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RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/17/2007 5:28:19 AM   
Troy Newman


 

Posts: 2429
Joined: 12/30/2001
From: Goodyear, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		Well gentlemen, I had the opportunity to dig into my Focus Sport today. My experience with this model so far has been very good.

I do need to preface this thread with the fact this model is an advanced model. It is not intended for beginners at putting together advanced models. It has some techniques used that normal sport type pilots don't deal with in a day to day build of a model. The instructions are intended to get the point across but they are not intended to take you by the hand and do it for you. The idea behind my starting this build thread was to give an archive to folks that don't know how some things are done and how to do them. I am working independent of Piedmont models on this build, and I will always have some suggestions that may not coincide with the way the models prototype model was built. However I will say the way Dave Guerin does things in terms in installation and building techniques are proven, work and are effective. Dave's techniques just like some of mine have been developed over years of building competition models. I have been building and flying models that cost 10 times this models price tag. The planes I have been flying for the past few years are at the absolute top for quality of flying and build. The finish work is all painted models that weigh less than most film covered models. The idea behind this plane is provide excellent performance on a price tag that is not $2000-3000. With this in mind there will be some things that are not a absolute perfect fit, and not an absolute quality of a custom built model. This plane is not intended for that market. It is intended to go together fairly easy, be stong and straight, and fly well. If my Focus Sport flies as well as the prototype model I flew in early July the results will be a great 110 sized pattern model.

The purpose of this build thread is assembly a model that anyone can do on a budget and still get big time performance for a smaller plane both in size and price. So you will not hear me bashing anything about this plane. Instead you will hear solutions to problems if they come up. I remember buying a pattern kit for the first time. I got a 8.5-11 sheet of paper that showed me the size of the ailerons and elevators CG range and a few rough shapes to symbolize servos and engine mount. The idea was you had to do it your way. The task was daunting indeed. This model is extremely advanced in its detail compared to those days. I have read the manual a little and I have looked over the parts. If I can augment the manual I will. From the looks of it the bases are covered. There will likely be questions but I intend to figure it out and get things done. After looking it over I don't think we are going to have issues. 99% of it is self explanatory. I am going to try and follow the manual steps as much as possible. I think I could probably do it faster by just digging in and doing it as I know where things need to go and how its suppose to work. Not everyone in this forum has that level of experience and I understand that. The purpose of this thread is to promote pattern models and pattern flying. This is a no Bit-chin' area. If you feel you need to do that take it to another thread please.

So here we go....................

< Message edited by Troy Newman -- 9/17/2007 5:35:50 AM >

(in reply to Zippi)
       Post #: 26

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/17/2007 5:42:28 AM   
Troy Newman


 

Posts: 2429
Joined: 12/30/2001
From: Goodyear, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		First thing I did was un-pack about 10 days ago and looked the model over. I then sat the bits in the corner to finish my current project at the time. Today I cleaned up a little in the shop and pulled the bits together to get started.

Below is a photo of the hardware that comes with the kit. There is no pushrod linkage or clevis stuff. I like this it allows us to pick the best stuff for our application. The model does come with a Dave Brown Motor mount. 6-32 Bolts for the control horns, and the threaded links that go on those bolts. Tail wheel bracket and assembly is included, and the main landing gear is aluminum. Not the lightest for landing gear but is effective and keeps the costs down. This gear should be good for even beginners learning to land competition type models. I don't think the gear is going to be an issue at all. Main wheels and some bolts for axles are included. Motor mounting bolts and blind nuts to attach the thrust block to the firewall are also included.

The cowling, and canopy are painted and the match is good. A quick check shows the stripes line up but I have not spent any time trying to mount it. I just held the cowling on the nose and said looks good nuff'. We will get to the details of the components as they come up in this thread.

First thing was to get some weights.

Fuse - 19.1oz this is very light for the fuse assembly. The fuse is strong and built well. The choice of wood is good and the inside looks to have good space for equipment. The servo rails are installed. The landing gear plates are in with blind nuts already installed.

Fin and Rudder - 2.9oz Again very light. The rudder is pre-hinged and basically ready to glue to the fuse.

Canopy- 7.2oz A little on the heavy side for what is needed. The frame is wood and built strong. The paint work is good. The biggest problem is the glass work is pretty thick. The fiberglass portion of the canopy is probably a little over done, but I don't think you can save more than a couple ozs here anyways. Based on the overall weight of the model I think it will be light and these extra couple ounces will not be an issue. Its not ideal but I think its good. The canopy is not a brick its just a little on the heavier side of things.

Cowling - 3.7oz. Again the glass work is a little heavy but its not extreme. i don't think you could shave a full oz off this have still have it durable enough for the job. The paint work again looks pretty good. The color matching is excellent to the Ultracote.

