RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

After all the joints were dry,I removed the clamps. I then added some tri-stock under the rear wing brace with epoxy. I then dry fit fb1,2,and 3 to the bottom of the fuse.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

After slight sanding on fb1,2and 3 for fit and adding the 3/8"x 3/8" temporary tail piece(you can almost see it in the picture) I glued them in place. Then I placed the 1/4" x 1/4" runners on the bottom in the formers 5,6 and 7 an glued and trimmed the ends at F5.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

It looks like your getting there ,so far things are looking great.
With company here thru the weekend I didn't have a lot of time to cover ,but I finally got it .I will add some stripes to the bottom of some sort ,just to break it up.
The servos I think I will use are Hitech 645 MG 107 oz at 4.8 volts .
I have a new G-62 thats not being used ,I know I know its a heavy engine and may crowd the wing loading .But it the whole thing will come in at 16-17 Lbs I'm going to try it .I seen a MW extra fly here 2 yrs ago with a 62 in it and it was very impressive.
Right now the empty airframe with landing gear & wheels weights 7.5 lbs covered, the 62 with muffler is 5.5. so thats 13 lbs. I don't think the servos and battery pack will add up to enough to take it over the 16 lbs limit I'm shooting for.
Good luck with your build I'll be watching for your progress.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

I forgot to mention ,my cowl and pants will be here this week also.I got them from Stans fiber tech ,as far as Im concerned his products are very good ,never had a prob yet and I have several items from him .
BTW if you havent looked at your canopy yet ,you may want to I didnt bother to take mine out of the box and wrapping untill after the fuse was covered and guess what ???you got it ,it had been smashed during shipment ,not bad but enough to kink it .I called MW and there sending me a new one at no charge .That was very good of them .

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

You guys are both looking good just keep on it. YES I'm still looking!!

Cyberwolf ---- When you start flying yours with the 62 -- don't ever forget to pull power on a steep down leg and pull out.

ENJOY !!! RED

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Cyberwolf, The covering is sharp, nice job. That G-62 will pull it right. I'll be at 3.2 lbs for the Brison without the muffler. I hope to weigh in less than 16 lbs. as well. I guess that depends on the build now. My canopy was crushed a little in shipment as well. I havn't called MW yet and have been meaning to do so. Glad to hear you didn't have any trouble.

I am just about at the engine mounting prep and don't know for sure if I will need standoffs or not. I need to do some measuring when I get there and hopefully I will have the cowl by then. Keep posting your build updates if you will, especially when you start setting up the motor, fuel tank,lines, and radio gear. These are the areas I will be for sure scratching my head a little.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

I too had family in for the weekend so I didn't get to much. I did however glue the f2 formers, the right and left side of the motor boxes, and the firewall pieces together with 30 min epoxy. Almost ran out of clamps, It took everything I had to get all these pieces clamped up to dry. Looks like a trip to Home Depot is in order.

I know this build is going pretty slow so far, but the winter months are coming and I expect to have less flying days and more time in the shop so things "should" pickup.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Couple more pics of the clamped fuse parts.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Glad to see your still at it,I'm running into some problems using the G-62 for power.The plane is turning out nose heavy with 4 servos in the tail. Its supposed to come in at 5 7/8 from the leading edge and I'm at 5.5 with no cowl or spinner .Before I go any father I need my cowl to see what it will add weight wise i'm hoping not much.
I all but refuse to add any lead to a plane front to back for balance, side to side for lateral is fine. I may need to go with 1/4 scale servos ,I really hate to get into that can of worms though.
Might just have to bite the bullet and buy a new engine.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Thanks Red ,I've seen a couple fairly nice planes turned into a scud missle from not pulling off the power on the downhill side ,very impressive for a few seconds *LOL*

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Well its a for sure thing , no way will I add a lb of weight to the tail of this plane to make it balance.So after the holidays i'll be looking for a new engine, 3.2 brison looks good both price and power wise. but the BME has my eye as well just cant see 100 more for the same power range .Hehehe maybe santa will be nice to me *LOL*

