WacoNut

Bob,
Forgot to answer you about the rod length, They are mounted the same on both sides. I did have to elongate the hole slightly on the #2 rod on the right side. I am taking the fuse into work on monday and having the ends of the #1 and #2 rods welded together with the jig and top cabane in place. This will assure that the alignment is correct everytime the top wing is mounted, not taking any chances here.
Anthony

germrb

My Feedback: (3)

Anthony,

You're a good son. My son lives in Alaska. When we go fishing, we fly. Talk about pristine wilderness.
Hiking around here is more like 2-3 hours and 2,000 feet.

Good luck finding Bambi.

WacoNut

I have the last aluminum plate glued into position and the cross brace wires from the fuse center to the cabane installed. I will drill through the plates tomorrow and secure them with bolts then I am ready to move on. I think the tail surfaces are next in line to be built.
Anthony

kvlasblom

Build going great I see!
I was just wondering, do those animals get eaten when you've hunted them, and if so, how do they taste??

WacoNut

Oh yes they do get eaten, I have no problem with consuming 2 deer a year.
The meat is good but it is all in how you handle the deer once it is on the ground. I process my own deer so I get the cuts the way I like them. My wife breads the steaks and pan fry's them and makes gravy from the droppings in the skillet. The Roast she cooks in the pressure cooker with onion soup mix, the meat just falls apart and is very tasty. What is left over from the roast gets stripped up and simmered in barbeque sauce for sandwiches. The ground makes excellent chili. It also makes great stew.
Now you went and did it, I am going to have to go round up some breakfast now that you got me hungry
Anthony

WacoNut

OK back to the Waco,
For those who are going to build this plane I want to cover the top cabane assembly a little more. As you see from my pics I have a 4ft carpenters level that I am leaving on the top of the fuse during this whole process, I have the back of the fuse blocked up so the fuse is setting level and I have tack glued the fuse to the block and the table so it does not move, I also made sure the fuse was level left to right. I have a 2ft level that I am constantly checking the top cabane to make sure it is level left and right and the incidence is also correct. The jig that supports the cabane during the wire installation should take care of this but it is a good idea to check with a level frequently. I tack glued the jig to the top of the fuse at each corner and tack glued the spars in the jig at each notch, this helps to assure that I do not move the cabane in the jig during this process.
AMR has done a great job with this jig and it has taken aloot of the difficulty away from rigging up the top wing of a bipe but make no mistake about it this is one part of the build you want to get exactly perfect. I spent an entire day just jigging the top wing of my Pepino Waco into position to start building the wires.
Here are a couple pics of the cabane with all the wires mounted and the jig still in place, I have already removed the jig and drilled and bolted the aluminum plates. The moment of truth has come and I am getting ready to remount the cabane and see if everything is still nice and square[&o]. If all lookes good I will proceed with mating the outer panels to the cabane and complete the sheeting.
Anthony

WacoNut

Good News!!!
I bolted the cabane back into position and it is spot on. The level shows perfectly level left to right and on both side the bubble is slightly off center to the negative incidence direction, I am quessing the incidence is somewhere between "0" and -1 deg. I am very satisfied with the results and now I can move on. Here are a few pics with the jig removed and everyting bolted back together.
Anthony

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Great work Anthony.

germrb

My Feedback: (3)

Anthony,

Excellent work. The slight negitive incidence is perfect. She's going to fly great!

