alcarafa

Wooowww David that's a nice job you'r doing, dont know if many here are learning construction technics but sure I do, your thread along with rainedave's and 8178's are the " HOW TO BUILD A PLANE TO PERFECTION" bible.

Very chin....gon [X(] jejejeje
Rafa

rv7driver

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David the wing and stab are looking great!! I just have to add one thing to what Raindave said........even your balsa scraps look neat!!!!!!!!!!! LOL! Pete

zubba

Dave,
I have to agree here your building skills are bar none ,but geeze can`t you atleast mess the table up a little bit !!
No wonder you can build many planes at once you can find the tool you just put down.

-Jason

rv7driver

My Feedback: (105)

David, picked T10 & 20 wings up today from post office, thanks goodness you packed them well, the box looked like it was ran over with a truck! The only damage was to the T-20 wing on one wing trailing edge dented a little, no big deal can fix easily. Great job on cutting them, finish covering my quick fli III then the T2A and I will start I think the Tipo 20 around March I think. Thanks for the wings can't wait to get started!!

Pete

doxilia

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Whew!

Pete, sorry to hear about the TE ding. Hopefully the fix won't be too complicated. That expanding foam stuff on Mitch's Deception thread seems like it might do the trick if needed. Between snug boxes for low insured shipping vs ample room for extra protection at a higher cost it's a bit of a trade off. I'm glad the stabs weren't damaged as those are a little more delicate.

I'm sure your Nanorare will be the first prototype - March - looking forward, I'll mark my calendar!

David.

doxilia

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Gentlemen,

you're too kind - high praise indeed! It's guys like you who keep a build thread motivated. Yesterday I put in one heck of a workout. Post to come will show why...

Rafa, as far as I'm concerned Mr. W and Mr. D are in a class of their own - pure craftsmanship & rare total talent (and there are others here too). I'm sure they have considerably more builds under their belt than I do. Having said that, this humble builder is honored to even have his name mentioned in the same sentence as theirs.

To some extent, I hope this thread will serve as a reference on how to build a foam/balsa mini pattern plane by hand (in as much as I wish I had some power tools) - at least for me, since more builds are in store later this year!

David.

doxilia

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A gray Sunday afternoon...

... the stab is done! [8D]

Long process summarized by a few sequential shots. For reference I'll comment on the process and thinking in the next post.

The last shot shows the D10 stab laid over the plans. For comparison, the cores in front are those of the T20. The Deception is a much squarer airplane!

David.

doxilia

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Ok,

so in order to build the elevators I needed some 3/8" to 1/2" (call it 7/16 inch) sheet balsa stock (1/2" for ailerons). Since 1/2" balsa is somewhat dear and I had a sheet of 1/4" (which I'll need to replace for the fuse bottom block and belly pan), I decided to build the elevators (E) & ailerons (A) by cutting four E and A each and laminating them in pairs. From one 36" sheet I pulled the two elevators halves and one aileron. Although more work and harder to sand, there were several nice aspects of this approach:
[ul][*] Absolute centerline [*] Rock hard[*] Dead straight[*] Unwarpable[*] Lower cost
[/ul]
I made a template of the elevators (ailerons are straight 1" plus 1/8" hardwood TE for a total width of 1-1/8 inch), marked the medium 1/4" sheet with four of them, and cut and glued the two elevators sandwiches. I then added 1/8" hardwood strips to the elevator TE's on centerline using pins on either side to align the hardwood. Then sanded both halves to identical planform and to match the plans. Tack glued each sandwich to the stab TE's and then... the work began...

I started with 60 grit and after about half an hour (don't ask why it took me so long), switched to the coarsest grit I could find - 0 grit! Typically you might want to use a planer to rough them to shape but I didn't want to risk ripping the stab TE off by this approach. I suppose you could rough them in before hand by holding them between two slabs of wood in a vice since there's not much to hold on. Since my vice broke and I didn't feel like tooling the slabs of wood, I tack glued.