Stab / Elevators - 4.7oz This is pre Hinged and ready to go. The stab is extremely well built. Its strong and stiff. It has a fairly thick airfoil compared to the early Focus I models. Dave has employed his knowledge form the Focus I and II evolution to this smaller version. I think the thicker stab does multiple things that are good and I'm very pleased to see the stab constructed this way on the model.

Right Wing - 11.0oz
Left Wing - 11.1oz
Ailerons pre-hinged and read to go. Like the stab and rudder the control surfaces already have hard points for the aileron control horns. Wing is about 780sq in and I think these panel weights are good. Of course a custom built wing can be lighter but these are not excessive.

Overall weight of the airframe. 59.7oz 3lbs 11.7oz. I think this will end up being about 8.25lb model which will be excellent performance on the YS 110.


Next comes the start of the build...............


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< Message edited by Troy Newman -- 9/17/2007 5:48:50 AM >

(in reply to Troy Newman)
       Post #: 27

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/17/2007 6:00:47 AM   
Troy Newman


 

Posts: 2429
Joined: 12/30/2001
From: Goodyear, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		The model has been sitting out of the packaging bags for about 10 days. So first things first I took out my covering iron and heat gun and went to getting the covering tight again. I live in Phoenix AZ so the air is very dry. I find that when models come to my climate the wood will dry out a bit and since this moister is not present…the covering will sag a little. The Focus Sport had a few wrinkles…but overall it was still in really good shape. This is even though its been in my garage during that time. For those that have not been to AZ in the summer time, our low temps are around 90-95degs with Highs above 100deg F almost every single day. This past week has been near 105-110deg F with lows being about 88 as the lowest temp. My Garage has no AC yet so the model was subjected to similar temps for the last week.

I place my H9 covering iron inside a cotton tube sock. This gives a soft surface to eliminate scratching and digging into the balsa surfaces. This also gives an even heat that works well to get stubborn areas.

I then used a brand new #11 X-acto blade to remove the covering from those areas on the fuse where the covering has not been cut away. I then ironed the covering around the edges and got everything ready to go.

Below is a before and after photos


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< Message edited by Troy Newman -- 9/17/2007 6:01:52 AM >

(in reply to Troy Newman)
       Post #: 28

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/17/2007 6:27:00 AM   
Troy Newman


 

Posts: 2429
Joined: 12/30/2001
From: Goodyear, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		Construction starts with the Wing installation. The wing tube is 23 inches long. The instructions call for it to be centered in the fuse. Once I did this the result was 9 5/16” each side of the fuse. I then marked the wing tube with a Sharpie like the instructions call for. The tube was then inserted into the wing panels to make sure the tube would go all the way in. The idea is we need to get past the false rib that is installed in the wing. I slide the tube inside the wing socket and at the end the socket was a little tight. You want it to be fairly tight but not really hard to get on and off. So I took a ¾” wooden dowel with 100 grit paper attached. The photo below shows this tool. I used this to open the socket or sleeve up just a little. The aluminum tubes and fiberglass or phenolic sleeves can always vary little in diameter. This is common and usually only takes a slight amount of work to fix it up. About 30 secs of sanding per wing panel allowed the tube to pass directly to the wooden end cap at the end of each wings socket. Just use a plunger action in and out with the sanding tool inside the socket. Be careful not to bang the wooden end cap you might damage it or the wing if you get too rough. The idea is lightly sand the inside of the socket to allow for a good tube fit. You want it tight but not extremely difficult to insert.


So I slide the aluminum tube inside the panel of each wing it comes up about ¼” too long on each side. See the photos below of the marked tube inserted.

In this case I need to cut aluminum tube off a little to get it to fit. I need at least ½” shorter length. Don’t cut anything yet….go to the next step. I have in the next post.


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< Message edited by Troy Newman -- 9/17/2007 6:29:39 AM >

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       Post #: 29

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/17/2007 6:59:52 AM   
Troy Newman


 

Posts: 2429
Joined: 12/30/2001
From: Goodyear, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		We need to find out where the hard points are for the wing retention screws. When I was taking care of the few wrinkles in the covering I found the hard point. This is easy to see when you heat up the covering in the area. The dowel hard points are installed on top of the wing at approximately 8 ½ inches from the wing root. The hard point is on the edge of the yellow strip and red leading of the wing. Below is a photo where I marked this location with a Sharpie marker. This will prove easy to find later with the Sharpie circle around it. The Sharpie will wipe off with Rubbing Alcohol so it’s the best marker for the task. Mark the hard point as I don’t drill the retention bolt holes until later on. I know the instructions say to drill it but… Its usually one of the last things I do. I don’t want to have screws around in the panel to rub on the other wing panel. This can cause some hangar rash…so I usually drill and tap the holes later on. This is important step so don’t forget it….but it can be done at the end.

