rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi All!
Hey thanks, Mike for the kind and positive comments! I sure appreciate it! Well today, after work, and after spotting a newly cut 20" round maple on the side of the road that I cut up and took home, I worked the rest of the day trying to finish the bottom fillet, but especially the section where the wing fillet meets the fuse fillet. It's the spot on the bottom, right at the rear bulkhead. It's tricky because the fillet sands to nothing, but you still need to get the wing on and off without breaking that paper thin piece. So, after 3 attempts I finally figured it out. I did glue the wing on once too! All in all, I'm happy with the way it turned out , in one of the pictures you can see the wing bottom, and its belly pan, and it all pretty much looks like one piece. Ok, well that's all for now! Have a good night everyone. Bob

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

impressive Bob!

TCampbell

I think you nailed it, Bob. Looks sweet.

TangoBravo

What a pleasure to watch pure talent at work. Thank you, sir.

Tom

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi again!
Hey thanks, guys some really nice comments! I too, am pleased with how this project is coming out. It's my first build with the foam, and has proven to be a pretty good way to build. It's been a long way since my very first build in 1978 when I was 13 years old! There were no arf's back then, and my first kit I tried to build on my parents shag carpet!! The wing was so warped that my instructor came up with the idea to tape a piece of aluminum beer can on the outside of the wing as a trim tab, just to get it airborne! It worked! Well I learned a lot from that first build, and have enjoyed the kit or scratch building method of obtaining the plane that you choose since then. Ok, so today I was able to install the fin without much trouble, its been ready to install for a while, I just wanted to get all the bottom work done, without it on. While it was curing, I pulled the wing out and cut out the first aileron. I tack glued some hardwood pieces around the perimeter of it, on the bottom, to have a guide for the razor saw. It cut out well. Drilled for the robart hinge points,(that little jig they give you works great), shaped the front edge, and installed the shroud on the top. I didn't put one on the bottom. A little work required on the left and right sides, and it's done. I'll do the other tomorrow. Ok so that's all for now, and again, thank you for looking! Bob

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

It's progressing quite nice Bob! I have been watching your use of foam closely and learning a few things on working with foam. I just picked up these plans and a short kit and the design requires the builder to make a cockpit cover (Similar to what the Top Flite kit has) and the cowling by carving foam to shape and laying up fiberglass over it. Not much different from what you did.

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

HI everyone!
Hey Mike yes I can see how you will build that cockpit area with the foam, It looks as though you'll have to remove the foam after it cures, leaving the fiberglass window area. I can't clearly see the cowl detail. It's a great way to form compound curves, and other shapes. The only trick that I can tell you is to cut the foam a little oversize, Because if you use a hot wire, like I did, you will lose about 1/16" around whatever you are riding the wire on. I made oversized duplicate formers out of formica and tacked them to the real formers, then rode the wire on them. I found that the wire will burn into the balsa if you try doing it that way. Then you can easily sand to the right size... So today I did the second aileron, and it took about half the time! They look and work nice. It's a little tricky to not get binding with the top shroud piece, but with some patience it can be done. I also tackled an area that's been bugging me for a while, the trailing edge at the split flap. The balsa gets so thin there that it had chipped and splintered, and just looked bad. I took a 1/4"x 1/32" cut out of the top sheeting and laid a 1/32" piece of ply into it. Much better. Strong, straight, and will be much more resistant to damage. Ok! here's the pictures! Have a great night everyone. Bob

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I thought I would use a Weller soldiering gun like you did thanks for the tip on the formers!

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hello!
That's a great tool to use, Mike. Does your Weller sg have the set screws that you can change tips with? If so, I used a piece of 12/2 electrical wire in the end, bent to whatever shape I needed. Do a couple of test pieces, my gun has a 2 position trigger first click is 100 watts, the second is 140. It melts foam quick! Ok... so today I worked a little bit on the wing, i blended the trailing edge so the aileron and flap are now in a perfect line, with the edge slightly eased. That piece of 1/.32" ply, installed last night really worked out well. I mortised the 6 hinges on the split flap line, then epoxied the hinges into the flap itself. I'll sand out where they are, cover the flap, epoxy it onto the wing, then cover the wing. The covering showed up from Tower today, the blue for the wing is perfect, and the flat dove gray for the elevator and rudder is right on too. I moved onto the tail cone block, building it up from scrap balsa block, and then rough shaping it. It's nice to see that end of the fuse with its finished point! That's all for now! Goodnight everyone! Bob

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Looking good! I have two Weller SGs both are the older types (like their owner) with the screw inserts in the ends of the tubes like this one.I wonder if a piece of 12 gauge copper out some Romax would work?

