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12-26-2009 | 02:32 PM

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SticknRudder

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From: White Oak, PA

RE: Ace Extra 230 33% Fiberglass

Howdy, hope you all are enjoying the holidays. Thanks for the quick replies. First thing I noticed was the cowl included with the kits was not the same as the one pictured in the MA article - got in touch with Craig at FiberglassSpecialties and after a couple of photo swaps he sent me the right one - MA-512 (he said the one had was probably from an Ohio R/C Ultimate - how it got in there is anyone guess) - new cowl width measured 9.25", and it can be easily persuaded down to 9.12" to match F-1 while generating a nice rise to meet the centerline of the forward deck, so that solved one problem, however the squeeze on the width of the cowl does not match the fuse lines on the drawing....but I don't think it's that important - the sides are actually parallel to the centerline.

Wing tube and socket (I nixed the extended reinforced spar idea) - contacted Tom at TnT landing Gear (by the way, both of these guys were extremely helpful and patient - I received my orders within a couple of days after placing), and we agreed on the WT-393 tube and socket. After a brief discussion with Tom, the tubes will be located directly over the CG - this is exactly 2.50" aft of the leading edge spar measured on the foam core (obviously) and 32% of the root of the completed wing. Since the spars are perpendicular to the fuse centerline they should align with the fuse taper as shown on the top view of the drawing - and they're pretty close. I layed the leading edge of the wings against a straight edge and installed the forward foam deck between them to check the taper of the deck against the wing roots (nothing is sheeted yet - all pre-cut foam is still raw) - this assembly checks with the drawing, except I need to add 0.44" to the front end to butt against F-1, and trim the same amount off the back end to maintain the position of the turtledeck and canopy. Either the foam shrunk over the years or it was cut about 1/2" short to begin with - don't know.



Turtledeck – this piece of foam will be replaced because it does not match the fuse side taper (or anything else). If I were to use it, it would need to be positioned 2.80” aft of the forward deck to allow enough material to be removed from the sides.



I’ve drawn all of the above in acad to confirm the dimensions and apparent location of these parts prior to cutting the formers and fuse construction. Based on my wings as supplied, the included angle is 8.5 degrees (or 4.25 degrees per side). Per the drawing supplied with the kit, the fuse is 8.82 degrees (4.41), the forward deck is 8.44 degrees (which will be adjusted) and the turtledeck is 9.40 degrees. I do not want to adjust the wing roots to match the fuse – I think that cutting the formers to the correct width is the better way to go. Based on the 8.50 degree fuse the resultant F-8 will be 1.38” wide (maintaining the overall length on the drawing of 52.125” from F-1 to the tail F-8) as opposed to 1.00” wide on the drawing.



My suggestion is that you follow the same steps that I have, to make sure that the foam decks match the wings prior to setting up the fuse. I don’t know if the foam has changed dimensionally over the years or what, and I don’t think I’m going too far overboard with all of the dimensional checks. Not looking for perfection here, just a nice easy job on the build. Kit will be powered by a new DLE 55.



And finally, I think I’ve got the wrong canopy too.

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