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Old 01-19-2004 | 04:02 PM
  #13  
Balsa Rain
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Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Longview, TX
Default Update:

Got mine together for it's maiden last weekend; Man, this thing is sweet! I didn't do the flap install as mine is (apparently) one of the 'later' Seagull versions and has the dual aileron servos. I programmed in flaperons in case they were needed....they were not.
I can't believe just how slowly this thing will fly....and when it gets too slow, it doesn't tip-stall, it just kinda "mushes". Very predictable and very pleasant. With the 46 FX on it, its almost over-powered! Lotsa vertical but I didn't push it as I'm still breaking in the new piston/liner. Six or seven flights, very very happy!
Now the other side: On my last landing I dumb-thumbed the roll-out and impaled the wing on the safety fence post(!)
Just dumb stuff, and not a major thing to fix, but I did get a chance to learn a tiny bit about the construction.
1. The balsa sheeting on all parts of the plane is the softest I've seen; Handling the plane without crushing is very touchy, indeed.

2. the leading edge of the wing angles (by design) and the transition is not well done. The leading edge balsa piece is about 3/8" think front to back; to make the change from straight to swept, the builder took a straight chunk of LE stock and sawcut it from the rear towards the front and stopped about 1/16th from the front face. the wood was then bent to make the appropriate shape and that was it....no glue in the sawcut, no scab or gusset to back it up,etc. Of course, this incredibly weak design happened to be adjacent to the spot I stuck the fencepost into! I do believe that my wing would have had a dent rather than a gaping hole in the wing if the LE had been more "normally" constructed.

3. The spar is not much to look at. Its a beam design with 1/4" sticks running over and under the ribs and shear webbing made of the same soft balsa.

4. A lot of un-glued points in the wing.

5. The landing gear blocks seemed BETTER attached and braced than expected.

6. The wing is fixed, and despite my carping, I really like this one!

7. I would suggest using a hypodermic-style glue dispenser to inject some epoxy into the sawcut gap in your leading edges. Just poke a pin into the bend of the edge, you'll find it. Just squirt some epoxy in there.

Ricky