bruce88123

Doing good Reggie. Pictures are OK, could use a little more light it appears. Good to wsee you using the 90 degree brackets and pins.

Try this - put a T-pin on either side of the spar and stretch a small rubber band between them over the top of the spar. This will PULL the spar down snug. Do this in about every other bay for best results.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Yep, we got another one hooked!!!!!

Ken

RookiePilot

Thats a great idea Bruce. I will definately do that from here on out. I love working with the carpenters glue. Maybe Im just slow, but the CA is dried before I get a part placed where I want it. The smell of the CA also scares me with my son around. Let me ask you guys a question, how differently does the Kadet fly compared to the nextstar? I fly the nextstar all over the place on Realflight. Just curious if the flight characteristics was close.

Reggie

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Having flown both in the real world I would say that the Sig flies much better than the Nexstar. The wing is larger (900 sq. in on the LT-40 compared to 722 sq in on the Nexstar) on the Sig which smooths out the way that it flies. If I had to pick a best flying trainer of all the ones that I've ever had experience with I would say it would be the Lt-40!!

Ken

Quinoa

Congratulations Ken!

ThatĀ“s the best thread IĀ“ve ever seen. I received a couple of days ago my Sig Kadet LT-40. ThankĀ“s to your effort a lot of people (me too) will learn how to bild a plane.
IĀ“m so impatient to beginn my project!!!

Does anybody know how to make a pdf file with the 28 pages of this thread?

I would like also to have a copy of the plans. A TIFF file is better than a pdf or Jpeg file?
Maybe the company Sig kann send me a copy of the plans in digital format if I have already purchased one of their kits.

bruce88123

Reggie - thin CA is applied with the parts already positioned in their final places. There is a reason why they call it "instant" glue. Medium and thick CA have some positioning time but don't really penetrate as well. Don't try to use the thicker CA to make up for poor fit. There is no substitute for wood to wood contact.

CA fumes CAN be very hazardous and severe alergies can develop. This doesn't even take into account if your son should accidentally ingest some or get the liquid in his eyes. In a home with children, this is a VERY dangerous chemical. Treat it as such or get rid of it.

RookiePilot

No worries, I locked it up along with the razors and saws and all that good stuff. The only time I will use it is for hard points when inserting screws, or when installing the hinges. Speaking of my son, here is a picture. The clamps weren't needed there, but I like to include him. Trying to get him started early. He flies on the simulator too (or attempts too).

Reggie

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Now with the major part of this part of the wing done itā€™s time to trim of the extra covering. One of the more difficult things I have found to do is get a straight line on the leading edge of the wing where the covering meets. I know there are people that try to apply the covering in a straight line on the leading edge and then cover the wing from there, but I have absolutely no luck doing it that way. Instead I will mark a straight line where I want it cut, and then cut it off on that line. If you take it slowly as you cut itā€™s really pretty easy to cut it along that straight line. Because of the fact that the leading edge of the wing is curved it makes it a bit difficult to measure with a ā€œhardā€ ruler because the area that needs measured is around the curve of the leading edge, so I do something a bit different when marking the line to cut on. There are actually many ways to measure something like this, like using a cloth measuring tape instead. And even easier (at least for me) is to cut a small ā€œguideā€, in picture #1 you can see that I simply used a scrap piece of Monokote to make this guide. Once I have the ā€œguideā€ itā€™s quick work to put this in place down the length of the wing to mark where we will cut the covering (picture #2). Picture #3 shows the marks I made down the leading edge. For marking like this I prefer to use a Sharpie marker, as I stated earlier. This is because it marks easily on the covering, will not rub off as I work, and can easily be removed with a little bit of alcohol last on. With the guide marks in place use a straightedge to draw our cut line down the length of the leading edge (picture #4). Picture #5 shows our line in place and ready to cut on. Unfortunately I didnā€™t get a picture if actually cutting the covering, but itā€™s not too difficult. The best advice I can give is to position your hand so that it rests on top of the wing so that it keeps your hand steady as you cut along the line. Donā€™t get in a hurry and take your time and cut along the line down the length of wing. After you have the cut made use a paper towel with alcohol on it to remove and left over marks from the Sharpie. Use a covering iron to seal down the edge of the covering after you cut it (picture #6). Pictures #7 & #8 show the leading edge after we are finished up. Not bad, nice straight line!


