Hey Guys, I remember having to boil nylon props back in the day but don't remember if MK's were among the ones we had to boil. Just wanted to bring it up............another memory is that I couldn't even come close to affording an MK kit. Nothing has changed, still can't afford one

100 replies and over 2000 hits [X(] !!!! David you must be proud of your thread and plane, keep it up !!!!
Remember less " siesta " more work

One of this days I may visit Montreal and give you a call , but " only if I can fly this beauty "

Dave,
sent the header out to you today usps.
You should have it in a few days.


Jason.

David, got yourMK stuff ready to ship check PM! Pete

'Evening folks!

busy thread while I was out. I'm glad some of you are enjoying the fruits of my sore back! just kidding...

In order:

Paul, thanks for posting. I hope you enjoy the ride! Things actually don't stay neat - they just somehow magically come together before pictures. I've got a balsa fairy who also likes to sort out the tools .

Sugarfox, yea, I actually found some of them nylon Top Flite boilable props from days of yore while poking around. One day I'll have to tell you about the guys at my LHS - you wouldn't believe it - a bunch of odd balls, one more eccentric than the other. The form of conversation is what is otherwise known as yelling. Usually, I'm lucky if I get half a word in. Yesterday for example I was trying to explain the concept of a retract strut axle. Response - never seen them, they don't exist! So I pull up Tower's site at their store (they actually tell you to give them the Tower numbers for parts... [:-]). Oh, sure, we can have those for you next Friday - how many do you want...? Needless to say, I passed on the boilable props... and picked up the magical glass filled MK beauties (I needed help from the cat to get them out of where they were...)

Rafa, thanks for pointing that out. Hard to believe there have been 100 replies already. No siesta tonight. Hold your sombrero, soon you'll find out why...

Jason, extremely kind of you to send me that hard to find header - much appreciated. Let me know how much to forward you via PP (I'll do it as soon as my PP account is sorted out - should be some time next week).

Pete, thanks for your PM. Don't mention it, I've got my hands full here. As mentioned, my PP account is going through verification (new thing to me). Should be able to transfer funds next week.

Ok. Thanks guys. Now on to foam and wood stories!

David.

Dave,
Shipping was $4.29

No rush at all
Jason

In other excellent news... the wing is done!

Well, a little assembly and some minor cosmetic touch ups and she'll be finished until she's due to grow a belly. Mmm... maybe those smooth round tips have some effect on, eh... pregnancy!? What do you think Pete? Sorry guys - I'll stay focused.

I won't go through the control surface routine again as I pretty much did that exhaustively with the stab. Suffice it to say, that I laminated two 1" x 20" sheets of 1/4" balsa and attached basswood on the trailing edge at the center line. Then shaped to contour. Instead of using basswood, which is nice and firm but will dent if hit hard enough, I used mahogany on the wing tip TE's as well as on the rudder and fin post TE. A little heavier but bulletproof. Actually sandpaper doesn't seem to do anything to it. The paper just wears down and the wood remains the same [8D]

The approach to building the control surfaces is labour and time intensive (compared to simply sanding a sheet of the right thickness to contour) but is worth the effort. The surfaces are extremely hard and warp free. Each aileron came in weighing 10g (0.3 oz)! I guess that's the weight of an HS-55. I may just go this route from now on on all builds.

I also got some work done on the fin and rudder. The rudder and fin post are sanded to shape. The fin still needs more work but it'll wait until the fuse is complete as a dorsal fin needs to be added and shaped as well.

And now, for some pics...

David.

And a few more.

Couldn't resist... she just looked like she wanted to take off from the workbench!

BTW, an update on weight.

Complete wing AUW with hinges, gear rods and tape (prior to joining and glassing) = 8.10 oz...

Oh... she'll come down some more before she goes up! I want a glassed wing AUW of 8 oz. Its decided.

David.

So what's left to do...?

right, a fuse - onward. [8D]

David.

Very Nice looking David!! Great craftsmanship!! Looking really good!!

Have Fun..

Chuck

Dox, what the h ell is going on here? Ain't no flippin way you are building this. Look at this bench, glue all lined up in a row by height, pristine plans, no xacto slices, no glue splotches.No tools anywhere, and above all, no balsa scraps or dust, no blood splatters, no cigarette burns on the work bench.............wish my table looked like that, and by the way, nice work. I bet its even warm in there.......regards Sugarfox

...definitely worth a chuckle!

