Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Sorry I am so slow getting more done on the build. I have been working on finishing the Yak that I am giving to my dad for his birthday. I have changed my hinge line procedures a little and have to say I am very pleased with the results.

I have been talking to Greg at CAM about getting some of these planes out there. We would like to put the offer out there for someone to get a plane at cost. What we are looking for is some one that would like to compete with the plane and do a build and review in this thread. We would like to see a experienced flyer and builder do this plane. We know that it is a little bit scary to invest this kind of money on a plane that only a couple of people have flown.

So if any of you guys out there are looking to compete in IMAC and Freestyle next season we would love to talk to you.

Brent

wdbosco

I have a couple of questions: what is the length of the aircraft? What exactly is included in the short kit? Do you have instructions? Are plans included? is their a list of required materials with each kit? Does the short kit contain templtes to cut your own foam parts? Will their be parts available, like cowls and canopies for rebuild purposes? What does the W-1 kit include? It looks to me like you just have to sheet everything yourself. I am really interested in a kit, but need this info first.

Thanks

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

The length of the aircraft is around 78" if I am remembering correctly. The short kit includes all the laser cut ply parts, canopy and cowl. For right now the instructions will be on this thread. We are not including plans. They are not necessary and would add to the cost of the kit. The fuse all interlocks together in only one way. It is almost imposible to build wrong or crooked. We will probably be putting together a pdf file with instructions in the future. The W-1 kit includes all the foam parts (wings, rudder, stab, and cheeks) already sheeted. The W-2 includes all the foam parts but you have to do the sheeting yourself. Either way with the foam parts you will get the sheeting and balsa for the hinge lines and leading, trailing edges. We are offering the foam parts vaccume bagged for people that don't have the knowledge or ability to sheet it them self. I would highly recomend going with the W-1 for the foam parts. We went this way so that we can control the quality going out and are 100% confident that every thing is sheeted properly. We have spare parts available in the unfortunate event of a crash. I also have laser cut repair sheets for the most common repair (tearing off the motor and gear).

I hope this helps out. We are looking forward to getting some of these planes out there.

Brent

Stick Bender

I would also like to know about the length, 78 sounds about right. Could we get you to measure it?

Does it go with a pull/pull on the rudder? If so is there a servo pocket in the wood or would a tray be something I would add? (remember I'm a noob)

Does it tend to build tail or nose heavy? Like how is yours set up and where are batteries,etc...

Are the wing tube holes in the wing cores?

I'm interested in how you taper the surface hing area, someone gave me a balsa strip idea but I would rather bevel the hinge area myself, if I can.

Wish I could help with the plane review, but a 1st time builder, just barely above average sport flyer is not a ringing endorsement

I'm trying to come up with a scheme. I've only added covering or recovered. This is my first rough draft

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Looks great! I think a new builder would be great to have posting about the build. I just measured the plane. It is 78" spinner to tail give or take a little depending on the spinner. On the plane that I am setting up for my dad I made the wing tips out of 3/4" balsa. So with the tips added to the wings it measures 87 1/2" ws.

The rudder is set up for pull-pull. Included in the laser cut fuse is a tray to mount the rudder servo. The plane does not build tail heavy. It balances very easy. I mounted the 2 receiver batteries next to the throttle servo and the ignition battery on the side of the motor box. The plane uses the 2 1/2" standard stand-off's. With those you end up with about 3/8" prop clearance infront of the cowl. You can add a 1/4" spacer behind the stand off's to move the motor out a little more.

The holes for the wing tubes are already bored. You will have to bore a hole for the servo wires. I use a peice of 3/8" brass tubing. I heat it up a little with a tourch and it melts a passage through the foam for the wires. There is a hole drilled in the root cap for the wires to go through.

Beveling the hinge line is pretty straight forward. The ailerons use 1/2" balsa and the ele and rudder use 3/8" balsa for the hinge line. I will talk about doing the ailerons. The rudder and ele use the same procedure.