Pictures
1. Cut a measuring guide from a scrap piece of Monokote.
2. Use the guide to mark the leading edge for cutting.
3. Marks on the leading edge.
4. Use a straightedge to mark the cut line on the covering
5. Cut line in place
6. Use a covering iron to seal down the covering after cutting it.
7. Completed leading edge.
8. Completed leading edge.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Next up isnā€™t exactly a step in building planes, but trust me in that itā€™s something that you will face all the time. Looking at picture #1 you can see what I officially call and ā€œoopsā€!! As I was handling the wing the tip of the aileron it something and left a chunk taken out of the wood. So before covering the ailerons the ding needs repaired. Itā€™s really a fairly easy repair to do. To start off with the area to be repaired needs to be shaped so that we can repair it, so cut the area to repair so that we have straight edges to glue to (picture #2). Use a scrap piece of balsa and glue it into the area to repair (picture #3), itā€™s easier to use an oversized piece of wood and sand to shape than to try to cut to shape before gluing it in place (picture #4 & #5). Once the glue is dry on the wood itā€™s a simple matter of sanding the wood to shape to match the aileron (picture #6). If you look at pictures #8 - #10 you can see that the repaired area is very hard to detect, and when itā€™s covered it will not show at all. A simple easy repair to make and then we can move on with the project.

The point of this point was to simply point out that ā€œstuffā€ happens as you build. But the best thing to do is what I said earlier ā€œDonā€™t Panicā€, repairs are usually easy to do. Just take your time and figure out the best way to fix the damage, fix it, then move on.

Pictures
1. Oops. A ding in the wood of aileron needs to be repaired before covering the aileron
2. Cut the wood of the damaged area
3. Glue in a piece of scrap wood in the area we just cut.
4. Glue in a piece of scrap wood in the area we just cut.
5. Glue in a piece of scrap wood in the area we just cut.
6. Sand the wood to the shape of the aileron.
7. Sand the wood to the shape of the aileron.
8. The repaired area is hard to see after itā€™s completed.
9. The repaired area is hard to see after itā€™s completed.
10. The repaired area is hard to see after itā€™s completed.

Until next time

Ken

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

All thatā€™s left on the wing is to cover the ailerons and put the graphics on it. I always save doing the graphics on a plane until I have the plane completely covered, and then I will put graphics on both the fuselage and wing at the same time. So that leaves us with just covering the aileron. I do apologize on this step that I donā€™t have all the pictures of this step as those pictures were some of the ones lost when the memory card on my camera got corrupted. Iā€™m posting all the pictures that I have left of this step and will explain what needs to be done.

Covering the ailerons is a very straightforward step, and doesnā€™t take too much time. Cut a piece of covering cover the aileron with (picture #1). As with everything else we do when cutting covering, cut it oversize so that we have covering to pull on as we apply it, weā€™ll cut the excess after we are finished. Start off here just like everything else we have done by tacking down one corner of the covering (picture #2 & #3), line up the covering with the inside edge of the aileron and weā€™ll pull and tack the covering using this edge as a guide. Now pull the covering tight and tack the other end of the aileron covering in place. Now go to the middle of the aileron and pull the covering down until the edge of the covering lines up with the edge of the aileron (picture #4), and tack it in place (picture #5). Continue pulling and tacking along this edge down the length of the aileron (picture #6). Here is where I ran out of pictures, so Iā€™ll just describe what to do. After you have the edge tacked in place now we need to go ahead and iron down the covering to the aileron. On some planes with bigger aileron surfaces we could use the heat gun to shrink the covering before ironing it down like we did on the wing tips, but these ailerons arenā€™t really big enough to do that so weā€™ll just iron them in place. For this I prefer to use the iron with the hot sock on it. Itā€™s pretty easy to do, just pull the covering tight and use the iron to seal the covering down to the aileron. When you have the entire aileron sealed then trim the edges and make sure that they are sealed down after trimming. Now go finish covering the rest of the aileron surfaces.