After an hour I had finished the top of one half! [sm=52_52.gif] Just getting warmed up... Flip sides, 40 minutes. Another 5 of final smooth sanding. Next one, top side, 30 minutes, bottom side, a little less - I'm getting faster! Once the two panels felt like tiny silk smooth surf boards I moved on to the tips.

Sand stab tips to plan top view removing 1/8" off the TE. Attach 1/8" hardwood strips. Align tips on stab ends on centerline and insure the hardwood strips on elevators and stab tips are in line. Check that the panels are symmetric, flush and at 0 deg incidence when resting on stab tip blocks and but joined on stab centerline. Green light, OK, attach tips with epoxy.

My arms are warm now, but this time I've got some meat between the stabs and tips holding them together. Hit the planer and rough the tips to contour. Final sand with 60, 120 and 400 grit until those tips look and feel like my daughters cheeks! The stab now truly is a surf board split in half by a rough wave...

Now another fun part, slice those elevators off despite the stubborn but strong medium CA. Crack, one off, and another. A little final sanding at the junction, ooops! We've now lost alignment at the TE's between tips and elevators - pause - we'll be OK, DB epoxy hinges, even when countersunk will put the 1/16" back into the elevators.

Mark hinges on stabs, cut out using #11 as a guide followed by my trusty 25 year old DuBro hinge knives (the DB centerline gadget doesn't work for me - eyes are better). Countersink hinges. Elevators next. Mark and begin with #11. There's not much there to work with. Fortunately the elevators are hard as a rock. Proceed cautiously with the hinge knife. Success!

Mount, bevel, test. Smooth - nice. We're done!

1/2" deflection up/down according to plans for 60 sized model. 62% scale shows up elevator deflection to 7/16" before hitting the rudder - something to think about later.

A long, hopefully not too boring read but it took considerably less time to write than the simple finishing of this stab!

David.

doxilia

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Continued...

Ailerons and wing tips next !

David.

doxilia

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First shot, fallen elevator portions with a better past life...

Started making LH aileron (heaviest/hardest). Laminate two 1/4" x 1" strips for a 1/2" x 1" block. Use pins to align 1/8" hardwood aileron TE. Need some 1/4" balsa - this time softer - for lighter RH panel, fuse/wing bottom and more supple muscles!

David.

doxilia

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Last comment on the empennage until assembly:
[ul][*] Finished stab panels (each) = 24 g (0.85 oz)[*] Un-joined finished stab weight = 48 g (1.7 oz)[*] Finished joined stab weight with center tape and elevator lightening holes = 50 g (1.75 oz) - expected[*] Assembled Fin and Rudder (not sanded) = 20 g (0.7 oz)[*] Total expected empennage weight < 70 g (2.4 oz)
[*] Allowed total fuse weight ~ 8 oz[*] Expected total airframe weight ~ 18 oz
[/ul]
Just keeping track for the record.

David.

rv7driver

My Feedback: (105)

David I normally don't talk about sex and R/C airplanes in the same paragraph....... but the wings and stab are very sexy looking I guess I'm getting old and different things turn me on now!!!LOL. Really great job can't wait until you start the fuselage.

David, I will have price for you on your stuff from S.H. tomorrow and have it ready to ship by wednesday, sorry I'm taking so long wife getting ready for surgery on her shoulder, to much fast pitch soft ball and she's 58 years old! will keep you posted on your stuff.

Pete

KLXMASTER14

Dox,

You do some nice work.

Robert

doxilia

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Klx,

so do you my dear sir, so do you... that Vertigo will be finished in no time! Looking forward.

Pete, you must have been reading my mind. There's just something about the look of a finished smoooooth wing and stab - especially the tips, if you know what I mean...

Sorry to hear about your wife but it sounds like the surgery was worth it. Best wishes and don't rush on the MK stuff - any time will be fine.