Measure where the center of the hinge line will be at the root and the tip and draw a center line. Draw a line 1/2" on both sides of the center line. Those are the lines you will cut. You also need to draw a line where the ail ends. I end mine at 2 1/2" from the root of the wing. Draw a line parallel to the root of the wing 2 1/2" towards the tip from the root. Then draw another line at 2 3/4" from the tip. You can either cut the surface out with a bandsaw or with a razor knife. I prefer the band saw with a 1/2" wide fine metal blade. If you are using a bandsaw it is important to think about which side of the wing you mark because the wing will only go through the bandsaw one way with out hitting.

Securly tape the wing in the foam shuck that it was cut out of. This will insure that the wing is sitting flat and will lay flat on the saw table. Cut out the ail. Once you have it cut out measure the thickes part of the wing down at the root where you cut out the 1" section. This will he the heigth that you will need to cut your balsa for the hinge line. Cut 2 pieces long enough to go the full length of the ail and tip. Tape the 2 peices together making sure that they are flush on the sides. Next mark the center line on one side of the 2 peices.

Now you can figure out where you want the hinges to go. I start around 1 to 1 1/2" from the root end of the ail. and go every 6" out to the tip. Drill the holes for the hinges in a drill press through both pieces at the same time. Now you can seperate the 2 pieces and set up to bevel them. Set your band saw at 28 to 30 degrees. Set up the rip fence so that when the 1/2" balsa stock is up aginst it the band saw blade is passing just below the center of the hinge line. You will have to play with the angle of the table and the placement of the rip fence to get it just right.

I know this sounds complicated but it is really easy. I will have pictures of how to do this later.

Bevel both sides of the ail stock and the wing stock. Now you are ready to glue the beveled peices to the ail and the wing. I use gorilla glue for this. Spray a little water on the back side of the beveled stock. Spread a light layer of gorilla glue on the wing. I forgot to mention that you need to glue a peice of 3/32" balsa to the inboard part of the ail to cap the foam and do the same to the wing where you cut the ail out.

Center up the wing section of the beveled balsa and use masking tape to keep it in place. It should be about flush with the top and bottom of the wing at the root and extend above and below the wing at the tip. Use plenty of tape to secure it to the wing while the glue sets up. The procedure for the Ail is the same. The only thing that is diferent is that you need to make sure that you line up the hinge holes and marke where the ail will mount to the beveled stock before you start to glue it.

Once the glue has set up (about 2 hours) just sand off the excess balsa that is above and below the wing and ail. Sand it to the conture of the wing.

The other way you can do it is to glue the balsa to the ail and the wing before you bevel it. Sand the parts to the shape of the wing and ail. Mark the center line and lay out where your hinges will go. Drill the holes for the hinges. Using a finger plane, razor knife and a sanding block bevel the hinge line by had. Go from the center line and bevel it to within 1/8" of where the sheeting meets the balsa stock for the hinge line.

Like I said I will post all these steps and pictures once I get finished with my dads plane. The reason that I am not using his for pictures is that his is the very first one that I had cut and does not look exactly like the planes that we are sending out.

I hope this was not too confusing.

Brent

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Just thought I would put in a few pictures of the Yak that I am building for my dad. It is almost ready to cover. I hope to have it covered next week.

I will be getting back to the main build instruction when I get this one finished. My dad will be out for Thanksgiving, I will be giving him his Christmas Yak then!

Brent

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

It is amazing how much you can get done in 11 days. I just finished the yak that I am giving to my dad. Here are some pictures of the finished product. I am very happy with how it turned out. This is the best plane I have built to date.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

My Feedback: (42)

Nice scheme!! What does it weigh?

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

16 lbs 6 oz. It came in the same as my prototype.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Well I am finally back to work on the build sequence. We have sent out our first plane! I will try to keep working on the plane consistently until it is to the ready to cover stage. I am also starting work on designing a 35% extra 260 that I hope to be competing with next year.

