kenh3497

Crashed it earlier this year. Destroyed one wing and the other is a bit of a mess also. Decided I would rebuild with a foam core wing. I looked at the fuse last night thinking it was repairable. Well, it could be but I think it would be better to scratch a new one. much delamenation of the ply doublers in the cockpit/engine bay area. The firewall is split down the middle also. I think I will be able to use the turtle deck behind the cockpit and the tail feathers are intact and usable. I glued up some fuse sides last night and will lay them out tonight and begin cutting. The fuse is basically just a box so it should be a relatively easy build.

The cause of the crash appeared to be the horizontal stab leaving the rest of the airplane behind[:@] Had a Enya 90 4C on it and it was flying superbly just before the fateful moment. OH, just a minute before the crash, in a high speed pass over the field I could see the elevators waving by-by to me I'm sure that had nothing to do with anything....... right???

krayzc-RCU

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kenh3497

I pulled the rear turtle deck off last night after making sure I had everything I needed to start the new fuse. The TD cleaned up nicely and with just a couple of very minor repairs will find a new home. I had to pretty much destroy what was left of the old fuse in my quest. I found that most of the ply doublers were poorly bonded to the fuse. I also need to re-bond the sheeting on the turtle deck in a couple of spots. I was able to save two of the formers. the firewall was two layers of 1/8 lite ply bonded together. Even that was not done well. No wonder it split!!

Fuse sides are cut out and I'm still using 1/8 balsa like the original, but will add some small triangle stock in the corners. The fuse sides, top and bottom were just butt glued from H9. I'm replacing a couple of formers with balsa instead of ply near the back to save a bit of weight. I have to purchase some 3/32 ply for the wing saddle/engine bay doublers, then I can take my measurements to reconstruct the formers forward of the wing. All in all, everything is going to plan.

kenh3497

The project is coming along. The formers are glued in place and the tri stock is in. I dissembled the rudder/fin last night and will build a new fin as the old one is a solid chunk of almost 3/8 thick balsa with a couple of holes in it to lighten it up. As it turned out I'm surprised it didn't part company with the fuse also as the fit was not very good. The copious amounts of epoxy saved the day. I can probably save 4 or 5 ounces in epoxy weight with a correctly fitting fin...... Well maybe not quite that much but you get the idea! I'm guessing the horizontal stab will be best served by build a new piece. I haven't gotten that far yet. The fire wall has been constructed and fit and is waiting to figure out the correct amount of right and down thrust before getting the epoxy treatment.. Next will be a new wing so I can set the incidence.

This has been kind of a cut and fit to see if it looks right. The former aft of the wing was narrowed up several times to make it fit the turtle deck. I had to re-make the former forward of the wing as the first one was to narrow but about 1/2 inch. I assumed it was the same width as the former aft of the wing. It is the same width as the very wide firewall.

Ken

kenh3497

I'm looking for some landing gear for this thing of mine. I bought some L.G from Tower but it is way to wide where it attaches to the fuse.

What I need is something about 1/8 inch thick. It can be no wider that 1 1/4 inches at the fuse attachment point. The spread at the wheels is about 13 inches. This is basically a
60 2C plane.

So.... Does anybody have a current production plane, with available parts, that this description fits? If so I just need the name of the plane so I can order said gear from the MFG.

Thanks!!

Ken

capt1597

[email protected]- tnt landing gear products-419 868 5409 top of the line products as well as very nice people, MADE IN THE U.S.A. , happy flying, capt

kenh3497

A few photos of the scratch....er, I mean rebuild. One little OOPS. A bit to hot when shrinking the covering. It's on the bottom so I just patched it. That mistake should crash proof the plane.......

The only parts saved from the original are the canopy, turtle deck behind the canopy, servo mount, rudder and elevators. I'll be switching to pull/pull on the rudder and twin carbon push rods on the elevators instead of the fork arrangement. Elevator flutter led to the demise of the first airframe.[]

krayzc-RCU

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u r jamming

kenh3497

I always assumed that a foam core sheeted wing would weigh (SIGNIFICANTLY) more than a built up wing.

