GP CAP232 Build
 

I'm building a [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJ578&P=7]Great Planes CAP232[/link] and I thought I would share. This will be my 6th kit I have built, it looks like a fairly easy build. I'm in no hurry with this kit, I'll probably only build for an hour or two a night. The kit looks good and all the wood seems to be in great shape. I will probably order a cowl from Stan's instead of the three pcs one that comes with the kit. I will be beefing up the landing gear mount too. Other then that I dont think I will be doing to many mods. If you have any tips, tricks or pics please chime in.

OK lets build! [8D]

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Sept. 22nd


Here is the stab before sheeting the top...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_056.jpg


The built up elevators and counter balancers...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_057.jpg


I beveled the elevators then glued the counter balancers to the elevators. Next I precut the CA hinge slots and test fitted them to the stab.

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_059.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Looks good so far. I've built a lot of GP planes and they all went together well. I've thought about getting either the CAP or the Ultimate, so I'll be looking forward to more details on the build. And more pictures.

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

I just ordered my cowl from [link=http://home.pacbell.net/jluckey/SFT/index.html]Stan's Fiber Tech[/link]. Should be here in a week or so...

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Sept. 23rd

I cut, pinned and glued up the fin and giant rudder tonight...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_060.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Hi Gumhead,

I almost envy you. I have a GP CAP232 kit in my closet that I cannot build right now because I am in the middle of getting a new job with the possibility of relocation. I would hate to move in the middle of the building process. However, I will follow-up this thread closely because I will start mine as soon as I define my situation.

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Watch your wood choices on the rudder. I just had mine crack where the control horn attachs while doing a knife edge. Was not a pretty site. Good Luck, Dave

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

When I built my GP Cap232 I raised the fuel tank level so that the center of the tank approximated the carb on my OS.70's engine. The engine is mounted sideways. I just cut out the ply cross member that was over the tank and raised the tank floor. With padding all around it stays in place and there is no structural problems with the ply gone.

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

yeah i did the same thing for the tank as Gary, plus enlarged airlerons, carved extra wood out of tail, took out half the dihedral, dual airleron servos, strengthened LG plate... Its all in detail in the other GP CAP thread.

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Sept. 24th


Tonight I beveled the rudder, cut the hinge slots and glued the counter balance.

Thats it for tonight, I'm beat! I went in to work at 5am this morning for some OT and the rest of the day was spent up at the field, flying. It was a beautiful day to fly, no wind, cool and sunny. It was a great day!

Tomorrow I will start on the wing...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_061.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Sept. 25th

Butt jointed and cut sheeting for wing...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_062.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Sept, 26th

Started on the right wing section...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_064.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Sept. 27th

Everything is going along smoothly. I completed the right wing with no problems.
Time to clean the bench and start on the other side...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_066.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

So where are we on this thng?

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

At this point both wings are built. Next step is connecting the wing together.

Saturday didn't fair well with a couple of my other models tho. The elevator of my GP Combat Corsair broke when it hit one of the pins on its dolly on take off. It landed fine but will need some repairs.

My GP Super Sportster crashed do to some receiver or radio glitches. I had no control and she went down hard. It snapped the nose right off and got a pretty good hole in the leading edge of the wing. It was a beautiful day yesterday (Sunday) but I took the day off from flying. I plan to work on the SS tonight, It should be a quick fix...

I will give an update and more pics of the cap tonight.

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Oct. 10th

OK I have final fixed my Super Sportster and I am back to building the cap. But I have run into a problem. When I lay the wing out with the wing jigs there is a gap on the trailing edge of the wing tips. I built both sides of the wing on a GP pro building board, they seem to come out completely flat. The bench I am working on was build just for this purpose so I made sure it was level and flat. So I'm not sure why it will not sit on the jigs correctly.

Here's some pics...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_079.jpg


Here is the right trailing edge. there is about a half inch gap (I tack the jigs with some CA to make things easier)...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_080.jpg


The left has the same gap...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_081.jpg


Here is the center everything seems to line up pretty good...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_083.jpg


I may pin the hole wing to the bench and see how it looks. It will probably just spring back when I unpin it though.


Any thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Hi Gumhead,

I would not worry too much about that gap. You can correct those minor deviations while shrinking the monokote. I have seen deviations like that caused by warped wood in all of my buildings. I double check wing incidence at wing root and tips using a laser incidence meter. Any deviation can be corrected by twisting the wing and shrinking the monotoke again.

By the way, very, very, nice job. I still have the box of my CAP in the closet.

Pedro

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

What's more important, IMO, is that the gaps are the same, i.e. same washout on both wings. I agree with Pedro, the gaps aren't big enough to worry about. Set some filler stock (same height), under each of the supports.

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

I ended up pining it to my bench and epoxying it. After unpinning, the trailing edge tips were still up a little. I'm not to worried about it tho its less then a half inch and like nickj said a little wash out wont hurt. When everything is done I will check the incidences.

Pinned to the board before epoxying the dihedral braces...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_087.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

I'd suggest placing weight on each wing panel to hold the wing panels down on the jigs while gluing the dihedral braces, and also while you apply the top center wing sheeting. Using weight makes it easier than pinning to make any necessary adjustments. I like to use a 1 liter drinking water bottle on each panel. With these you can vary the amount of weight you apply with the amount of water inside them, being careful to not distort the panels.
Yes, you can pull a warp out with the covering, but I think everyone would agree that it's much better to start with a straight and true airframe.

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Sheeting the wing is finished. I was gonna mod the wing and put dual aileron servos but decided not to. I'm gonna use a high torque digital servo and the plane will be mostly for sport/pattern flying.

Tomorrow I will work on the center trailing edge and torque rods.

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_090.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

I built the same kit a couple months back, and was extremely pleased with how well things went together with it. Looks like you are doing a great job, and I am really enjoying your build. Keep up the great work!

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Oct. 11th

Oooooo! Look what came in the mail for me! It's my new fiberglass cowl from Stan's!!!
It looks awesome, he does a great job. This will be a lot stronger and easier to work with then the stock ABS cowl. [link=http://Stan's Fiber Tech]http://www.stansfibertech.com/[/link]

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_092.jpg


I got the trailing edge and torque rods installed. The wing is almost complete...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_091.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Oct. 12th

I cut and fitted the ailerons and hinges tonight. I will be using nylon hinges...

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_094.jpg


Except for a little filling and final sanding the wing is done!!! We'll clean up the bench and start on the fuselage tomorrow!

http://www.gumhead.com/rc/cap232/Img0045_095.jpg

RE: GP CAP232 Build
 

Very nice. You're making it look easy.