samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

pic 1:
With that kind of weather it's a good day to work on planes!
It was 50's a few days ago, was 28 out in my shop and will be in the 50's again this weekend: no use shoveling a few inches (especially since I have no need to drive!).
After growing up in Cleveland, getting only about 10" of snow in Cincinnati a year is like moving to the south!
By the end of February, it's starting to get warm again.
With about 12 hours of college bowl games on yesterday, plus W/E games, I've been lax on my plane building!

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Tail feathers (cont)

pic 2:
The LE was already rounded over so only some minor sanding was needed to remove about a 1/16" overlap on the horizontal stab.
Again, I used masking tape to protect the sheeting to remove the bulk of the balsa.
I epoxied the end blocks onto the outer edges of the horizontal stabs (top part in picture).
I used the elevators to determine the position of the blocks since the elevators have counter weights on the outside leading edge.

pic 3:
Balsa blocks epoxied to the inside edges of the elevators (bottom part in picture).
As with the ailerons, the LE balsa blocks were rounded over with a 1/2" round over bit on my router table.
I had to round these over before CA'ing them in since the elevator has those counter weights on the LE.
As you can see in the picture, the LE balsa block is about an 1/8" narrower than the LE of the built up elevator frame.
Putting the LE balsa block against the TE of the horizontal stab, I found that the LE balsa block is the correct width to fit against the horizontal stab so I'll have to sand down all those ribs to align with the stab.

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Outer wings (cont)

pic 4:
I drilled four holes in each side of the aileron servo cover plastic supports provided in the kit to insure that the epoxy can flow into them to give a secure bond.

pic 5:
A simple jig to insure the plastic servo cover mounts are at the correct location.
Just a piece of scrap 1/16" ply (same width as cover plate) CA'ed to a piece of balsa: I can just slide the plastic mount up to the bottom of the ply while the balsa is flush to the surface of the wing to get proper recess room for the servo covers.

pic 6:
I put the wings on end to let gravity hold the plastic mounts in place while the epoxy dries.

pic 7:
My new JR X9303 2.4 will be first used on the Texan.
You get one receiver and a DVD (no paper manual) for instructions.
I printed off the part of the instructions that I needed.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Tail wheel well (cont)

pic 1/2/3:
Epoxied some 1/16" thick ply for extra support for attaching the tail wheel cover to the FG fuse with some screws.
My original Ziroli AT-6 wheel shaft is too short so I went to Robart's web page and ordered the longer 'steering arm assembly' that's made for Yellow's AT-6.

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Tail feathers (cont).

pic 4:
Used the same power tools as for the ailerons to rough sand the horizontal stab to its approximate shape.

pic 5:
Ditto on the rudder.

pic 6/7/8/9/10:
Used the Fein sander plus hand sanding to get the rudder to its final shape.
Lots of sanding to get all those edges to the correct shape, especially the LE of the rudder.
I used four of Robarts large hinges on the rudder.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Tail feathers (cont).

pic 1/2/3:
rudder dry fitted.

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outer wings (cont)

pic 4:
Used only one plastic cover support on the other side of the servo well since the servo control arm will be occupying that area.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Tail Feathers (cont)

pic 1/2/3/4/5:
Stab and elevator finish sanded with a Fein detail sander and hand sanding.
Also shown are the control horn parts supplied in the kit.
Two separate control horns, 1/2" drilled out wooden dowels that go into each elevator, a center stabilizing block to hold the ends of the control horns and two brass bushings.
A nice safety device on two separately controlled control horns in case one servo goes bad.

pic 6:
The two halfs of the stab epoxied (on end to let gravity hold them together until the epoxy dries).

pic 7:
7/8" cut off the front of the stab and some thin balsa sheeting will be epoxied to the exposed area, to allow the stab to go into the FG fuse.

pic 8/9:
Four Robart large pin hinges per elevator side.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Tail feathers (cont)

pic 1:
Pilot holes drilled for the control horns.

pic 2/3:
A 1/2" diameter forstner bit used to drill the holes in the elevators.

pic 4:
The ends of the control horns are a little too long and about a 1/2" has to be cut off.
A dremel cut off disk makes quick work of this.

pic 5/6/7:
Stab, elevators and control horns dry fitted

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Tail feathers (cont)

pic 1:
Part of the FG fuse needs to be cut to allow room for the control horn assembly when the stab is epoxied to the fuse.

pic 3/4/5:
Dry fit of stab to the FG fuse.

