Landing gear - I ordered replacement Kaos 40 L/G from Tower, they arrived yesterday. Perfect main gear length!

Excellent idea! Is that for all 3 legs?

FB

Yes, it comes with three legs. I haven't checked the nosewheel. It depends on how you intend to mount it.

OK, now all the wing sheeting and capstrips are done and in place. Also both servo mounts. More on that below. Next step is to plane/sand the LE and TE flat and add the pieces. Then it's sand the tip ribs flat and add the tip blocks. Then some TE stock at the wing root, ply doubler for th wing bolts, and sand my heart out!

Servo mounts. Recall from above that the left panel was installed before building the right panel. Look closely at the photo below, and realize that I very carefully copied each dimension from the bottom of the left panel (right side of the photo, the wing is upside down) to the right panel, and then made the cut-out and the internal stuff to mount the servo. Then i step back, and say "you dumb sh*t, you forgot to mirror image the dimensions"

My only excuse is that the muffler is on the right side, so mounting the left servo further out will help compensate for the weight. (it won't make a bit of difference, but sounds like a good explaination)

Perhaps you were thinking of installing flaps!!??

Nice job so far Nic!

Anyway, moving on. Today I sanded down the LE and TE, and glued on their final pieces. Probably tomorrow I'll carve/sand to shape, then work on the center section.

But that wasn't enough for today, so I tackled the vertical stab. Now the DeBolt kit had simplified his stab to a 1/4 slab, and that's OK, but the PassTime kit included all those ribs to make a beautiful sculptured rudder, so I went for it! Look how broad the base is, and the whole unit just flows so gracefully.

Nick, now that's down right purdy!! How thick is it at it broadest point? I may have to do some airfoil sanding on mine!! Also how much does it weigh? I would like to compare as this is the furtherest point on the fuselage and may play a key factor in balancing.

Bob Harris

Kinda off the subject, but just saw one of your peppermint pattie kits on ebay WEDJ 15 size

Well. I had to use a kitchen scale to weigh the vertical stab. all up, 1.5 ounces, very light.

I also weighed the wing, with the LE & TE installed but not sanded, no tips. It weighs 12 ounces.

Now the bad news - I warped it. Evidently, while pinning the center section of ribs, I lifted the ends a bit and it dried that way. What a shame. However, Bob you gave me a good idea. I'm going to make a 1/4" frame, and skin it w/ 1/8, then proceed to sand the **** out of it. I will make sure the grain of the center is at right angles to the skin. The sanding should go right down to the 1/4" on all edges.

BTW - the base is just over 1/2" wide, so 1/4 + 2x1/8 is a good approximation.

You can see the warp in this shot:

So I rough sanded the LE & TE, then started to apply the wingtips. PassTime does a very good job of providing very light 1/4 balsa stock, cut into 5 pieces for each tip. The center 2 are hollowed out. So I'm there, and say, "why don't I add some permanent weight to the left tip while it's open?"

So I did, about 1/3 ounce, plumber's putty rolled and flattened, held in place with some RTV.

And now back to my rudder disaster, you faithful readers..........

I copied the plan onto some orange paper (hey, it was free) and traced out what I wanted for the inner structure. Then I cut out the pieces, laid it out, glued, and here's the FLAT center structure. Notice the extra width at the rear, that is so the hinges will have a good purchase.

Now for the 1/8 sheeting. First piece goes on, notice I overlapped it onto the fin extension in the front. With the second piece, I also extended it up to overlap the tip piece, so there will be a good smoothing, as well as good structural strength. Tomorow I will flip it over and sheet the other side. Then I've got a LOT of sanding ahead of me. Thank God it is a relatively small piece.............

Note to self:

Be more gentle with the razor plane.

err, yeah.

Thats an oops.

Oh well third times the charm

Actually, I will just put some 1/16 over it

Yes, I saw it. Pretty bad shape on the box, but the inside looks OK

Rudder update - tried the 1/16 patch, it didn't work too good. Luckily, I was able to punch/cut/sand off the sheeting and save the frame. Today it's a trip to the hobby store for more 1/8 stock. When I sand it, I'm going to leave a little more "meat" around the edges.

Like Renegade sez, the third time's the charm.


"I don't mind building, but I hate re-building"

Well, the rudder's re-sheeted, hopefully I can sand it tonight. Last night I sanded the wingtips, so the wing is done until I can do the fuse and get an accurate position for the dowels and bolts.

I try to do at least a little something every day. Laying out the fuse sides is next.

OK, now for some sanding. I decided to put a tape line down the stab so I have a guide line for the CL of the high point.

So after a lot of sanding, I now have a real Perigee vertical stab. Nice. Worth the effort. Once. Not 3 times. Live and learn..........

Notice the original built-up one in the background.

So like I said, I rough-sanded the wing, LE, TE, tips. I think it looks realy good.

Hey Nic:

Looking real pretty, keep on going.

Should be a good building weekend judging by the weather wizards forecast.

Peace

Mark O

Nic: Your Perigee is looking great! Can't wait to see in person.....

Mark: Yup you're right about building this weekend. My Primus/Taurus is about 60% done. Hope to have the wing pretty much completed by Sunday evening.

FB