KitBuilder

wLooks like there is a foam wing available....
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286140

I searched the web, etc but didnt find much else for a wing kit. It's a very simple wing as wings go though. You would just need to cut ribs and if you have a scroll or band saw you can cut them all at once as they are all same size. The two most inboard ribs are slightly smaller to accomodate the sheeting.. If you want I can see what it would cost to copy the wing part of the plan. You could always modify the wing you have now.

KitBuilder

I sanded the added ply to the firewall to get the right and down thrust needed. I added the side piece doublers / supports in the nose that would normally help align the hardwook strips for down thrust to keep stiffness in the nose. I'll add the firewall tomorrow once the doublers are dry and begin to place the steerable nose gear and see about the angle which I can mount the motor.

KitBuilder

Ok... with these last two pics the main glueing of the fuse is now done and the firewall is in place. I'll be going back to the wing and fuse now to work on mounting it with dowel and nylon bolts. In one pic the right thrust looks more than it is as the clamp is not perpendicular to the fuse. Hopefully the build should start picking up speed again.

KitBuilder

I started the wing mounting process. Per the manual I made the ply ribs with the tongue which will sandwich the dowel and let it hang below the leading edge. I made the opening inthe bottom sheeting for the dowel to pass through. I'll see about strengthening this ply rib dowel sandwich to the front leading edge as I go. I plan to let the dowel go into the dihdedra brace as well.. THe plan shows it butting against. I will be doubling up the front former to add strength as well. I was going to use the dowel in the kit for the rubber band hold down but I don't tihnk it's large enough and will go a size larger. I also didn't have any hardwood for the blocks to accept the nylong bolts in the back so a trip to Home Depot tomorrow for me. I added some rear top sheeting letting the wing dry updside down so the glue remains at the joints and does not run down the ribs.

I also looked at rotatring the engine now and what I thought would be a problem ... is. Rotating the motor using a standary glass filled nylong mount does not leave room for the nosewheel bracket. I could go taildragger which eliminates the nosewheel issue but in the interst of time, I will just go back to the plan and mount the engine vertical []. I think I will use the hardwood rails and mounting plate supplied in the kit as well because it opens up the center area for the bracket. I didnt lose much time making the angled mount and if nothing else it's now stronger. I don' tihink anyone makes a side mount with holes running vertical for hte nosegear ???

I started the front hatch and glued the ply plate to the rails. I will then glue the rails to the fuse. I tried doing this all at once but it was difficult to get the rails to clamp on not move as they sit atop the fuse side. Once the glue sets up, I'l be able to glue that one piece unit to the fuse easier. The front removeable piece will have a tongue in the back to fit under the permanent piece and a latch in front that secures to the backside of the firewall. Sue to the slight curvature of the fuse up front, the hardwood rails currently overhang the sides a bit and will need to be trimmed and sanded flush.

Halvey

Watching you build intently, nice work. I have almost convinced myself to buy another kit so I can build a flatter wing, with some upgrades.

KitBuilder

I mentioned earlier... I can see what it costs to copy the wing portion of the plan. Since your going to be adding some upgrades (flaps? etc) you would need to be buying some extra wood anyways. Might be a time to try building from plans (cutting your own pieces) as the wing as you know is a simple build and would be a good place to start and would be cheaper than purchasing a kit.

Insanemoondoggie

Been following your build, nice work . I just picked up the kit for $50 , that I,m going to build for my grandson. He,s only 2 months old so I am in no hurry to build it yet lol. May wait till he is old enough to give grandpa a hand..

Halvey

Thanks Mike. I appreciate the offer, picked up a freebie kit that needs some other sticks for it, so a complete kit will work the best I think.


Whta aileron servos did you decide upon?? I have a couple Blue Bird 380's sitting here doing nothing for mine.

KitBuilder

I had some hitec mini HS81's from an expired 4 star. They're plenty strong enough. They're just a few ounces less on torque on than standards and since there is one on each wing, it's a non issue. Easier to fit as well since thier small.