Baldeagle

My Feedback: (7)

Sam When using a Forstner bit what is the best rpm to run so it doesn't splinter so bad on balsa. Thanks Rich

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Rich,
I use a pretty slow speed.
I normally use my drill press and I'm guessing it's only turning about four turns per second: you can almost see the forstner teeth.
It's a very low setting on the belts (probably the lowest setting): actually, I keep it set there for all my drilling.
When I did the balsa blocks, I actually left the bit stationary and moved the block up to the bit and lifted the balsa into the bit.
Definitely not a normal procedure but I seemed to have better control using this method: if I could have laid the balsa on a flat surface, I would have drilled it in the normal fashion. Since the balsa block was attached to the rest of the elevator, there was no way to put the TE of the elevator on the drill table without damaging it, plus it's a curved surface, so I just held the elevator and moved it up the forstner bit.
If you're getting tear out, the bit may be dull and a new one may be needed.
Balsa is pretty soft and drilling into the end grain may also make the bit wonder.
I had a pilot hole drilled first using a 1/16" bit.
I haven't tried this but maybe some thin CA over the surface may help by 'stiffening' up the wood fibers.
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Glassing the outer wings.

pic 1:
Here's a nice trick I use in my wood working shop to easily remove dents in the wood.
As long as the wood has been dented (compressed) and not cut, you can just take a very wet rag to wet the dented surface and then use a hot iron (cloths iron or monokote iron) and heat up the dent and the wood will expand and take its original shape.
There was a dent along the edge of the servo hole and the water/heat removed the dent: much easier than trying to bondo that spot and then sand.

pic 2:
I used the supplied servo covers in the kit and sanded them so they fit the servo well hole.
Since the servo holes are routed out with a bit, each corner has a small radius that must be squared up.

pic 3:
I used Ziroli's 1 OZ FG cloth for the wings (other surfaces get 0.5 oz cloth) and fuse (if it was needed).
They sell 10 sq yards for only $24 which I find to be a good deal for that size quantity.

pic 4:
Stuff needed to glass:
Z-poxy finishing resin,
latex gloves,
mixing container,
stir sticks,
yellow bondo auto applicators (squeegee),
lots of paper towels cut into about 2" squares.

pic 5:
First insure all dust and any bumps are removed from the balsa surface.
The initial cut of FG cloth to fit the wing leaving a couple of inches overhang on all sides.
I save some material by cutting at an angle to the wing and then using that cut edge on the other wing half.

pic 6:
Smooth out the FG cloth over the balsa sheeting.
A soft dust broom, paint brush or just your hand works well to get the cloth to cling to the surface.

pic 7/8:
After mixing equal parts of the finishing resin, I just pour it on the cloth starting in the middle of the wing and, using the bondo applicator, squeegee the resin from the center out to the edges.
It's important not to have any wringles in the cloth.
The resin sets up pretty quickly so you need to be organized and work quickly.
This stuff really gets hard once it's cured so you don't want to have to be sanding any big globs that were missed on the surface of the cloth.
Once all the cloth is wet, I squeegee out the entire surface to remove as much resin as possible.
This is where all those paper towels come in handy to wipe off the edge of the yellow applicator after each pass.
It's also important to get all of the cloth wet and adhering to the surface or you'll have 'air pockets'.
They can be removed later by putting a slit in them and re-applying more resin but it's easier to get the cloth down correctly the first time.
I overlap the LE to just past the front edge.
Later, after the resin dries, the excess cloth is easily sanded away and then the top can be done (I usually do the bottom first).
One ounce cloth is pretty thick for 90 degree corners so I don't usually try to go around them.
Trying to go around tight curves/corners usually leaves air pockets.
Once the top is covered, we'll put a second coat of finishing resin on to fill the 'grain' of the cloth.
FG cloth and finishing resin is not made to span gaps or holes: other materials must be used for that.
We'll be using solartex iron on fabric covering for the rudder and elevators.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Glassing the outer wings (cont)

pic 1:
120 grit sand paper for sanding off the excess cloth from the soft edges such as the LE.
A sharp X-acto blade to cut excess waste from the 90 degree edges such as the flap well, TE by the ailerons and the servo well.

