nchrome

Islewis-RCU on the cockpit I made a floor that is removable under it I could put the batteries and reciever and access to the nose wheel steering arm. I used some micro screws from a park flyer to fasten the cockpit and floor in place. On the tailfeathers I used nyrod for both the rudder and elevators. Everything is inside the fuse and works just fine no flutter and is fully resposive. I forgot how I hooked up the elevators but I will try to remember and let you know. The only control horns that showed were on the ailerons and that was before I found the tourque rod system. I made my own version of it and it is working just fone in my 1/5 scale TF P-47. Again no flutter at high speed fly bys. And looks much better without the control horns showing.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Two jobs today (Somehow Maria did not come up with some trivia, like cleaning the swimming pool).

Job 1. Get Bonnie ready for the Electric Fly this weekend http://www.rseahawks.org/Electric/electric3.htm

Job 2. Continue little by little building the 7th Chadwick. The plans call for adding planking aft of the observation window. I didn't go for that and was able to bend some balsa and cover the section in two steps. Lots of water, tape, and luck.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Construction halts for Electric-Fly-In http://www.rseahawks.org/Electric/electric2003.html and I won an electric ARF 45!QUOT! wingspan park flier, looks cute.

This will be my first foam core wing so I need to plan to include all the wires etc in the foam before I sheet it. I had originally planned to put a battery in each nacelle with the motor and controller. Stuka Jon suggested it would be better to keep the weight centered in the fuse.

Wires in the Wing
1. Battery to left nacelle, battery to right nacelle
2. Two aileron servo leads
3. Two flap servo leads
4. running light wires
5. retract servo wire if air system is in a nacelle

Air Lines

a. Air line to fuse (if retract system is in a nacelle)
b. Air line from left nacelle to right nacelle


OK pilots what have I forgotten?

Remember this is the plane I am building

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Work has resumed building the 7th Chadwick. I read a thread about using a sanding sealer

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_12...tm.htm#1262610

The first coat is drying now.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Installed the battery supports and batteries. Sanded the nose more. Sanded the fuse. Worked on the top hatch (custom not a part of the original, needed for battery access). Started a filler for the tail feathers.

I covered the fuse with two coats of sanding sealer. It definately seals and the surface is much harder but it does not sand any easier.

Picture is a close up of the battery installation. If you haven't read all of this thread you may not realize I plan to go electric.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

[X(] I have not finished the fuse but I am bored working on it. I decided to build the nacelles.

I bent up the fixed landing gear, what a job, and installed them on N-2. The plan was to remove the fixed gear and add the mounting required for the retracts. I plan to fly the model with the fixed gear initially as it is lighter, I hope that I will be able to add the retracts at a later date. It was then I found I had purchased the wrong retracts! I purchased Spring Air #101 should have purchased #105, the mounting on the main gear on the Wing Mfg Kit is designed for firewall installation, the 101 is designed for a flat plate/rails. The #101 retracts are for the Morris VQ A-26, wrong kit.

A telephone call to Spring Air in Satellite Beach, Florida solved the problem. Send the mains in and they will exchange them for the cost of postage. Very nice folks.

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Larry:

That's a shame. Here I was planning to offer thirty cents on the dollar for the wrong ones.

Maybe next time.

Haw.

Glad they took care of you. Too much money to waste.

Bill.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

I am not sure how I am going to install the tail feathers. The stab has a lot of dihedral so it is not just a flat slab of balsa laying there. The rudder mysteriously mounts on top. The plans advise, "Scrap balsa filler cap" No help there!

If you have built the Wing Mfg A-26 how did you fabricate/assemble the tail feathers to the fuse?

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Larry:

I've not built the Wing Mfg. version. but I'd say just make the stab seat according to the plan. The filler cap they mention is probably scrap balsa to make the filler pieces between the horizontal and vertical stabilizers, the fillet where they meet.

Bill.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks Bill,

I sanded the fuse to fit the v-tail and then I carved a chunk of balsa to fit the v-tail and rounded the top to match the fuse. The vertical stab will mount on it. I could not see any other way to do it.

Meanwhile I was not too excited about using the sanding sealer to help finish the balsa. I had purchased the water based product thinking of easy clean-up. The author of the thread suggested I might want to try the lacquer based product. I did and I have much better results. I have not sanded all of the fuse yet but what I have is as smooth as a baby's ...

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Larry:

Looks good.

I prefer the lacquer based sealer also, dries much faster and doesn't have any tendency to warp the wood. Clean up is a little more bother, but I think it's worth it.

Keep us posted.

Have you found put any more about the other six Chadwicks?