Knowing the hard point is 8.5” into each panel and I know that 9-5/16” of tube is about ¼” too long. We can safely cut the wing tube shorter by about ½” to 5/8” to use the max length of tube and ensure the tube is passing through the false rib installed in the wing. This also gives plenty of meat for the wing retention screw in the aluminum tube.

I pushed a small thin section of music wire into each wing panel. About ½” in front of the wing tube location. I wanted to find the location of the false rib. In both panels this location was 7.5” from the root of the wing. Therefore we know the rib location is 7.5” and the hard point is 8.5’ in from the root of the wing panel. This isn’t a task that everyone needs to do but I wanted to make sure the tube was going through the rib. I also wanted to check the relationship of the hard point to the false rib. This was a little of CYA and since I didn’t build the wing panel I was not sure where the rib was located. This test told me what I needed and confirmed that Dave and Piedmont Models did their homework. So the information is for those of you that are concerned….The rib is there and out at 7.5 inches from the root.

I then proceeded to cut the wing tube shorter by 5/8”. This will give me just a little bit 1/8” shorter tube than needed to hit the wooden end caps. Once cut I used my belt sander to clean up the edge of the tube. If you don't have a bend sander A block with 100 grit paper will work well. You just want to clean up the burr on the end of the tube where it was cut. Use an x-acto knife on the inside edge of the tube to clean any burr that may be present. Be careful not to cut yourself on this burr. The idea is to sand it to eliminate sharp edges. These can damage the sockets in the fuse or wing panels, or cut your finger. I know I know...I'm not trying to mother any of you...just that is seems to reason somebody would cut their finger on the aluminum tube.

Important:

every wing probably has a slightly different depth for the end caps. If you have trouble getting the tube to go in about 9” into each panel you need to look inside with a flashlight and see if some glue is blocking it. I would say the absolute shortest you would want is 8.75” but you may be able to use the full tube. Without cutting it. It all depends on the end caps. Just double chekc the location of your hard points and the depth of the end caps. I feel if you are past the hard points then you are safely past the false ribs.

I cut the wing tube 5/8" and the result was a perfect fit. Next is the setup of the wing adjusters and the incidence of the wing. That will have to wait until tomorrow.


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< Message edited by Troy Newman -- 9/17/2007 7:18:17 AM >

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       Post #: 30

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/17/2007 4:26:33 PM   
dreadnaut



Posts: 634
Joined: 3/13/2004
From: Vista, CA, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Troy Newman

I then proceeded to cut the wing tube shorter by 5/8”. This will give me just a little bit 1/8” shorter tube than needed to hit the wooden end caps. Once cut I used my belt sander to clean up the edge of the tube.



Troy, it sounds like you used a hacksaw to cut the tube. I like to use a pipe cutter. The advantages are that it does not leave a burr on the outside, thought you should still use an w-acto blade to clean up the inside. A belt sander is not needed. It also makes a REALY square cut, and the end winds up being rounded inward, which makes it easier to insert.

Dave.


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< Message edited by dreadnaut -- 9/17/2007 4:27:01 PM >

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       Post #: 31

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/17/2007 10:48:10 PM   
Zippi



Posts: 3022
Joined: 6/29/2004
From: Evansville, IN, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks to troy, I found the hard points for the wings after I shrunk the covering. They were hard to see with the covering loose.

_____________________________

"It Ain''t Lookin Good"
http://zippi.50webs.com/index.htm

(in reply to dreadnaut)
       Post #: 32

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/18/2007 6:04:50 AM   
Troy Newman


 

Posts: 2429
Joined: 12/30/2001
From: Goodyear, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		Dreadnaut,

actually I used my band saw. But the tubing cutter will work excellent for the task. I don't have one but a hacksaw or band saw with a metal cutting blade works well.


While working with the wing and setting it up for the fit above, I noticed that the wing tube was a little loose in the fuse socket. As we found above the fit was tight in the wing panels, however in the fuse section it had a small amount of play. There are multiple ways to fix this problem. You could use a little medium CA to build up the center section of the wing tube diameter. You could use the CA inside the socket to make its Inside diameter smaller. The difference in diameter is very slight. By trying to do it inside the socket you risk screwing it up and making the socket too small diameter. This will give you a tough time getting it back to where the tube will go in if you are not careful. The CA thing works and is pretty durable but it can make a mess and you usually get it too much build and have to sand it back down a little. Another option that I use on Carbon Fiber tubes on my Oxai Models is Clear Finger nail polish. You can paint it on and then use your finger to spread the thin layer of nail polish. Since finger nail polish comes off really easy with Acetone the clean up to your fingers is easy. However in this case the wing tube is aluminum and the polish or the CA doesn’t stick well to the tube. I don’t want to risk making work for myself with the CA thing inside the fuse socket section. My method of choice is Scotch tape. Two single layer diagonal wraps one from each direction was enough to tighten the tube in the fuse socket. The scotch tape is easy to replace and will actually last a long time. Below is a photo of the work. Notice the tape is only where needed in the center section of the tube. Since the tube fit in the wing panels was good after my sanding job, I don’t want to add thickness out where the panels slide on. If your fuse center section is too tight a fit use that sanding dowel from above and it will take care of it very quickly. Like I said you want a snug fit, just don’t let it slide on and off really easily. You want a slight amount of friction but not a hard push to install it.

