I don't mind the extra work, ie. sanding. It gives me something to do while I cannot sleep.[sm=sleeping.gif] I am taking my time with this thing as I believe I simply went way too fast on my Tiger. It flies well but there are times when I wish I wasn't in so much of a hurry. Other people can not see the mistakes, or are good natured enough to not mention them, but I know they are there.[] I am even doing things to break up the monotony. I pulled it off the board today to finish a basher plane I'm building for the desert. If I find that I start to get in a hurry again, I'll fix the oak doors on my armoire and then get to it again. Millions of little projects to do so that I don't rush this plane.[sm=idea.gif]

Well, I'm back. I went through three props on the basher before I realized that the control rods need serious help.[:@] I usually replace them in a kit anyways, but i got lazy.[&o] Stupid me. I did get back to the tracer though. Trimmed the balsa from the plywood reinforced ribs, used for the gear. Being how everything was going so well I decided to sand the bevel onto the spars. My luck still holding, I labeled them. Of course I labeled the top one as the bottom. Stupid mechanic. So, using the bottom for the top, no wait, the top for the bottom. Now I'm confused.[sm=spinnyeyes.gif] I used the top spar, pinned it to the board and ignored the fact it was labeled as the bottom, although it was going on the bottom. Wait, it's upside down![sm=spinnyeyes.gif] aaaarg![sm=pirate.gif] Feeling better about my inability to follow instructions,[&:] I placed the ribs. They looked so happy there I decided to remove them and then glue them to the spar. A couple of them decided to have second thoughts at this point, they had commitment issues, so I held them down with the clamps you see. Just a little weight to hold them to the jig, so my wing doesn't warp on me. Now it is time to let it all dry (cure) before I place the bottom spar on top. Or is it the top spar on top as the bottom spar is labeled as the top? I'm so confused, at least that is what my wife has been saying to me since we got married.

This is mine as of yesterday morning. I sheeted the wing almost to the center figuring I could cut it to exact size later. This is now problematic as I have to figure where exactly to cut.

Incidentally, the front wing dowel support is edge glued to the retract servo tray which is glued into the 2A rib pieces. They in turn are butt glued to the spars and LE. (Too many butt joints in this project for my taste.) Be sure you get the geometry right on the 2A parts.

Kind of scary, ain't it. I was thinking about what I could do to strengthen this area without adding too much weight. First off, I am forgoing retracts as I am a little worried about weight as it is, this balsa is HARD. The strongest area of the wing should be the joiner area. If I used some longer dowels and went through the joiner with them, it should add a very stable anchor. What do you think?

I take it you are talking about the center sheeting here. Try a little trig if you are good at math, or own a scientific calculator, and have some time to waste, just remember that little Indian Brave (I'm Native American, so I can get away with said derogatory remark[:-]), SOH-CAH-TOA. Or you could glue in the trailing piece and then measure outside and center widths and transcribe them onto the balsa sheet.

By adding 1/16 shear webs at the front of the spars and giving instructions to only drill into them for the dowels I think the designer is telling us not to drill into the joiner. That would be picture 18 on page 21. This would be a good place for some of that really hard wood they supplied. A sixteenth of that hard wood probably equals 3/8 of regualr balsa.

Those dowels derive their working strength from the front dowel support which is why I pointed out the necissity of getting the retract servo plate in correctly. The servo plate is installed whether you use retracts or not because of its' use in anchoring the dowels.

I fiberglassed the center section with two layers of 2 oz. cloth.

Things have been hectic around here. I spent a week getting ready for a Thanksgiving desert trip and ended up having to work. I used the extra time, my wife gone, to install a G75 and 16oz. tank into my Kadet Sr. Worked well, until I put a 13x3 on it. It hovered well until beginners luck ran out and I planted it. I removed the Tracer from the board to assemble a Funtana. It took me longer to assemble it than it took me to build a Tiger from a Kit. You then have the associated bugs to kill. I bought a new Snap-on roll cab tool box and brought my old one home to use as a building table. Had to reorganize the garage to get the beast to fit and then had to fill it with my plane stuff, still working on that. The tracer goes back onto the board this weekend. Yea. I left off at joining the wings so I guess I need another flight pack. I went from three planes to six in a matter of days, and then my wife buys me one for Christmas. I need a new radio.

Back to building.

I like your weights.

I am sorry about the absence of weights, didn't want them warping my trailing edge.

you went wrong when you didn't use .308's!

.45 Long Colt

When I want more pinpoint weight I use 270 Winchester or 270 Weatherby. I wonder if any of our model airfoil designers have taken into account the practical application of projectile forms on ballistic co-efficient. The Weatherby smokes the Winchester out to about 1200 yards, then the higher BC of a boat-tail takes over.

Maybe I'll scratch build my next plane to look like a bullet with wings.

I believe it is coming along fairly well. I did need more weight. The sheeting may have been stiffer.

It is a good thing that I am not in a hurry, else I would be chomping at the bit.

It was supposed to be windy again today, so I did some chores. It never got windy. I worked a little on the Tracer before work though.

I got as far as I could on the wing without the fuse. This is my status on the fuse.

So when your airplane needs a little nose weight what do you add? . . . no wait, forget I asked.

22LR's are light, 54 cal maxi's are heavy and 12ga 00 mag's from a distance for when the thing irritates me.

It seems that I have run into a little obstacle, I think that the Captain of the Titanic said that.[sm=crying.gif]

Last night I squared the wing to the fuse, fitted the belly pan and tack glued it into place. Everything was going so well at this point I removed the wing and really glued the belly pan on, with thick CA. I was so happy.[8D]

This morning I went flying before work and, while traversing back and forth through the garage to get my stuff, I kept looking at the Tracer. Something just didn't look right. Upon close inspection I recognized the problem. Somehow I managed to do all that work last night with the wing right side up. It was supposed to be upside down.[X(]

I have no idea of how to remove the belly pan without destroying it, the wing or both. The guys at the field agreed with the numerous derogatory statements I made about myself, but had nothing to offer, other than cutting and hoping. Can anyone help out a stupid mechanic?[sm=drowning.gif]

CA Remover liberally applied?
Acetone will dissolve CA as well, but it evaporates quickly.
Both take a long time to work but do work. The CA gets gummy and eventually comes free. But the entire belly pan would be a major removal job.... might be faster, and better, to just cut off the sheeting around it, resheet the affected section of the wing, and clean up the belly pan edges?

Cut the sheeting out and redo it....
I have built two Tracers, great plane!
I love flying it 3 feet off the ground in huge circles, do a loop and recover it 3 feet over the ground again....you can control it to a inch

-RCToon

BRAKLEEN worked well.

O.K., lets try this belly pan thing again. This time I used wood glue. When dry, I'll get the spots I missed with the wing out.