erans

Thank you Jose and Casey, obviously being the first time I fit retracts I do try to follow method that worked, and I have tried to fit it the same way I saw on Casey's build. My only other comparison is my Great Planes SU-31 (fixed) landing gear, and it is held by quite substantial bolts... Iwas actually getting a bit concerned when Isaw, after drilling the 1/4" holes for the lock nuts, that not much wood left on the mount.

So, yesterday I took my last bit of cut Oak and found out I can only manage two pieces just over 4.5" from it (not the full 5" as on the plans), but that should be sufficient to glue it properly to the ribs. Then, it did the cutting and, as things will have it, I got it wrong... This time, the notch for the gear door attachment ring was cut in the wrong place... (can be seen in the photo with the new pieces). Again, I went to my neighbour and this time we found in his shed two 12mm square pre cut Tasmanian Oak pieces which he gave me. It did "cost" me a carton of beer...
Idecided not to touch it as I am on a bad vibe with the landing gear at the moment and all I did for the day was to put potty on the pin holes and imperfections of the ailerons and flaps. The fumes in the room were quite strong, so I called it a day until it dries up.

erans

After taking a break from the ME-109 for the weekend, it was time to get going again. Istarted with sanding the potty on the ailerons and flaps. It came out OK, but some more potty is required in some areas (and then there is the other side which is to start with much better).

Ithen got back to the landing gears mounts. This time, I had no much dramas and managed to cut and sand to size. Amazing how some simple jobs sometime just get out of control. Once the initial epoxy is dry, I will look at ways to strengthen the contact area with the ribs which currently is quite narrow. Ialso got some wood screws as per Jose's suggestion and will use them to connect the landing gear as in his example. The attached photos show both wings mounts.

JGrc

My Feedback: (29)

Looking good Eran

erans

Thank you Jose, I have no idea why Igot stuck on this stage... It almost killed my momentum of work on the aeroplane.

Some good news today, my new aileron servos arrived. Now Iwill be able to make some progress on it as well (once I finish with the potty). Ididn't have a chance to fit them in the mounts and see if Ican take them out once the mount is in place, but I hope it will do the trick as Jose suggested.
Ihad very little time to work on the Me-109 today. I only managed to fabricate some reinforcement brackets for the landing gear mount. Iam quite happy with it, so I will fabricate some for all sides (six to go)

erans

Again, very little time to work on the Me-109. All Idid over the last couple of days was to complete the reinforcement brackets for the landing gear mounts of the other wing half, some more potty treatment to the ailerons and flaps and Istarted making new ailerons mounts for the smaller servos.

JGrc

My Feedback: (29)

Good day Eran, still working pretty hard!
Tips: the landing gear mounts don't really need reinforcement, applying a second coat of epoxy to the joints are plenty. For the smaller servos, you can still use the servo mounts that come in the kit, just glue a couple of spruce sticks to close the gap.

JG

erans

Finally I'm back to the Me-109 after some interruptions by radio equipment behaving funny on my SU-31 as discussed here and after spending many hours repairing the WACO as described here.

So today it was time to continue from where I left. First - Jose, I unfortunately could not use my original mounts because of the spruce Iglued to the back (to support the servo screws). Anyway, making the new mounts took very little time. I used the Tasmanian Oak this time for the servo screws. Ialso followed Jose's suggestion to set the "centre" of the servos at roughly 10-15 degrees to the TE. Ithen glued the mounts with the servos in the wings.
Ialso sanded today the potty from the flaps and ailerons which Iapplied before the interruptions. Now here is an advice - do not follow what Idid and use as many pins to hold the Fliteskin when covering the flaps and ailerons... So much work to fix it with the potty and if you had practice with the Fliteskin before attempting to do it you will know it is not needed. Anyway, I am almost happy with that side look now, so Iapplied potty to the few pin holes on the "flat sides" today.

erans

While entertaining my daughter on her holidays, I managed to escape to the "build room" and sand the flaps and ailerons potty. I also had my first look at the fit with the wing. It is tight, but good.
Ithen made balsa blocks for the flap hinges and glued them in place with Gorilla Glue. Not much for a full day at home...

erans

Over the last couple of days I prepared the flaps and ailerons for installation. This included drilling and fitting the Robart hinges and cutting a slot for the control horns and fitting them in. A lot of trial and error with the control horns to get them inserted correctly, but the final result is quite good. It is the first time I installed hinges in the way they are on the aileron on this aeroplane, but it is just another first time and this build definitely had many of these for me.

I used fishing line taped to the wing-tip and the inner side of the wing to align the flap (which is the only surface Iactually installed) and it worked well. The torque rod system provides plenty of flap deflection. It is nice to see it coming together and working. Next is the aileron installation with the brass tube holding the hinge, another first.

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

Looking great Erans!

Casey

erans

Thank you Casey. I had so many interruptions taking my build time away, it was great to be able to put few hours into it.