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< Message edited by Troy Newman -- 9/18/2007 5:42:33 PM >

(in reply to Zippi)
       Post #: 33

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/18/2007 6:23:24 AM   
Troy Newman


 

Posts: 2429
Joined: 12/30/2001
From: Goodyear, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		Following the instructions for the Model takes us to the Incidence settings on the main Wing.

Now I want to talk a little about wing adjustments. Gator RC wing adjusters are included in the kit. These are for tuning and not for setting the incidence. What we are going to do is set the incidence per the instructions at 0.5degs positive with the reference shown in the manual. I’ll get into some details about this and the reference as that is important. For now we need to prepare the wing and the adjusters for this critical step.

The wings come with holes “pre-drilled” in the wing roots to accept the small phenolic sockets the adjuster pins slide into. There are front and rear adjuster holes on each wing panel. They are located aprox 5-6 inches forward and aft of the wing tube. The phenolic tubes provide a hard bearing surface so the anti-rotation pin does not wear inside the wing panel. In our case the anti-rotation pin is actually adjustable using the cool little adjusters from Gator RC. The phenolic sockets will guide and hold the pin while the wing is installed and flying. It is important to get them installed well. I use medium CA to hold the phenolic sockets in the wing. To help the CA glue bond to the socket material I sand the outside of phenolic sockets with 100grit paper. This removes any type of glaze or waxy substance on the outside of the sockets and gives the glue some scratches to bite into.

Next is to trial fit the adjuster pins inside the sockets. Sometimes these sockets can have a slightly undersized I.D. This is not common but can happen. Also the adjuster pins have a molding flashing on the end. I clean these up with my 100 grit paper as per the photo below. With the flashings cleaned up and the phenolic sockets sanded they are ready for install…………..


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(in reply to Troy Newman)
       Post #: 34

RE: Focus Sport 110 YS Powered - 9/18/2007 6:41:21 AM   
Troy Newman


 

Posts: 2429
Joined: 12/30/2001
From: Goodyear, AZ, USA
Status: offline 		The pre-drilled holes look to have some plywood or hard balsa as a backing support to the balsa wood root rib. On my model these plywood backing plates had a slightly undersized hole to fit the phenolic sockets. In looking at it we have two choices try to force the sockets in place which might work….or it could crush the phenolic socket. Since I’m not a sledge hammer mechanic I grabbed a small round file and slowly opened the hole in the wing panel. A dremel tool could work also just be careful you don’t over do your work. You want a tight fit just not a “Grab the Hammer” fit. This took a little time about 2-3 mins per socket to get a good snug fit. I would rather have a critical fit like this being undersized and allow me to open it up to the perfect fit rather than have the hole too large.

Once I have them trial fit you can use a small section of music wire with a “L” bent in the end to help you get the socket back out after the trial fit and before gluing.

Once you have the sockets fit properly its time to glue them. Important to not get CA inside the sockets as this will cause problems for the adjuster pin inserted in the socket. Also a little problem you could run into is as you are inserting the sockets the CA glue could kick off and now the socket is only ½ way in the wing panel. A little trick is to have a large wooden block. Here is one of my sanding blocks. When pushing the sockets in place you want them flush with the root rib but not recessed. I use this flat sanding block (1” thick MDF or particle board) to push and persuade the socket in place. Do the sockets one at time to prevent the glue from kicking off.

I carefully put a small amount of medium CA in the hole and then get the socket started in the hole. A small amount of CA around the outside of the socket…then immediately push the socket into the wing. If the socket stops you need to act quickly a little tap from the block will push it flush with the root rib. Once flush immediately wipe any excess CA off the root rib.

Use an x-acto #11 blade to clean the inside of the edge of the socket. Sometimes there is a small burr or a little bit of CA that gets on the edge. Once the CA kicks off trial fit your adjuster pins again in the phenolic sockets. If you screwed up and got glue inside now is the time to fix it. Don’t worry I have done it before. A round file will do the trick. Just takes a little time. You want the adjuster pins to be a slip fit with very little friction but you don’t want them sloppy at all.

Wing now has the sockets installed and its time to get the fuse ready for the adjuster install………..




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