I have started building the Flair se5a,alls going well,and with anew saito for powering her.

One area in her construction,that is concerning me,is the engine mounting,two sheets of light ply,and two engine bearers glued to the top inner surface of each,each liteply sheet is then glued to each side of airframe,with no supporting measures,ie blocks etc under sheeting.

Is this a sound method?.i know the front former will be glued to the front edges of these two sheets,to help brace things up,but is this a sound method etc.

If you have built one before,did you carry out any mods etc

Any help on this very welcome

Eindecker:

Haven't built that particular plane, but it sounds stronger than the Sig 1/6 Cub, and I've never had any structural problems there that were not crash induced.

Bill.

I'm building the same model and thought the same as you, and added 3/8" fillets. As construction continues, it seems that this was not needed as the whole structure seems very rigid.


Val

Val,

I was thinking of doing the same thing with fillets,i still might add a 1/4" sq section running along side of each airframe side,so that each sheet has something to rest on.

I guess the reason for this design,is to allow a free passage of cooling air,to pass engine,and then exit down through bottom cutout vents. i think cooling will be very tight,looking at that grill front!! ,and any added wood to the rear,might prevent a free smooth passage

Anyway i will see how it goes,and like you said,you found the finished structure stronger than first thought!!,i will battle on!

Thanks for input,any other advise very welcome

Eindecker