BTW, I failed to mention in my reply about the T20 cores that if you deem it necessary, we can claim on the insurance and I can send you a replacement wing. Just let me know if you'd like to do so.

Thanks, David.

rv7driver

My Feedback: (105)

David, yep the tips make the wing, no doubt about it!!!! Pete

doxilia

My Feedback: (3)

Neither can I!

Stalled on the ailerons, I decided to make some progress elsewhere...

It's going to be the sleekest little thing!

Gotta hit the LHS for some stock.

David.

zubba

Wow dave top notch stuff right there.
You build fast and beautifully most builders cant do both like you do.

Cant wait to see more so stop reading this and get back to building !!

-Jason

doxilia

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Your comments are much appreciated Jason - and everyone else too!

I've never been known to be particularly fast at things as I like to smell the flowers as they say. When it's about our hobby - to me, it's about finding that sweet satisfaction point and I find this requires more time than I sometimes give. Grace under pressure - right!?

No building tonight unfortunately. Spent the evening helping my wife's new business idea earn some wings!

Although frankly I'm a bit at a stand still. I need to hit the LHS and I also need some items... guess what? Yup, a nose gear (among others) Can't quite proceed without tools in hand. I guess I could build my tank...

Did your 600's come in yet? Your C20 looks like she's almost there. Are you going to finish in the classic scheme of big brother?

I'll post a couple of question on your thread as I was interested in a couple of techniques you used.

David.

zubba

Dave,
I too am a stand still, no retracts yet i sent spring air another e-mail a few days ago havn`t heard back from them yet.
Starting to get a little concerned never had any problems like this befor with them they usualy e-mail right back.
The C20 just needs its legs and i can close up the bottom of the wing and front of the fuse .
Alot of fine sanding and then cover. So to kill some time i started on the ursa major till i get my springairs.

Yeah i am going to do a box cover, cover job.
I no longer try to come up with my own cover scheme they look bad enough to effect flight performance [:@]

-Jason

doxilia

My Feedback: (3)

Funny.

Box schemes are always excellent!

Sorry to hear about the SA's. Hopefully they'll come through soon.

If you have a chance to send me some pictures of your plans and the box I'd be most grateful - I know we've both got better things to do to keep us busy... I'll send you my email address in a PM.

Who's the Ursa Major kitted by?

David.

zubba

Yoshioka model factory
Kitted the plane but i dont think it is in there line up anymore.
Its a a nice looking plane but the sanding is going to be insane.
I will get some good pics of the plans and send them out asap to your e-mail

doxilia

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Oh yeah...

she does have similar lines to an Aurora or Cosmos but Blue Angel would of course be the logical background...

Another wonderful project!

Winter is great, David.

doxilia

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Busy night tonight on RCU!

I'm off to weather the storm. If I'm lucky, I'll make it to my LHS after the post office (gotta ship some Tipo 20 cores. Great stuff... can't wait to see all these models.)

David.

doxilia

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Gd'evening readers,

I spent a little time at the LHS this evening. With some fresh wood stock in hand, I'm able to head back to the work bench! I found some nice mahogany 1/8" square strips - excellent for control surface trailing edges. I also picked up a K&S 1/8" OD aluminum tube which conveniently has an ID of 3/32". This tube will be used to couple 1/8" wheel axles and equivalent wheels to 3/32" retract struts - a nice snug fit!

I actually found all kinds of treasures. I decided to pick up a couple of rare finds: 2 MK nylon props - an 11 x 7-3/4 and a 12.5 x 8. I'm not sure what it means but they are designated as +2 props - I think it has something to do with the noise factor. The 12.5 x 8 should be an interesting prop on a YS AR or an OS Hanno! There were also a plethora of discontinued Graupner props in all kinds of sizes.

Wings await...

David.

pitstop000

My Feedback: (26)

David
Been watching your build, Very nice work. I like how you keep everything so neat.