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Man thats too bad! I understand the $100 buck differance but if thats what you got your attention then you should get it. I was first looking at the DA 50 but WOW what a differance in price compared to what I paid, although I was lucky and bought it off a friend used. You might consider The DA for $20 bucks more than the BME it might be worth a look.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Back to the fuselage: after removing the clamps from all the parts I glued last night, decided to do another dry run, this time on the engine box, for fit before gluing it all in. The plans call for using thick CA to glue these pieces in, but I decided to use 30 min epoxy. Something tells me that it will hold a little better if I end up with some engine vibration.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

First picture is of the F2 former glued in clamped and banded. The second is the left side engine box glued in.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

The first pic here shows the rear joint of the left side engine box. Second, both left and right sides glued in. You can sure tell I have some cleanup to do. Didn't notice the mess while in the shop but the picture sure tells.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

This final pic today is the bottom and both sides glued in, clamped, and roped. I couldn't see any way to secure the sides with clamps because the pressure needs to be from the front to the back and the only clamps I have that long are way too heavy. Any way, during the dry run I did have a little shaping to do on the sides and F2 former to get them to fit just right. Overall pretty good fit.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Back at it a little bit today. Sorry for the short progress updates. I really only have maybe a couple hours when I do get to build. If I get behind on the updates, it would just take too long to post.

After the sides and bottom were dry (overnight), I fit the firewall F1 in the sides and bottom and glued in place with epoxy.Then added the box top and used several clamps to hold in place so I could continue working on the landing gear mount plate. In the first picture it is not glued in place yet, just installed to check for fit. While the gear plate was temporarily mounted, I marked the 1/8" back position line of the landing gear as well as the mounting holes. Then, drilled the holes in the plate and installed the blind nuts. I epoxied in some 1/2" tri stock under the gear plate and to the fuselage sides. Then glued the plate in place with 30 min epoxy. After about 45 min or so, I removed the clamps on the firewall so I could add the tri stock to the underside of the top piece. Also added tri stock to the outside of the engine box joint with F2 former.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

After clamping the gear plate in place, I started pinning the firewall with 1/8!QUOT! dowel. 16 total dowel pins, four in each side, top, and bottom. I think Cyberwolf's idea to pin the landing gear plate is a good one and I will do this tomorrow.

At this point I should have drilled the firewall for the motor bolts. The reason I didn't is I am not sure what size bolts I am going to use. The kit came with 8-32 blind nuts and they are too small for the Brison. I am thinking I might need to use standoffs as well an won't really know for sure until I get the cowl.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Looks good your getting there .About your engine and bolts ,you will want to use 1/4 -20 bolts scocket head caps screws and blind nuts work well for this And yes you will need stand offs . What I would do is to look at the side view of the plans and measure the distance from the engine box to the front of the prop hub ,then measure the length of your engine to get what you need for the length of the stand offs & bolts. Standoffs are usually 5/8-3/4 dia alum with a 9/32 hole drilled in the center ,if you have access to a lathe there easy to make.hope this helps some. Keep up the good work .
Oh I may have a alterntitive fix for my engine to get rid of some weight if so i'll let you know.

One more thing for I forget you may want to add some scrap wood to the rear wing bolt plate on the sides next to the fuse to built it up to match the wing saddle .1/2 wide is enough just so it will clear the bolt holes.It wont be so apt to pull on the plate this way and tear it loose from the fuse if you over tighten it. I did both front and back on mine .

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Here is a few pics to help discribe what I was talking about ,hope they will help.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

After you mentioned the plans, I realized[sm=bananahead.gif], I could get a fairly accurate measurement for the standoffs. I noticed you also have an extra plate behind the standoffs, can I do this without the plate? I was thinking that I could use a wide washer behind the standoff to spread the load on the firewall and to prevent penetration into the plywood. I might just be able to get to a lathe to fab some up or have someone else do it for me. If not, I found a few places on the web to purchase.

I did frame the front wing saddle with 1/2 stock as you suggested, I'll probably do the back as well. By the way, I really appreciate your suggestions. I am sure in the end I will have a better built model because of them.

Just curious, what is the green cable for coming off of the firewall??
How's the engine alternate coming?

