bryris

I am doing the final preparations on my LT-40 kit tonight. I will start covering it tomorrow. I am very excited.

I added some extra braces for the push rods as you can see in the second photo.

carrellh

Looks like you've done a very nice job. Good luck with the covering.

nitrobasher

My Feedback: (2)

looks great man good luck, it really is a lot easier then expected but still takes lots of practice. good luck

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Oh Bay-bay! Yer gettin' close now! Make sure the wood is dust-free before covering.

jester125

Looks great, what kind of pushrods are those?

Chris

FlyerBry

My Feedback: (8)

Good move adding the pushrod supports. Be sure the short length of elevator pushrod below the stabilizer is supported (in the very aft end of the fuselage) or it will flex there as well. I flew mine without the support the first few times and it didn't pose a problem but I realized it was flexing after bumping the elevator while transporting the plane. I realized the servo didn't move with the elevator. Without it I feared flutter could crop up at high speed. Better to be safe than sorry!

Looks great so far!

bryris

Those are sullivan gold-n-rods, semi flex.

I will likely have something covered by tomorrow evening. Perhaps one of the tail planes or the wing. Will post more pictures when that happens. It will be my first covering job....keeping my fingers crossed.

FlyerBry

My Feedback: (8)

I used the gold-n-rods on mine too. I didn't think it would flex with the little bit of distance it had to travel between the last former and the horn on the elevator but it did. They seem pretty stiff up to a point but once they start bending they can flex pretty good.

egor

When you start covering take your time, if things don't seem to be going well step back, and take a break. You seem to have done a very good job so far, now is not the time to get in a hurry, covering can be a pain. Just try to stay relaxed, and you'll do a fine job.

Egor

fledermaus

Bryris: My LT-40 was my first time using modern heat-shrink material for covering (I have done a lot of tissue and dope jobs in the past). What I learned was:

Pull it as smooth and tight as possible before tacking it down.
Keep pulling as you seal the edges between the tack points to keep it as flat as you can.
Don't seal it to wing ribs before shrinking (if possible). It is much easier to shrink smoothly if it can distribute the stresses over a larger area. Seal to the ribs after it is mostly shrunk, and then tighten it up.
It takes a fairly high heat to shrink fully.
Curves need a lot of pulling but they can take it - don't be afraid to pull as you heat.

And, use a WHITE baby sock or something like that to cover your iron. Change it frequently because it gets adhesive on it as you work and then it can transfer stains to the covering. Note the WHITE sock - some fabric dyes will transfer when heated.

I managed to do a two-colour covering (Monokote) with only a few very minor glitches around the wingtips, and they are not visible at all to the casual inspection.

randy41

A body shop tack rag is good for getting the dust off.
You will realy like the way she flies. You appear to
be doing a great job thus far. The LT-40 kit is one
of the easiest kits to build in my opinion.

mrbigg

My Feedback: (21)

have plenty of fresh x-acto blades available-they dull quickly! can i get a witness?

mrbigg

My Feedback: (21)

coverite makes a product called IRONX. it's main ingredient is toluene- available at any hardware store by the thinners. dampen a rag with this stuff to remove any baked on colored adhesive on the iron OR the plane- it works great! i'll post some pics of my LT40 later. good luck!

mrbigg

My Feedback: (21)

here is a couple. i thought i had some by itself. these were taken just before the maiden of my triplane, that's why it's the center of attention. LT40- Supertigre .61, pitts muffler, and the wheel pants off my crashed GS 600.

Hydro Junkie

I see you converted it to a taildragger. Did it take much re-engineering, or just delete the nose gear and move the mains forward?

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

Looks real good Bryris. Almost seems a shame to cover it heh?

Take your time with the covering, and watch MinnFlyers video first. It'll help a LOT.

Good luck, and Happy New Year!
Dennis-

mrbigg

My Feedback: (21)

not hard at all- took the nose gear off, added a piece of 1/4 ply under the gear, and then added a sullivan tailwheel. i just let that caster. in high winds it's kind of a pain, but livable. i really love the LT40. i believe it's the best trainer out of the different ones i have flown and it is easy to build. at one time i was going to sell it to get something else but then i took it to the field and changed my mind.

mrbigg

My Feedback: (21)

bryris, did you go back to school?

bryris

School starts Jan 10th for me. Possibly my last semester.....if I can handle 15 cr hours of upper level classes. Wont have much time for flying, thats for sure. Still on a course to have this thing done my then, if it isn't, it'll just be loose ends remaining. Check out my thread in the beginner forum for the current pictures.