Back to the build.

Once you have the formers glued in on the top and the sides back to where the fuse tapers you are ready to glue in the remaining formers and finish gluing down the fuse top.
Put a bead of glue around the sides and the top of the remaining two formers and set them into the fuse. Run a bead of glue down the side of the fuse top making sure that you get glue into the notches. Clamp and tape the fuse top down. Make sure that you have no gaps or voids along the seam.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Once the glue is dry sand the fuse top smooth. The tabs in the fuse sides stick above the fuse top and bottom just a little. These need to be sanded flush before moving on to the bottom section.

Remove the bottom fuse pieces. Make sure that no glue ran down and will interfer with gluing the fuse bottom on. Run a bead of glue along the fuse sides and on the formers making sure to get into the notches. Install the fuse bottom and clamp and weigh it down. As you can see I use a lot of clamps. Once the glue is dry sand smooth like you did on the top.

Glue in the 1/4" thick landing gear plate and the T shaped peice that goes in the end of the fuse.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

The formers for the bottom of the fuselage are next. They are spaced out along the bottom of the fuse. One for each former. The one with out any lightning holes goes directly behind the landing gear plate. There are 2 laser engraved lines for the former that goes between the one at the gear plate and the first fuse former. The last former has a tab in it that goes in the slot at the rear of the fuse. All the formers get centered over the former and should be flush with the sides of the fuse.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Time to add the stringers. All the stringers are laser cut 1/8" light ply with interlocking ends for splicing the peices together.

Start by glueing to stringers togther using a staight edge to keep every thing straight. I use thin or medium ca for this with some kicker. The outside 2 stringers get a notch cut out of them to fit into the last former at the back of the fuse. I try to install the stringers with the splice centered over a former or very close to a former. Glue it in place and use the left over peice of stringer to lengthen the next one.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Turtle deck is next.

Start by drawing a line down each side of the fuse top 1/16" in from the edge. This is where the sheeting will get glued to the top of the fuse. Place the T1 former into the slots on the top of the fuse. It will be necessary to bevel the notches a little to allow the former to lean back towards the tail of the plane. There are 2 triangle shaped peices that are set at 72.1 degrees. These set the angle of the first turtle deck former. With the former in the slots lean the top of the former back until the angle guages are tight with the back side of the former. Make sure that the angle guage is not covering the stringer slots. Ca them to the former and Glue the former to the top of the fuse. Install the remaining formers centering them up between the 1/16" marks. Formers 2-5 all get glued at 90 degrees to the top of the fuse. Glue in the stringers using the same procedure that was used on the bottom. I start at the top and glue that stringer in first. This will prevent the formers from moving around while glueing in the remaining stringers. Once all are in place lightly sand the stringers and formers to make sure that every thing is flush. Be carefull not to sand too much on the formers between the stringers or you can end up with a flat area between the stringers.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Glue in the gear brace plates to the inside of each side of the fuse. Use either carpenter glue or epoxy. They go directly above the gear plate and behind the front cowl former. Later you will need to add a peice of aluminum angle. This will be bolted through the side of the fuse and down through the landing gear.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

The hatch can be done any time after the basic structure of the fuse is completed. I start by glueing in the doublers for the hatch mount. Next I glue on the front hatch former and the rear hatch former. Put some wax paper under the hatch frame and the front former and place the hatch on the fuse with the T shaped mounts inserted into the rectangular holes at the rear of the fuse. These will get drilled for a blind nut and will bolt the hatch down. It is very important to clamp the hatch to the top of the fuse to make sure that every thing stays flat while the glue dries. Make sure that every thing is square and clamped tight.

