looking real good somegeek

Thanks, theo63.

Got the rudder checkers done and the tail feathers installed tonight...






I installed the stock tailwheel wire on the rudder during assembly. Gonna run this. If it fails, I can install a tail wheel bracket as I already installed a second blind nut in the rear of the fuselage just in case.

Got the three servos in the fuselage mounted.



somegeek

Somegeek you are doing it very good!Keep going with the good job!
Also,
can you explain how you made the rudder checkers?

Thanks Kostas1.

Rudder is covered in white pearl. I cut squares of red covering and applied them using low heat to prevent shrinkage but activate the adhesive.

somegeek

Somegeek, I can't quite put my finger on it but your plane looks vaguely familiar. How's that knee coming?

Hey geek, I have a SE that I'm building right now and I want to sheet the turtle deck like you did. Did you plane the TD spine and stringers down to the level of the formers or leave them sticking up?
Karter

yel914 - knee is getting better by the day. thanks.

Karter - I sanded the formers down a bit before mounting them on the fuselage in anticipation of the sheeting. I planed down the stringers after mounting them. Post for reference.

Hey geek, looking mighty good.

You mentioned doing the covering on lowheat for the trim, have you read about using Windex, it activates the adhesive. If you knew this ignore me, just mentioning it in case you didn't know.

Cheers,
Graham

Thanks for the suggestion. The windex method is used primarily for Monocote. Windex doesn't activate the adhesive on ultracote. I did use it to position ultracote checkers on my last plane but the liquid didn't help when it heated and turned to steam causing more bubbles under the covering. I say don't use it with ultracote period. This is my preference though.

Just enough heat to activate the adhesive worked great for the ultracote covering without causing bubbles. Just position it carefully and hold in place when mounting.

somegeek

Ahhh good to know. I thought it worked with most of the adhesive covering. Thanks.

For anyone who still thinks Windex "activates" covering glue, try soaking a scrap of covering in a cup of Windex. The glue doesn't even get tacky. All Windex does is allow you to keep air from getting trapped under the trim. To attach the trim, after you squeegee out the Windex, you need to either heat the covering, or brush the edges of the trim piece with something that WILL dissolve the glue, like acetone. BTW, Windex works, but a few drops of dishwashing liquid in plain water works better.

Oh yeah, meant to say, really nice covering job, somegeek.

Guess there is a lot of us out there confused then with regards to Monokote. Ken advised that the windex activates the adhesive on Monokote last week in another thread.

Thanks man. [8D]

somegeek

Ken is right 999 times out of 1000. And I don't have nearly that good a record. But this is one you can test for yourself. Even Ken advocates going around the edges with an iron.

As always, excellent work. What putty/filler are you using?

Thanks, Mods!

Just used some spackling paste I had in the house since it was on-hand.

somegeek

Well,
sorry for asking but will the nitro/oil from fuel "damage" the checkers?

Nope - shouldn't be an issue as the covering material is the same as the rest of the plane.

somegeek

Corrected my servo orientation and then assembled/installed the tail feather control rods.







The carbon fiber push rods do not flex like the plastic pushrod material that came with the kit so I installed pieces of cable instead of 2-56 metal rod between the cleavis and the carbon fiber rod to allow for flex so the rod would not bind in the tube when being actuated.

Tank w/ plumbing and throttle cable in place for engine install.



Installing the tube was tricky as the fuel tank area does not have a removable cover. I inserted 1' pieces of copper wire into each line and then put a piece of shrink wrap over the end of the fuel line so it'd be tapered when threading the lines through the holes. Worked pretty well.

somegeek

For future referance, household spackling paste is too heavy and the stuff in the hobby stores is much, much lighter.

This is turning out to be one sweeeeet thread-- beautiful work, 'geek. Your modifications are subtle and useful; I really like the carbon fiber pushrods, and the cowling is as professional as it gets. FYI, I have maidened my second SSE (), and they both have had the stock tailwheel assembly. It has never given me a problem. Keep those pics coming!

BasinBum - I kinda wondered about that but I didn't think I'd leave much on the plane which ended up being the case. Good to know though for future reference.

flycfii - Thanks for the kind words. That's cool you've maidened two of these. Looking forward to getting my skills up a bit more to possibly maiden this one. Good to hear about the stock tail gear.

Got the engine mounted, plumbed and the throttle cable cut to proper length. The cable routing clears the muffler mount by 1/16". Will install a few pieces to the inside of the cowl to restrain the fill tube when not in use. Also put some blue RTV(silicone) on the muffler half seam, both ends of the bolt holding the muffler together and where the muffler mounts on the engine. Helps to assure the unburned fuel oil only comes out the exhaust tube which in turn keeps your plane a little cleaner.



Rx mounted and throttle cable hooked up... had to trim the corner of the Rx foam so the cable doesn't rub.



Took me a little while to adjust the servo and also decrese it's throw to properly align wide open down to completely shut using the engine kill button. Without proper adjustment the cable was pulling or pushing past where the carb's motion points ended straining components.

Finding those holes for the servo horn mounts was not easy since the holes were covered with a fiberglass patch for reinforcement. Using a flashlight in a dark room proved useful to find them right away to more easily make my pilot holes for the screws using a T-pin.



somegeek

Got the tail support wires installed...



Needed to drill out the clevis holes after cutting off the sides with the pins so the 2-56 bolts would fit.

A dab of aluminum wheel polish in a rag and 1 minute of polishing per rod polished the 2-56 rods to a chrome like finish.

somegeek

Looking most excellent! And if you don't have aluminum polish around, 0000 steel wool gives a similar look to those tail brace wires.

Thanks, Yel914! Man - I didn't realize how close my color scheme was to yours! Wasn't trying to copy it. I browsed every SSE thread I could find for pics and also images.google.com for inspiration. That cowl you have installed is pretty slick along with the red nose cone. Who makes the cowl?

Regarding my build... Aileron control rods assembled and installed.



Installed the Rx switch and battery.



Construction for the most part is complete so I got the plane balanced. Hung from the nose cone bolt and tail gear using 40# fishing line.



To add weight to the light side I used a piece of fishing line looped around the end cap and added split shot until it balanced. Can see this hanging off the wing tip above.



After I got it balanced I weighed the lead - 16 grams. Took the lead off the line and put in a small pile on the garage floor (concrete) and hit it with a propane torch for about 10 seconds which caused the lead to melt and puddle. I then clamped the lead it in my vice to texture it so it'd have a rough surface for the epoxy to stick to. Clipped off a small chunk to account for the weight of the expoxy I'd use to glue it in place. Used a toothpick to run the epoxy up the sides of the lead as well so this won't break loose after covering.



CG length-wise ended up being 1/4" behind the wing spar with my battery placed just behind the fuel tank - think I should be set.

somegeek

Somegeek, Yeah, they're close, but so what! Yours looks great. The FG cowl on mine is my own custom creation. And now for a caution. I found out the hard way that the high rates for this plane can be dangerous(especially at low altitude)! My SSE was completely destroyed from the wing forward. The rebuild of this plane is on the back burner as I am finishing up a Sig Skybolt. I didn't cry, but I may have uttered a few expletives. The SSE is definitely not our beloved LT40's! Keep us posted.