SunDevilPilot

Another Mod... I also didnt want to cut through the sheeting to install the servo rails so I installed them before I sheeted the wings. The plans call for you to cut throught the sheeting. I felt that this would be just as stong, if not stronger, than the origional plan and would create a cleaner installation. Here is a shot of the servo rails and caps being installed. The second pic is of the end result...

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

SunDevilPilot

Scratch Building, This would be very feasabe as far as the fuse is concerned. The biggest problem will arrive with the foam parts. The front deck and the turtle deck are one thing but wings and tail surfaces are even more of a problem. I would bet that you could do it but at what expense? I too felt extreemly stupid paying 450 for a box of sticks (And not very many of them) but I figured I am worth it!!

Here is what 450 gets you in terms of cut parts (Minus Foam, canopy, and cowl)

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

SunDevilPilot

Here is a closeup of the DA Wing Studs. I added a 3" Dowel to the aft Studs and a 4" Dowel to the front. I Believe that it is a 5/8th inch dowel. Also posted is a picture of the tool I used to cut the foam to except the dowels. I wanted them in a perfect line with the Wing Tube for proper alignment when removing/installing the wings. By Cutting a 1/4 inch guide hole while the wings were on the fuse I gave myself a nice hole for the tool to go into. The tool consists of a 5/8" Sharpened Pipe that rotates around a 1/4" dowel. These 2 parts are kept in alignment by wheel collars that were sized to fit inside the tool. Simple and Very Effective....

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

SunDevilPilot

The results.....

After this was done I marked and drilled the wing root to only let the threaded portion of the stud to pass. Once the Root was installed the dowel can only be pulled from the wing if the root were pulled off too, very unlikely. This way everything is tied together....

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

Toucan

My Feedback: (1)

The modifications are intresting for the wing support dowels. What I did to install thw wing support place was to cut in between the spar on the fuselage and place the wing support plates their. Servo intillation was not difficult after sheeting but your's look more neet. I would do the same in my 29 %.

Are the fuselage side's to be joined in the 29 % AW?

SunDevilPilot

Fuse 1 piece? The fuse is 2 pieces. About 1 foot from the Aft End of the fuse is the location of the joint. You can see in the picture the seam. For that step I used a Dremel Router to cut the notch in the stringer. Since we are talking stringers. The Manual calls for the cuts for the formers to be made after the stringers are installed on the fuse sides. In My experience I was not comfortable doing that. I cut the stringers before I glued them on the fuse and used the formers for spacers. Also visible in the upper right of the picture is the little donut used to set the elevator incidence. That piece is not glued on at this step, save it for when you setup the elevator incidence. I was just using it to make sure I had some gap between it and the stringer.

I have not sanded the fuse down yet because I want to wait until the turtledeck is installed. You can see some nicks in the wood too. These appear to have been created during the routering process (Fuse sides are router cut and not laser cut).

I cant get a better picture uploaded....RCU Must have changed something preventing it. I tried 2 pics and it gets distorted after posting....Thoughts??

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

SunDevilPilot

Retry at high res pic....
[>:]
Phil (Mesa, AZ)

SunDevilPilot

OK, Where I am now...

I am currently working on the elevators. I have installed the TE on them and am currently sanding it down smooth. After I get that done I will be installing the hinges. Once the hinges are done I will bevel the surfaces. By Beveling last you can easily align and drill straight holes for the hinges (Robart Hinge Points).

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

Scoubidou

My Feedback: (17)

Like we can see, it's not your first kit
Daniel

SunDevilPilot

Definatly not my first kit. I have about 8 kits under my belt in my 29 years on this earth. Everything from Gliders to Bipes. However. This is my first kit with laser cutting and foam surfaces. Many of my techniques for building I came up with myself but I have also gained a lot of ideas/methods from reading on this and other forums. That is a major reason I post a lot of pics of my work. I am very proud of what I create but I would also like to pass on some knowledge to others. Having seen others work I can copy it or use it to aid in my methods. Another first for me is GASOLINE!!! I have always had glow stuff. All my planes, gliders, and helicopter have flow off of the green stuff. Now I get to goto Chevron for fuel. Cant wait to fire up the DA50. It is almost too pretty to run but that is what I got it for!

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

Toucan

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Sundevil,
Today I located the problem of climbing in my plane. The problem starts, this was my first fully built kit from 0 to 100. Now the time I was setting incidence I did not notice my fuselage not being parallel to the surface, and I set the tail Incidence and the wing Incidence at ) degrees as explaine earlier. My tail surfaces and the wing are in the same line but fuse is not.