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

The green line is a fuel line coming off the fueler,it wasn't hooked to the engine at the time . I made my stand offs 3/4 in dia and they still wanted to suck into the wood so I did the alum plate behind them.No its not a necessity.

After taking off the mag and spring starter and one of the coils I dropped off 1 1/2 lbs from the engine It now weighed in at just over 4lbs I can live with that.It will cost me a little for the C&H ignition system,but it's a lot cheaper than a new engine. One thing I will caution you on as much as I dislike the things they say you should use a Nyrod linkage on the throttle to stop the RF.And if you choose to use a fuel filler like I did make sure its a gas one.

I did get my cowl and pants yesterday ,in case you haven't got yours yet, my cowl measured 10 3/4 long ,That was from Stans BTW its beautiful, Makes me hate to cut holes in it *L*

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Thats great that you could reducing the weight of the engine. I'me sure I would have felt the same way and not wanted to buy another. On the other hand it would have been a great excuse to build another plane. Can't have an engine like that just sitting on the shelf you know. I've been reading a lot of posts about different engine mounts and I think I might just build one up with hardwood dowel resting on more plywood. Probably end up with 1/4 ply base and 1/2 to 3/4 dowel length approximately. I just ordered the cowl and pants from Stans, it's funny I didn't get a final cost from him but I do know the shipping is free and I got the 10% discount, we'll see. I'm afraid I'll have to cut a pretty good opening in the bottom of the cowl as well. I have heard about the rf creation from metal to metal and thought a good quality ball joint would eliminate this. Maybe that's not the case, I really don't know.

One other thing I am considering is to use white Ultracoat all over the plane and have it air-brush painted. My daughters boyfriend is into that and he said he might be interested. I think I'll first look at his work to see if he's talented or not. If not I have another color/scheme in mind.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Back at it again, Ok, this time I have several pics as I got a lot done this weekend in the shop. The weather was nasty so I couldn't fly. these pics are of the landing gear pinning and the front wing hold down blocks. I added 1/2 bulsa instead of 1/4 and sanded the exposed edges even with the saddle. The pinning on the landing gear is on the front and both sides. Epoxy sure can get messy!!

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

These pics show first the pinning in the landing gear and the firewall dry and the edges of the landing gear rounded to help fit the cowl. Second, fit f8,f9, and f10 to the top of the fuse and glued in place. Third, Turtle deck ply sheeting cut and ready to be installed. Fourth, Drew a line to glue one edge of the turtle deck.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

I have seen some paint over covering on war birds for the cammo effect ,but not on a sport plane this could be the start of something if it wont peel off .It would sure save a ton of time .The idea of hardwood dowels for stand offs is a good one. Here is about what it came out minus the spinner which is on order,still isn't any servos in it.that can wait for a while,i'm not going out and fly it soon sometime this spring I would think ,when it warms up a lot *LOL*.
I'll be watching your build as I start on another .I think this will be it for this year My hanger is to full as it is . thinks its about time for a airplane sale.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

First pic here is the front turtle deck ply with one edge glued in place. I had a really hard time getting the opposite edge to bend properly around the fuse side. Very short radius, and I thought if I wet it any more than I did, the glue would not stick. It must have been a very hard piece of ply right at the spot where it needed to bend the most. Second, I ended up using several clamps, heavy I might add, to lightly hold the ply in place while the glue dried. The straight edge the manual suggested was just not working for me. Third, I finally got it to stick somewhat, but there were still parts that were not laying flat on the fuse side. So I placed a brass bar across the entire edge area and clamped in place again and re-glued to complete the job. This worked pretty well an I wish I had thought of it to begin with, oh well, maybe next time. Finally!! the completly glued front turtle deck.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

As you can see in the first pic, the first edge that I glued on the front deck is very clean, however the opposite edge that I had to do all the clamping on is not so clean. I cleaned it up pretty good as you will see in a couple of posts.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

First pic is the rear deck with the first edge glued. Second, the entire sheet glued in place. This piece went in much easier than the first. The radius of the bend at the fuse edges are virtually nothing which made it very easy. Rest of the pics, the edges of the decks trimmed with a dremell. This is starting to look like a plane!!

