ORIGINAL: SeamusG
Thanks Tim.
As a beginning I'm going to stick with the 61 FX vertically mounted w/ stock exhaust. No retracts. Digital DS821 servos (dual aile), 6.0v 1500+ mAh NiMh battery. I should be able to upgrade to a Macs header / pipe combo without affecting the cowl design.
What size of fuel tank are you using? How long are your flights? Particular to any specific brand? I understand that you fly an XLT that weighs 2 - 3 lb. more than the advertised weight of the Killer Chaos.
How's about brand of engine mounts? I've used both SIG & Hayes for my 6 kits. The kit comes with 4-40 hardware for both mount-to-firewall & engine-to-mount attachement. I'm going with 6-32 across the board.
What type of glue do you prefer? Fuse construction? Wing construction? I'm thinking that CA will get the nod simply to ensure squareness. I've managed to twist a fuse by using Titebond and NOT having the structure secured well enough. "Honest, it was straight BEFORE I left the basement". Since this will be my first tapered / non-constant chord wing I'm thinking of going with CA & accellerator.
There is SO much to learn and so little time ...[8D]
TTFN,
Good plan on the Macs heder and pipe. On the XLT I actually had to slightly cut into the fuselage to get it to fit right and be straight. I added some additional balsa to the inside of the radio bay to allow me to wittle away on the outside to accomodate the pipe bump . I took my time an used 60 grit paper and saned it until the fuselage indentation was basically the same shape of the pipe. after it was all set and ready to cover I soaked the area with thin CA to add more strength. I maintained a clearance of about 1/4" to allow colling air to slip through and keep the pipe from melting the Monokote.
I used a 12 ounce tank as the space was limited with the Robart air nose gear retract. Igot a good 8+ minutes with reserve for two additional go-arounds if Ineeded. It really depened on how hard Iwas on the throttle. After 8 minutes I was a bit ready to land any ways as she would cover a lot of airspace in that time.
6/32' is what Iused as well. Iused an Hayes mount and installed it in the typical kit fasion with blind nuts. Itapped and died the threads i the mount for bolting the engine on.
As for Glues Iused all three depending on the area of use. CAon the internal area's (formers to fuselage sides), Titebond on the places anywhere I needed to sand to shape or smooth and in those critical high strength area's I use epoxy as no other glue is more durable. To keep things from shifting during the glue drying process its either pinned or taped to a straight solid surface. As for the wings Ipin the spars solid to my building board which is usually a mahogony hollow core door. Then I use CA to glue the ribs and structure basically together following the same guidelines that Iused on the fuselage. I will use Titebond to add the sheeting and shear webs as it has much more strength the CA. Same goes the rib cap strips but will use the tecnique of coating the rib edge with Titebond glue but at the ends will use CA to accelerate the installation and holding of the cap. Use pins or tape to help with holding things in place.
Idon't use the CAaccellerator unless it is absolutely needed as it tends to make the bond fragile. To keep things straight pin, tape, clamp them and use weights to hold things down. The wings stay pinned to the table until sheeting is bonded to either the upper or lower surface. This ensures the wings will keep straight. There again I'm constantly checking with a straight edge or sighting with my eye ball.
When glueing the skins to the wings I'll use tape and pins to keep it from shifting on the structure and then will use old magazines and/or 2 pound sand bags that I made, to put even pressure on the sheeting to get a good bound to the ribs and spars. And of course high strength areas I used epoxy.