pic 2:
Second phase of glassing: FG cloth cut for the top half of the wing.

pic 3/4:
The two top halves of the wings glassed.

pic 5:
While squeegee'ing the excess resin from the top surface, I justed squeegee'ed the resin along the front edge.
Sometimes there's not enough resin along the edge so I dab some on with the popcycle stick and then finish squeegee'ing the resin.

pic 6:
About 2/3 of the resin in one box was used.
A little goes a long way.
How heavy the cloth along with how much surface area dictates how much is used.
One ounce cloth and two large outer wings will use up a lot more resin than normal.
When I do the stab with 0.5 oz cloth, hardly any will be used.
As with epoxy, isopropyl alcahol is used for cleanup.

pic 7:
If you have another hobby, you can pour the remaining excess resin into a ditch for 'rain water' accumulation!

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Glassing outer wings (cont).

pic 1:
Both outer wings trimmed of all waste FG cloth.
I was going to put a second coat of finishing resin on but I'm by-passing that and will just put the primer on the cloth.
I use an auto body two part primer and it will cover up the grain of the cloth and give me a nice smooth surface.

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Glassing the horizontal stab.

pic 2:
I epoxied some scrap 1/8" thick balsa to the front of the stab when I previously cut off 7/8" off the front edge.

pic 3:
I CA'ed the 1/4" tapered balsa hinge gap covers to the TE of the stab.
I put them on with the tapered side toward the outside and now wish I would have put the tapered side toward the inside so the angle of the cover would have matched the stab sheeting.
I put them on the TE of the outer wings with the tapered side out because the tapered side aligned evenly with the angle of the wing sheeting.

pic 4:
I used 0.5 oz cloth to cover the stab.
Here's another dumb move in using two pieces and trying to cover both sides (left/right plus top/bottom) all at once.
I should have done only one side at a time.

pic 5:
I think I got the resin on all areas of the cloth without any wringles.
There's some in the middle but that will be covered by the fuse, plus we need to put some HD cloth on that for strength.
With two separate pieces of cloth crossing in the middle, it's not easy to get them to lay down over each other without pulling up the other one. Also the cloth at the outer tips had to be trimmed and overlapped. I think I got it down OK.

pic 6:
Acetone works great at cleaning out the dried CA in the removable tips on the CA bottles.
An hour soaking usually desolves all the dried CA without any work on my part.

Metalmorphous

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Sam, your AT6 project is looking great!! I pop in every now and then, its helping to keep me out of trouble On the glass work you are doing, I find it best to always do one side at a time, I know this slows things down and you have to do double the clean up but working both makes it hard to handle and get the leading edges to lay down with out air entrapment. As for the small wrinkles, if you have one or two in a visable area you can sand them out and apply a small amout of epoxy or resin to smooth things out before priming. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your next pictures[8D]

Ron

johnnyo

My Feedback: (7)

les try these pics

johnnyo

My Feedback: (7)

That worked so here are pics of how I did the Robart gear for a friend of mine. The Robart gear is not as easy an install as some would lead you to believe. I did not want to take much off the lg blocks in order to slide the gear under forward skin. We only had to relieve the inside of the gear blocks about 1/32 on both sides. Also pics of the gear door mounting that may help you out if you have not got to that.
#1 Gear down and ready to go
#2 Gear installed, note cutaway of forward wing skin, look closely you will see the 3/8 x 1/4 hardwood block glued to the retract mounting rail. This will secure the cut away wing skin.
#3 Cut away forward wing skin with the recessed attachment holes
#4 Gear door hing on another hardwood block.

johnnyo

My Feedback: (7)

Here are pics 5,6,7.8 and 9 of the install
#5 Installing prehinged gear door. The hardwood block slides in under the wing seperation fairing.
#6 2 #2 flat head sheet metal screws than hold the hardwood block / gear door hinge in place.
#7 Door to gear leg actuation mounting
#8 Everything in place and secured. Works very well.
#9 On the gear

Hope this helps some using the same combination of gear and the YA T6
JohnnyO

Canuck1

I was curious on what epoxy you used when you installed the wood into the wing and fuse area. You Texan looks great.

Craig

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Wow, thanks for posting all the pictures/how to's.
Info that we can all use.

