How'd you bug my workshop?

Last night I did a bit more work. While the top sheeting is off, it is a good time to plan your pushrods. Because the Perigee rudder hinge line does not extend straight, I purchased an offset control horn. That will bring the pushrod connection in line with the hinge. The upper exit is for that. SInce the elevators are quite large, they will not need a lot of throw, and I got long controls horns for them. I will be using split elevator pushrods, so an exit on each side.

The lower sheeting near the TE is 1/4 stock, which tapers to meet the 3/32 sheeting

Now here's the top sheeting, ready to go. You can see tha tri-stock has been pre-glued. Can't miss the Ambroid color.

And my final work of the night - sheeting in place, another T-pin forest to hold the curves, and I have stuck the whole mess inside the paint booth to exhaust the fumes. I actually like the smell of Ambroid, but the wifey, well, you know...............

Nic, looks great! Now just break out the sanding chair and the ice tea!!! And theres a LOT of sanding to do on the fuselage.

Nic, my wife does not like the smell of Ambroid or dope either. I think it smells great! Kind of makes you think of the good old days!! Monokote stinks!!!!


Bob Harris

I try to do my sanding outside, but it's cold here now!

So tonight (so far) I have mixed some 20-min epoxy and sealed the tank compartment, and put a thin line against all the bulkheads. No biggie. Also, last night my son & I replaced his connecting rod. Here's a shot of the damaged one. The lower joint was shredded.

I must say, I am impressed with the balsa selection that William (PassTime) did with this short kit. The 1/4 stock for the nose and hatch is really lightweight stuff, better than I got by selecting from 3 hobby shops for the top sheeting. So here's how the real front stacks up, with my ply ring on top. The next shot is the kit top hatch, a base layer marked "hatch 2", cut out, and a top layer, which is 2 pieces, both marked "hatch 1"

TIP & TECHNIQUE TIME

Most of you probably have your own method of aligning the spinner with the nose, but here's how I do it. First, there's the basic pieces. Spinnner, nose ring, and engine, mounted in it's final place.

Next, I cut a few scraps of spacer. This time I'm using 3/32, in case I need thrust adjustments. I used to use 1/16 when I was sure of the engine. Then, you super glue the spacers to the ply ring, and then to the spinner backplate. Don't worry, you will cut them off and sand down later.

The final photo shows the assembly mounted onto the engine. Now you just build backwards. But that's for tomorrow.

WHY I HATE COWLINGS

Some people seem to cut their wood just so, squared and flat, and there's their cowl, all nice and straight.

The Perigee tapers drastically toward the nose, so nothing is square. I think the photos are self-explainatory, I'm going to need lots of little pieces. Oh, it will look fine when finished, but a lot of sandpaper and putty are in order.

So today the wife went shopping, and I stayed home - Oh, gee, what to do? What's this? 60-grit sandpaper! Oh, joy.

Really got excited to see the sexy lines emerge. Did a lot on the cowling, too, but it has a ways to go. Also Fiberglassed the wing center section, and brought out the spackle. It does a great job of filling irregularities.

Today we married the wing to the body. The ceremony was quiet, and no-one objected.

First, we had to put the LE dowels in place. The wing was rough fitted, making sure it was centered, and then a pen marked the holes. A pilot hole was drilled into the LE, and also thru the support ply (remember we put that in a long time ago?). The fit was re-checked, and then 1/4 drill was used to open the holes. Notice I put extra f'glas over where the dowels go. Then 5-min epoxy was mixed, applied down into the wing with a toothpick at the ply support, and the dowels were slipped into place. Gap filling CA supported the front edge.

Of course, 1/16 ply plates were installed before the f'glas tape, in anticipation of the screws to come.

TECHNIQUE

After the front dowels are in place, center the wing, and measure from tip TE to rudder post. Both sides need top be the same. this squares the wing with the body. MARK IT!!! This is so you don't have to re-do the procedure if you move the wing during the next step.

Next step: Drill a small (3/32 or so) pilot hole thru the wing and ply plate in the fuse. Both sides. Now leave the drill in place in one of the holes, and re-measure the wing to body as above. Both the same. Good. If not, move the wing and re-drill a hole. Re-measure, etc. When it is square, then drill the final holes to a #7 drill.

Then remove the wing, and proceed to tap the ply plate with a 1/4 x 20 drill.

On the wing, drill out the pilot holes with a 1/4 drill, then relieve them a bit with an Xacto blade. Trust me, the holes are never perfect.

After tapping the ply plate, soak the threads with thin CA, let cure, and re-tap it. this makes the threads really strong. In fact, run the tap up and down a few times, leaning it back and forth. This will allow the plastic screws to engage without binding.

The final result is a wing that is secured perfectly squared to the body. Next, you need to measure and find out if it is also perpendicular to the sides. A triangle on each side for symmetry will do.

Now that the wing and body are perfect, the next step will be to put the stabilizer on, it needs to be level with the wing, at the correct incidence, and the also squared to the body like the wing before.

OK, I put a first coat of putty on the nose, sanded it down, and now am applying the second (and final) coat. Have to do that before joining the stab to the body, because I don't want to swing the fuse around and bump the stab. Not that it's happened before, mind you....................

photos to follow. Maybe in a day or two.

OK, the ordeal of making the cowl is finished. It's really not that bad, I'm glad spackle sands so easy. Here's the photos. Now I have to figure out how to attach the hatch. I'm thinking a rear ply tongue and front 4x40 bolt. I know earlier I said seal w/ RTV, but I'm re-thinking it.

It's amazing how far off the engine mount had to be to account for the offset to get the front of the spinner to be on centerline.

Next step is to attach the stab, then cover stuff. Things are going to slow down on this thread.

So a rear tongue and a 4-40 bolt up front it is.

Nice solution for securing the hatch.....

Man, do I love some days off!

She finally got legs today, at least temporarily, so I can glue & align the empennage (tail)

In looking at the vertical tail, I'm not so comfortable with just flat gluing it on, although that has worked well in the past. There is room at the aft of the fuse, so I put a 1/4 dowel post into the tail, which will just slip into the gap of the fuse sides.

Looking Great!! Nice build thread too!!

Have Fun...

Chuck

Hi,
I built one of the originals back in 72 and this sure brings back memmories.would like to do it again,did the plans come with the short kit?Since these are sold in lots of 3 is anyone else interested in buying one?