Well, I am very close to finishing a sheeted foam core wing for my CAP. I only have one of the original wing panels from the CAP so I stripped it of all its plastic covering. It weighed 256 grams on my balance beam scale. The new wing is complete except for hinges which will be four Robart hinge points. The new wing is also one inch longer and 1/4 inch wider as I wanted just a tad more wing area. To the point... The new wing weighs 240 grams. A difference of 16 grams. Now technically it is lighter than the old wing, the the difference is so close that a different selection of wood could have just a easily swung the scale the other direction. The new wing will get glass cloth and epoxy and be painted. Done right this will be just as light as ****coat.

The ailerons were cut from the wing and balsa edges added. They are rather thick at a 1/2 inch and this looked like the easiest and lightest way to do it. I still need to shape the leading edge of the ailerons so I suppose another gram or two may come off. I'm very happy with the result. This set of wings was a lot of work as I had to reconstruct my foam cutting rig which got tossed out sometime in the last 10 years or so. The new rig is much better so no big loss

I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel on this build.... I mean rebuild, er scratch build.... WHATEVER

Ken

kenh3497

The building part is 99.9% done. I just need to attach the fairing around the horizontal stab and vertical fin. The fairing is done except for a bit of trimming. It will also need a bit of fill for some of the larger gaps but an easy night to finish. I did a temporary assembly to check the fit and everything looks good tome. Your mileage may vary

I accidentally stumbled on a slick way to hold the stab on while the glue sets and also allows for some adjustment. See the photo with the rubber band on the stab. I used the rubber band to hold the stab in place while fitting the wing. It worked so well I thought it would be the same for the finale gluing. Well, it did work good except I had a small OH sh#t moment. I had the epoxy down and the stab set in place. After getting it all square to the world it needed a slight tweak to get it level with the wing. I tightened the bands on one side and it was PERFECT. I checked it a couple of minutes later and it moved the opposite way as much as I had tweaked it! I tightened the other side and it moved backed and stayed. After thinking about, I think the epoxy had squeezed out of the "high" side with the extra tension of the rubber band. I will use this method again but I will make sure to keep a close eye on the progress for at least 10 minutes until the stab has settled completely into the epoxy. It was an accident I discovered my "mistake" by rechecking what I thought was a perfect setup.

Below are a few photos of the finished product. Too bad the idiot behind the camera can't take a decent picture[&:] Onward to the glass & epoxy and paint!

kenh3497

Well, the job of glassing and epoxy is complete. I did the entire airframe except for the rudder and elevators. Those are open frame so they got the cloth and dope routine. I guess you already knew that if you've been following the thread[&:]

I weighed the wing and am happy the way it is coming along. It is ready to fly if I wanted it to. All the blocks and such are in and glassed. The complete wing now weights 545 grams (19.5 ounces). Each wing panel gained 32.5 grams or about 1.2 ounces. The wing area is 590 square inches so I'm happy with this. I wanted to weigh the fuse but my scale only goes up to 550 grams and it is heaver than that. It gets a Enya .90 4C so I should have more that enough power when I get done.

I don't want anybody to think I'm a weight or lack of weight freak. I've never actually documented how much is added to an airframe buy the finishing process.

On to primer and paint.

Ken

edit: I found a couple of spots on the wing I needed to sand a bit more. I got those done and went quickly over the whole wing again. I lost two, yes count them, two grams I knew it would loose some weight, but I'm not sure it would have been that much, or that little. I guess it is what it is.

kenh3497

I decided I wanted some white primer because red and yellow are my two main colors. I bought some Krylon. What a waste of money![:'(] It doesn't cover at all. It took about 2/3 can to do the fuse. I'll be looking for something else to use. I have some leftover urethane auto primer that is "buff" in color so I'll use that. I know that will cover and it will stick. It's too cold to paint out in the garage now, so I'll have to wait to complete the painting when it warms up.

