Greetings All,

I have been hanging around RCU for quite a while following many of these fine building threads. After much deliberation and "ho humming" I have finally decided to jump in and do my first thread for all the world to see.

The subject of this build thread will be the Top Flite Elder 40. I will be doing a few modifications to this plane by way of dual aileron servos and a larger rudder and maybe something else if I can come up with something interesting to show. Any ideas will be graciously welcomed. The finishing will be done in a non-iron-on fabric which will then be painted with fuel proof paint.

While doing this build I will try (as best I can) to keep track of the time (or should I say life) spent on this kit both in hours, weeks, months and (hopefully not) years and posting the data as I go along. I'm not sure why I want to keep track of the time spent other than that I think it would be interesting and informative.

I will be building this kit with magnets instead of the usual pinning method, so if you're interested in building with magnets plase stay tuned. I will also utilize, almost exclusively, wood glue and epoxy and maybe even one or two other "x-zotick" adhesives. The use of CA will be strictly limited as I don't like the fumes and it sands like, well, you know.

Now that I have got the introduction out of the way it's time to start sticking some wood together and posting photos. Please join me on this build and feel free to chime in at any time as all constructive comments will be greatly appreciated.




Until the Next Post,
Miguel

I am looking forward to seeing your plane get built. Good Luck, Dave

Hello All,

David, thanks for the encouragement. I'll try my best to build the kit straight and true!

Finally got started on the kit today. I started a little later than I had planned because I'm re-painting my shop and it took a little longer than I thought it would take.

Today I started on the Horizontal Stabilizer as it calls for in the instructions. I laminated the stab center piece and the stab tips, using the magnets really helps in keeping everything lined up correctly. Since I used wood glue I was able to put the peices together and align them with the magnets, after a few minutes when the glue has had a chance to penetrate the wood I placed a heavy object on top of them to really push them together. Eventhough I'm using wood glue this method makes for a really strong lamination, it works even better with epoxy.

While the laminations were setting I put the stab plans on the table and started cutting the LE and TE parts and placing them on the plans. I then put the laminations on the plans and dry fit the outer parts until I got an acceptable fit and then cut the ribs to fit. Next was to glue everything together so I covered the plans with plastic and started glueing!

This is the first day of Week 1 of this build. So far I have worked for 4hrs, 35 minutes. Still more to do before I call it quits for the night.


Miguel

Benjamin Franklin said "Well Begun is Half Done"

Bob

Hello N1EDM,

Thanks for the "Atta Boy". Benjamin Franklin was surely a smart man and one of the most important men of our recent (?) times. He has done more things that have made our country what itis today than most people realize, most people think the only thing he ever did was fly a kite in a lightning storm.

I got some more done this evening, I put all the ribs and gussets in, gave the stab a quick once over sanding and took it off the table. I'm sure that I will finish it during my next session. This work added another two hours which makes the total for today 6 hours, 35 minutes.

Here are some of the photos I took today just to show my progress, hope you all enjoy. [8D]


Miguel

Loochman, looks good so far! If I can give a tip, I recommend using the tailwheel as opposed to the wire skid (when you get to that point). I built mine with the skid, and had a heck of a time with ground control. I ened up cutting off the rudder over this winter so I could remove the skid and add the tailwheel. Skid looks cool, but it made it a pain to taxi. Two servos on ailerons is really not needed, as one standard servo does the job fine. I powered mine with a Saito .56, which is perfect power. It really only has one speed: slow (due to the wing design, not because of any lack of power). Keep up the good work, it's a very nice plane with trainer-like flight. I like it because it gets lots of attention at the field since it is different than all the other planes. Very fun to do touch-and-goes.

Hey FlyingPilgrim,

Thanks for looking in on my build and thanks for the positive comment.

Like you said, the tail skid does look really cool but I will take your advise and put a tail wheel on it now that I here about your experiences. Our field has a grass runway and eventhough it is well taken care of the grass does get a little tall sometimes so a tail wheel is what it will be. What size wheel did you use?

I going to stick with the two aileron servos, not because I think the plane needs the performance boost but soley because I want to see how well I can make the design change and install it. I have plenty of servos hanging around doing nothing so there will be almost no additional cost for the mod.

I am waiting on a Thunder Tiger F-54S to power the plane, it should be in the PO Box by the time I have a chance to get to the mail on Saturday. I'm also expecting a few more other goodies to come in along with the engine. Let's see what I get on Saturday.

I'm hoping that the Elder will stick out at our field and I think that it will because nearly everone has ARF's and there are very few kits to be seen. On the seldom occasion when a kit plane does appear it will most certainly draw more than a few looks.

