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ZNLine factory: Enigma Building

Old 02-16-2003, 12:06 PM
  #101  
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Default The other method.

The other method has the tube already intalled in the wing. We will use a router to shave the tubes down and cut a small bevel into the wing. We jig the router the same way as when we cut the tube holes. Here is a picture of the bevel cut with the tube already in the wing. This wing has been mounted.
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Old 02-16-2003, 12:08 PM
  #102  
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Default TE bolt hole.

Notice on the TE holes that we do not cut into the wing. We simply flatten out the tube a bit. It is not necessary to bevel into the wing as the epoxy/microballoon mixture will fill the slight gap nicely.
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Old 02-16-2003, 12:09 PM
  #103  
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Default The washers

Carbon and light ply. Strong, light, pretty.
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Old 02-16-2003, 12:14 PM
  #104  
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Default Glue them in

We put the thick mixture around the bolt hole, and using a 6mm bolt as the guide, drop it on in. We use a metal bolt here that will easily break free of any stray epoxy that that got into the threads.
Let the epoxy form a nice fillet. I will go back tomorrow with epoxy and fillet any washers that do not have a nice fillet already. The 24 hour epoxy really soaks in, so sometimes the beautiful fillet such as is this photo disappears overnight.
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Old 02-16-2003, 12:19 PM
  #105  
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Default Ready for shaping and aileron cutting.

Here sits our five wings all ready to have the tips shaped, ailerons cut free, faced, hinged, beveled, and horn plate mounted. Then final sanding and boom, off the the coverer. Not to much longer and we will be working on the forward fuselage internals!!!
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Old 02-16-2003, 07:14 PM
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Default We are keeping busy!

There was some space in the day so I started getting some of the sanding out of the way.

We have no special trick for tips. I scribe the center line on the tip, razor plane them until they have a nice basic form and then smooth the planing flats into a nice curved surface. It's a combination of sanding and looking and sanding and looking and, you get the idea. Anyway, nicely rounded tips that are even between the two stab halves. Some people prefer a larger radius, some more narrow radius. I'm not sure if it makes a difference aerodynamically.

Here is a photo of the finished tip. Now when I chop off the elevator, the tip will flow smoothly from front to rear.
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Old 02-16-2003, 07:20 PM
  #107  
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Default And a close up.

Another view of the rounded tips.

I'm still learning the camera. The flash tends to wash things out a little bit, but the resolution provides good detail. By the way, the camera is the Nikon CoolPix 5700 with 5 Megapixel capability. It can create an 8x10 as good as my 35mm SLR could. I love this camera. Maybe it's owner would sell it cheaply? JP?
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Old 02-16-2003, 07:37 PM
  #108  
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Default Last step of the day

With the stab socket and incidence pin solid and dry, we can install the stiffening former. It's very light weight balsa with a notch in the top for the antenna tube. It's tricky to get in and glue, but it will never be seen again, so it just needs to be a decent fit and effectively glued. There is not a lot of stress on this piece. We jimmy it into place with various balsa sticks, poking on it from behind and also through the wing saddle opening. It takes about twenty minutes to position it and get the glue where it needs to go. We will not disturb this for a while; we do not want this brace falling over.

Important here is that it is a loose fit held into place by the glue. We do not want to distort the fuselage by jamming this thing into a seamless fit. Loose fit, epoxy and microballoon.
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Old 02-16-2003, 07:50 PM
  #109  
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Default To be continued.

Really soon we can close the tail and get to the front end of the airplane. For those of you waiting for the motor mounting steps, soon...soon. We will be using honeycomb carbon firewalls and servo trays. Also coming up is belly pan mounting. There must be about one hundred ways of mounting belly pans and we use several methods. Hopefully, I can journey to our painter in Brussels and shoot some photos there, and also to our coverer. Then lastly we will rig and set up our airplanes and ship the others off to our customers to rig and setup. I hope to get these out of here and into the paint shop within two weeks.

Between now and then, we have the elevator driver from MK to install, elevators and ailerons and control horn mounting plates, and we are going to need a rudder too. There will be hinging to do and more shaping and beveling.

As we get to the last stages, I will show you some of the technology that we use to make these airplanes look as good as they fly. So, please stay tuned to the ZN Factory.

Thanks for all the kind words and great response on this thread. Your enthusiasm keeps us fueled for the next step.

Sincerely,
Mark Novack
US Army
ZNLine
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Old 02-18-2003, 04:26 PM
  #110  
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Default Back to work

Yesterday was more of the same. Sanding, stab mounting, and now the airplanes are almost at the same stage. So, continuing on, today we faced some rudders and closed the tail. I like the tail closing step. It's really easy and is a landmark in the building procedure after all of the little things done inside of the fin.