And that is it, with the exception of the graphics the wing is now covered. Take a few minutes and look over the work and make sure there arenā€™t any things that were missed. The biggest thing I usually find it edges that may not be completely sealed down. Taking the time to check for them and fix them now will save you tons of headaches later on when you start flying the plane, so it pays to spend a few minutes now making sure the covering is correct.

Next up weā€™ll start on covering the fuselage. So put the wing in a safe place until later and weā€™ll get ready to move on.


Pictures
1. Cut covering for the aileron.
2. Tacking down the corner of the covering.
3. Corner of the covering tacked in place.
4. Pull the covering in the middle so it lines up with the inside edge of the aileron.
5. Tack along the inside edge.
6. Tack the covering all along the inside edge of the covering.

Until next time

Ken

bruce88123

Fess up Ken. Ya stuck the wing into the running ceiling fan.[:@]

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Shhhhhh, don't say it too loud!!

I was hoping you wouldn't bring that up!! But it is true, that's how I dinged the aileron. I was turning the wing around and the wing tip was hit by the ceiling fan that was running!!! [:@] Oops!!!!

Ken

Quinoa

Does anybody know how to make a pdf file with the 28 pages of this thread?

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

quinoa,
I'll tell you what. If you can wait until I get done with the rest of the build I'll create a PDF for you.

Ken

Quinoa

ThatĀ“s the question...I canĀ“t wait any more !!!!!

Thank you very much Ken
ThatĀ“s nice to hear

Alberto

ColMax

What a great idea - pinning small right angle brackets this way. I've never seen this before - excellent idea.[sm=thumbs_up.gif]

bruce88123

If you drill a small hole (just a tad bigger than pin diameter) in each leg of the angle, you can pin right through it. Less chance of movement.

ColMax

This is one of those 'why didnt I think of this before....' I'll go buy some light right angle and make a bunch up - with guide holes as you say [8D]

Quinoa

IĀ“m interested to save in pdf format besides this thread other ones. So I would really appreciate if someone could explain to me how can I do it with the Acrobat

ThankĀ“s in advanced

Alberto

RookiePilot

If you have Adobe Acrobat installed you can right click on the page itself and choose convert to pdf

Quinoa

But I canĀ“t get a 28 pages pdf document, just 1 page

RookiePilot

You convert it one page at a time. Once you have all them converted, you open the first page in acrobat , then go to document->insert pages. Once complete, you will have one large file and can delete the rest

Quinoa

Is there any faster method to do the same? IMO that is very boring to do

RookiePilot

Well if you could find a way to show all 28 pages of this thread on one page you could do it. Otherwise, one at a time.

Reggie

USMC07Seghetti

I was looking to do the same on pdf. I ended up using Micrsoft Works then copy -n- pasted all the posts by RCKen regarding the build. It came up to 99 pages (printed out in library for $10 [:@] ) but it was worth it. I am building a LT-40 and using RCKens build posts/thread as a guide. Of coarse I added a bibiliography of where i got it and put down RCKen as the Author (just to be safe to avoid any plagerism).
If there is a easier way to fit all his build posts into fewer pages please let me know. Until then I will keep reading the 99 pages multiple times (not that bad if dedicated to reading 99 pages!! ).

Thanks For this thread, it has helped me out greatly (since this is my first kit build) as well as others

And if i did anything bad or wrong by copy and pasting onto works let me know (again to avoid plagerism ).