I expected that the Elder is a slow flier, I have too many fast planes already and could use a "Stress Breaker" every once in a while. I know I'll love flying this bird! It'll look so KOOL in the air!!!

Why do you call yourself FlyingPilgrim? Are you from Plymouth Massachusetts?


Miguel


PS. The Cosmic Wind is mine. It's not my fastest but it sure looks sleek!

Miguel,
I think I used a 1" tailwheel. Your Cosmic Wind is a very nice looking plane. Ref: my name, no, not from Mass, just the name of the flying club I belong to. Keep the build thread going!

Miguel,

I too am building the Elder, nearing completion.
Had a lot of fun building this plane.
If I can give you an advise, follow the steps as per the instructions.
Sometimes I didn't and it makes it a bit harder now to do the final assembly.

There is an other build threat where me and 1 or 2 other guys posted there build "Top Flite Elder 40 Build" with lots of pictures.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8106291/tm.htm

Keep up the good work!
Phil

Flying Pilgrim,

Thanks for the info on the tailwheel, I put it on the list for the next Tower Hobbies order. Hopefully it will be delivered before I get to where I’ll need it or I’ll need to slow down the build a little.

The Cosmic Wind is really a nice plane. Mine has an OS 90 four stroke in it and it flies nice and smooth with good speed and endless vertical. I am also in the process of assembling a Little Toni and it will have an OS 75 two stroke. I anticipate that the two stroke will get Toni really smokin’.

I asked about you being from Mass because that’s where the Pilgrims landed (as I’m sure you already know) and also because that’s where I come from. I do have to say though that the flying weather is better in PR and the season lasts 12 months. I guess it’s just a little bonus for not living in the good old USA.

Not to worry about this thread dying out, I am here for the duration. I would have to say though that I have very little time for building during the week, most of my time for building will be on Sunday and maybe Saturday if the weather is not good enough for flying (ya, right!), so please be patient, I’ll get it done so stay tuned.

Miguel

Phil,

I read through the build that you linked while waiting for my kit to be delivered. I have to say that you guys are doing a great job, I’m sure that It’ll fly wonderfully; I only hope that mine comes out so good. I do need to take the time to read the thread again more carefully this time and take notes along the way as I’m sure that it could only help.

As far as instructions are concerned, I do plan on following the instructions except where I plan to do a few mods. I have learned my lesson, more than once, about not following the instructions.

Miguel

Hey All,

I did get to do some building tonight but it's too late for me to post anything longer than this short message. Tomorrow I'll have the time to post my progress and show some more photos. So be sure to tune in and see how things are going. Until then.....


Goodnight,
Miguel

Good Evening All,

Here is the update that I promised last night. I can't say that there was a lot of progress but I did manage to go out to the shop and complete a few "to do" items.

First thing that I tackled was to complete the installation of the gussetts on the leading edges then I moved onto the cap strips and got them all glued on. Like I said, not much progress, but then again every little bit adds up.

Here are the photos that I took, I think they speak for themselves so I won't bore you with all the details. After all the glueing I just left the stab sitting on the table with the center section proped up with some scrap 3/32" balsa to help avoid any warping issues.

Miguel

Well, here I am for my Sunday building session. I have once again gotten off to a very late start, this time because of illnesss as I am not feeling very well at all. Today's progress may not be all that I hoped but there will be some things that I get done.

Here is a photo of the items that I picked up at the P.O. yesterday. Included is the WB Wheels, WB Pilot, WB Vickers Gun (should have bought the Spandau), GP Fuel Tank, Super Phatic Glue, Pins for Sheeting, MA Wood Propellers, and the Thunder Tiger 4 Stroke Engine with a Prop Nut and Extra Glow Plugs. Also, you can see that I purchased a fine little combination Belt and Disc Sander at Sears which I'm sure will be a nice addition to my shop.

Now on with the building.

Miguel

hey miguel looks great so far!! phil just got me fired back up on my elder build. should have her in the air next month. as phil said we have alot of pics on the other thread so if i can help in any way just let me know. mark....

Hey Mark,

Thanks for looking in on my thread and the positive comments you give to my work so far. Glad to see you back on your build as I have been checking in and watching your progress. I am very impressed with what you are doing and can only hope that my Elder comes out as fine as yours. Keep up the good work and looking forward to see you complete the build and hopefully maiden on 26-April, as for me, I am having a hard time in keeping up with my schedule. Do you plan on making a video of the maiden?

