I made the 1/2" Balsa nose block and 1/16 ply ring.

Drilled firewall for engine mount, throttle push-rod and fuel lines.
Installed 6-32 blind nuts in firewall for Dave Brown # 5060 engine mount.

Marked former locations on inside of fuselage sides and drew center lines on formers.

Next step is to assemble fuselage!

I just noticed the ply fuselage doublers should end just passed the firewall. Oops, I made a mistake! I made them extend all the way to the front. It shouldn't be a problem though, other than being harder to sand when rounding the nose.
I also relocated one of the fuel line holes in the firewall. It was too near the corner, where the triangle stock will go. I think my building skills are a little rusty!

I joined the fuselage sides. First I epoxied bulkhead # 2 and let it dry. Then I installed the rear 1/4" sq. balsa cross bracing, bulkhead # 3 and joined the fuselage rear. Next I installed the cross brace by the lower wing sadle and added a few temporary 1/4" sq. cross braces to help keep everything square. Then I installed the firewall and nose block.

Getting her done little by little. It sure feels good to be building again. It's been a while.

Installed balsa triangle stock in the engine compartment and fuel tank area.
Sheeted fuselage bottom.
Installed 1/4" balsa stab plate and 1/8 sq. balsa for the turtle deck.
Installed turtle deck formers and stringers.

Stab and fin just mocked up. They haven't been glued yet.

Mike,

How do you plan to handle your canopy needs?

Looks like I can use the rear portion of a Sig Bubble canopy. I had one handy and compared it to the plan. It's a great match.

I planked the turtle deck with 2 pieces of 1/16" balsa. I first glued them to the top stringer and then carefully warped them over the framework while dampening them with hot water. I trimmed them with a straight edge before gluing the sides down with CA.

Okay......coated engine compartment and fuel tank compartment with finishing resin
Installed 1/4" ply upper wing plate, braced with triangle stock for extra strength
cut 3/4" balsa triangle stock down to 3/8" high for the fuselage top
added 3/8" and 1/4" balsa top blocks and roughly rounded to shape

I'm waiting for my CB 2 3/4" spinner to arrive before I finish rounding the nose.

I must reference the instructions more often! I should have waited to glue the 1/4" ply upper wing plate until the wing is placed in the saddle. I'll undoubtedly need to cut it back out and realign with the wing in place.

Time to build some wings!

Mike

I like your sanding tool. Was that your Dad's?

Keith

No, it's actually not very old. It's an auto body sander. I think the sand paper is 50 grit and will rip thru balsa like butter.

Mike

Sorry I missed replying to your post. I was distracted with obtaining the construction article.

The Sun Ray has been a very fun build so far. Hopefully the wings go together quickly so I can begin finishing this very cool biplane. Guess I will paint the fuselage and cover the wings with Monokote as recommended in the instructions.

Just let me know when you're ready for the templates. I'll let you borrow the plans too.

Mike

I notched/slotted the upper wing spars, leading edges and trailing edges. My little Dremel scroll saw worked perfect for making the notches.

You can use a piece of 1/4" triangle stock to hold the 1/4" square leading edge at the correct angle for cutting the notches.

The mocked up wing panel is holding itself together without glue. I can actually pick it up without falling apart. Neat!

Looking good!

Thanks.......lots of work but worth it!

I also the sunray 1974 ventage and knew jack scarobough back in 73 and saw the orignal plane fly the plane i have was the 2nd kit they sold
took mine out of mothballs6 month ago rebuilt wings and recoverer

extend tne ply doubler all the way to tail plans show 3/4 of the way also use spruce for wing spars plans show balsa

Your Sun Ray is totally awesome! I love the paint scheme and thanks for the building tips. The full length fuse doublers sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately I already assembled my fuse. Maybe I will remove some of the lower cross sheeting so I can install some rear doublers to strengthen the stabilizer area. It feels pretty solid as is but some extra strength in that area couldn't hurt.

Spruce wing spars would add tremendous strength to the upper wing. I actually thought about using spruce spars but went with balsa as shown on the plan. I did add 1/16 balsa vertical grain sheer webs to the back side of the spars which adds a lot of strength. I also made the ply dowel plates extend from rib to rib for extra strength. Maybe I should install sheer webs on both sides of the spars. That would be extra strong.

Very interesting you knew Jack Scarbrough and very interesting a Sun Ray kit was once available! I didn't know a kit was ever available. I'd love to find one! I'd especially like to find plans for Jack's Delta Pusher. It was briefly described in the April 1978 RCM Sunday Flyer column. That column has the only picture or info I've ever found on this very cool looking model. Here is the picture from the column and a couple new construction photos.

Mike

Mike,

If you want to add additional strength in AFT fuse area, you might what to consider opening the bottom of your fuse, and place a few light plies of fiberglass with light weight fiberglass resin.

Keith

do you have any spec on the delta that might be in the column

That's a good idea too.

The column does have the specs:
Wingspan 54"
Area 700 sq. in.
Length 63 1/2", (43 3/8" disassembled)
Weight 7 3/4 lb. includes 8 oz. nose weight
Wing section root 64A014, Tip 64A215
Engine: 60

"Elevator, rudder, and aileron servos mounted in center wing. Motor servo in fuselage. Nose wheel operates off extra servo mounted in fuselage, runs on splitter wire from receiver rudder outlet. This allows easy wing attachment to fuselage at the field."

Upper wing panels finished except for final sanding. I glued sheer webs on both sides of the spars for extra strength.

I'd be almost finished if this was a monoplane but I still have another wing to build!

Subscribed: I love planes that are out of the ordinary and not ever going to be arfed. Cant wait to see the finished product. I have never done a plan built airplane, but have done more kits then i can remember. Finishing up a CG Super chipmunk, then I gotta build a BT flying king for my kids. Then im gonna have to build a sun ray. Cool airplane.

Good to hear some more interest in the Sun Ray! It's certainly a unique design that will draw attention at the flying field. No doubt the lower gull wing is what makes us look twice. One of my favorite airplanes of all time is the Corsair. I remember watching the television series Ba Ba Black Sheep when I was a teenager just to see the Corsairs!

looks like the picture is a negative image

I was just playing with the photo editing software in my computer. The negative appearance is simply created by clicking on invert color. Here's a 69 Chevelle picture with the color inverted.