FYI to those following along.. I did a quick balance of the wing last night and notice one side is noticeably heavy??? Not sure how that could have happened. I do try and split the wieght of the ribs to each side so we'll see.[] I'll see if a dime or penny in the opposite tip helps out. I picked up some poplar for the fuse hold down blocks and an oak hardwood dowel (slightly larger) for the wing last night and will get the blocks mounted tonight in the fuse as well as beginning the dowel / rib install in the wing..

KitBuilder

Made some good progres recently...

I made and installed the hardwoo blocks for the rear nylong bolts. I drilled and tapped the holes throug the wing into the hardwood. I used 1/4 20 tap as this is the standard as far as I know for .40 size planes. I drilled the holes angles back which you can see from the picture of the tap in the wing and hardwood so the head the bolt would lay flat on the wing.

I added the additaional doublers up front. one of each sie of hte main former. Again i turned the fuse upside to dry so all the glue would remain on the joints.. When that was dry I bolted the wing on in the rear to hold it in place and drilled the hole thorugh the front bulkhead at that approximate angle with a bit smaller than the finished size hole. I put a piece of smaller size dowel through that hole so that I could see the current alignment of the hole based on where the dowel was contacting the dihedral brace. The hole was to shallow at first so the angling it up a bit made the dowel contact the brace where i wanted. I then used the correct size bit for the actual dowel and drilled the hole thorugh the bulkhead into the joiner. The dowel was inserted and glued into the joiner. The plane is on end to keep all the glue on the that jiont.

I tried making the ply ribs to sandwich the dowel a couple times l but it wasn't coming out right. The ribs will have a tab extending down at an angle to sandwich the dowel. I think it will be easier with the dowel glued in place and not moving when I flip the wing, etc. . When that dries, I wil make up those ply ribs and the fill pieces on top and bottom. Plans didnt mention this but I'm thinking on how to better secure the ply to the joiner other than just the but joint. I have something in mind and will think that through more also thinking how I can tie that into the leading edgbe better..

KitBuilder

I figured I'd give the ply ribs one more shot tonight as I really wanted to get them done. It was much easier to get a good template with the dowel basically secured in the dihedral brace and being able to move the wing around out of the fuse. The pic shows what the manual suggested ( the one with the "mouth") and what I ended up creating. It took a number of tries of different shapes to get to this final shape. When I was able to move the wing around off the fuse, I didn't see any reason to have the "tongue" hanging down by itself. So i made it one sold piece and a bit oversided which will greatly increase strength and allow me to "box" in the dowel top and bottom with filler. The space between the bottom front of wing and the former will be taken up by piece that is to go there from the kit. I plan on tying the front of the ply ribs to the leading edge as well possibly "sewing" then in place with some kevlar thread I have and then epoxying. It will basically be one solid unit after that. The other pics show how it will reside inside the cabin. The dowel is currently long and needs to be trimmed Once the dowel sandwich is done, the build should really start picking up speed..

KitBuilder

I finished up the dowel install in the wing. Pics show the filler piece sanded to match the dowel, top and bottom are contoured for a good fit. I added hardwood blocks at the joiner / ply rib joint. I added the hardwood engine mount rails and the nose gear mount. I need to add the top sheeting and it will be ready for glassing. I made up the double ply plate which will hold the engine, which is then bolted to the rails. Coming down to assembling the big pieces now

Halvey

Nice work! the wing peg looks good. Still a seasoned beginner flyer, so I will probably stick with the rubber bands. but I like the wing bolt mounting blocks back there. I Might add something like that just to strengthen that area or areas. I wish I still had the cockpit window punch outs, I would glue them back in and cover over.

crossman

You don'y need the punch-outs. The "window" openings are no different than the openings in the sides of the fuse. Just put the covering on and shrink it tight over the windows. When I originally built my eagle, I damaged the windshield, so I decided that I didn't need windows. I covered the plane in black and orange with a piece of silver trim material where each window would be. Last winter, when I recovered the plane in white I used black monokote for the windows. The windshield area I filled with balsa blocks and sanded to shape

KitBuilder

I was thinking of tinting my windows a bit.. we'll see...

