Thanks for the tip Bob.

Well I'm 90% now. Ailerons are hinged. I found that I could not get a 0 gap on the ailerons though. I have about 1/16" or so to allow 1" of up-travel. Down travel is greater, but because of the position of the aileron being lined up on the upper surface of the wing you get some differential which is what the manual said they were going for. Anyway - I can make the high-rate throws easily.

Using the Robart hinge pins was not so bad. I had to make some small slots for the hinge knuckle in the aileron and cut the pins down to 3-barbs (removed 2.) I only had the larger #308 hinge pins on hand. For the tail feathers I was able to get 0 gaps. I skipped making a jig and went slowly by hand... worked out perfect, no binding.

All I have left now is build aileron linkages, set aileron throws, seal gaps, add white stripes to the cowl, install belly pan and set the CG. Should have pics of it this weekend. I might put the skiis on and taxi it around without the wings to break in the engine LOL... more fun than just letting it bench run LOL.

I'm planning to try the stock landing gear first. I have used the Dubro before and I even have a set that I drilled 1/2 the weight out of that were still plenty strong (I think you could land a 20lb plane on the dubro gear - they are very very tough)... but rather than using the nylon bolts with the dubro gear I figured I'd stay with the flexy aluminum ones. My reasoning is that our field is very bumpy - with the dubro gear you get a little speed up hit a bump and you are airborne, ready or not... with Alu you get a nice smooth takeoff run and just have to bend them back every now and again. Not to mention if you mess up the landing and drop it they spread out and absorb a lot of the shock.

All-up weight is going to be right around 8lbs, that's with 6635 digitals and a 1100 5 cell pack... The CF control rods save a surprising amount of weight and I didn't have to use any servo extensions. The plane sure looks small once its built - when I built the wings it seemed bigger than I though it would be but somehow once it's all assembled it "shrinks" optically. The wings are almost the same width in comparison to my 22% scale Sukhoi and oddly enough the wing loading works out very similar. My Sukhoi is a heavy beast too (well I thought so) 12.5 lbs but thats with a Saito 180, dual batteries and on-board glow... the VF really should take a pounding - the fuse is built like a tank!

I wonder if VF ever come back if they would consider selling an ARC (at the same price even)? I'm thinking vinyl is very heavy... if you had an ARC you could save some weight here and there, cover it light, maybe even sheet the wings and still come out at a lower weight. I'd say offer a kit but the darn thing is so well built I don't think I could do any better.