Glue in the stringers.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

To set up the rear canopy former I start by laying 3 layers of masking tape across the front of the turtle deck towards the top and annother 3 layers at the bottom where the turtle deck meets the fuse. I then lay some wax paper down the front of the turtle deck and along the top of the fuse below the hatch. Glue the 2 rear canopy formers together with some wood glue. Glue along the bottom front edge of the former and place it between the end of the hatch and front of the turtle deck. center it up and clamp to the turtledeck.

I can't sheet the hatch or turtle deck yet. I am still waiting on my balsa for sheeting to get in from national.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

I decided to go ahead and sheet the turtle deck. My 1/16" balsa won't be in for a few days so I am sheeting it with 3/32 and will just do some extra sanding.

I start by cutting 1 peice of bals about 1/4" long on the back end of the turtle deck. Tape it in place along the top of the fuse. Mark where it lays on the center of the second stringer. I like to put my glue seams centerd over a stinger. Cut off that peice and use the scrap to do the same thing on the other side. Tape another peice of balsa to the wedge shaped peice that you just made. Wrap it over the top of the turtle deck and mark the center of the top stringer. that takes care of one side. Do the same thing for the other side. Wrap the 2 sides up over the top and check the fit. You might need to do a little sanding to get it just right. Lay the 4 peices up side down on your bench and draw some alighnment marks over the seams. This will help get everything in the right spot after you apply the glue. I used tight bond to glue the sheeting together. Use tape to pull all the sheets tight. Once it is dry you can sand the inside of the sheeting smooth.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

After the turtle deck sheeting glue has dried sand the inside seams smooth. Test fit the sheeting over the formers to make sure that it matches up tight over all the formers and is flush with the top of the fuse on both sides. Use some water and get the balsa damp on both sides. Try not to get it wet where the sheeting meets the top of the fuse. Tape one side of the sheeting to the top of the fuse. Wrap the sheeting over the turtle deck. I use velco wraped around the fuse to hold the shape. Let the balsa dry. This will get most of the bend necessary around the turtle deck.

I use gorilla glue and a small syringe to apply it with. Lay a very small bead of urithane glue around each of the formers. Next lay a bead along both top sided of the fuse between the outer edge and the 1/16" line that you drew earlier. Tape onside of the sheeting to the top of the fuse. Lay a peice of tape over the top of the turtle deck sheeting directly above each of the formers and stretch it tight down the side of the fuse. Repeat this for the other side.

I prefer to use urithane glue because it expands aroung each of the stringers and formers and makes for a better glue joint. I don't use CA on the sheeting because it tends to soak through the sheeting. This makes a hard area when you sand it. If you are not very carefull sanding you can end up with a low area around where the CA soaked through.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Next is the aft section of the turtle deck. Use some scrap peices of 1/2" balsa to build up this area. You can either stack up peices of balsa and make it a solid block or glue peices together to make a hollow block. I prefer to make it hollow, this makes for less work when you cut out the area for the vertical fin.

Make a mark 1" from the end of the fuse. If you make the block the whole length it gets very thin in the area that the fin goes. I prefer to make it a little short and fill in this area with laminating resin and micro-balloons. Cut 2 sheets of 1/2" balsa long enough to go from the end of the turtle deck to the 1" mark. I make it tall enough to come within 3/8" of the top of the turtle deck. Bevel each side peice to match up with the last former. It is around 5 degrees. Make sure that you do a right and left side. This will make the block mate up flush with the last former. Make an angled cut at the same angle as the turtle deck from the front of the peice to the aft end. You can get this angle by laying a straight edge down the top of the turtle deck on the center line. This is another reason I do the sheeting in 4 peices. That way the seam is in the center of the turtle deck. Make another peice to fit between the 2 side peices. Cut another short peice to glue on the top of the box at the front. This will make up the remaining heigth at the rear of the turtle deck. There is a number of ways to make the box for the end of the turtle deck. The important thing is to make it a little over size and thick enough that when you sand it to shape you don't have any voids. Again I use carpenter glue (tight bond) for glueing the peices. CA can cause a problem when you sand it to the final shape.

