How are the wings coming along?? I am working on the stab installation right now. Are you going to pin the stabs to the aluminum strips, or just let friction do its' job?
I "just" have to sheet the top of one aileron and flap and all of my parts are built. I still have to do all of the detail work in the fuselage like hook up the pushrods in fuselage, install servos in wings, tow hook in nose and belly, sheet the belly, etc, etc. I should have it all done at 4:00 next month!
I am currently building the Cloud Bound 4 so thought I would join in on this thread and share building experiences.
I wanted a building challenge, and from what I have read, this plane is suppose to certainly deliver that!
I did not buy the kit, just the plans and a whole lot of wood. I have been working on it an hour here and there for the last week, and have much of the fuselage done and half the stabalizer. I built the fuselage exactly as the plans show, with the 1/4 sheet filled between the cross members in the forward section, and the open truss work in the rear section.
Having read about the plane having a bad habit of being tail heavy, I am taking every step in making the tail light. The spruce longerons were weighed to find the lighter end, and this was placed at the tail. All balsa aft of the c of g was carefully selected and weighed. Tail blocks will all be hollowed out after being carved. The vertical stabalizers use basswood instead of spruce, and again carefully selected balsa, 1/32 ply on the rudders was used instead of 1/16. Aluminum brackets replaced with carbon, and carbon pushrods instead of steel will be used. Wood glue instead of CA or epoxy was used to cut weight further, all be it a small amount. I am hoping with this careful attention to detail, the nose weight will be minimized.
As for weights, the fuselage weight 9 3/4 oz (this is minus the wing rods and tail blocks) and one side of the v tail weighs 1 oz.
Speaking of the wing rods, I am considering switching to carbon. Is it necessary to increase the diameter if I switch to carbon, or can the same size of rod be maintained?
How is the progress on the other CB4's people have on the go?
Posts: 208
Joined: 7/7/2003 From: Austin,
TX, USA Status: offline
Hi Chris,
Very nice work! You have done alot in one week! The Cloud Bound 4 certainly is a building challenge. Are you going to build your wings as on plan with polyhedral and split flaps?
Phil has probably finished his Cloud Bound 4. He was on a fast pace. I'm looking forward to hearing from him.
I have not worked on my CB4 lately. I have one wing panel partially built and will try to finish soon.
Mine is basically done except for the covering. I got stalled and started working on some other projects. I got interested in the composite Genie build and built a mold for the fuselage and built all of the hot wire bows and power supply. Seeing yours advance will help motivate me to finish mine.
Regaurding the wing rods, if you look back in the posts I did some calculations on the rods. The original plans called for 1/4" rods and the kit from Ray has 5/16" rods. Ray builds his wings so they can be winched to the max without breaking. If you are going to AeroTow or High Start the 1/4" rods as designed will be fine. As you can see from the calculations, 1/4" carbon is WAY stronger than 1/4" steel.
Cloud Bound Mike - I plan to build the wing as close to the plans as possible. The only thing I intend to change that I can see now is the tip dihedral brace. I dont much like the way it looks, I think it could be much stronger with a few changes. I am negotiating to get the ribs lazer cut, and if that pans out, I will most likely get some lightening holes cut into them. If I have to cut them out manually, I will make them just as per the plans.
Been working on the other side of the v-tail this evening, I got curious and counted the pieces - there are about 100 individual pieces in the v-tail alone - I love it!
Ladner is on the extreme south west coast of British Columbia. About 15 minutes from the Canada US border at Point Roberts, Washington, and about 20 minutes from the city of Vancouver.
How are the CB4's coming along?? I busy covering a Norseman wing that I have to get done by the end of this month, so I won't be able to do any on mine until I get the wing done.
Posts: 208
Joined: 7/7/2003 From: Austin,
TX, USA Status: offline
Hi Phil,
No CB4 progress to report here. I had been working hard to finish one of my classic car restorations which I finished and sold last Friday. This was a tremendous accomplishment! Now I will have some extra time for other projects like my Cloud Bound 4!
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RE: Cloud Bound 4 - 
