jinzo

1080tommy: Good job! Enjoy the airplane. I'm sure I will once it's finished.

Got the left wing panel jigged up. I will at least get the TE and LE in place today and start on the shear webbing. Should be able to finish the wing tomorrow.

Okay, so an issue has arisen, though I'm not sure if it is all that major or not.

I finished the right wing panel and got it all fine sanded and smooth. I then noticed the thickness of the trailing edge and compared it to the thickness of the aileron. The TE of the wing is about 1/16" to 3/32" thicker than the aileron is. I can't remember if this happened on any of my previous planes that had flat (non-tapered) ailerons.

Will this be a problem or should I try and taper the TE on the wing some?

Thanks.

1080tommy

Mine was the same, in fact the root rib was slightly warped also. It was even more pronounced after chamfering the aileron at 45 degrees. It flew great! I didn't really even notice it, but since you mentioned it, I checked, and this is how mine is. I do not think you have anything to worry about.

Tom

ChuckW

The tapering of the TE and the sheeting looks great. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

ChuckW

Here's my attempt at a cowl after covering. I'm not 100% happy with the shape but I still like it. I also could have done some more work around the engine but I basically just left that side open. It's just easier to get the engine out, mount the muffler, etc.

jinzo

ChuckW: Nice job! Definitely not bad for a first try at a balsa cowl. Post pictures once it's all covered.

Here's the most recent update. I have installed T-Nuts on the inside of both W1 ribs and have sanded out a small recess in W1A for them. Also, the left wing is nearing completion and I should finish it up today.

I am waiting for a new order of West Systems epoxy to arrive before I glue the W1 ribs on to both wings. I will also put a light coating inside the bays where the aileron servos are located at just to provide a bit of fuel-proofing should any exhaust get sucked into that area. Plus it will provide a little extra strength for the servo bays.

That's all for now.

jinzo

More progress this evening. The left wing panel is basically done. The wing tip is being glued right now. Both fuselage doublers have been glued and came out nicely.

I am filling in the precut mounting holes in the firewall since I am mounting the engine sideways and prefer to drill brand new holes. Three of the holes I filled in with pieces of stock from the firewall scrap since mounting bolts will be on or close to these points. The other two holes are being filled with a mix of balsa dust and wood glue.

I used JB Weld to mount the T-Nuts for the landing gear. Not really all too big of a deal. I just got used to using JB Weld for metal parts from my rocket building experiences.

Next up is to get the mounts drilled for the engine and start framing up the fuselage. I will totally finish the wings once I can get both W1 ribs epoxied on and then finish sand them. All of the fine little nit-picky stuff can be taken care of right before covering, ya know? Gotta get all the big stuff out of the way first.

ChuckW

It's one step closer to being done. the fuselage, tail, radio gear, etc. are all in. Now I just have to add the tail braces, cover the wings and get the ailerons installed.

ChuckW

I should probably stop filling up your thread with my airplane but it's finally done... It built a little tail-heavy, I'm glad that I didn't relocate the rudder and elevator servos to the rear like I originally planned. I've used Ultracote in the past to patch up ARF's but this is the first time I've ever used it for an entire covering job. Man is it easier to use than Monokote. I just wish it were a little shinier and the rolls were a little bigger. Once it's all together, I like the cowl a lot more too.

jinzo

ChuckW: Nice job!

Just reporting in. The past half week has been rather busy so I have not gotten a whole lot done with the plane. I had a job interview on Wednesday and needless to say my mind has been consumed by more important thoughts than the plane. [:@][sm=drowning.gif]

As the plane sits right now, both wings are done, minus the root ribs, the T-Nuts for the motor mount have been installed, the motor mount drilled for the engine and I have the firewall, F2, F4 and the servo tray installed on one half of the fuselage. I will be joining the other half of the fuselage tomorrow.

I'm in the process of finalizing the covering scheme in my head. I have yet to take the time to draw it out on paper or on the computer. Perhaps I will play around with that tomorrow.

No pictures tonight. Sorry. Once I get the fuse halves together, I will take some pics.

yel914

Yikes! Job hunting while building a plane. Every morning the same decision to make...build the plane or look for work! I'm sure there's a way to justify working on the plane!

jinzo

Okay, so I'm kind of stuck on the build right now because of two issues. First, I still have yet to receive the epoxy that I ordered almost 2 weeks ago, and I am at a point where I need it to progress. Second, I'm kind of in limbo right now about the job which I had an interview for a week ago today. They should be calling me on Friday at the earliest and let me know their decision. I'm still uncertain as to what I will decide to do if they do make me an offer. This, of course, has pretty much ground everything to a halt as far as the SSE build, purchasing the remaining parts/equipment for the plane as well as other things in my life.

Talk about crappy timing. Bah. []

jinzo

Long time no update. I've been quite preoccupied by other things. Here's the latest news.

The epoxy that I ordered a month ago has apparently gotten lost in the mail. [:@] The guy is shipping out another one to me via Fed-Ex, which should hopefully be here by the end of the week. Yea, a relatively lame excuse, but the next paragraph explains the big reason I'm not being productive right now.

So, I received a job offer and have accepted it. [8D] I will be moving around October 16th, so I have been just a bit distracted from building the plane currently. It is not too big of a move being that I don't have a lot of stuff and I am only moving about 180 miles away. Even so, once I get the epoxy in it is likely that not much else will be done to the plane until after the move. Kind of an inconvenient time to get a new job, but in the long run it will be much to my benefit, as well as my hobbies.

That's what's going on. Sorry for not having updated sooner. Once things on the plane resume I will continue the update posts on a regular basis, but that is likely not to happen until about a month from now.

lalaland

ChuckW,

Nice looking color scheme on your SSE...!!

jinzo

So, I finally found out what happened with the epoxy that I ordered and was apparently lost: It was shipped to my old PO Box because the merchant made a mistake, despite my reconfirming my new address multiple times and having it shipped twice. That's the last time I use him for anything. Anyways, I'm going to pick up one of the packages during lunch and return the other. The mystery is finally solved, 44 days after the order was placed and shipped for the first time.