mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Hey, that stuff looks great.

For now I’m going with the smallish pilot I have. He’ll do for a maiden flight anyway-

But thanks for the heads-up.

tmac48

Sat my 1/3 scale pilot in his seat and he is way too small!!!

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Oh, yeah, he's too small alright. Turns out a half-scale pilot is HUGE! I may have to make a bigger bust out of parts - like you showed us, but for the maiden I'll be using may smaller bust.

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Trying to get ready to cover this beast but the weather's been too nice here to stay cooped up in the shop! So it's been golf golf golf. Turns out retirement is pretty fun!

It was time to tackle the servo installation in the tail. The openings in the fuselage need to be raised and widened for my installation so that's what you see here. It turned out to be easier to just plug the factory holes and start over so that's what I did. The openings have to he HUGE because the ball joints and all the hardware run inside the openings. But for cover I don't think I will cut them all the way out. Might just slit the Dacron. We'll see.



Here you see just how wrong the openings are.

View from the outside with a rough idea how high they need to be raised.

So I decided to just plug and start over.

tmac48

I will run into the same problem with the elevator, but I installed the large mount (that is too big for my rudder servo) and was hoping to be able to make a another mount that will glue to the bottom of it, this should then line up with the kit cut-outs.

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

I said it before but I’ll say it again: it is VITAL that the aileron hinge tips get sanded to a point. Otherwise there will be unacceptable binding. See pic.

tmac48

Need to thank you on heads up about the rear blind nut for the undercarriage anchorage..
It looks like I may be able to get by with the elevator servos, will not require a lot of opening up if any at all.

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

You are welcome. I, on the other hand, had to dig out enough space to install the blind nuts AFTER the formers were installed. GRRRRRRRR

tmac48

Mitch, what do you think a seat like this would look?

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Wow, those look pretty cool.

Go for it!

tmac48

Getting one done for the Bucker to have a look at.

JohnHab

My Feedback: (1)

Mitch, Backing up a bit. How did you figure out where the cabane wires were going to exit? Your complete build log is a great resource for my build. Thanks

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

John, the factory parts come with holes in them for the wires. Or at least mine did. I'd hate to think about locating them from scratch. With that said, the front ones were very close but I had to tweak the rear ones a bunch. It's no big deal though. I just backed them up underneath with a little balsa sheet and moved them to perfection then filled appropriately. They are ultimately going to be covered with a little external ring in the end anyway -

It's good to see my thread is coming in handy!

tmac48

It's good to see my thread is coming in handy![/QUOTE]

It was handy when it came to these!!

tmac48

Mitch what are your thoughts on this. The supplied foam is a little short in places, would you fill it in or just sand everything back to it?

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Terry, I'm going to have to let you decide that. My recommendation to you is to go back and look at the pics of my process through that. I didn't sand any of the external-most perimeters of the wood parts - although they do require a lot of sanding to get the planes right. And I didn't use the factory foam either, so it was generously oversized.

And I don't know about yours but my fuselage sides just aft of the foam didn't come together quite right - I chronicled that in the thread.

Best of luck and keep posting!!

EDIT: After looking at your pictures closely it appears that you can and do need to sand your wood parts down to the foam. I recall now that I sanded all my formers to plane BEFORE installing the foam so it wasn't an issue:



Look closely: all front formers sanded to plane.

tmac48

Thanks for your reply. I have studied your build thoroughly and after you sanded that former you later added it back. I think the best thing for me to do will be to add fill to the foam then if I need to I can always sand it off latter. Once again thanks for your assistance. My wife has made a start on the pilot.

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Fantastic! Some people have all the luck!

My wife mostly wants me to hold the noise down in the shop

tmac48

Mine is definitely a keeper!!

The bottom foam job looks like being a disaster!! Guess I will need to dig it all-out and start over. Will be a pain without the originals to copy!!

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Ouch! Yes, this kit definitely has some shortcomings! But it will be worth it in the end. . . ..

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Terry, this statement is factually incorrect. I did not sand away anything that needed to be added back. In this pic, the missing wood was never there!


I'd be curious to see this area of your fuselage to see how yours looks.

tmac48

Mitch very sorry about that poor choice of words. I was referring to the 10 x 18 side stringer. I think I added the filler piece as per what you did. My biggest mistake was in how I handled the transition of the round of the front to the flat section of the rear. Also the addition of body filler to fill the gaps was a complete failure!!

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

Terry, I think if you had the right, light, sandable filler it might just work. The thing about this foam front end is that it gets covered with heavy glass - and that's the real strength.

And as for that part of the kit that has the misaligned wood parts. . . . .I wonder what the heck JW was thinking . I can't imagine.

tmac48

Yes mitch you are right about the filler that I used, all too late now. I have ripped all the foam out and will start over when I procure some more. Luckily for me the top section went ok and will be just fine when glassed. Will get her done one way or another!!
Meant to ask, looks like you filled in around the forward top centre section mount as well?

mitchilito

My Feedback: (7)

I think you are asking about the top forward most piece of .8mm plywood that came with the kit? I didn't like the way mine fit (was a little small) so I replaced it with a piece of fiberglass sheet I had laying around. Worked out great.


you can see my glass sheet top forward. No foam underneath.