RE: 1/5 Pepsi Chipmunk - Build
I haven't had much time to spend on the Chipmunk but been doing bits and pieces, a few minutes at a time. I guess it all adds up, as everything is not fully framed up and some final sanding to be done.
I have also been working on the spats and the strut covers. I decided to discard the materials that came with the kit for the strut covers but make my own out of something a bit more solid.
The other deviation from the instructions is that all the servos are now inside the plane and pull-pull cables to link up the rudder.
I have temporarily fitted the cowl, the canopy is roughly cut aned I have painted the cockpit flat back.
I tried to modify the stock muffler that came with the G38 but didn't have much luck. I admit that I'm not much good with metal work but I have made a deal with a friend to braze a piece of a 5/8 pipe to the lower end of the muffler and a small Brigg and Stratton lawn mower muffler on the end to form a secondary muffler. The B&S is fairly open and I am convinced that I am providing a better exhaust path through this than the small louvres on the stock muffler did. Therefore, there should be little or no power loss but a quieter and better sounding engine.
Not far off covering now!
As a summary:
The only areas where I have devoiated from the design is the strut covers, the servo placement and some minor changes around the fuel tank floor. I also reinforced somewhat the wing trailing edges where the Robart hinge points are mounted. This was more of a peace of mind thing than out of necessity because I think with everything assembled, it would have been plenty strong.
The build has been relatively easy. The kit is exceptionally well thought out and so far, I haven't had to replace a single wood item that was included. The only thing I replaced (strut covers) was out of preference. All have been of top quality.
Ari