It looks better than my first plane. Make sure the wings and tail are straight. Also make sure that the controls work freely.
Here are some things to look out for next time:
- Make sure the wing ribs are cut with the grain running straight. That will give you the most strength. Note the second pic where a few have the grain running crooked.
- Learn to make glue joints using very little glue. Note the picture where you glued the trailing edge on. If you put just a little glue on the ribs, let it soak in, then add just a little more and apply the trailing edge. It is usually easier if you apply the trailing edge to the top, then add weights. When dry, turn the wing over and again glue the trailing edge to the top. For the most strength and least weight, male sure everything fits well with no gaps. NEVER try to fill gaps with glue. Good glue joints are harder to make but well worth learning. It comes with experience so you need to build lots of planes.
- Hinges. I noticed you used RC hinges. I hope they are the barrel type and move easily. The sheet nylon ones are good when you have a servo to move them but not when you depend on the pull of the model as on a CL ship. Sewn or cloth hinges are better for small CL models.
- Your control setup. By moving your bellcrank closer to the ship and the control horn a little more inboard so that the pushrod is parallel to the fuselage would look better and possibly work better. Keep that in mind for your next ship.
- When you need to fill gaps like the bellcrank mount and fuselage to wing joint, use a balsa as a filler, with a small amount of glue to hold it in place.
- The rudder will probably break off easily. It is much stronger if the balsa grain is running up and down.
- The engine mount could use some support, like a triangular balsa block as high as the engine mount and back to the wing leading edge on the left side and from the bottom of the tank to the bottom of the fuselage, also back to the wing leading edge on the right side.
- You do not show your fuel tank installation. What do you have?
Some other pointers: Fly over grass if you can. Let someone hand launch it for you. You can also run some cardboard over grass for take off if you want. Concrete or asphalt eats airplanes.
Have you ran the engine yet?
Looking good so far.
George