LargeScale88

I would keep working on making it fit properly. For the amount of distance you are talking that its off by would change how it flies, somewhat. Just keep sanding the high spot. Mine came out almost perfect.


Jason

Lone Star Charles

It's important that the horizontal tail be leveled (aligned)with the wings. Although you didn't mention it in your post,I would assume that you have installed the wing into the fuselage and tightened the wing hold-down bolts? Your idea of leveling the wings so that you can install the horizontal tail level has a lot of merit(it will result in proper alignment). If you want to continue along that route, just put supports under the wingtips until they are equidistant from the table top. Then you can do a similar leveling to the horizontal tail and things should be just right. One more suggestion - after you have everything jigged up in position,stand back from the tail of the plane and eyeball the alignment between the wing and the tail. If they do not align, you may need to sand the horizontal tail support plate and adjust the fit until it does.

crick1983

The wing is installed to the fuse and bolted in place. I haven't had this problem before so thanks for help. I will continue to jig the wings until they are equadistant from the table and will not focus on fuse being level. I will repeat the same steps with the horizontal stab.

Thanks again. I will let you all know how it turns out.

SeamusG

I read books. Harry Higley has published a bunch and I've read most of 'em. This tip comes from one of his publications.

The ultimate goal is to make sure that the wing and horizontal stab are on the same plane. And that the distance from wing-tip to stab-tip are equal for both sides. Stick 2 "T" pins thru the stab into the fuse's stab support. Remove and keep for the gluing step.

[*]The wing mount is complete. It's not really that important that the wing be 90 degrees to the fuse - but those of us that are really anal retentive do.[*]Find a nice setup area - a flat surface that is bigger than the wing-tip to wing-tip and nose-to-tail dimensions of the plane. I use my tiled entryway.[*]Collect a bunch candidate supporting things like baking boxes, soup cans and spare wood.[*]Position the wing/fuse assembly in the setup area so that the stab will support the tail of the plane (under the fuse).[*]Support each wing tip with identical supports (ex. a Campbell tomato soup can under each wing tip) - this will ensure that the wing is in the same plane as the setup area.[*]Position the stab under the tail and support each stab tip with identical supports. Here's where it gets fun. You want to get it to a height where the wing's incidence is 0 with the setup area. That way you can verify that the incidence of the stab is correctly set.[*]Note: have a bunch of scrap wood, bottles, caps, whatever - as long as you have two of each. When you have the stab-tips supported by like supports AND the wing-tips supported by like supports the stab & wing are guaranteed to be in the same plane.[*]When you have the stab incidence correct (using shims, sanding the fuse) with respect to the wing incidence you are ready to epoxy. Use a pencil to mark the boundaries of the fuse onto the stab. Apply epoxy to both the fuse's stab support and the stab. Put the stab on the fuse and work it about to ensure that the entire stab and fuse have epoxy - with NO dry spots.[*]When you're ready, position the stab onto the fuse (wet epoxy) and use the "T" pins to align the stab. Setup the fuse/wing/stab by supporting the wings with it's boxes, support the stab with it's cans, now add a couple of cans on the fuse over the stab to ensure that the joint is tight.[/list]When the epoxy sets, your stab will be in the same plane as the wing and the stab tips will be equal distant from the wing tips.

Just make sure that the front door is dead-bolted so nobody stumbles in while the epoxy is setting up.

The pic is from my Killer Chaos build. Jiffy muffins for the wings. Misc balsa wood scraps for the stab. Campbell's soup to make sure stuff doesn't move around.

crick1983

Thanks SeamusG for the information. With a little bit of sanding, measuring, shimming, sanding,measuring, and agian measuring I finally have epoxiedthevertical stab using the method you provided.I will let you know how it turns out once the epoxy cures. Next up...Vertical stab.

crick1983

I finished the setting the vertical stab this weekend. Thanks to everyone for the help because they came out perfect. I took some time off from building to fly this weekend but hope to make more progress this week. I would like to have all of servos installed and be ready to cover by next weekend. That could be a little ambitious but we will see.

crick1983

Not sure if anyone is following this at all but I thought I would post my progress. I should have all of the control surfaces hooked up and be ready to start covering this weekend if I don't have any surprises. Weather looks to be rainy and windy so that makes for great building weather. If anyone hase tips or tricks to covering this plane with monokote please fee free to share them. This will be my first complete covering job. More to come...

Andrewmc

Of course we are following your progress.