WacoNut

Thanks Guys,
I am going to try and get a little more work done to the Waco but I have to get on some honey do's before I leave for my hunting trip. I just fired off 3 boxes of slugs through my gun making sure it was still sighted and I am comfortable with it, nothing like a bruised shoulder[&o].
I am going to make some drawings for the wing tips lights and I will get my brother to turn them out on his CNC lathe. I am also looking at the tail gear and trying to decide if I want to build one as I did with my 25% or buy an off the shelf gear. The supplied gear is functional but not scale. If anyone has any ideas for an off the shelf gear please spek up.
Later!
Anthony

WacoNut

I found some more free time this morning and I have the top wing outer panels mated up to the center section and it is drying. I am going to try and get the sheeting completed before I go on my hunting trip. I received my pics form John of the wing tip lights and I will get those in the works as well. I have sent an e-mail off to Bob Gonzalez asking is which Robart gear he used in his Waco. I will most likely just buy that gear rather than manufacturing my own. It was not a fun job for my 25%[]
I did discover I was missing a few fuse formers and dropped an e-mail to Dany at AMR and he replied in less than an hour(great customer service) he said he would take care of it for me. These things do happen ocassionally. I am a ways away from needing the fuse formers so no big deal here.
Later!!!
Anthony

nine o nine

My Feedback: (1)

I'm using a Barth 30% tailwheel strut in my build. It's scale and strong. Mitch

WacoNut

Mitch,
Did you order the gear directly from Peter or did you go through Proctor?
Anthony

WacoNut

I am taking a break from hunting and I am going to work on the Waco,
For the 1st time in 27yrs I have not gotten a deer in the 1st few days and to make matters worse I have only seen one deer[&o]. I have sent an e-mail off to Robart asking about a tail wheel strut. I will need to get the tail gear installed and the linkages figured out early on in the fuse construction.
I am going to get the top wing center section sheeted and move on to the tail feathers.
Anthony

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Anthony,

It's tough all over. Obviously deer production is down. They probably need a bail out.

king_arthur1953

The hunters here in Arkansas are struggling also. My best friend bags early also most years but has not even seen but a couple. I think the Aliens took them all for testing.

WacoNut

It is very weird,
I have never had problems finding the deer, everyone I have talked to is not seeing nearly as many deer as usual and this is across 3 counties here. I am beginning to wonder if something hasn't happened to the herd??
I am asking Santa for a bail out for Christmas this year!!
Anthony

germrb

My Feedback: (3)

Is this what you guys are looking for? Would you like us to sent you some?

nine o nine

My Feedback: (1)

I got the tailwheel strut from a crashed Barth plane...it ws about the only usable part left! Mitch

WacoNut

Bob,
Your not right!!! I am beginning to dislike you just a bit
Anthony

germrb

My Feedback: (3)

Sorry, but I just couldn't resist. I'm really not that mean. Actually, the deer become real pests if the mountains get heavy snow. They end up in everyone's backyard and eat the shrubs.

I liked your idea about welding #1& 2 for security, buit the aft attach points have to be equally secure. If I remember correctly, the pre-drilled holes in the cabane wires and the aluminum tabs were not the same. I match drilled everything to 6-32 with a fairly tight fit. This is probably old news. I'm sure you had already thought of it.

Make sure you post your progress on the tail wheel. I never could get something that really passed for scale.

WacoNut

Yeah I drilled everything for a tight fit,
The Robart tail gear #657 should do the trick, it does not have the scale looking suspension but it is mostly hidden in the fuse anyways. Worst case I will purchase some hydraulic tubing and make my own as I did on my 25%.
Anthony

skylarkmk1

Anthony,

The Robart #657 tail wheel should work although the Wildcat wheel has the geometry similar to the full size Waco (move the upper shock strut attachment point to a rear bulkhead). Too bad it is only 1/5th scale (and more than 2 times the price) and not 1/3rd. Hope they get the drawings up soon, it may be just the ticket for the Pica 1/5th Wacos.

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

Keep it going. Dan.

WacoNut

I have the top center section sheeted and I am getting ready to add the L/E,
I think I am going to add lightening holes to the tail surfaces before starting construction, for every ounce saved in the tail will save around a half pound of nose weight. I am also going to go ahead and order the Robart #657 tail wheel strut. I can always add a false suspension to the gear if I wish. It looks to be heavy duty and will handle a 3" tail wheel which is just over the scale diameter.
Later!!
Anthony