Talking of build time, it is good to see you back in action. I am following your build closely. I asked Jose for details on the lightweight wheels option, but he replied that he didn't have them available for a while now. I am not very comfortable with the weight of my wheels (similar to the set you got from him), and cannot believe that you are going with heavier option.

erans

Iam a bit stuck at the moment, not sure what I did wrong with the aileron or not fully understanding the plans as to how it should hinge with the brass tubes. It looks that Ido not have the gap required as there is no way I can get the brass tube from the TE and reach the hinge with the gap Ihave. I will need some pictures of installed ailerons from the bottom to figure it out (preferably deflected "up").

Jose, Casey - any chance you can assist with this?

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

As I have yet to actually hinge mine to the wing(I'm waiting until the top and bottom skins are on, wings mated, and the wing tips are mounted)so I can not add much other than you will need to use the aluminum or brass tube to allow it to reach. Have you checked Jose's build?

Casey

erans

Thank you Casey, I did look at Jose's build, but could not find good photo of the aileron showing the hinges. I already cut the brass tubes and got ready to install them when I figured out that I do not have the gap to mount them, anyway not as large gap as shown on the plans. This make me think that I must have done something wrong with my ailerons.

Jose replied to me on an e-mail that he will look into it when he gets home, so Iwill wait for his reply. Iam not too worried as I can always use standard hinging (my aeroplane is not a scale competition piece). It is just that I was quite intrigued to see how this hinge will effect the aileron movement as Ihave never used such hinging before. I start to like Jose's ideas for the moving surfaces, for example the flaps work great from the torque rod.

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

Yes, his engineering of the wing is brilliant. It works perfectly!
Keep up the good work! I see I'm playing catch up in some areas now!
Casey

JGrc

My Feedback: (29)

Hello Eran, sorry for the delayed response.
The brass tubes are used as extensions for the Robart hinges. There should be a 3 or 4 mm gap between the aileron and the wing on top and bottom. Remember the aileron moves up more than down.
JG

erans

Thank you Jose, I must have got the aileron build wrong. I do not have 3-4mm consistent gap, but a closing gap from ~3mm to ~1mm...
I think I will have to use "normal" hinging as I have no intention to build new ailerons. Iam a bit puzzled regarding what I did wrong.

JGrc

My Feedback: (29)

Here is the section showing the aileron hinge.

JG

erans

Thank you Jose, Iwill look into it again later today, Igot sucked into some modifications to my Su-31 throttle servo...

Iwas wondering if you can provide me with photo of the aileron hinge on your wing from the bottom? Ijust noticed from your attachment that next to rib 9 the brass tube is coming out the bottom of the wing and not from the TE (I missed that when I looked at the plans which actually show the same thing). This may allow me to use the designed hinge after all.

One other thing, Ihad a chat with a heavy model inspector and he told me that he give the linkages, hinges servo selections etc special scrutiny when he will inspect my Me-109. As a result I am looking at 4-40 for the flaps and ailerons. Is this what you were using? If Itell him that the prototype used 2-56 rods and I use 4-40 it may speed up the certification scrutiny.
Ialso have a bit of difficulty with the second flap install, where the torque rod seem to have too much freedom in the holes and this prevent return to same position on operation. I will glue some plywood next to the holes to restrict the movement to try and cure it.

JGrc

My Feedback: (29)

Hi Eran,

I don't have a photo of the bottom aileron at the moment. For the new wing I built, I have used a different system than the prototype but is not as easy to set up so I decided to stick with the one on the plans as is works better.

On the prototype, the ailerons use 2/56 pushrods and the flaps use 4/40.

JG

erans

Thank you Jose, obviously this info required me to make some changes, so, I started the day with changing the flaps control rods to 4-40.
I then cut and glued plywood scrap pieces cut to the torque rod diameter to the two ribs both sides of the flaps control rod to provide tighter support to the main torque rod. This was done to stop the torque rod from moving in the holes. This made the movement of the flaps much more precise.

Ithen started work on one of the ailerons hinging, a task that Iwas quite worried about. I had to notch the aileron LE to allow the hinge full movement for the "up" deflection. I glued the brass tubes in place and got the 4-40 control rod directed at the servo. I will admit that it took me quite a while to get it all look and feel OK, but I think Iam quite close to have it working as designed. I think that next Iwill repeat the stages Idid here on the other side, then seal all the new cuts to the ailerons with diluted epoxy before gluing the ailerons in place.

erans

I had just over an hour today, so I was working on the left aileron. It is always so much faster doing it the second time. The aileron is ready, next is fitting the brass tubes.

JGrc

My Feedback: (29)

Looking good

JG

erans

Thank you Jose, slowly it comes together.
All Imanaged to do today was to glue in the brass tubes for the left aileron hinges and "paint" finishing Epoxy resin on the bare structure of the TE and inside the cuttings I did for the hinges in the ailerons (Ihope it will help with painting later).

erans

A sense of achievement today. Iglued the ailerons in place and got them working with the servo.
Ididn't got the different movement up and down as expected by moving the servo arm 15 degrees from centre. I got ~19 degrees deflection in both direction at the aileron tip as shown. Iwill set the different movement up and down with the servo travel from the transmitter. I hope that Jose will be able to provide me with his deflection settings used for flying the aeroplane.
The last photo show the cut in the covering I had to make for the servo arm. It was interfering with the free movement of the servo.

I was so excited about it that I made a video, Iwill post a link when it is ready on Youtube.