Aloha Gentlemen,
I've been waiting on my retractable tail wheel from Lado, to begin the instillation of the stab and rudder. I also decided to toss out the pull/pull elevator and rudder system and go with carbon fiber rods. The ESM system sucks, the hardware in the kit is not up to the job...and I'm going to change over. The carbon fiber rods seem to be a nice step up from using Golden Rods or a pull/pull system, for this size model. I will use a pull/pull set up for the tail wheel steering, but my rudder and elevator will be carbon fiber rods. I will be installing the speed flap on the belly and there is more then enough room back there to get it all installed. I need that retract tail wheel to finalize where every thing is going and install the tail feathers. But the real nice thing is...I can reach all the way into the fuselage to do the work...it has a big fuselage.
I found that the fourth bulkhead aft of the fire wall is not glued in. Only about 1" on top and along the bottom and no glue on the sides at all...not good. The fire wall has no over flow of glue anywhere and I will need to fix this also. My ESM F6F fire wall came lose on the third engine run and I did had to do a repair re-glue. This one looks just like my other fire wall, so before I move on to installing anything more, I'll fix it. I'll need remove everything attached to the fire wall. I use finishing epoxy mixed with shredded fiberglass and just pour it onto the fire wall with the tail sticking straight up...and let the epoxy flow into all the cracks and open area's. It did the trick and I no further issues with the fire wall, but I let the epoxy sit for three days. I'll use 30 minute epoxy on the #4 bulkhead and do this after the fire wall is epoxy is set up properly.
I used to build from kits...and I've been building for 60 years. These ESM kits are not built per say...but more like assembling pre-built parts. The ESM ARF's are a bit more complex of an assembly then lets say, a Top Flight ARF. But what I do now is modify these airframes into something just a bit different. It takes a bit of time to do it all, but this is the fun factor for me. Some folks build works of art...and the skill level to do this kind of work is truly amazing. I love really love this hobby and it keeps me smiling.
Soft Landings Always,
BobbyofMaui
