Building a Gentle Lady!

Building a Gentle Lady! (Full Version)

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mr_frogdude -> Building a Gentle Lady! (9/21/2004 9:18:03 PM)
Hey, I'm Mark and I've just started building a Gentle Lady kit. This Thread is going to be about building it! The reason that I am doing this is to help out people getting started in gliders(like me). I didnt see any posts on building the Lady so I'm starting one up!

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (9/21/2004 9:23:42 PM)
So far I have completed the stabalizer and the rudder! These were simple to make, all you have to do is cut to the size on the plans, pin down, and glue. Next, I will build the fin, and then sand all the edges that it says to.

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (9/22/2004 11:23:25 PM)
Hey guys, I finished the fin, it went along fast and easy! There is a pic of the fin/rudder and the stabalizer/elevator. I have also finished the right inboard panel of the wing! At first I had a couple problems, but I figured them out. There is a pic of the panel below. This part of the wing took about an hour and a half of work, the next panel should go easier since I've got a feeling for it now! Please comment if something doesnt look right, or if you want to tell me something. ...till next time, Mark

Rick K -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (9/26/2004 11:02:11 PM)
Hi Mark! Looks like your off to a good start, although I didn't enlarge your pix I don't see any thing wrong. It's pretty hard to mess up with a Goldberg kit, but please take your time at it. Take head to the axiom "measure twice, cut once" or if in retorspect: "things I didn't know, I learned by doing twice" Welcome to the club of real modelers, those who learn all of the skills to build . . . oddly enough you'll find those skills to come in handy in other areas. Rick K LSF 6493

Ron Kay -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (9/27/2004 8:45:31 PM)
Hi Mark, Great job building and terrific choice.. I'll bet most sailplane flyers built and flew the GL early in their careers and probably still have one someplace in the house. Actually I have one in my inventory and fly it on occasion... I also have a Sagitta 900 and a Genesis unlimited ... Back to the GL: If I could I have a couple of suggestions... If you haven't progressed into your building too far consider building the wing in two pieces. It will make transportation and storage a great deal easier without sacrifice of any sort to the aircraft or it's integrity. Also, keep your building as light as possible (minimal epoxy use CA ..) . Use the weight of the two servos, battery pack and receiver to adjust the CG as much as possible. Make sure everything is square and true... FYI, I use a 12V winch for launching and take it a bit easy so I don't fold the wings. It's a stout design but can be abused ... Also, my GL is a bit modified... wasn't necessary but I do like to dabble ... I added a full flying stab and a pull-pull system for rudder and stab. All I can say is that it flies great in light to light/moderate winds and thermals with the best of them. Color is important ... bright transparent is good. High thermaling it sometimes dots out but the bright colors do help. In fact is difficult to get it down sometimes ... it just likes to fly... Good luck and have fun... Regards, Ron I see your in PHX. I'm in the high country, Prescott. If you ever want to get our of the heat come fly with us. Call me any time... 928.777.0951. I'm a member of the CVMA and we have what I'd consider to be the perfect flying field and environment for both power and non power... Check out the web site... http://www.cvma-online.com/

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (9/29/2004 5:02:24 AM)
Wow, my uncle lives up there in Chino Valley! I go up there once in a while...actually I'm coming up there saturday (October 2),are you flying then? I checked out the site, It looks awesome, in fact my uncle has flown there a few times when it wasn't paved!!! I built the wing and it looks pretty good for a first-timer! I built it without detachable wing panels...it's pretty big. The wing tips are 7" above the table, the instructions say it should be 6 & 3/8ths of an inch above (is this a problem?). I used medium thickness Super Jet for the whole construction...should I do a coat of epoxy on the polyhedral/dihedral joints? I still have to add the sheeting that goes on the leading edge and on the dihedral joint, and then sand everything. After that, the next task is the fuselage! Till next time, Mark