See, it has happened that I'm about to put some slow CA on something, adjust and hold. Next thing I know the darn thing is welded because I used thin CA . But I do confess that my fingers are curiously absent of knife knicks and caked CA - you know, the kind that prevents you from feeling anything when you touch it. I guess mostly I'm using a planer and sanding blocks and very little CA - just a touch here and there. Most gluing has been done with very thin layers of assorted epoxy.

No building on plans, an occasional x-acto, no glue to drip, pens, rulers (lots of those), planer and sanders, lots of balsa dust (everywhere - the room is filled with it!) and scraps (on the floor). Fortunately, the typical blood draining mix of balsa dust and CA up the nose is absent on this build.

Oh, yea, don't have that habit - an occasional single malt is nice though to keep the hands warm (I prefer the liquid form ). It's actually about 57 deg C in there - conducive to lots of sanding!

Buy hey! For $99.99, you too can build a D10, and as a bonus we'll give you a work bench that auto aligns itself!

Chuck, thanks for the flattery. Always nice coming from a composite master builder. BTW, how's your Atlanta fuse looking these days? Is she close to rendition?

Time for some fuse action!

David.

P.S. I'm putting together a little list of materials and parts to complete the D10. It should come in handy if someone wants to build one. I'll post it when it's a little more complete.

David, I'll take a can of that whisky fudge, no wait........ make it a Case!!!!! LoL Pete[:-][:-][sm=75_75.gif]

Yea, me too Pete! I dropped the last one a couple of nights ago []

I'm just trying to figure out what to put in the can. Keeping it in the workshop is a reminder to plan that trip of the Scotland distilleries one of these days.

The fuse is ready to go... I'm just deliberating on whether to wait for the mount and nose gear to arrive before I assemble (make my life easy) or frame up and then tell myself - that was smart, now how're you going to get your hands in there!? [:-] Mostly I'm just a tad concerned that I might need 1/2" more for the correct nose gear length . This would necessitate an extension to the nose moment by putting the FW 1/2" further forward (and I'd have to extend the fuse sides...) It's built per plans but somehow I have this feeling that the nose gear may fall short (hard to tell without actually having the gear and seeing at what level it needs to be mounted).

Maybe I'll just wait and build something else - the canopy, always my least favorite part (don't know why... after all it's also a tip... )

Curious, I just noticed that the kit building forum allows the upload of PDF files but only 3 MB rather than 6 MB (per pass) as over here in classic pattern... I wonder what this depends on. Standardized upload of PDF would be nice.

David.

I've posted a couple of design determining questions for the Deception and, in general, pattern aircraft wise. The post can be read here:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_83...tm.htm#8345660

Any feedback is much appreciated.

David.

Unable to wait any longer, I went ahead and framed up the fuse.

However, before doing so, I made a couple of modifications:

In order to guarantee proper nose gear length and adequate prop clearance (maybe even a 9" prop), I extended the fuse nose by 10 mm as described in the above linked post. This will provide a nose gear bay with a pivot to wheel base length of 4-1/8" which will leave the model level using 3-3/4" lengths on the mains. 1-3/4" wheels will be used on the mains and 1-1/2" on the nose.

I also decided to add 1/32" balsa doublers to the fuse wing saddle area which extend to the edge of the 1/2" triangle stock at the top. While 1/32" balsa is almost paper thin, the balsa/CA/balsa laminate produced a much stiffer center section. This might also optionally provide strength to remove material for lightening purposes. I decided to postpone all lightening (if any) until after the model is ready for covering.

Without nose and tail bottom blocks, nose fairing section and canopy, the fuse is now at an even 4 oz - unsanded

So far so good. I'm now fairly confident that I'll be able to have a finished uncovered airframe weight of ~18 oz (wing 8 oz/fuse and empennage 10 oz).

The misalignment of the fuse wrt the plans is of course due to the 18.5% wider fuse from F1 to F3.

Enjoy the pics!

David.

And a couple more...

I've began work on the canopy as well which will be shaped from a foam block 14" L x 2" W x 1-3/4" H. Treated as a wing tip in the shaping process, once airfoiled, I will glass it with 2-3 layers of 3/4 oz. glass cloth. Then, depending on weight and strength, I'll either add some more cloth and hollow the foam out or leave it as is and paint it.

