WacoNut

Ron,
I gave up on the pull/pull and went with a control rod.

I like the Hitec HS645MG's they are metal geared and alot of torque and they are reasonably priced. My local hobby shop sells them for $32. I am using them in my 33% planes and they perform well.

The Futaba is an old servo I had laying around and it is on the throttle.

I have the aileron servo mounts in and one aileron hinged.
It's been a long day!!
Anthony

deljon

My Feedback: (4)

Looking real good Anthony,

An issue I had on mine was that the long length of Ny-Rod would change the trim drasticly from a cool summer
morning to a hotter afternoon. One day it was so bad that it was almost uncontrolable. I had flown it a couple
times in the morning then not again for about five hours.
Now I just use arrow shafts or I have also ran music wire through the outer Ny-Rod sheath, no flexing.

Another option on the subwing, instead of covering with fabric, I sheeted the whole thing with 1/64 ply. Stronger
plus when taxiing through grass you eleminate possable ripping the material with a twig. (I have seen that happen).


HAPPY NEW YEAR

Del

WacoNut

Thanks for the tip Del,
I will sheet the sub wing, sounds like a great idea.

I will keep an eye on the expansion and contraction of the contol rods. If it appears to be an issue I will try putting a solid rod thru it.

Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

I just ordered 4 yds of Poly-Fiber Lite uncertified fabric and a quart of dope. The fabric is 72" wide and 4 yds long, should give me plenty of extra to work with.

WacoNut

Finished up hingeing the 2nd aileron,

I just remembered I need to make the axe handles for the bottom wing. [&o] Just when I thought I was ready for the final sanding.

I did pick up some .064 thick brass strip stock to make the brackets for the axe handles. Hopefully the axe handles break and they don't rip out the rib. I will lay them out tomorrow on the same walnut stock I cut the tail assembly from. Should look good with some polyurethane on them.
Calling it a night!!
Anthony

plane-o-joe

My Feedback: (2)

Anthony,
I agree with Del on the Nyrods expanding/contracting. Here in Texas, during the Summer months, I have had Nyrods stretch while under a load. A new set of trims every flight. I, also, have used music wires inside the Nyrod outer tube. I really have enjoyed the build!
Best Wishes!

bps

My Feedback: (3)

I have the same set up and have not noticed any changes. This is a very rigid control set up. Having said that I now use solid control rods inside the outer tubes.

WacoNut

It has been a long time since I have used NyRods in any of my planes. I do not remember having any issues with expansion then or didn't realize it at the time. I think the last plane I had nyrods in was a trainer.

One thing I plan on doing it adjusting the stab incidence until I get level flight at 1/3 throttle with the elevator set neutral to the stab. Hopefully I can use that as a visual before each flight. If the angle of the elevator in relation to the stab changes then I can make adustments before flying.

I have a family gathering today at 3:00 so I am going to try and complete the wing tip skids before I go.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

Wing tip skids:

For future refernece of anyone building this plane this job would be much easier if it was completed before the wing tips were applied to the bottom wing.
Out of a 1" sqaure piece of Walnut I sawed off a 1/4" thick slice. The skids were band sawed out of this piece. While sanding them my disc sander died, at least I am at the end of ths build. Anyhow the brackets were cut from 1/4" wide .065 thick brass strip stock cut to 3" lengths. The strips were then bent at the center to fit around the 1/4" skid. The front bracket sits a little closer to the wing to give the skid the proper angle. The brackets were marked for the hole locations for moutning to the wing rib and for the skid, only the front bracket is bolted to the skid, the bolt in the back bracket goes over the top of the skid and just traps it in position.

A 1/8" aircraft ply doubler was cut for the rib and bonded to the insdie of the tip rib. The hole locations were transfered to the rib doubler and drilled before bonding in position. The straps are bolted to the rib with 2-56 bolts and lock nuts, I will reinforce this with epoxy before covering.

I have all the parts ready to assemble the other side. I need to install the tail wire braces then I believe I am ready to give everything a good going over and give it a final sanding in preperation for covering.

Here are a few pics of the tip skid mounting.
Anthony

4570jackjack

My Feedback: (74)

cubcrasher

My Feedback: (6)

I like the sullivan precision rods # 585 won't shrink, stretch, or fade.