Ron Kay -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (9/29/2004 5:20:03 PM)
Mark, It looks great.. BUT measure twice and cut once... The 7" is not a tremendous issue with this model but could be with others. The only affect more dihedral will have is a bit more lateral stability and a bit slower overall flying speed. It has to with the geometry. More dihedral slower flight and generally more stable. On the other hand a flat wing, no dihedral is normally associated with a fast and not as stable or forgiving aircraft ... MAKE SURE THE LEADING EDGE AND TRAILING EDGE OF BOTH STARBOARD AND PORT TIPS MEASURE THE SAME. What I'm getting at is washout and warp. The trailing edge can be as much as 1/4" higher then the leading edge. This will assist you when landing... they call it washout. Make sure the wing is symmetrical. A twisted wing will result in an airplane that's not stable and want's to roll or worse. A symmetrical wing will hold the plane in a stable position without tendency to roll, pitch or yaw causing you to continue to provide correction input ... This is an extremely stable model and once launched it should hold good heading, roll, pitch and yaw without input. If you followed the directions on the dihedral joints you shouldn't need to coat them with additional epoxy. At this point it will serve no purpose other then to add weight. The real strength is achieved in the face to face bonding of the spar and dihedral joint brace. Top and bottom leading edge sheeting adds a tremendous amount of strength to the structure. It completes the "D" tube. Structurally it makes the wing able to carry the loads necessary .... When you apply the sheeting, make sure it makes a good joint contact with each rib top and bottom as well as the leading edge and main spar. If you look at it , when you glue this on the wing you're forming small rectangular compartments. If the sheeting is not completely in contact with the ribs and spars you'll not achieve maximum strength and most likely under high stress something is going to fail... My choice is to do bottom first, one side at a time, stabilize the wing on a flat surface keeping it from warping while everything is drying. Next do the top. You can use either CA or perhaps Titebond. The Titebond will give you time to adjust the balsa before it sets. Don't overload the joint with adhesive, use it sparing. More is not better. It's heavy but strong. Titebond takes about 24 hours to completely cure... don't rush you have plenty of time... Fuselage... Hmmm! Not difficult BUT it has it's own set of issues. It needs to be straight. Stabilize and pin it on a flat building board, if not it can come out looking like a banana! Given this banana geometry it will NOT fly straight... I built a 1/2 HOB P-51 and didn't follow my own advice, it came out looking like a P51 Banana! It should have been yellow instead of silver! Never did fly.... I finally built a new fuselage and it flies great. Keep it straight and take you time... Let me know if you have an questions. Sorry for the lengthy response... I hope you find some pearls of building wisdom.. Pickings are slim... Yes I'll be at the field on 2 October weather and wife permitting. Give me a call... 928.777.0951 Good luck, Ron

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (9/30/2004 1:27:40 AM)
No problem, I like lengthy feedback! Don't have much time to write today. I will take my time on the fuselage as you told me to, I used CA on the whole thing so far. I put the sheeting on today, it went very smooth and I did glue everything the sheeting touched. I will try to call you tommarrow, but I've got to go for now! <Mark

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/4/2004 6:30:49 AM)
Hey, I got the fuselage done...Will post a pic tomarrow(doesn't look like a bannana!!!). I have also chose my colors and have already covered the stab. and fin! The colors are transparent yellow (for wing, stab. and fin) and metallic teal for the body. Gotta go for now, Mark

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/4/2004 9:43:56 PM)
I finally post again! Sorry about the long wait guys, I've been really busy! I went up north on saturday and my uncle taught me how to cover the plane....getting ahead of myself. I finished the fuselage on friday after making a quick trip to the hobby store! After getting it all sanded and making the nose I went to my uncles house and learned how to cover using monocote...it's way easier than tissue covering the rubber-powered planes!!! The colors that I chose are transparent yellow for the wing, fin/rudder and stab/elevator, and I will be making the fuselage mettalic teal. I want my first plane to be pretty easy to cover, yet look good. HOW DO YOU JOIN THE POLYHEDRAL ANGLES WITH MONOCOTE??? Any Comments would be very helpful!!! Thank you again, Mark Here's the pics!

