john josey

I decided to add fusalage doublers to give the wing a better seat, a good anchor point for the wing mounting plate and just to help stiffen the fusalage in general.





The wing mounting plate is epoxied in place with 1/2" triangular stock on the underside.

john josey

I just used a piece of scrap 1/4" balsa for a better join at the tail end.

TimT2000

My Feedback: (1)

This is my favorit project going on right now,, just killer.  I will give you $500
for an ARC one.  Why the heck did they stop making these anyway?

Tim

john josey

I added some stringers to help with the bottom sheeting, tailplane mount and a couple of vertical ones to help with the mounting of the snakes.

john josey

Hi Tim,

Thats a question i`ve been asking myself for a while now. If someone was to aquire the rights and produce kits or even ARTF`s, surely they would have a winner ?

john josey

This is the first 'fitting' of the wing, i only shaped the very centre of the leading edge, just enough to allow me to fit it.



For once the wing is a pretty good fit on the fusalage sides and all sizes check out good.

john josey

Spent a fair amount of time trying to make my mind up where to put the 'split'. I thought of just making it vertical from the trailing edge of the wing to come into line with the 'cockpit window', but thought this way would make it easier to get the wing on and off.

Thats all i managed today, next thing will be shaping that former (i hope)

john josey

The part that i hate doing, marking and drilling the holes for the dowels on the leading edge. I sat the wing in place and just pushed a couple of lenths of scrap dowel through the former to make a defined mark in the exact place on the leading edge.

john josey

The last job i managed to get done was the plywood plate for the wing bolt. You can see in the picture the scrap light ply and the balsa spacers i used to get the position of the back of the plate.

john josey

Made a start on the tailplane today just a simple construction with a piece of 1/4" square hardwood for a stiffener.

You can see the outline of the scaled up one drawn out on the bench with the 40 size one in the middle.

john josey

john josey

I considered doing a built up tailplane, but truth be told i just couldn`t be bothered. I would be really miffed if i had went to the bother and then had to add weight to the tail ! i`ll take my chances.

john josey

This pile of wood aint going down much.

john josey

I ran out of balsa sheet to do the other elevater half, but i have photographed it with the 40 size one for comparison.

john josey

The last jobs i managed to get done today were finish off the end ribs ready for the wing tips, shave and sand leading edge to near enough final shape and tidy up centre section sheeting around where the fuel tank sits.






Thats a 12 oz tank in there, it makes you realise just how big an aeroplane it is !

john josey

It`s a wonder i get anything done with all the mess i make !

john josey

Not much done today, just lined up the wing and drilled the hole for the wing bolt. I did the front and rear formers for the cockpit centre section on the top of the wing which just needs sheeting now, but i forgot to take a picture. oops !

Pelle Gris

How will you get to the wing bolt once you build up the fuse section on the wing? I´m going with two 6mm wing bolts mounted from the underside though glued in "guidetubes".

john josey

My plan was just to have a hole on the top. I`ve used this method before on a club 20 racer and it worked really well. The only down side is if the bolt for some reason falls inside but a small piece of fuel tubing over the bolt should stop this.

It`s not too late to change it to the other way round so i`ll speak to the owner and see which way he prefers

Just as a matter of interest do you know how it`s meant to bo done, what does it show on the plan ?

Pelle Gris

I´m building from the original "The Hots" plans which is a one-piece airplane. I believe Midwests Hots II did have a removable wing, along with it´s bigger cousins.

john josey

Again not much done today but every little helps i suppose.

I added a couple of 1/4" triangular stock just to give a better joint to the leading edge for the former while i get round to sheeting it.


Both formers on at the correct angle ready for the sheeting

john josey

One last check to see the wings are square to the fusalage, and i`m pleased to say they are.

john josey

Finally managed to get the centre section sheeting done over the weekend in between work, kids and flying. You can see in the first picture the 1/4 sq hardwood i had to add to keep the top edges straight and not curve into the centre which would look terrible when lined up with the front and back of the fusalage.

I spoke to the owner about the single bolt from the top and he still wants to go with it. As he says, trying to fit what is effectively a top wing model from the bottom will be a pain in the backside, much easier to sit the model on it`s wheels, sit the wing in place and one bolt from the top.



This picture just shows the top sheeting on with the screw hole cut out. I`m hoping to get stuck into it this week.


Starting to take that unmistakable HOTS outline ?

john josey

Managed to get a few hours today although not much to show for it. Started off by drawing the fin and rudder onto the bench the same as the tailplane.


Fin, rudder, tailplane and elevators hinged,nearly complete, just the control surfaces to be tapered and the leading edges to be rounded off.

davidgeorge212

ive been following your progress, You do some really good looking work.

David