R.L.
cub brother #31

WacoNut

I assembled the skid for the other wing tip and they matched up well. They will flex about 3/8" which should help if I get a less than perfect landing. Knowing the history of this plane I am sure they will see plenty of use.

I am going to go ahead and install the cowl mounts using the supplied plastic cowl as I do not have the fiberglass one yet. Once that is complete I will reassemble the plane for one last look at it in the bones before final teardown for sanding and covering.

Overall this kit went together very well as was a joy to build. 3 weeks to complete the entire airframe, alot faster than I thought I could have done it.

Later!!
Anthony

SunDevilPilot

Pretty amazing speed while maintaining quality. Great job!

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Those skids look really good and well designed. I got on my wingtip on almost every landing. It is good to have them replaceable as you will need to do that occasionally. The plywood rib is a really good idea as that area needs to be very strong.
Another thing, consider mounting your interplane struts like the real aircraft. I did not like the way the BUSA were engineered. If you studdy the GTM triplane, that design is much better. THe struts should be independant instead of one solid piece of wood.

WacoNut

Thanks SDP, I tried not to sacrifice the quality of the build.

Hi Vertical Grimmace, The skids should be easy to replace as needed and I will go ahead and make a set of spares while I have the wood available.

I will leave the interplane struts alone for few reasons, (1) they are already finsihed, (2) the wings are in perfect alignment the way they are. (3) I plan on a GTM build down the road and it will be a top notch scale build. This plane is mostly a test bed for my camo streaking and for flying a tripe.

The Balsa USA is a stand off scale model and I am happy with it for what it is. I will dress it up and make it look good but it will never win a scale contest for sure. I will just have fun adding the details I feel comfortable adding to this plane.

I still haven't made my mind up on rib stitching the plane yet.

Later!!
Anthony

VincentJ

Anthony you said you were going to purchase your covering/fabric from aircraftspruce. Is there any difference between that fabric and the Koverall that you have used in the past?

WacoNut

Vincent,
I will have to let you know when I receive it. From what I undertsand the weight is the same but the thread count is higher and the quality is better. You can't beat the price as well. That is alot of fabric for $33.

I just finished making the last tail brace wire and my plan is to bring the plane upstairs for some pics fully assembled after dinner. I need to add a few things here and there then start sanding.
I will post some pics later.
Anthony

lazyace

My Feedback: (126)

i have used both the fab from aircraft spruce is a little stiffer in texture , Ilike the koveral better baring the price

acerc

Anthony, you are doing a superb build as usual. On the covering, I have used koverall and stits. Stits and aircraftspruce are supposedly the same. I like the Koverall for open structured aircraft such as the Fokker, Waco, Cub and Stearman. But the weave is too loose for closed framed aircraft such as the Coursair and mustang. For those I use the stits, much easier to fill the weave for a smooth finish but still much lighter than a resin finish.

Keep up the good work, as if you knew any other way.

WacoNut

Thanks Guys,
The Fokker looks really good in the bones. I will start tearing it down for the sanding and covering. I do see a few things that need attention. Little hangar rash here and there. I also need to add sone filler pieces around the removeable tail skid and the wing tip skids for attaching the covering. Also need to assure all the blind nuts are secure.
This is the last time it will be assembled until after covering. I hope I don't regret my fabric choice.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

BTW: The Sullivan Golden Rods I am using are the #517 High Stress. I am hoping I do not have as severe of an issue with the expansion with these rods.

VincentJ

Anthony if it flys as well as it looks you have yourself a winner! You should be very proud. I love pic #3 great angle .

WacoNut

Thanks VJ,

The hard part is out of the way. I just need to do a couple of evenings of sanding then another evening of cleaning the room of all the dust. I really enjoy the fabric and finish process.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

I haven't been able to get much sanding done. The plane is all apart and I did add all the necessary filler pieces for attaching the fabric around the tail skid and wing tip skids. My fabric order is due to arrive tomorrow. Hopefully by the weekend I will be covering the plane.

I spent about an hour just cleaning up the room today.
Later!!
Anthony

Cub Flyer Fresno

Just an hour cleaning the room?!  Gee, if I clean mine (the garage), it'll take hourS! 

Take care,
David