Thanks for the Enya Blue Angel ad. Interesting that the Blue Angel in the ad is the earlier variant that had the wider tail section and rudder that was shorter. That was Kato’s original design before Yoshioka modified it and then won the world championships with it.

Thanks Richard! We’ve missed your updates on the Tiger Tail.

I built the vertical tail assembly as a subsection as part of the normal airframe construction and then I decided to keep it separate for awhile to make it easer to install the horizontal stab and align the vertical stab. The part fits over the top of the horizontal stab.

When I got to the fiber glassing process I decided that it would be easer to work with the vertical stab assembly and fuselage if the horizontal and vertical stab were not installed. After I complete the fuselage glassing and wing fillets, the next step will be installing the horizontal and vertical stab. The vertical stab assembly fits the fuselage very well with no gaps at the seams but I expect I’ll add same fiberglass over them. So far it has worked out well and it is much easer to work on the parts as separate units.

I went on a tour of the Boeing Everett Washington 747 plant in the 70s and I was amazed how everything was assembled on the main assembly line from subsections.

Well I shelved the TigerTail until I get a 85degree set of retracts from Springair . I assume you will cover the wing and stab with iron on film?I can imagine that great Boeing factory would have an influence and it did

Yes, MonoKote will go on the wing, horizontal stab, elevators and rudder.

hows the glassin' and sandin' coming ?

I’ve been having too much fun flying lately now that the weather has cooled some. Hope to get back to the glass work this weekend.

View of the right side of the fuselage with the fiberglass cloth on and resin applied with a squeegee to minimize the resin left in the cloth.

Before glassing I went over the fuselage very carefully to make sure everything was shaped and sanded that way I wanted it. This was my last chance to make the shapes flowed correctly especially the area behind the canopy. I found a few small dents in the balsa and I popped them out with a spot of water and my MonoKote iron. A couple had to be filled with light spackle and sanded out.

I started by cutting one piece of cloth that covered the complete right side. I laid the cloth on the fuselage and mixed up a very small batch of resin (about 1/4” in the bottom of the cup) and started working the resin on the side near the wing opening and worked to the top and bottom and front and back. When that batch in the cup started to jell, I made sure that I had the current batch of resin on the fuselage worked out all directions. The resin in the cup kicks off well before what is on the fuselage because of the larger volume and the heat created. I then mixed the next batch and moved on toward the front and then the back of the fuselage. It took three very small batches to complete the fuselage.

It is easer to handle the fuselage using small hot batches of resin because the resin jells fast and the cloth says stuck down well, e.g. the front of the fuselage can be handled while you are working on the back area. How fast the batch gels and hardens is controlled by how much catalyst is used. I’m using about 10 to 15 drops per batch.

To be continued…

One of the many things I like about using polyester resin is that the fuselage can be handled so soon after the resin is applied. While the resin was still curing I took a razor and trimmed the overhang off by cutting a line from tail to nose on the center line and then trimmed the other areas.

So far the fiber glassing has added about 1 oz total to the fuselage and vertical stab assembly but no sanding has been done yet.

To be continued…

Now that the glass surface is on one side of the fuselage it is much easer to see how the shapes flow on the fuselage and around the canopy. It’s hard to see the flow of the shapes with the non-reflective bare balsa to see if you’ve got it right. Of course at this point it’s a little late if it isn’t! So far so good!

To be continued…

Beautiful work, 8178. You did a fantastic job on the forward part of the turtledeck that flows upward to meet the canopy. So many complex curves, but very sexy!

What do you predict the AUW to be?

Thanks rainedave! The weight is 6lbs 12.5oz so far. I’ve got to complete the fuselage glassing, fillets and paint, paint the wing center section, MonoKote the wing and stab and add push rods. I think it will come out a few ounces over 7lbs but lighter than my Tiporare that is 7lbs 12oz. The Tiporare flies very well at that weight but has 720sq in wing compared to the Blue Angel 700sq in wing. I like the wing loading around 25oz per square foot of wing area on these very fast aircraft so it would need to be around 7lbs 9oz to meet that goal. If the wing loading is too light they do not fly well in windy conditions. The OS 61SF ABC-P I’m using with the pipe is a super powerhouse so vertical is never a problem at these weights.

I completed laying down the glass on the left side of the fuselage. Total weight gain for the fuselage and vertical stab assembly is 1.75oz. No sanding has been done yet and I have some overlapped cloth to remove. I expect it will come out closer to 1.50oz or less after some sanding. Total fuselage and vertical stab assembly weight at this point is 15.5oz. Pretty light for such complex construction!

To be continued…

Great thread Mike. Too windy for flying today, winds steady at 45 kilometers. Like the Blue Angel build. Sanding and carving I can relate too, but composite and vacuum bag fuselages are too hitech for my home modeling skills. Closest I've come to composite construction is applying poly resin to cloth on balsa fuselage sides.

Jim

Thanks jpurcha! It was not a great weekend for flying here either. We fly year round so rainy and windy days are good for building.

Is there a reason you went with polyester resin as opposed to something like West Systems epoxy? I'm just learning about composites so I really don't know all the advantages. What grade of glass cloth did you go with, I'm guessing 3/4 oz? 1 layer? It seems like you'd need to sand the finished (even though I've heard not to) or else you'd get textured paint.

8178 asked both of these questions in posts # 407 and #409.

My apologies, I forgot to revisit that page. Whoops.

No problem! I just like working with polyester better than epoxy but that is just my personal preference. Others may like epoxy better.

Work of art!

Thanks bobber! I try to do my best.

As expected after sanding the fiberglass overlap seam on the top and bottom of the fuselage it lost 1/4oz. The total weight gain for the fiberglass process at this point is 1.5oz. Some of the loss may be related to the curing process of the resin.

To be continued…

Isn't polyester finishing resin much less expensive than using epoxy resin? What type of brush are you using to apply the resin to the cloth?

Jim,

Polyester finishing resin is about $16.00 for 32oz. Epoxy finishing resin is about $14.00 for 12oz.

I’m not using a brush. See post #412 through #432. BTW, polyester finishing resin leaves a light coat of wax on the surface as it cures. The wax must be removed with a paper towel and a little lacquer tinnier before you sand it.

I am intriqued by the polyester resin because i am alergic to epoxy.

8178 can you pls indicate (or direct me to the post#) for more info on the Brand name etc.

also, how would the polyester compare to the polyurethane finish?

Thanks V.

V,

Some people do have bad allergic reactions to epoxy and get terrible rashes. It seems to have a delayed accumulative reaction in that they can use it for awhile and then once it starts any exposure after that is terrible. I remember one of the guys in our club that was making epoxy fuselages and had to stop working with epoxy completely.

I’ve used different polyester resin brands over the years. I usually buy whatever brand my hardware store has in stock. The last can I purchased at Lowes is the Elmer’s brand. The main types are finishing and casting. Hardware stores like Lowes usually only stock the finishing type. The casting type cures with a sticky surface so you do not want that.

I’ve only used polyurethane for painting so I do not know how it would work for fiberglassing. Typically polyurethane would not harden like polyester or epoxy.