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/7/2004 2:12:37 AM)
I've been very busy working on the Lady.....he he he!!! Well, first off I joined the rudder to the fin and same with elevator. The colors that I chose for the rudder and elevator are metallic teal(see pic)...they look perty good if I can say so myself!?!!!! I've also covered the bottom of the wing with the transparent yellow. I can't get wrinkles out of the right out-board panel! I've tried everything I know of except for the heat gun. I would be covering the top of the wing, but I am low on transparent yellow! I have covered two sides of the fuselage with the teal, but I will post that some other time! Tell me what you think!!!!!!! till next time, Mark

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/8/2004 4:03:35 AM)
Anybody have some coments about the glider? Mark

Falcon-Flyer -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/8/2004 5:41:31 PM)
Mark, The glider is looking good. Built several of the Ladies of the years and they are great flyers. You have to use the heat gun to get the wrinkles out....that's what it's used for. Running the heat iron over it with no socks will only scratch the covering. The gun will get that covering drum tight. Just be careful not to heat one area too long as it will blow a hole in the covering like magic. Another thing Mark, now that you have covered the whole wing, you in a sense have now made an airtight plastic bag. What I do is poke a very little pin **** on the underside of the wing to let the hot air out as you are shrinking the covering. If don't do that, evertime you shrink the wing covering it will look tight as the hot air expands it but once it cools the sags and wrinkles come back. Hope this helps. Good Luck, Jim

Ron Kay -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/8/2004 10:30:22 PM)
Mark, Sorry I've not gotten back to you been busy at work... I looked over your progress and it looks great to me. Of course the final test is soon to come... I know if will be fine and fly like a bird... Covering... Hmmmm. It's not that difficult just need practice and patients, lots and lots of patients.... I like to cover wings like the GL with one continuous piece of MonoKote. That is one piece from the root to the tip. Measure twice and cut once... don't forget. I begin by tacking the MonoKote at the root and then at the tip. Just tack not toooo much tension as you don't want to change the dihedral or geometry... just tight enough to take the bag out of the material. Then start tacking around the perimeter. Tack leading edge and trailing edge taking the bag out each time you tack. GENTLY pulling along the way and tacking at the same time ... Eventually you get to the tip and most likely you have a bag. Brake the tack and restretch... Go around the perimeter again and your ready to tackle the inside portion. Iron from the inside to the out always pulling the material the get the bag out. Go slow, take your time... Make sure the iron is not too hot or too cold. Try some test material before you get into the actual covering. Once you've gotten the material applied and your reasonably happy with the results use a heat gun for the final shrink. Last step in the covering... check the geometry of the wing. That is make sure both tips are at the same height above the table and make sure you have checked leading and trailing edge. You could introduce a 1/4" wash out if it's not already there... Simply twist the wing, not too much an inch or so will do it, heat the MonoKote with the gun let it shrink to the new shape of the wing and holding it let it cool. It should retain the twist you introduced or had to take out. Make sure top and bottom of the wind covering is not showing stretch marks. If so a little bit of heat holding the twist and it should come right out. Keep in mind, this will eventually come out over time. The wing and the MonoKote with eventually find it's own zero tension ... you might want to check it from time to time if you feel the plane flying a bit different and you've not changed anything... Keep me posted and call any time... Regards, Ron

H�rek -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/9/2004 10:28:43 PM)
I also made this kit once. But I rarely build them as they should be. What I did, was to expand the wingspan to 3,2 meters, by copying the spars in the middle. I also made a new fuselage to it, and the weight came out to 380 gram without the radio. It flew beyond my expectations, as it flew 20 minutes from ground radiation alone, in ten meters altitude. I also had some amuzing hours of thermalling some black roofs on some houses at Pellestova in Norway. I expanded the spar distance with two cm, and kept everything as light as possible. But it sure is a very good flyer if you follow the plans and instructions. Later, you can do some experimentals with it. Have joy, this is just getting better the further you go. Regards Gudmund

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/12/2004 1:36:12 AM)
I AM FINISHED! At least with the plane, I will order the radio on thursday. I am getting the Hitec Flash 4 channel computer radio, anyone have it??? Here's some pictures of the finished product:

Ron Kay -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/12/2004 2:17:34 AM)
Mark, It looks great... Looking forward to hearing about your first flight... About the radio, you can probably use a good 2/C AM... and purchase it new for about $30.00 from HiTec or Tower Hobby. The Flash 4 is a great radio but overkill for the GL. No doubt it will work but you can save the $100 and buy your next glider... Keep me posted as to your progress. Have you contacted the League of Silent Flight in Phoenix. They'll be a great deal of help to you in the early stages of your flight training. If you need the address and can't find it on the net let me know.. Happy flying and keep me posted ... Ron

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/13/2004 4:41:13 AM)
the thing is that I want room for expansion(for future 4 channel planes) and the flash 4 has 5 model memory! Ron Kay: I am coming up north on thursday in the evening and staying at least until saturday night.....would you want to show me how the Gentle Lady flies?

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/20/2004 11:43:03 PM)
Ron: I checked the flying feild on sunday to see if you were flying, even though it was very gusty...maybe next time I could come up and fly my Gentle Lady! Here is a picture of the radio and the electronic's inside my plane. As you probably noticed, the battery is behind the receiver...oops!! I ordered a flat battery instead of a square one! QUESTION: WILL I FEEL A DIFFERENCE IN FLIGHT SINCE I ADDED 1 AND A QUARTER OUNCES OF LEAD TO MAKE IT BALANCE??????? Thank you for your quick responses, Mark

ejett -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/21/2004 2:30:03 AM)
I would recommend that you get a square receiver battery and put it in front of the receiver in the fuse. First, it will balance with less extra nose weight and you won't have to worry about the receiver getting crushed by the batt pack in a bad landing. I would also recommend that you put some kind of restraint in the nose behind the battery to keep it from coming rearwards during the launch. That could change the balance of the plane and make it difficult to fly. Typically, I just pack out the cavity with foam. The plane looks very good. Be sure to check and make sure the inner panels are flat and the outer panels have just a touch of washout in them to ward off tip stalls. Make sure the amount of washout is the same on both outer panels. You should not need more than 1/8" of washout in each tip and may not need any. Also balance the plane laterally, by adding some weight if needed on the light wingtip. This will prevent the plane from circling to the heavy wing. Make sure the CG is in the range indicated on the plans. You have a classic design and it absolutely will fly. You'll like it a lot. EJ

ejett -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/21/2004 2:34:40 AM)
I just looked at your photos again on the radio install. Get rid of the wheels on the servos and use arms instead and put some snapper keepers or even clevises on the ends of the pushrods. Otherwise they might come out of the wheel. Guaranteed, if they come out, it'll ruin your day. EJ

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/21/2004 8:36:14 PM)
That is my next question, please explain what and how you keep the control rods from coming out of the hole!!!!??? There is not enough room in the plane for the control arms instead of the circles! <Mark

ejett -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/22/2004 12:58:16 AM)
You should have some star shaped arms that came with the servos. Just find the arm that most nearly matches the distance you are using on the wheel and cut the other arms that you don't need off next to the hub with diagonal cutters. If the arm is too long, just trim it back some and use one of the other holes in the arm. Check your parts that came with the servos, you should be able to use the arms that came with the servos. The keepers I have in stock are Great Planes Part No. GPMQ3820. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=gpmq3820&FVPROFIL=++ Since you have already made your push rods with the 90 degree bend, you can use the pushrod keepers that slide over the end of the rod and snap around the long part. This will keep the pushrods from coming out. Another thing you could have done is use a "zee" bend on the end of the rod. The "zee" bend will work with the wheels, but you would have to make new ends for your pushrod assemblies and retrofit them to your pushrods. Zee bends are difficult to do without the bending pliers for the purpose. Hope this helps. EJ

mr_frogdude -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/23/2004 1:49:07 AM)
Thanks for the info, it really helped! I should be able to fly my plane tomarrow:)...the good ol' newscasters "say" it should be nice and sunny, we'll see!!!!! Mark

ejett -> RE: Building a Gentle Lady! (10/23/2004 2:01:16 AM)
Glad I could help. Good Luck! and have fun; it's raining here tomorrow :( EJ

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