formerlyknownasAWB

I just glued the two sides of the fuse together and was wondering if any of you do this differently. i don't like how the instructions tell you to get the f2 and f3 formers perpendicular to the one side of the fuse, i feel this is going on the assumption everthing is cut perfect. i did this exactly as the directions said then mounted the firewall and had fuel tank floor in place, then glued the firewall w/epoxy. After it cured i was checking out my work and noticed there is a slight twist to the fuse.[:@][:@][:@] now maybe i'm just being a perfectionist but this can't be good.

I went on to test fit the front fuse bottom f4 and f5, as well as rear fuse bottomto see if would help correct this prob. Held tightly with rubber bands. and NOPE[:@]

So now here i am, pretty discouraged and wondering if it is worth going on.

Any help would be appreciated

theo nice that its finally starting to look like a plane, what motor you putting in yours?

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Normally F1, F2, & F3 a perpendicular to the sides, so 90 degrees would be correct.

If you have a twist, one of your formers was not square.

Try to align and compromise it the best you can. Divide up the differences.

Sand relatively true. It will be OK.

enjoy,

Jim

formerlyknownasAWB

so your saying try and square it up without breaking anything and at the end i'll have to sand where the stab goes to make it parallel with the wing.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Yes. That will work fine.

You often have to do this, even with a ARF.

It's important that your wing is square with the fuselage as close as you can get it. Then have the tail square with the wing.

Enjoy,

Jim

theo63

thanks rcken for those photos on covering helped me out,what area is your lt 40 in so i can read it?? sorry couldnt get the pictures to load yesterday ill try it again with this thread. agvwhtboy soerry u have a twist mine didnt do that,i was wondering how you was coming along. im putting in a os40 la in mine,ill try to get the pictures in as it was my most frustrating day of building,one of those days i guess you just have to walk away from it,my big fingers got in the way so much putting the engine it ,not much room to work in there

theo63

hey it worked today so what about the first picture you can see the glue,does that show up when covering,i did sand the other side it looks better biut i didnt want to take off to much wood thanks steve

theo63

okay i couple of new beginners like myselve has sent me a pm having problems with the doublers on the inside of the fuselage,i think that avgwhtboys problems with the twist started here as well. how does one tell great planes co. about changing the directions on glueing these on with 30 minute epoxy instead of ca medium in which you dont have enough time to alingn them properly?i think i got lucky when i did mine but others are not

formerlyknownasAWB

i don't think you will see though the skin unless you use clear.

well i glued the bottom and other two forms in. I guess it was because i was wearing my glasses last night. as thick as they are, it must have changed the perspective i am used to looking at.

I'm using a os.46 FX in this bird.

i'm gonna try to post some pics here in a min.

formerlyknownasAWB

i finished a few more things since i took these but here is my pt40 in progress. and a picture of the snow sled that the engine is coming off of.

theo63

here is where im at so far with the engine mounted,landing gear all installed,just to take it off again. hey avgwhtboy,it looks good so far keep it up and the pics too thanks steve

theo63

the fuselage is just about done except all the sanding is yat to be done. after cleaning up the work area ill start on the wings tonight

formerlyknownasAWB

question: how far back in the FUSE does that wedge have to go? should it be flush with the sides? in order to get it flush i would have to sand it down.

help is appreciated




AWB

theo63

yes you have to sand it down some,keep it flush with the back of the fusealge so it does not stick out

theo63

okay guys i need some help please,these are the pictures of my first wing build and the trailing edge is warped big time as you can see in the pictures,i tried getting this to go and pin it down but its hard so i thought id stop to see what you guys think should i proceed or any fixes,and is this normal for this piece to be so bad,up untill this point the kit has been great im sure there is a fix thanks steve

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I would make myself a new piece of wood. I wouldn't use that thing.

You could call Hobby Sevices and see If they will send you another? Its less trouble to just make a straight one.

Enjoy,

Jim

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I took a look at the pictures in your post and you are correct, that trailing edge is pretty well warped. My first advice would be to call GP and discuss with them how badly the trailing edge is warped. I'd direct them to the pictures in your thread to they can see for themselves. It's been my experience that GP will more than likely take care of you and send you a new trailing edge. If for some reason they don't send you a new part you can still fix this one. The best way to take care of it would be to wet the trailing edge and then pin/weight it down on your building board and let it dry. It should be straight after it dries out. Double check to see if it's straight and then you can use it on your wing. But the first thing I would do would be to call GP and see if they will replace it.

