Alright I'm back with another posting. This one promisses to be a juicy installment [sm=wink_smile.gif].

Anyone out there superstitious? Me? Naw, not me - I wore the same pair of socks to every football game in high school - didn't "feel" right playing without that particular pair. Tore my ACL the game I didn't wear em ... No, I'm not superstitious. No black cats in the shop ... ever (but that's a different thread here on RCU ). Anyway, according to the date stamping on my camera, this is the 13th day of the build - cue spooky music.

Today, I start by shaping the trailing edge of the wings like I did on the Top wing. Once again, my trusty razor plane makes quick work of it (picture1). From here, I goto the I-strut mounting also like the top wing. I had a bit of trouble here as some glue had squeezed down into the space between the 2 W-2 ribs - I shot a picture (picture2), but you can't really see the glue in there - trust me, it was there. I used a small file to get rid of the glue and made room for the I-Strut. This is where the "building gods" were trying to get my attention - saying, "Alex, look at the plans ... this is important ... we're making this difficult so you'll pause, re-read the directions, and not go down the path you're clearly on ..." Unfortunately, I disregarded the signs and plodded along, epoxied the struts and clamped (picture3).

When the epoxy cured, I came back and added the wingtip sheeting like I had on the Top Wing (picture4). While the sheeting dried out from its shower, I started on the aileron hatches. Pretty straightforward stuff here. One neat device I picked up at one of Hobby Lobby's "crash sales" last year was this neat little device that plugs into a battery and allows you to work/center servos without a radio - nice. I used this (picture6) to make sure my servo was centered before epoxying to the hatch. Also, when I drilled out the servo mounts, I used a pin drill - very handy as well (picture7)

... continued in next message.


Picture1 - This is after about 5 minutes of plane work. Imagine how long that would have taken to sand off - not to mention the balsa dust.
Picture2 - Glue seeped into this area where the I-Strut gets inserted. I used a file to get it out and inserted the I-Strut.
Picture3 - I-Strut epoxied into place, clamped, and curing - you Hog experts are laughing/crying at this picture...
Picture4 - Wingtip sheeting - the sheeting is wet, which is why its darker in color.
Picture5 - Dubro langing gear I picked up at the LHS
Picture6 - New gear compared to the Kit Supplied gear - slightly taller and wider.
Picture7 - Servo centering device.
Picture8 - I liked this so much I posted it twice!
Picture9 - Drilling the servo mounts.