I got the engine area ready to accept my motor and did some work on the landing gear.

I drilled the holes in the hardwood rails and in the engine mounting plate. The plate needed some sanding to fit. I tried to be careful not to alter the right thrust. I set the engine plate on the rails and put the supplied hex bolts in, then added the blind nuts and drew them up into the rails and backed everything out. I will pull out the blind nuts before epoxying that whole area to make it fuel proof and add washers under the bolt heads to keep them from pulling into the wood.

I have not installed landing gear the way it's supplied in the kit before normally using a dural type gear. I am thinking of soldering the two pieces together just to make it more sturdy and one solid unit. All the pics are pre-glue. I added the ply doubler inside the fuse but before doing so I saw that when I applied the glue it would squeegee down into the opening on the bottom of the fuse that is to be the place for the two wire gear to recess. I came up with the idea of a couple strips of balsa to equal the thickness of fuse floor and laid some wax paper on top. I laid the fuse gear opening on top of it. You can see the wax paper sowing through and some cuts in the wood. Not sure if it helps but I usually do this on ply to give the glue more of a bite into the wood. I figured now when putting the ply doubler in place, the glue would basically stay out of that area keeping the channel clean. The gear has verticals that meet the fuse side. The kit supplies those A-Frame type supports to hold the gear in place and keep it from rocking fore and aft and the A-Frames have little tongues on the bottom that fit into the cutouts you see in the doubler. I'm going to add a faceplate to box in the gear for some extra security. The gear, should it need to be removed should be able to slide in and out of that vertical channel. There are nylong straps in the kit that run perpendicular to the gear attaching to the fuselage bottom with screws.

crossman

The only issue that I have had with the landing gear has been the screws that hold the nylon straps are only threaded into the ply bottom of the fuselage, I have replaced them with machine screws and t-nuts so that they remain secure. I also had a problem with the small screw that the hatch latches onto. I eventually put a machine screw there with a t-nut behind the firewall, no more problem.

Halvey

I had the right side gear come loose this past summer and almost caused me to crash on takeoff, I got up to takeoff speed and the right gear swung back and dogtracked behind the model, causing a HUGE skid, as If I had stood on the rudder.

I added 2 extra nylon straps to the bottom of the fuse to help hold the gear wire in place, and also added nylon straps to eash of the a-frame pieces inside the fuse where the gear wire lays. That way the wire can't pop out of the a-frames and allow the gear to drag behind the model.

KitBuilder

Thanks for the input guys. I was wondering about the screws in the ply for the LG straps. I will go with something more substantial for the LG strap attachements and will definately go with the "faceplate" type setup on the A Frame bracket.

I finished up the wing to this point. I added some CF tape I had to the ply center ribs and around the leading edge dowels nicde and tight to secure that in a way I thought would add strength to that joint up front. I added the sheeting to the top of the wing to close it all up and will sand this evening. Again, it's drying upside down to keep the glue on the rib/sheeting joints. I glued the A frames to the side of the fuse and used some hardwood blocks to get even pressure across the entire piece using clamps. I got carried away on the wing sheeting and forgot to add a string to pull the servo wires through once covered up but no biggie... It's only a couple bays and that won't be a big deal. I plan on doing more work on the landing gear tonight getting it ready to go with the straps and add'l blocking inside the fuse to secure the wire.

I'll be in Jax tomorrow through Thanksgiving back on Saturday night so I'll probably be going thorugh withdrawal not being able to work on the build. We wil be attending the UF / FSU game on Saturday so if there are any Gators out... We really need this one.. Will be the first undefeated regular season ever!! As a many year season ticket holder... i think this one will be closer than many expect... 31 - 21 Gators !!

