same effect you did with edges bleeding out color and adheasive. Your first covering job looks very good, I'd say your ready to cover a few more planes. If you want I have a mountain of planes that need recover jobs if you get bored! Once again, A+ on the covering job.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

So a while back I ordered a new wing tube socket from TNT Landing gear. It got here earlier this week. Unfortunately I got shipped the 7/8" instead of the 3/4" I ordered. They are sending me the correct one, but it will of course delay finishing the wing. So... I started removing all the old covering off the fuselage. Wings are much easier. I've got the front two thirds removed. I'm trying to decide whether to try and remove the tail feathers from the fuse or leave the attached and work with them there. I need to look a bit more at how they are glued in.

I also removed the covering from the canopy. That was easy. The Laser 200 canopy is going to work well. I have it trimmed to the approximate size. I picked up a hatch latch and a set of hatch alignment pins from BVMjets. With a minor bit of wood working, I think I can put together a much easier, more reliable, and less visible canopy retention system.

As always, I will post more pictures as I have them.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

Well, a quick call to TNT was all it took. They shipped me the 3/4" tube and a call tag for the 7/8" one. While I was waiting on that, I stripped the covering off the fuselage.



I'm going to pretty much rebuild the firewall and landing gear mounts as the have been pretty well mangled by prior modifications.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

At some point in its prior life this airframe had the flight pack mounted in the very rear of the fuselage. Probably to help balance a 26cc gasser that was up front. An access point was cut in the sheeting and it is very weak. It will have to be fixed, but until then, I intend to use it to help run the pull-pull hardware for the tail.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

A quick test fit of the new, clear canopy.



It looks pretty sharp. It is a canopy from a Seagull Laser 200. I'm working on the hatch attachment hardware to get rid of those oh so fun screws through the side of the fuselage.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

The replacement wing tube socket arrived earlier this week and I finally found some time to get it installed. Luckily this isn't a new build so I don't have to worry so much about the alignment of the wings. I bolted both wings on and glued in the replacement socket.





Once it dries I can take the wing off and finish the sheeting on it. I should be able to start covering it tomorrow.

Mike Baldwin

I had one of these and really loved it. I had a Magnum 91 FS on mine. I was showing off a little to low and piled it into the ground hard, almost nothing left of the fuse, wings in good shape. Too far gone to rebuild, but I might get a new fuse for it. Your rebuild looks good. Gook luck to ya.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

So I haven't had as my time to work on the plane as I'd like, but I have been making little bits of progress here and there.

I did get the wing sheeting glued down. I need to pick up some more clamps. They really are useful.


With the sheeting on, I was able to take the "spackle" to it and give it a proper sanding. I did manage to thicken up the the sheeting a bit where I had sanded a bit much in the past. You can see the large area of filler in the lower left. Structurally it's not an issue, but I'm worried that an errant landing will drive a stick or stem through the sheeting there. Oh well, I'm not redoing it now.

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

I mentioned earlier that I had ordered some hatch alignment pins. Getting them installed took some thought and a bit of construction, but it turned out really well from a usability standpoint.

In the fuselage in the front of the canopy inset area, I put a pair of the sockets. I drilled out the holes in the former, then cut 3/32" ply as a backer, both to strengthen the former where I drilled and to help hold the socket. I had to do a bit of dremel work and enlarge the holes in the former so I could properly line everything up (bad measuring on my part). I also took off a bit of the top layer from the former so that the socket would sit flush. I filled with "plastic wood" and sanded everything. It isn't the most beautiful work I have done, but it's not going to break either.


The matching edge of the canopy hatch had a pin put in place. The former was routed out and a 1/16" ply backer was put in place, for the same reasons as on the fuselage to both strength the former and provide a backstop for the pin.


To make the mounts for the back sockets, I took a piece of 3/8" angle triangle balsa and capped it on the top and ends with 1/16" ply to strength it, then glued it all to the inside of the fuselage. The top of the mount was set slightly below the top of the hatch so that I didn't have to inset the socket any.


Holes for the rear pins were drilled in the bottom frame of the hatch and 3/32" ply backers were glued into place. I took the dremmel and formed the edge of the backers to the contour of the frame so it would look a bit better.


It fits very well and holds the hatch quite securely. Now I just have to figure out how to put the latch in place. I want to put it at the top of the fuselage behind the canopy, but there is a longeron that runs down the spine of the turtledeck and fits into a notch in the former there (you can make it out in one of the fuselage pictures above).

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Looking good, keep plugging away at it and sooner or later it'll be done.

69 roadrunner

Lokks great cant wait to see the thing all done up ready to fly. my friend flies this plane with satio 125 flys great. The Road Runner

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

This weekend I put the base color covering on the second wing. And therein lies a problem. The second wing turned out way way better than the first. No wrinkles. None.





If you hold it at an angle to the light, you can catch minor stretch points where it adheres to the wing ribs, but try as I might, I couldn't get them to show up in a photo. So now I have a problem. I have a completed wing that looks ok that I might have to redo just because it will annoy me to no end that it isn't as good as the other wing. I am going to wait and see how the second wing turns out though.

The key to covering, with Monokote anyway, is to go slow. It took me about five hours to do the two sides completely on the second wing.

sir crashallot

great rebuild, youve been taking too many leafs out of planebuilders book on here, hes recoverd the jungmister he has 3 times this last coupleofweeks due to impeefections that you could only see very close up, id probably be the same though if i was so motivated to put a large effort into a rebuild like yours, great work and keep it coming

wpmcnamara

My Feedback: (9)

I came to the conclusion the other night that I'm going to let it be. My goal is to have a good looking plane that I can go fly. If I continue to fret over the covering, I may never get it in the air. I came to this conclusion after getting some fine wrinkles in one of the trim pieces on the leading edge. I'm going to wait until the plane is complete before I revisit the first wing. If it looks good enough I'll leave it. I really don't want to go cut all those squares again.

I came to another conclusion about Monokote the other night. You can have either wrinkles or seams...