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

hi Everyone!
Yeah, Mike the 12 gauge will work, with mine, the total length of the piece was about 8", then bent into a shape that would cut out for the servo. At that length, it became very hot, so I would believe that a longer length would work just as well. So, today I couldn't do too much on the H1, other obligations... but I did do a little. I applied the fillet to the bottom of the stab where it meets the fuse and molded the stab extention to the rear cone. I used a mix of microballoons and epoxy then shaped it all in with my fingers wetted with denatured alcohol. It's a good method, but you have to be ready with a lot of paper towels and places to put excess epoxy. Well, that's about all for now, thanks for watching! Bob

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi Again Everyone!
So after a long day of cleaning out and rearranging my second rc room downstairs for my 13 yr old son to use as his "own space", I am exhausted, but did manage to get a couple hours in on the H1! The downstairs project also included going to HD buying and installing a new toilet for the kid too. Anyway... I worked more on the rear of the aircraft, sanding all of the filler from last night, then figuring out how to build the curved section from the bottom of the rudder to the rear most point. I scribed a piece of 1/32" ply on the center line in the shape that I determined from pictures and then freehand drew the curve. I'll glue it in, then glue balsa blocks on both sides to form the fillet curve. This is the part of the build that I couldn't wait for! It's tricky, but fun to watch that classic shape start to emerge. That's All for tonight... Have a Great rest of the weekend! Bob

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hey Everyone!
Had a great Sunday, and even was able to get some work in on the H1. For starters, I took out the split flaps as I was going to glue the carbon fiber on to them, to find that they had somewhat warped! They've been built for weeks now, With no signs of warping, but on Fri. the temps here in Ct. went up to mid 70's, well maybe that had some thing to do with it. I'll be redoing those!
I ordered the servos from my LHS. I'll be using HiTec 5585's HV, they have 236oz. of torque, i'll be using these on all surfaces. I also ordered the graphic numbers from Denny at Cajun RC, he's one heck of a nice guy, and has supplied me with my GeeBee's graphics, as well as my RV4's. He even called me today,Sunday, to finalize the order! I installed one side of the fillet blocks under the rudder, I'll do the other side tomorrow. OK! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Bob

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi All!
Well more work today was done on the rear of the plane. The faring of all the different curves, and blending in of the stab and fin is very time consuming, but as you start to sand the shape into all of the rough blocks, the payoff is very rewarding. I did use some bondo type of filler where the fin extension meets the fuse, it worked well, and the fast dry time allowed for two applications and sanding within an hour. Tomorrow i'll do the other side. I picked up some new materials from the LHS for the split flaps, this time I'm going to assemble the balsa to the ply with the grain of the balsa going the short way, perpendicular to the ply grain. I'll sandwich the .007 carbon fiber between the two, this should make for a nice rigid flap. OK! That's all till tomorrow... Bob

TangoBravo

Just in case anyone reading this doesn't appreciate the level of Bob's skill involved in reproducing the details of the original airplane, here's a good photo of the rear tip of the H1 that he's currently working on. See any similarities? He is too modest to post this so I'll do it

Tom

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi Again
Tom, thank you so much for those very kind words! and to everyone that has looked at my build so far for the support. I've never done a blog build before, but just as I was about to start, this past new years, I though hey i've got an idea! and here it is! Anyway it's a good way to build, you can get or learn so many different ideas from all of you, which help the project really move. The pictures off of Wikipedia, of the original in the Smithsonian, I check almost daily before I make a move. There are so many details of this airplane that cannot be drawn in two dimensions. The pictures are the only real way that I can replicate the original. Well today, I sanded, and sanded on the tail section, and between waiting for the filler to dry, I went and got my taxes done, then came home and fabricated the new flaps. The picture is of the balsa top, with the CF glued on, and the ply waiting to be laminated on. Talk to you all tomorrow! Bob

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Those flaps should flex with that construction.

