I just finished going over the airframe with a 350 degree iron. The covering job was better than I thought at first look; only one gooned-up area on the left aileron, and it isn't too bad. But there are a few points, mainly on the tips of the stabs, wings, ailerons, and elevators, where you need to make sure the covering is sealed down. Watch out for some of the graphics, such as the bunny holding the transmitter and the words "Edge 540" on the wing; these are NOT UltraCote, and the iron will bugger them up.

Overall, a nice job. The usual hot glue is used, so I hit everything I could reach with medium CA. Note to self; BE SURE to fuel-proof the exposed wood in the motor box area after the engine and cowl is fitted.

So, time to get started. I'm not real sure about the suggested method for locating the engine mounts; I'm sort of accustomed to having a thrust line to work from. But Tom knows what he is doing, so I'll try his method of centering up the cowl first and going from there.

Nothing worth photographing yet; I'll post pics as I get to note-worthy areas, since the Extra thread has plenty of shots showing how the thing is constructed, etc.; and I'm reasonably certain this airplane is built the same way.

This is going to go slowly, so please bear with me; I'm slow by nature, plus don't have as much free time as I would like. I should have stayed retired...

.

No hot glue is used.

TF

Okay; perhaps its that epoxy-like stuff that LOOKS like hot glue?

Getting the engine mount set up was relatively painless. But instead of locking the cowl down, I just taped it securely. The fit was good; I'll fine tune it after I get the necessary holes cut in the cowl.

I'll be putting a bit of additional wood where the blind nuts go...

What engine are you showing there Steve?.

Laser 150.

I had to "strip" it (remove carburetor, muffler, rocker arm cover) so it would fit under the cowl.

.

Some more progress today. Getting the engine/cowl right is probably one of the most time-consuming assembly steps...

Here's the Laser 150 in place, with all pieces/parts accounted for. This engine presents a few challenges, due to the weird location of the carburetor and the 'unconventional' muffler lay-out.

.

Laying out the templates for the muffle and needle valve access holes; notice in the last photo how the cardboard templtes are "raised" a bit, via folds; otherwise, they will not lay flat on the cowl and give an incorrect indication of where to cut.

.

An easy way to produce a hole; drill 1/61th holes all around the inner side of the markings; use a sharp #11 blade to 'connect the dots'; and finish up with a sanding drum on the Dremel.

Don't forget the CA hinges, heavily CA-ed in place backing up the screw holes. This will keep the fiber glass from getting weak and cracking around the screw holes.

.

Be very careful when handling; the first picture shows what happens when you make a reflexive grab with weight (the engine) on the airframe... the cross former broke clean. No complaints; the fuse was slipping off the cradle due to my putzing around, and I grabbed what was handy

I spliced the repair job, so it should hold. But be careful; this model is built quite lightly.

.

Well, this isn't a job that Faye Stilley could be proud of; but it doesn't look half-bad. I nailed the muffler hole, but smooth missed the jug cut-out and needle-valve hole. Oh, well... hopefully I'll do better on the SlimLine fueler hole.

.

Steve Campbell,

Have any pics of the engine box area? Tom said that area was beefed up when they were put together across the pond. I'm awaiting my 260 to arive late next week.

Tom mentions that there should be about a quarter-inch overlap of the cowl over the first former. I have 20mm (almost an inch) at the widest poit; the tape shows the "cut line" where I'll have to grind down the back edge of the cowl.

Pay attention to this; it affects how the canopy deck fits.

.

I would have thought that putting the canopy deck on and then fitting the cowl and then the engine would work out better and that would eliminate the need to cut the cowl. Maybe I'm wrong, I haven't got mine yet but it should be about the same as the bigger bunnies. The engine box looks a little short. Can you post a dimension of the height of the engine box?

Here ya go, Zippi.

As you can see, lots of interlocking pieces/parts here. Two good chunks of tri-stock on the inside. I added the extra ply "backers" for the blind nuts, and one small piece of tri-stock up top, but everything else is as it comes out of the box The motor box is actually the fuselage front itself; it is NOT a separate piece/part like on some of the larger planes.

No worries here, I think...

.