On to another project......

Ken

kenh3497

Well, the old girl finally has some cloths on. I still need to wet sand and clear coat, install the servo tray and all that stuff. I was going to wait till the last second to install the radio gear but I'm moving forward right away. It will be close enough that a battery move will give me the final balance point. Here are the photos of the final paint.

krayzc-RCU

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looking good u seem to have my 2 favorite colors bright yellow and true red.......

kenh3497

It seems those are the only colors I can see worth a hoot[8D] Beside, I like yellow and red . I was thinking about a dark blue as the red will turn dark in the sky anyway. I used one of the Breitling CAPs as my insperation. The graphics for the wings, fuse and tail are about $24 from Calli Grafics. (see below) I want to do the wings for sure, but am undecided about the rest.

Ken

[link]http://www.airliners.net/photo/CAP-Aviation-CAP-232/1840886/&sid=f8f7500565d1717ec5e6308b9c5e9e24[/link]

flyingagin

Looking real good Ken. I bet you get yours done before I get mine done.

krayzc-RCU

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very nice motivation i love the b'scheme on caps

kenh3497

It's almost and ARF now I need to spray on a clear coat to seal the graphics and fuel proof the paint. Then it's on to hinging and and the rest of the fun stuff. I almost forgot I have to drill a hole or two in the fire wall for fuel lines and throttle cable.

Of coarse I'm a bit prejudice..... But I think the graphics transformed the Cap from "just another another plane" into something a bit special. It really stands out without being "gaudy". But then again, what do I know

krayzc-RCU

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The Cap is looking bad to the bone! and if one does not think so they are just hating.....

kenh3497

Thanks!!

kenh3497

I shot the clear on the CAP today. I took it to my work place as it was warm in the shop unlike my garage. The high temp the last time I looked was 55 degrees. I almost brought it home and was in the process of loading when I thought I was being very stupid[&:]. It had only been 45 minutes since the spray gun had shot the last drop. While the paint felt "dry" I could tell it was still a bit soft. Thankfully, my better judgment took over and it stayed where it was. I live about 15 miles from my work and was thinking I could save a trip. I'll go grab it tomorrow morning. I just need to paint the top of the dash black, then the canopy and "instrument panel" can be installed. One week to go before the mall static show. I think I'll get it done by then......... Well maybe

I'll post pics after the canopy is on.

Ken

PS. It's always amazing what a good clear over the base color does. The colors really "pop".

krayzc-RCU

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man i know that clear really woke things up, I struggle to let the paint dry when I am just doing house work.....

kenh3497

Here are some photos of the finished plane. All the control surfaces are hinged and the paint is done. A couple of photos of how I glue my canopy on to get a clean glue line. I mask about 1/32 off the edge of the canopy itself and about 1/16 off the edge of the canopy on the fuse. I used Goop and spread a thin line with my finger. Let it dry for a nimute and then pull the tape. I do the front and back first, then the sides. I small stick holds a trouble spot that didn't want to lay tight on the fuse. I still need to make up the pus rods for the control surfaces and mount the servo tray. All easy stuff!

The Callie Graphics look great in my opinion, and really set off the plane. A big thanks goes out to Calli for the the work and more so her patients while working with me on this project.

Our club is having it's annual mall static show this weekend. It's "done enough" to display.

Ken

krayzc-RCU

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Ken,
You really have the cap looking great and its going to be so easy to see that baby in the sky this summer. I hope to find some time here soon to dust my birds and fly them also...

kenh3497

Most of the radio gear is installed. I have to make push rods for the ailerons and finish the fuel tank install. I had it in last night and couldn't find the fill/empty line......... 'cause I never put it on the tank. Sooooo, out it comes which means the engine had to come out to drill the third hole for the fuel line[&:] I should finish that tonight and the push rods maybe tonight. If the weather cooperates I may get to maiden this weekend?????

I'm kind of scared to fly the thing I guess it's just pre-maiden jitters.

Ken