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi Everyone!
So I spent most of the build hours today filling and sanding, more sanding, more filling... you get the idea! It's a lot of work, but hopefully the payoff will be good. I did get the itch to start the fiberglass work, so I did one piece on the bottom, behind the firewall. It wasn't too bad of a process, the 3/4 oz glass is almost like silk, the hardest part is just handling it, but it really conforms to any curve, especially the compound ones. I also finished the flaps and mortised the hinges in. They flex a bit lengthwise, but once the 6 hinges are glued into the wing, and the covering goes on the top and bottom, I think it'll be very rigid. Finally, I pulled the wires for the landing gear through the wing so I can get started on that! No real exciting pictures tonight, just my piece of fiberglass! Have a good night,All! Bob

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

You are still moving right along Bob!

jaka

Hi!
Nice model! What kind of small screws are used? Watch screws?
Aluminium clad? Glued on or ?

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi All!
Not too much to report on tonight, although I did some more fiberglassing on the bottom of the stab, and one side of the fin. I then decided to start fitting the retracts into their locations, and hoo boy!, that's going to be a bit of a challenge! The first problem that I came up against is that the Sullivan skylite wheels are too thick. They won't allow the gear leg to retract in far enough by about 1/4". I'm going to look into getting a skinnier wheel after I post this. I'm pretty sure they're available. Well, that little glitch had me stumped, and trying all options to make it work for almost three hours! I'll get it. Hi Jan! I think the picture you were looking at, with the screws is the original H1, which is located in the Smithsonian, Howard Hughe's masterpiece. If you look on Wikipedia at Hughes H1 an entire photo collection is there. Thanks Everyone, Bob

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Good Evening!, Everyone!
Well being Friday again, not too much work done today. I did pick up seven new servos, that's always pretty exciting!, and picked up a bunch of hardware to construct the gear doors. The doors are a difficult project, because I scratch designed how the retract mechanism sits in the wing, before I had the actual wheel or the robart strut. They'll work eventually, it's just a matter of shimming, adjusting, testing, assembling and disassembling over and over. The picture tonight is of the first door attempt, it's made of 1/32" ply and it quickly turned into a door pattern. I figure i'll get it to work properly with the pattern, then make the final door adding to, or subtracting from the cuts. It will be below the surface of the skin, so i'll add balsa to the top, then sand it to the contour of the wing. Well that's all for now! Thanks for watching! Bob

triumphman49

My Feedback: (149)

Try Robart for the "skinny wheels"

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi Again!
I ordered the Dave Brown 4.5" treaded wheels, they are 1.25" thick, compared to the ones I first bought which are 1.5". That's not much of a difference, but I made a mock up wheel at 1.25, and it works. Thanks for the lead on the Robart wheels, i'm gonna check those out too. Today, nothing too exciting, except I got myself kicked outside into the 18 degree morning, sanding epoxy and fiberglass at 6:30 am, was just a little too much for my wife. I stayed out and sanded till my fingers were sufficiently numb. Went down to the cabinet shop and fabricated a new cradle for the fuse, there's much turning and moving, as the glass goes on. Also monokoted and coverited the flaps, I wanted to see the blue, and to seal them from humidity. The blue looks great! That's about all for now... Thanks Again, Bob

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Good Sunday night to Everyone!
Today, more work was done to the fuse, adding more glass and epoxy. The first pictures show the largest piece applied so far, this step really smooths out all those little bumps and nicks that I was worried about up to this step. A second coat, after sanding, on one of the bottoms of the stab, really makes things look good. I've never glassed a plane before, only my boats, it's going to be a great base for the Flitemetal. After, more work with the retracts and door. I fabricated some small brackets that attach the strut to the door, shown in the third picture. The other attachment is to the trunion, shown in the fourth picture. The last picture shows the piece of carbon fiber I had to ca to the backside of the door, to hold its shape of the wing. A lot of work. Love every minute of it though! Bob