I have no experience with monocote, but found that with my extra I would cover entirely with a base coat and then add trim as required. Do add the side strips they make the plane look great.

Lots of good tips on covering on RCU and wit hmonocoat ther eis the added advantage of using windex to add trim - no bubbles. Ultacoat over ultracoat not so easy.

Looking forward to more pics. Hope to fly mine this weekend - weather and 4 month old permitting

Andrew

crick1983

Thanks for the support. I will keep reading on here about how to use monokote and willbe sure to update asI go.Do you think it would be possible to bondo over the joint on the cowl to give it a nice smoot finishis before I prime and paint it? My thought is that it might add additional weight to the nose and could mess with the CG. Also i worry that I may not get as smooth of a surface as I desire and I would end up ruining the cowl.

Thoughts on this?

Andrewmc

I think you should leave the cowl removable to access the engine. If you want a smooth finish with the cowl flush to the fuz then maybe make the cowl slightly smaller as per bgfireman's approach in an earlier thread. That looked realy good.

crick1983

I was thinking of applying the bondo where you join the 2 cowl pieces. I forgot about bgfireman's cowl I will have to look it up and try to replicate it.

Thanks!!

Andrewmc

Yes. Bondo on the cowl halves outside. I also applied glass fibre tape and resin to the join inside.

The photo shows the bondo in the join. On the other side it was just a thin grey line. Definitely use wet and dry paper to sand this otherwise it takes forever.

crick1983

Great that looks like exactly what I was planning. I will post my pics tonight when Im done. How did you attach the cowl to the fuz?

Andrewmc

The cowl is attached with pan head self tapping screws. A small piece of fuel tubing between the head and the cowl prevents vibration damage to the cowl. the fuz holes for the screws have a short length of sullivan rod inner (the yellow part), again to prevent the screws from backing out.

partisan

My Feedback: (1)

Looking good

the stock cowl is good for now, I am to a point where I need to upgrade to fiberglass.

crick1983

Weekend update. I finished roughing out the cowl and test fitted it to the fuse. With a little additional sanding it will be ready for some paint this week. As you can see I also began to cover the fuse. I started there becauseI had some additional filler work to do on the wing. Ithink that it turned out ok for my first covering job. It's a little rough in a couple of spots but I can live with it.I'm headed back to the hobby shop today for some more covering and a few misc. parts.

crick1983

Ok I'm back for some more help... I finished covering this weekend, pictures to come, and installed the servos. I'm not sure if I missed something in the instructions or am just not getting it but I can't find a good way to install the battery and rx. Could someone post some pics and give a quick description of how you set your up? I am also trying to find the best way to install the fuel tank. I would like to keep it a removable so I can better access the landing gear rails in the event that the LG get broken off during a rough landing. I fly off a grass field and have seen it happen a couple of times on the not so smooth landings. Again thanks for hte help in advance..

mesaflyer

crick,
I assume you have figured out the CG and know where you need to mount the battery. Basically you just install cross braces or something like that and mount the battery or receiver to the braces. I have two batteries because of the gas motor. I built a little battery box for each battery out of scrap ply and CA. Only took a few minutes. Ended up moving one of the batteries back a few inches because she was a little nose heavy. If you still need help, just ask. I'll see if I can get a picture for you.

mesaflyer

Here's a pic

crick1983

Thanks for the pic. Ok that is kind of what I had figured. What engine are you running? DLE 20, and how does it fly?

mesaflyer

Yep, DLE 20. Just an absolute blast to fly. Quite snappy, and I think it will be even better with the CG moved back. Came in at 8 lbs, 14 oz. Unlimited vertical. And no mess to clean up! My favorite plane (at least until I build something else).

crick1983

I have been a little busy lately and have not had as much time as I would have liked to work on finishing the plane. However I was able to get the all of the servos and control surfaces connected. I mounted the cowl last night and it fit pretty well with a little bit of wrestling.

I still need to balance the plane this evening however I don't have balancing stand. Any suggestions? Also since I am using the O.S. 120AX which has a similar weight as the DLE 20 I believe that I should mount the fuel tank in a similar location. I know I wont really know until I am balancing the pane but I'm just thinking out loud.

mesaflyer

Looks Good. I was a little afraid of the extra weight of the gasser, so I mounted the ele and rud servos under the rear stab. Used single ele servo and tied the two halves together. Balanced easy just by moving the batteries around.