Steve Campbell,

Thanks for the pics. From your pics the engine box looks really short so now I'm a little worried about the width and height of the stand-offs for the Brillelli 26cc fitting and having room for the washers and nuts on the back side.

Well, I personally would be VERY hesitant to put a gasoline engine- even a small one- in this model. I'm exceeding the power recommendations as it is; the book says don't do over 1.25 ci on a four stroke, due to vibration issues. My Laser 150 is exceptionally smooth, so I think I'll be okay; but I've never seen a smooth single-cylinder gasoline engine, sorry.

.

Steve Campbell,

The specs on the Wild Hare site are:

.91 to 1.20 2 stroke,
1.10-1.25 4 stroke, 26cc gas

Unless your referring to the airframe being maybe to light there should be no problem with a 26cc gasser on a plane this size. I had the older Brillelli 26cc SPE engine on a CMP Giles 202 that is the same size and there was no problem at all.

Okay.

Yes, I was referring to the light airframe vs the pounding a gasoline engine produces.

Hope it works out for you. Sounds like a neat combo.

.

Steve,nice work so far and great pictures!. I'm especially concerned with where and how you add reinforcement measures to the airframe. WHat is your target flying weight?. Thanks and keep up the great thread,. Mikel-T

Steve...great thread. keep it going. I'm trying to find a home for my Moki 135 in a baby 260. About the same weight as your laser 150 at 855 grams w/o muffler , but worry about the cg and total weight. Tom commented on his web site that a EVO 26 would be OK at 952 grams.
Any comments would be welcome.

Txs

Steve

I thought quite a bit about "reinforcement measures"... in the end (so far, anyway), I decided to trust Tom's design. Though incredibly light, the airframe interlocks everywhere. The fuselage is a basic box (i.e., strong) with formers top and bottom to give the shape. I put one small piece of triangle stock at the firewall/fuse top junction (you can see it in the pix) "just because". Also, I put extra 4mm plywood "backers" for the 8-32 engine mount blind nuts (you can see those in the pix too), and glued quarter-inch square spruce backers in place for the cowl mount screws.

Now, if I were putting a small gasoline engine in there, I would definitely beef up the firewall/fuse sides area. But for a glow engine, I think it will be okay as issued. Do hit every wood joint you can reach with medium CA, though. Cheap insurance...

Target weight? As light as possible... I'm HOPING to be closer to nine pounds than ten; this engine flew a nine-pound CG Ultimate with authority. This airplane will have less parasitic drag, and nine pounds would be excellent.

Its real easy to make a porker out of a model if you get carried away with "reinforcing". Of course, the flip-floppers go to the other extreme; no cowl, spinner, or wheel pants, midget battery packs that have to be re-charged before every flight, too-small servos, etc.

I'm somewhere in the middle...

.

Steve,

Tom has said that three pounds is the engine weight limit on these airframes. My ounce-to-gram meter is broken right now , but the Laser 150 weighs two pounds complete (sans mount weight, of course).

If that Moki has power commensurate with other Moki engines I've seen, you won't have to worry about available power. I know this Laser will fly the model fine; I'm keeping my fingers crossed for adequate vertical performance. I had it on a CG Sukhoi, but that model was a pig at 11.5 pounds; I learned about flying on the wing and energy management with that one.[]

Still getting the front end squared away; fitting the tank and throttle servo is next on the agenda.

I plan to detail every phase of the build; it probably won't be timely enough for you guys, so be patient...

.

Had a few spare minutes this evening while everyone else went out for some last-minute shopping.

You have to make your own arrangements to mount the internal stuff; another indicator that these models are not for the rank beginner.

Due to the Laser's carb location, I need to get the tank as high up in the fuselage as I can. Here's the solution; a simple ply tank floor, to bridge the space in the existing ply sub-structure, with sufficient hard foam padding epoxied in place to give the required height.

The floor is screwed into place with servo screws for easy removal. A velcro tie-down strap is screwed and epoxied in place on the bottom.

Here it is installed in the airframe; and with the not-yet-plumbed tank in place.

Next: the throttle servo/throttle linkage. You can see the blue Sullivan outer flexible pushrod housing already installed alongside the tank. The location was determined back when the engine was mounted.

It is MUCH easier to get all of this front end work out of the way before doing anything else.