Well TriPacer fans, I'm back in the workshop. We had company over the holidays but things a back to normal around here. The antibiotics have worked their wonders and I am back to my old self. What a drag that was. I coughed so hard that I tore a muscle in my lower stomach, way lower, and caused spasims in my back. There were times in the last few weeks that I didn't care if I lived or not.
I pretty much finished the detail work on the wing so I moved on to the struts. The struts are the only parts built over the plans. They must be built as a pair, one left and one right. The faired shape is made by changing the position of the 1/4 square stick. The plans show the profile and the manual tells you that they are built on top of each other. I did it somewhat differtly. The plan is used to cut the lengths and angles of the sticks. I set the 3/8 sq on the plan and glued them. for the right strut you set the 1/4 sq sticks on the plan and glue them. For the left strut, flip the assembled 3/8 sq sticks over and set the 1/4 sticks on the board and glue. The object is to have the finished struts 5/8" across the top flat and 3/8" across the bottom flat. This is then sanded to give a teardrop shape to the struts. It took about two hours to build and shape the two strut assemblies. Mine came out better than the ones shown in the manual. Once the hinge halfs are CA'd on, the strut legs can be faired into them. They almost dissappear. The struts get covered prior to their final installation. The manual assumes that the plane will be covered in film and their method of installing the struts may not work with my choice of covering, but I will worry about it just before I cover the wing. I am ready to start the cowl and am a little aprehensive about building it from a flat sheet of ABS. MegaMang is finished with his cowl and said that it worked great. We'll see. When I fit up the engine I saw that I will need a remote fuel fill valve. I have never used one and will take whatever advice that any of you have about the various units available. I saw one made from aluminum but can't remember where.