Bill.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

The Chadwicks were a tradition in the 13th Bomb Squadron. Their web site is at: http://www.13thbombsquadron.org/index1.html
I have only found the history back to the 5th Chadwick. There may be more on the site but I have not found it.

The 7th Chadwick 44-34698

In this case the 7th Chadwick was also the Wheel airplane. When the previous "Wheel" went down on February 20 and the "6th Chadwick" was wiped out, the new "7th Chadwick" was so pretty that the Commander had it designated as the new "Wheel". The series ended at the "request" of 5th Air Force when the "7th Chadwick" went down on August 8, 1952 with crew Robert Neighbors MAJ - PILOT, William Holcomb 1LT - NAVIGATOR and Grady Weeks M SSGT - GUNNER.

The "Wheel" plane was normally the CO's. Neighbors was not the CO. At that time Lt Col Alvin R. Fortney was CO

My model will have the names of the last crew.

nchrome

Isslewiss-RCU I think you have something there at least it inpresses me enought that I just mite recover mine in black and red. On the rudder I used scrap balsa and also used bambo pins going down in the tail feathers. This helped stablized the rudder and gave me more confedence on the mounting. I will also used the plug that I made of the actual engine cowl. Does this plane have the six guns in the nose. I realy like the color sceme of this bird an if I get some of my other projects done I may go ahead and copy the 7th Chadwick. Hope you don't mind.[&:]

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Most of the work on the fuse is done. We have sanded and sanded and it needs more but it is time for excitement! We started the wing. Our first foam wing. I found some good instructions from a thread by J. David he recommended using ProBond, two of our local stores didn't have it. Just before I left the last store mentioned it was also known as Gorilla Glue. They knew instantly where it was and I left happy. Check out J. David's web site it is fantastic http://www.renderwurx.com/rc

I made a template for installation of the aileron and flap servos. I pre-wired the servos. I also made a tool for the soldering gun to cut the holes for the servos. In the wing we will have the aileron and flap servo wires plus air lines for the retracts (some day) high current wires, #12, for the electric motors in the nacelles and a simple wire out to the wing tips for running lights. Do not ask why running lights, I do not fly at night, but I have the red and green LEDs, the resistors and the wire so the price is right.

Gorilla Glue I don't believe it!

nchrome

Islewis-RCU on my A-26 I have one of those Gem 2000 battery testers and use it for my lower anti-colision light on the wing tips I used one of those led jogging lights with small wires ran out to the wing tips. Through Radio Shack you can get a high powered led in green for the other sid and use the same lite system just wire in parale. This I did on my A-26. Of course you can kill two birds with one stone and make a connection to hock up to your Gem 2000 and use it as your mavagation lights and also will sure be an easy way to check your batteries ant any angle. On the jogging light system when I was at Taylor I turned it on and left it on all day and caught everybodys eye. They all kept asking if I left my plane on.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Running lights got lost in the dust. It was a bad building day. It was planned to be "sheet the wings day" it never happened. My soldering gun tool to cut the servo holes failed, the stops didn't work, and I put the iron all the way through the wing! Next I screwed up the dihedral and over sanded the angle by 100%.

Repairs had been made and by late in the afternoon we were ready to sheet, excepting it was time to go to a "Light the Christmas Tree" thing. It was a charity thing and this pilot was not in a charitable mood. Never-the-less the wine helped and I gave a way a free web site, that is not going to help the building fund at all.

I saw a construction article describing how to cut away most of the foam with little effect to the wing. So maybe the four inch long slot in my wing isn't a killer. I filled the slot with a scrap of balsa. But not so sure about the dihedral, I re-sanded the wing joint but I sanded away a chunk of wing and I fear it is a-symmetrical. I will measure carefully and figure out what to do about it tomorrow.

The good news is I saved a lot of money on my insurance!

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Larry:

I'm sure you've heard the one about some days you're the windshiedl? Sounds like you were the bug, today.

You could use the insurance premium savings and buy a new wing core.

Haw.

Really, it takes a lot to make the core unuseable. Sorry you had such a lousy day.

Bill.

nchrome

Islewis-RCU on your wing corses Do you have any white foam around if not get some blue foam and garrilla gllue a piece to the dihedral end of the wing then resand to what the dihedral should be also sand down to the shape of the wing. Only you and the plane will know about the messup. On the pockets for the servos use a piece of scrap of lite-ply and cut out the size hole you want then tape to the foam core where you want the servo to be then use a wheel colar as a stop for the deph of the hole will be. Let the collar ride on the edge of the plywood and you will have a perfect hole cut out of the foam for the servo. Use a wooden yard stick for the chanels for the wires to lay in again use the wheel collar to guage the deph of the chanel.[8D] Use a tube that will let the servo wires pass through and lay it in the chanel then cover with scrap foam and sand smooth for sheeting to bond to when ready to sheet. This is basiclly what I did for my A-26 and worked out just fine for me you will need to take the plastic connector off the end of the wire in order to thred it down the tube then put the servo wire end back on. Be sure to check with an other servo to make sure that you have the wire ends in the rite order( signal,positive,ground).