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Added the 1/4 strips in the cockpit area and started to filet the decking sides in with bulsarite.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

I then placed the vertical fin in place to prep for installing the blocks at the rear of the fuse, not sure what they are called but the taper the fuse along side of the fin. Looks like the angle of the f10 decking brace is off a little. It is, but not as bad as it looks. The rear of the fin is setting too low and the front is setting to high. Will fix this after the blocks are installed and when mounting the fin permanently. I mounted the blocks one at a time, being careful not to glue to the fin in the process.I removed the fin after each one so no mistakes could be made from seeping glue onto the fin.

After both blocks were installed, I used a power plane to roughly shape the blocks to match the fuselage slope toward the back. Then used a bar sander and did the rest by hand.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Ok, I just realized that the pics I have do not show what I did to fix the slight angle offset of the f10 brace. I will get some pics tomorrow of the fix.

After both blocks were shaped and sanded to the shape of the fuse, I added the servo doubler blocks to the servo plate and glued it in place in the fuselage. I also added the doublers to the rear mounted elevator servo openings. I will probably mount the rudder servo's to the rear as well just below the elevator servo's so I will need to cutout the sides to accommodate this.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

This is the pic of the mistake made on the f10 piece. When I placed it on the fuse top I did not check to see that it was angled properly. The f10 piece has a brace that fits behind it to hold the correct angle. I "Assumed" it was correct and did not check. to compound this error, I also did not check after installing and before trimming the rear decking. If I had checked it once at any point, it would not have been a recognizable error. The wedge in between the rear of the deck and the front of the tail blocks was an easy solution.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

After setting all the ribs and re checking the angles, I placed the second spruce spar in place. Checked the angles again as I glued each rib to the top spar. Next I placed the leading edge stock centered on the front of the ribs and flush with r9 and glued in place.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

The final steps I completed tonight was to install the trailing edge 1/4 spruce stringers top & bottom and the balsa top and bottom aleron stringers. The next steps are to install the sheer webing to f10,f9, & f8. I will pick up at this point on the next post, hopefully tomorrow.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

Started today by laying out all the sheer webs on the plan and sanding to fit. These mostly fit well but a few of them needed a couple of passes with a bar sander. The first three that were glued in toward the fuselage end of the wing need to be as clean as possible. The dihedral brace fits into this opening and any epoxy that leaks or runs into this section will be a bear to remove after it has dried. Because of this I put the front side on and cleaned the joint inside the dihedral area. Then being careful no to over apply the epoxy, I put the back side on and clamped in place to dry.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

I then mixed some more epoxy and glued the remaining sheer webs in place.

Next, started end gluing the 3/32 x 3 x 36 balsa sheeting to create the 40 piece that is needed for the trailing edge sheet. I cleaned up the ends to be joined a little and and taped them together with painters tape and put one piece along the length of the joint. The tape along the joint helps prevent CA bleed through on the other side. Once taped, I flipped the piece over and quickly applied a small bead of Thin CA along the joint. Almost immediately after applying, sanded the joint with a bar sander, flipped the piece back over, removed the tape and sanded.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

I then edge glued the 3 x 40 pieces just made together using the same method. Only difference was I taped both joints together first and only glued one at a time and then sanded the entire piece with a bar sander making sure that there were no ridges at the glue seams on both sides.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

I don't have a long metal straight edge so I used a piece of flooring hardboard as a straight edge to cut two 3 1/4 x 40 pieces from the glued up sheeting. One each for the top and bottom trailing edge. Next I used a scrap piece of 3/32 balsa to create the 3/32 overhang at the rib ends when gluing the sheeting in place over the trailing edge. I did this near both ends of the wing. As I placed the sheet in place I checked for the proper overhang at each rib as well. After gluing the sheet in place I placed a few weight bags on the sheet to hold in place while drying.

At this point I thought it was a good time to remove the lightening holes in the ribs ,before I forget. I left them in up to this point thinking they would not be as flimsy during the process.

RE: Midwest Extra 300xs Build
 

WOW look at you go Congrats its coming along very well.
You may want to check the canopy for fit before you cover,the 1/4 inch rails wasnt really enough it just barely made it on my plane.I wished I have of used 1/2x1/4.