KitBuilder

Well we're back from Title Town and it's good to be a Florda Gator these days!! Got back very late Saturday and worked on the landing gear some today. I decided to create a hybrid of what Crossman and Halvey did. I added some hardwood to the designed setup and also added some vertical bracing to help keep the vertical protion of the gear in place. I replaced the small screws that would have gone into the ply fuse and doubler with longer bolts that fit the holes of the supplied nylon straps and used blind nuts on the inside. The straps are showing some "bow" and I thought I had recessed the gear enough into the channel but will try to do some to take away some of that stress pryor to covering. On the inside.... those aren't cracks on the left side but just some very shallow pieces that got pushed up from the drill bit.

Halvey

Looks good mike, much more reliable setup than the plans showed. My landing gear straps bowed out also once laying over the gear wire. I took my radio gear out yesterday to get at the reciever pack and noticed that I had used bolts thru the extra straps on the bottom.

Your setup is much cleaner and proper, than mine.

Insanemoondoggie

Nice work Mike, been following along in the back ground. Your bolt on wing mod worked out well andis worth the effort. Wont be long now, and you,ll be covering.
I assembled an ARF for a freind and taught her to fly on it. Little ST GS .40 11x5 MAS . Great trainer , flys very nice and was easy on fuel.

crossman

Looking good, Mike.

That gear mount should hold up well. Mine is attached pretty much like that with a piece of 1/4" ply and the blind nuts, though I didn't think about covering the side mounts. I haven't had any trouble since making the change and my landings haven't improved much either.

Halvey

Picked up my kit today for a tolerable price, and some other bits and pieces. I'll probably use the blue bird 380's I have for alieron servos. a good winter project I think.

KitBuilder

Halvey... I googled bluebird 380 and they come as Micro?? that;s a bit small for the loads put on by a 40 size plane. They seem to have the torque but the gears being smaller and fewer teeth per gear can lead to stripping. The normal standard size servo from any of the manufacturers come in at the same price of the bluebird that came up via my google.

Well I'm still here and apologize for not posting for a bit. Myself and my Laptop both came down with nasty viruses which took some time get rid of. I picked up building again and have quite a few pics to show. The following has been done and removed so that covering can begin. I mounted the engine and ran the throttle pushrod. You can see the necessary bends in the wire to meet up with the throttle arm and not have any binding. The mount needed to be recessed just a bit to fit the width of the motor. The nylon lockuts sit on washers to help keep from crushing the ply mount. The same with the hex bolts which mount the ply plate to the rails.

I assembled the tank and bent the brass tubes for the carb and muffler pressure and cut the fuel lines. For those who have not seen the inside, the curved piece fits into a small bubble at the top so that the entire tank can fill with fuel. that line connects to the muffler pressure fitting forcxing pressure in the top and fuel out the bottom line to the carb. I usually use a two line system disconnecting the line from the carb to fill the tank. When you see fuel enter the line going to the muffler you know the tank is full.

I mounted the nosegear bracket permanently and ran that stereing mechanism. I decided to put a Z bend in the braded cable to keep the bendy-ness of it. Because the nosegear bracket sits right on the firewall and not out a bit, the steering arm needs to be angled out some left and right steering is possible. B/C of this, when the wheel is turned right, the steering arm is angled a bit more right than usual. A bendy type calbe is needed to meet that angle of hte arm and still not bind. Soldering a brass sleeve to allow a clevis did not offer enought room and was to stiff. I tinned with solder the z-bend in the braded cable so it won't fray over time. The pic does not show the correct relation between the arm and wheel as it was tighened at that point.

I fuelproofed the areas forward and aft of the firewall and top of the permanent and removeable hatch pieces. Tape on the permanent piece was to keep expoxy off so I could get a good wood to wood contact when I install it which will be soon now that the rods running thorugh the tank area are in place. (thought i had a pic of this)

I put the wheels on for a look see. The excess piano wire will need to be trimmed off extending past the outer hubcap.

Really all that is left is glassing the center section of the wing, covering, hinging and assembling the tail pieces to the fuse and installing the radio. I do this last so balance can be achieved by shifting the peices around, then I will hookup the rudder and elevator.

Halvey

Thanks Mike, here are the BMS 380MG's that I have. I think they are closer to a mini servo but are called a micro for some reason. what do you think??
http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-BMS-380MG-M...item3efa9f2f5d