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

And I thought I had a bad day. My friend, building guru et al was ready for the maiden flight of his giant sized SNJ yesterday. Stuka John N has been working on the model since June. I had to leave before he got in his first flight. Later when I checked my email I had the bad news, totaled on his maiden flight.

I only had time to laminate one wing panel so I became up close and familiar with Gorilla Glue! I think it worked but have not checked carefully. Tomorrow.

nchrome - Thanks for the info, next time I will use your system. I cut everything by hand this time after my depth gage fell apart. As far as the wing panels I checked again and while there is a small difference in the size because of the dihedral sanding error I may ignore it. I'll check again before I make a decision.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

I finished the second wing panel, cleaned up the granite counter top in Maria's kitchen (a good flat surface) and was gone before she got home. Not a mystery she knows I use her counter when I need flat. The panels look good. I may have some time Thanksgiving morning to cut in a servo or two. I am not going to rush that job and risk wing damage.

drivercrazy23

What are you going to cover it with(color)? also can you maybe explain how to cover, I really dont know how I've never put to gether a kit before. I just bought a skyshark fantasy and I dont know how to cover it. I've got the building down but not covering. do I need any special tool's? THanks

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Wow! Drivercrazy23 you just asked for an instant college degree! Covering model airplanes is a subject about which zillions of books have been written, untold magazine articles. I just did a search on covering here in RCUniverse and found 214 references. I suggest you do the same and start learning, it is a biggie. I suggest you purchase Harry Higley's book "There are no Secrets"

I plan to cover the nose of the 7th Chadwick with 3/4 oz glass and then paint. The remainder will be Monokote or equivalent. If you check this thread you will see pics of the plane and color scheme I plan to use.

Meanwhile we managed to get the LE and TE on both wing panels but most of the day was spent on Christmas decor.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Earlier in this thread I noted that I plan to power this plane electrically. The world of electrical is full of variables; motors, batteries, gear boxes and controllers. It makes power selection complex and difficult. I have spent hours trying to shift through the mess and with the help of a lot of fine people come to a unique selection.

The combination of an Endoplasma car motor, $19.99 and Great Planes gear box $12.99 is a popular propulsion system here in southwest Florida. I put the numbers in MotoCalc for my A-26 and was surprised to get a positive answer. The configuration has been popularized by Gary Wright http://www.gwmp.net/ a Melbourne Florida electric pilot.

I subsequently posted the following thread in RC Groups:

MotoCalc seems to think that 2 Gary Wright Endoplasma systems and 20 cells (motors in series 1/2 voltage on each motor) running just under 40amps will fly my 7 lb A-26, 750 sq in wing. Have I given MotoCalc bad info and thus received bad info? Opinions, experience and guesses welcome.


********************************
Gary Wright's reply:

works well,..lots of power for very little money,.. but there are some caveats. Two endos in series on a 20 cell pack doesn't work. Simple solution though, just costs you another ESC. Run each motor from it's own 10 cell pack and ESC. Even works when the motors are ganged together to a common shaft,.. like the innerdeamon gearbox. Not very efficient, but is a fraction of the cost of brushless.

================================================== ====
The system requires the gear box to run at 4.6:1 and it is necessary to purchase the gear $4 from Gary.

I plan to try the system. If it does not work I will use the Astro 05 and have two endoplasma systems for my smaller planes!

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Maria and I enjoyed our selfs at a wedding anniversary party last night. A really big deal, waiters with food wandering about, waiters with drinks wandering about and a small buffet too. Did I say waiters wandering about with cocktails? Construction did not start early this morning!

It was time to cut out the ailerons and the flaps. I had carefully marked the cut line long before the party. Under the best of circumstances my hands shake. Maria made the cuts for me. Ailerons and Flaps on both panels and they came out fine. I trimmed the raw edges and decided to cut in the servos.

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Progress slowed on the 7th Chadwick. I cut the ailerons and flaps to the proper size added the balsa trim. When cut from the wing the control surfaces are a 1/2 inch wider than required and the overall length has to be modified to accommodate the end balsa trim. I did not finish but one end plate.

I think it is time to knock off building for a day, go up to the field, stop off at the LHS on the way home.

I did get some more Xmas decor up on our house, it will look nice. Not big time, just kool.