Hope this helps

Ken

theo63

jim,ken,thanks guys i didnt think i should be using it so im gonna get a hold of GP I just emailed them the pictures and ill try them tomm on the phone,my other trailing edge is nice and straight i can see if it was a slight warped but i think this one was way out,ill let you know what happens,i think i can use my straight one and continue untill i hear something thanks again steve

piper28

I'd have to say, quality of some of the long pieces of wood was probably my one real complaint on this kit. (I built this kit myself and learned to fly with it). For me, the problem was the aileron strips, so you might want to take a look at those too to see if they're going to be suitable. I ended up replacing them because they were warped so badly.

piper28

Hey avgwhtboy,

I thought I'd comment on this comment you made earlier in this thread (didn't start reading the thread till this evening):

Personally, I cannot strongly enough recommend against doing this. Even with the lesser dihedral this plane has plenty, and quite frankly may have too much. It's absolutely steady with the "sport" wing, and recovers very well. (If anything, I'd almost say too well, I've sometimes wondered if the plane actually flies too well.) However, one thing I've noticed is that this plane can definitely catch a crosswind with the wing, especially when doing things like taxiing. Add another, what, 3 inches of dihedral, and you're going to have problems flying with any crosswind at all.

Oh, for the record, I used the rubber band wing. I'd say it's personal preference. Most accidents I've seen made while I was attending student nights either a) left little to no damage at all (ditched in the corn or soy from low altitude), or b) left plane in pretty bad shape, and whether the wing was bolted or rubber banded wasn't going to make a difference).

formerlyknownasAWB

roger that piper,
i think i'll take your advice and that of others and go with less dehidral. i understand what you are saying about a cross wind.

What do you think is the max wind speed that this plane can be flown in? I've flown it on the G2 with the wind all the way up and it still flew.

looks like i might be able to catch up with you now theo/steve.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

As for the greater dihedral,

I didn't have a PT 40 but another plane with no ailerons and lots of dihedral. It looked like a pigeon flying.

Anyway, you absolutely could not trust flying that plane in a cross wind because the wind would get under the wing and cause it to flip or cartwheel on the ground.

All the PT 40's I've seen had ailerons and very little dihedral. Nice looking and great flying.

Enjoy,

Jim

theo63

well i called GP today and they are sending me out new ones but i wont get them probably for 4 days,bumming,i tried to get it faster but they said that was the best they can do,OH well they didn't have a problem sending me new ones they didn't even want to see the pictures i took,yes avgwhtboy you should get caught up with me now,guess all i can do is sand away on the fuselage and wait very impatiently. i will be putting ailerons on mine and I'm going with the B wing as well,,,think ill glue some toothpicks together tonight!!!!!!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

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Glad to hear that they're taking care of you and getting you the parts you need. GP is pretty good about that.

Ken

formerlyknownasAWB

ya i obviously don't know what i'm talking about,

for the best finish all that has to be sanded off.

and i to am going with the B wing i didn't realize the A had 8". they should make the kit so you can choose between, 5" and 0" dihedral.

Also i was wondering about the elevator stab and rudder; Would it be better to wait on mounting these until the wing is finished and mounted on? because isn't it more important to have the wing square with the FUSE and then adjust the stab to be parallel to the wing. it seems it would be easier to make adjustments to the stab instead of doing it the way the book tells ya.

thanks

and theo i probably have more sanding to do than you[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

piper28

I'd probably try to get a little more of the glue off the sides. I actually hit mine with a random orbit sander, but you have to be carefull doing that, because you can take too much wood off real quick. As for how visible it's going to be, it'll be visible, but we should also face reality. Your first covering job is probably not going to be the greatest in the world anyways . Mine certainly isn't. Basically I'd say try sanding some more, there's really plenty of wood there, but you're probably not going to get it "perfect" looking on the sides. (I know mine had plenty of glue that leaked through like that.)

A lot of that depends on what the relationship between the wind and your runway is. If the wind is straight down the runway you can get away with a lot more, although turning while taxiing can be interesting at time (I've had to retrieve the plane a couple times when the wind blew it over). With the wind straight down the runway I've done about 15 mph winds, maybe with gusts up to about 20. I've also not flown in the same wind when it was at an angle to the runway. My personal, relatively uninformed opinion is that much higher than that is probably pushing it (although someone with more flight experience might be willing to give iit a try).