More to come next week as I won't be able to build for the remainder of this week... []

Mitch, looking forward to seeing the progress on yours!

David.

P.S. Any thoughts regarding the longer nose moment alteration would be much appreciated.

David, that is really looking great! I just found a plane that I know I've had for a least 18 years I stuffed away and forgot about. It was a kit made by I believe GM precision. it has a 52 inch wing span and is 37 inchs long made for a 25 to 35 size engine. put it in the attic some 15 years ago after one of my flying buddys walked in (had it on the floor) and stepped on the wing, it flew great, will bring this back to life one day.

The color's are from my daughter when she was 8 years old, so don't laugh at me not my idea. I caught all kind of flack back then over the colors. What is this bird? you ask................................. RAINBOW RUNNER, no really they made a 20 and 40 size of the rainbow runner. its was a trike, but the field I flew out was so ruff I modified it to a tail dragger.

Regards, Pete

Pete,

thanks for your kind words. I'm anxious to get her finished up although I haven't had as much time to spend on her lately.

Your Rainbow Runner looks like a nice plane to fly with your daughter! A little touch up to the wing and a finish refresher and she'll be as good as new. Keep the trim just as is - with new film the colors will be nice and punchy!

David.

P.S. BTW, nice cores in the background! What model are the third set for?

With a minor update, I managed to work on the fuse a little last night. The tank plate is in place and the entire area, above and below the plate, was fuel proofed with a 50/50 mix of laminating epoxy and alcohol. This stuff brushes on thin and nice and easy. I'll take some pictures of that when I'm done shaping the bottom nose retract block.

I also decided to add some 3/4 oz glass cloth to the FW/fuse side tank area for strength. Further, two ~1" holes were drilled out in the tank plate to reduce weight and facilitate access to the tank area for plumbing purposes. As a side benefit, the holes allow the plate to be mounted lower in the fuse providing more space for tank padding. The reason for this is due to the rear hole providing additional clearance for the nose wheel to retract higher in the fuse than it would were the plate solid (which would require a higher mount for the tank plate and less room for foam padding - things are tight in there).

I also began shaping the fuse front top and bottom blocks (not evident from the pictures) as well as the canopy. Pushrod cutouts in the rear are also done.

David.

I also managed to pick up some 1/8" adjustable axles so the wing finally sprouted some legs!

Final adjustments to the struts are still needed. I will epoxy on some 1/8" OD aluminium or brass tubing in the area where the axles attach to provide a snug fit for the axle/strut junction. Then, a small hole will be drilled out in the tubing where the axle is secured by the retaining screw.

As soon as I get the retract servo linkage sorted out, I should be able to join and glass wings and stabs in preparation for mounting to the fuse.

David.

David, man thats looking great!!! as for the foam wings you see in the pic; there are 6 sets from the top: Mach none, you know what the second and third are... T-10, T-20. the forth is for a Troublemaker, fifth is for a phoenix 6, and last set is for a Mach I. on the list think I'll have to retire just to get to some of them. LoL! Pete

Pete,

See what happens when you make a tricycle ship into a tail dragger???? You of all people....ROFL>>>

Dan

Pete,

what did you do!? Sounds like Dan has some incriminating evidence . Must be related to the T2A... Is it a MK II or IV that you're building? What engine/radio setup will you be using?

Got to do one of those some day... I think I'll focus on larger models next fall since I'll have done a share of smaller ones by the end of summer. I'm also thinking of putting together a 72" electric Tipo if I like how the Nanorare turns out.

Hey Dan, do you know where I can find more info/photos/plans of the Patricia? Nice lines! Your product brochure is being kept somewhere safe.

Guys, I thought the E-Flite F15 retracts might be an interesting option for models of this size. Unfortunately, Horizon is not great with product info so all I have is this small photo. They look like they're made by Robart as they appear similar, but smaller, to their 4 lb retracts - hard to tell.

David.

Pete,

by the way, I remember building a Mach None 'round the mid 80's. I built it from an Ace kit and covered the plastic canopy and foam wings with Ekonokote - straight [:-] (orange if I remember correctly). I was planning to put my pressurized TD 0.49 in it but unfortunately left the country shortly thereafter and the plane never saw flight [].

I'll have to check with my dad to see if it still exists somewhere.

Nice little version of the Mach 1!

David.