Now can you tell me way to get rid of the problem?

SunDevilPilot

I would still think about changing only the engine incidence. Think of it this way......

The wings to elevator incidence is at perfect 0. Since the fuselage is probably a little tilted up (Looking from the rear) and the firewall is at a 90 degree reference from the fuse you now have positive incidence in the motor.

Imagine it this way... The wings will maintain 0 degrees reguardless of the location of the fuse. If you were to pivot the tail of the plane down, with the wings staying where they are, the motor would point upwards. When this happens the motor gains a positive incidence and you get the climbing when power is applied....

Forgive the crude drawing.... Looking at this image I would guess it represents your situation. Wings and tail with 0 degrees incidence and a fuse with positive incidence. If you built your fuse perfectly then you now have positive incidence in the motor because of the misalignment of the fuse. The yellow box represents a 90 degree relation between the fuse and the sides. Notice that the motor is pointed up in relation to the wings? This is due to the fuse being pointed up and therefore the motor is too.

Hopefully you are getting my idea. Just add a few washers to the top of the motor to point it back in line with the wings. It needs to be aligned at 0 degrees with the wings and the elevator or you will get what you have. Go to far and it will pull down when power is applied.

Dont worry about the fuse alignment.... The plane flys on the wings and elevator not the fuse (Excluding 3D). The minimal misalignment of the fuse should not effect straight flight to much of a degree. However, A misaligned motor will cause problems.

SunDevilPilot

Here is what I got to today...

Hinged and beveled the elevators. Went quite well..... Still have some minor sanding to get the bevels perfect but they are more or less done. Once I decide how I want to countersink the knuckles the hinges for this part will be all done. Then I can install the root/tip caps and install them onto the fuselage.

I may be going with the stock method of holding them onto the fuse, a bolt in the wing tube, or I may install a ply root rib onto the inside of each half and bolt it to a blind nut in the fuse sides. Havent decided which one yet. Any Thoughts?

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

Toucan

My Feedback: (1)

I am too tempted after these photographs and other reviews, but at the same time confused between the CA extra 300 27% and the AW 29 % Edge. Finally decided to buy both of them.

Toucan

My Feedback: (1)

Hi,
Finally bought the AW 540 29% and the CA 27 % extra 300. Can I know where can i buy the wing studs?

Regards

Sharad

SunDevilPilot

Elevators Mounted....

I figured out how I was going to mount the stabs so I went ahead and did it. I decided I did not like the screw into the support tube so I embedded a 1.5" dowel into the root of each stab and drilled and installed a brass insert. I drilled a hole in the sides of the fuse to allow the screw to pass and now the elevators mount from inside the fuse.

The right side is tightened by slipping an allen wrench through the hole in the other side of the fuse. Once the right side is on I slide the left stab on and insert the allen wrench through a hole I made in the other fuse side but this one is just below the right stab. This way I only have a tiny hole on one side of the fuse. It is out of sight because it is below the stab. Seems simple enough.

I will also be adding a carbon fiber anti-rotation pin in the front of the stab for insurance. Once the plane is covered I will locktight the bolts in and it should never come loose. If I need to remove the stabs I can also do that by breaking the bolts loose from the locktight.

I guess I could have just glued the stabs to the fuse but I wanted it to be off when I covered the plane. That area has always been difficult for me to cover and this should make it a snap.

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

SunDevilPilot

A few more pictures of my progress...

The first one is of the inside of the tail section showing the mounting bolt and the recently installed carbon fiber anti-rotation pin. I decided to go carbon due to the amount of wear that I see with wood dowels on my other planes. Hopefully this will last quite a bit longer.

The next picture shows the ailerons are now parted from the wings. Haven't added the LE aileron and the TE of the wing but that should be done soon.

The last picture is yet another dilemma.... As you can see the DA wing studs have a smooth section on them. What do you think would be the best material to use to create a spacer for the nylon nut to tighten down on to? I was thinking that a balsa circle with a hardwood dowel in the middle would work. THe only problem I am having is the studs actually are at an angle with relation to the fise sides. This is due to the fuse getting smaller towards the rear. I could have put the studs in at 90 degrees to the sides but then the wing would not slide on. In my case, the studs are parallel with the wing tube.

Phil