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PRIME TIME!:
New Years day it was 18 degrees, today it's 70: time to put some primer on.
I like to add primer to all the parts before assembly.
I find it's easier to wet sand individual parts versus a whole plane at once.
I view it like wood furniture: it's absolutely necessary to sand all wood parts before gluing them together for a professional finish.
With a plane, you can still get a good finish after assembly, but I like doing them before assembly.

pic 1/2/3/4/5:
Before.
I sanded all the parts to give the primer some 'tooth' to hold onto.
I also wiped all parts with alcohol.

pic 6/7/8/9/10/11/12:
After.
I didn't have time to get the moving surfaces ready for priming.
This is a one day 70 degree day so I had to make the best of it.
I did all this outside.
The primer is two part epoxy and very toxic.
I don't worry about any dust since all parts have to be wet sanded plus, probably, another coat.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Here's my HVLP paint gun, the two part epoxy primer from my local auto shop.
The mix is two parts primer to one part hardener: I also add about 10% thinner since this is for a plane and not a car.
Even outside, I use a good paint respirator.
After painting, it's necesary to dismantle the paint gun to properly clean all the internal surfaces.
I find it useful to put a water collector and a small regulator right at the gun handle.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Primer (cont)

pic 1/2/3/4/5:
It was another warm day in the 60's so I worked in the shop.
220 grit wet/dry sandpaper was used and lots of water.
Too many compound curves so everything was done by hand.
The FG fuse had an excellent surface with very few pin holes and some file will be needed for the seam between the two halves of the fuse.
As you can see on the stab and outer wings, I did a p!ss poor job of glassing: lots of minor concave areas where the gray primer is left in those areas. The finishing resin was a little thick when applied and didn't flow as it normally does: Being in the basement, I probably should have nuked it in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up before mixing the two parts.
Oh well: that's one of the reasons why primer is made!

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Primer (cont)

pic 1/2/3:
Today, I finished wet sanding the center wing, cowl and several of the exterior FG parts.
I need to do some research to see if she had landing lights and what color was the cockpit and wheel wells.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Looks like there's lights.
Here's a Marine scheme that I saved from someone.

Found some of my old pictures of my Ziroli silver and yellow scheme.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

cockpit:
looks like they're green (front/rear)

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

I found some panel line prints.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Primer (cont)
To fill any imperfections, I used Bondo glazing & spot putty (NO 907) found at any 'big box' outlet.
The glazing putty is good for very shallow, small imperfections.
It dries quickly and sands easily.
I used the yellow bondo applicator to apply it to the surfaces.
Since it dries fast, the applicator needs to be cleaned after only 15-20 seconds.
Evercoat two part bondo should be used for large defects as the glazing putty takes forever to dry, plus it shrinks and cracks, when applied in thick applications.

pic 1:
The cowl had a few spots that needed filling along the inner front lip plus the seam line where the two halves of the mold meet.

pic 2:
Save a few pin holes, just the seam line needed filling on the fuse.

pic 3:
Outer wings seem to always need some work along the TE of the wings plus spots where the FG cloth wasn't completely smooth.

pic 4:
The center wing only needed filling along the seam.

pic 5:
I had some year old epoxy (never opened) where the resin part crystalized.
It was still functional for bonding but difficult to get out of the container.
I nuked it in the microwave for about 10 seconds and it removed the 'crystalized' form and has stayed liquid.
The 'nuking' didn't seem to affect its bonding characteristics.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

primer (cont)

pic 1/2/3/4/:
The kind of work that takes all day but it looks like you did nothing!
After the glazing putty dried, I sanded the bulk of it off with the same wet/dry 220 sandpaper.
I use a combination of lots of light and my finger tips to find any defects in the surface.
The surfaces look good and ready for future painting (assuming no hanger rash...right!).
All this work will pay off when she's painted.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Engine mount.

pic 1:
I've got a spare 3W-75 side carb, exhaust that I wanted to use except I didn't expect the wrap around muffler to be a problem.
That muffle is so large that the engine shaft sticks out the front of the cowl by a good 1.5 inches.
I'll have to get a side mount muffler.
Bummer, another 100 bucks or so.
Didn't have this problem on the Ziroli since the fire wall sits back a few inches from the fuse front.