Tack glue the block to the top of the fuse. Once the glue is dry you can start shaping the block with a micro plane, knife or 80 grit sand paper. I don't do any of the sanding on the turtle deck until the block is rough sanded to shape. This keeps you from sanding too much of the sheeting on the turtle deck and making any thin spots.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Here is the block roughed with a finger plane and finish sanded. Next carefully cut the block loose from the tack glue spots by sliding a hobby knife between the block and the top of the fuse. Here are some pictures of the inside of the turtle deck showing how the urithane expands to make a very secure glue joint.

For my turtle deck I uses 3/32" contest grade balsa. The kits will come with 1/16" standard weight balsa. I used the contest grade because I had it on hand. On the earlier planes I used 1/16" contest grade to sheet the turtle deck. This wood flattened out a lot between the stringers at the rear of the turtle deck. The standard weight balsa should be a little better. The 1/16" may flatten out a little between the stringers. Be carefull not to sand too much. On earlier planes I used a little light weight spackling filler to fill the low spots.

I hope my pictures and instructions are clear. If anything does not make sense please someone let me know. This is my first time writing instructions. I can build one of these planes in my sleep but I forget that someone else might find it confusing. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Brent

Stick Bender

Well I started on mine, so far I just have the fuse sides joined, glued all the doublers then went around them with Zap-A-Gap CA.

I've got the cowl ring and switch plate glued in, the servo plate and firewall are just in held with the bungees to help keep everything square.

Squares on both sides indicate I have a nice square base to build from.

Scott Gaines

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

Scott

Looks good. What do you think of the sheeted foam parts. Do you have any pictures to put up? The balsa to sheet my parts should be here Tuesday. Hopefully I can keep ahead of you with the build sequence. If you have any questions just let me know. Go ahead and post the questions so other people that will be building this plane can see them.

Brent

Stick Bender

No, I'm afraid to look at the foam sheeted parts. That's going to be the hardest part for me.

I do have a cheek out and it looks great. And I have peeked at some of the other cores and they look great. I just don't know how I'm going to cut them yet. I may have to buy a band saw. I need dimensions for rudder, elevators and ailerons.

The build of the fuse looks like the easiest part. I'm a bit afraid of the surfaces, no room for error.

How the vertical stab mates to the fuse isn't clear in my mind yet, But I don't even have the fuse framed up.

I bought some 1x1x1/8 aluminum angle bracket, would this be appropriate for the gear brackets? I also got some 1/2x1/2x1/16 for the motor box if I decide to go that route. I love that the firewall is already marked.

One thing on mine, the slots for the cowl ring in the fuse side was not quite 1/4 wide, had to open them up and the slots for the firewall have extra clearance. It's like the software or the machine changed the slots and made one thinner and the other wider by the same amount (just a thought)

I can't wait to get this thing in the air, shooting for february to have the airframe ready. Then I have to decide if I rob the gear from my 27% 260 I'm flying now or try to build all new like with the new HS-7985 and HS-7955 hi resolution servos.

Brent G

My Feedback: (5)

I noticed the tight slot on my cowl ring as well. When I did the original drawing the 1/4" light ply I measured was about .011" under. So I drew up the slots in front for that dimension. Now the wood is just a little thicker. I may open up the slots a little but I am concerned about if the wood supplier goes back to the other dimension. You can always open up a slot just a little. But it is much harder to make one tight after it is cut oversized.

Don't worry about the foam parts. It is really quite easy. You don't have to use a band saw but that is the easiest way. They can be cut easly with a hobby saw or a fine tooth miter saw. All the foam parts are marked where they will be cut. I will show how to cut them later. The only real special tool needed is an incidence meter. All the planes so far have been right on by centering up the root rib on the wing or stab. I strongly recomend having an incidence meter to double check it though.

The fuse is very easy to build. The foam parts are not that bad. I will talk you through it.

Brent