Here is a shot of the fin post. It's about 5-6 grams and is a perfect fit out of the box.
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Old 02-18-2003, 04:32 PM
  #111  
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Default And here it is installed.

I could not think of anything else that needed to be photographed here. A little epoxy/microballoon mixture and the post is inserted flush with the rear edge of the fin. A small notch at the bottom of the post is made to key it to the tail wheel block.

The most important part here is that the fin is clamped flat to the post. Our clamping blocks are very straight pieces of high density particle board that are longer than the fin post. The Burna clamps provide nice gentle, but firm pressure.

This will sit for twenty four hours now. In the mean time we will start elevators and the rudders, keep sanding more tips, and get to the ailerons too.
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Old 02-18-2003, 04:33 PM
  #112  
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Default What's better than an Enigma?

Two Enigmas!!!
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Old 02-18-2003, 04:39 PM
  #113  
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Default And the rudder.

Another easy step. The rudder is about as simple as it gets. We take our rudder faces and glue them on. We start with the tips, cut them flush and put on the long hinge face.

NOTE: If you noticed, we have not installed TE pieces on any of the surfaces. The trailing edge of the ailerons and wing, elevators and rudder will be 1/64th ply. This will make the trailing edge very ding resistant.

Here are four rudders that took not long at all.

This is not a difficult airplane to build at all.
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Old 02-18-2003, 07:33 PM
  #114  
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Default Elevators

Well, beofre we make our hole for the MK elevator device, we shall cut and face, hinge and bevel our elevators, inlay the ply horn mount and attach our horn. This way we can establish the perfect relationship between the horn and the MK device arms.

The first thing we do it mark the stabs and elevators as to not get them confused.
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Old 02-18-2003, 07:38 PM
  #115  
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Default Now we cut away the elvator.

We have a fully equiped factory, so we are taking the easy way, but this step is just as easy with a hobby knife and sanding block. When doing five stab sets, this is easier.
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Old 02-18-2003, 07:39 PM
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Default Turn it around

We pull back, turn it around and cut the tip.
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Old 02-18-2003, 07:43 PM
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Default The cut portion

Don't risk slicing too much. Cut it reasonably close and let your sanding block do the rest.
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Old 02-18-2003, 07:48 PM
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Default Sand the face even.

Do not cut away any of the face. Only the extra tab. The stabs and wings are perfectly routed to accept 7mm facings. Most people will do very well with a sanding block. It takes expert hands to use the belt on on such soft wood.
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Old 02-18-2003, 07:52 PM
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Default And ready for the facings.

Here are the two pieces. They are perfectly aligned. JP has been a professional carpenter and wood craftsman for 20 years. His work is second to none.
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Old 02-18-2003, 07:52 PM
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Default ZNLine factory: Enigma Building

Another angle.
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Old 02-18-2003, 07:58 PM
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Default Face the pieces.

We use 7mm facing on both elevator and stabs. We will use wood glue. There is no danger of warping the piece with the wood glue due to the over width of the facing. We have a bit more to cut away when it is dry, but it keep everything in line and straight. Here are a few stabs and their elevators drying away.

Next I will reduce the faces and ends on the rudders, then return to the stabs to plane down the faces.

That's it for tonight. We will return tomorrow for more Enigma building.

Thanks,
Mark
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Old 02-20-2003, 08:01 PM
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Default Still working!!!

Sorry about the delay. I have the flu and can only work between coughing fits. I had to take one night off.

Anyway, I returned to the factory today, and removed the tail post blocking and clamps. I'll fill the minor gaps with a little epoxy and microballoon, most of which will be sanded away when we bevel the fin post.

Here is our unclamped fin post. The fin edge is perfectly straight and flat now.
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Old 02-20-2003, 08:05 PM
  #123  
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Default Then I sanded.

First, I very carefully fed the elevators through the band saw to cut away the excess. The stabs would not fit under the band saw feeder guide, so I sanded it down to about 2mm or 3mm on the belt sander. Same with the rudder.

After cutting them down I started in with the razor plane and then finished by hand with my big sanding block.

The tips I shall round down tomorrow when I am feeling refreshed.

Here is the root view.
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Old 02-20-2003, 08:08 PM
  #124  
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Default ANd the tip view before rounding of the tips

The pieces are not simply on display. I think that it is necessary for them to sit like this so that the air circulates evenly around the control surfaces. This will prevent any tendencies to warp from uneven climate exposure.

Another couple of stabs, then I can move on the ailerons. Same procedure, just a little bit longer.
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Old 02-21-2003, 02:56 PM
  #125  
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Default ZNLine factory: Enigma Building

Mark,

I realise you are not at this stage.

However, I am ready to glue in my Nomex Honeycomb servo tray into the Alliance I am currently building. Could you quickly recomend the best way to do this.

Thanks again


Peter

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