Like the Saito! Way Cool. [sm=shades_smile.gif]


Miguel

Hey All,

Not feeling so good today but I did manage to get something done. First thing I did was to set-up my newest toy, a Disc and Belt sander. I put it to work right away on rounding off the tips of the horizontal stabilizer. I have to say that it does a fine job, I'm very happy with the new machine.

The next thing on the list was to cut and glue the elevators together. I cut the wood. set-up the "jigs", put the parts down and glue it together with 30 minute epoxy. It will stay there until at least tomorrow when I will turn it over and see how the epoxy looks on the underside and epoxy some more if required. I beleive that this joint needs to be very strong, most of the forces that it will see will be torsion forces.

Eventhough I did not even come close to the progess I planned for the day, it has not been a total loss. I think I can sum up the day with saying "Not much done but still having fun!".


Goodnight All,
Miguel

I like the sander. I have a Ryobi and it does a nice job, but, I think I like yours better.


All progress is good progress. Your construction looks really good. I love to look in on build threads.

Hey Carrell,

Nice of you to drop in and check out my build, the more the merrier.

Before buying my sander I checked out the Ryobi, but decided not to buy it after I saw this Sears model. The reason that I picked the Sear over the Ryobi is simply because it is a little smaller. I had been to three Sears stores looking around for tools when I spotted this one, only one store had it on display and even then I had to make a special order to get it. Now that I have completed my first "test drive" on it, I am happy with my purchase, as happy as I'm sure I would have been if I had purchased the Ryobi instead. Both are fine machines and I'm sure they're both up to any challenges that we modeller may throw at them.

Again, thanks for looking in and please return as often as you like, all are welcome. Here are a few photos that are not really related to this build but still RC Aeroplane stuff. Enjoy.


Miguel

hey pal hows it going? any new progress?

Hey Mark,

Things are going good here. How are things going on your end?

I have been working on dry-fitting the parts for the wing panels, no glueing yet but I am expecting a big push on the progress chart very soon.

Here are just a few photos of what I have been working on. Hopefully I should have the wing panels completed before Sunday night. Wish me luck.

Miguel

Boy, you sure use a lot of DOMINOs. Do they work well?
Nice work!
Good Thread.
Hint.....don't try to keep a building schedule. It will take some of the fun out of your builiding. I know it did mine.
We're watching you and enjoying it.

Wow, you're a quick builder! Looking good!

I have started filling all the little dents and imperfections with some lightweight balsa-filler and then the final sanding. My arm feels broken already ;-)

Hope to start covering this weekend!

Phil

Sebo,

Those aren't dominos, they're magnets. Dominos have little white dots on them and they don't stick to metal. Magnets don't and do, ah, mmm, respectively.

Seriously, the magnets work GREAT! I don't think I would be building if I didn't find out about building with them, the pinning method was just to frustrating for me. The magnets make it much more accurate to put the parts in place and easier and quicker to move them around and adjust them. Another added bonus of using magnets is that your plane does not end up all full of holes! I still have to finish making the fixtures I plan on using with the magnets but I really won't need them until I get to the fuse.

If you (or anyone else) would like to try using magnets, all I can say is to buy a few and put one wing panel together, I'm sure that you will never go back to pins. Try it, you'll like it!

I'm really not on a schedule for this build but I always like to plan my days a little in advance. I don't say to myself that I have to finish this thing or that thing by such and such a date, but for instance, this weekend I do plan on building on Saturday night and all of Sunday has been put aside for the same. If I get tired of building on Sunday I'll go do somethine else.

By the way, thanks for the positive remarks about this build. I'm having a lot of fun writing it and I'm sure I'll do another one soon after this one is completed. I tried it, and now I like it!



Keep tuned in and throw a shout anytime you like.



Miguel

Hey Phil,

Nice to hear from you again. I always thought that I was a slow builder. I just take my sweet time and try to make sure that everything is correct before glueing things together. When in the shop building, I like to sometimes just take a small break, have something to drink and listen to the music for a while, then it's back to work. I like it when I hit the "zone", that's when everything is moving at a nice easy pace and all seems well with the world, it's so relaxing.

Oh, filling in dents and sanding, one of my favorite things. Only thing is it just never seems that I can sand a peice of wood to the perfect surface, it always seems to me that it could be smoother. But I have managed, so far, to stop myself before I sand my planes away to nothing.

So you're getting close to the finish line (pun intended ) and ready to start the covering. I know that you have been posting on Marks thread, and I don't want to pull you away from there, but feel free to post some photos here if you like, there's plenty of space available and a few photos from others are always welcome.

Well it's time to eat now, then on to the "balsa dust making" shop!


Miguel