don great thread ,are their plans for the vf3. I like to build one.

Hello Verne. You can get the details on the kits at www.customairframes.com.

A quick wing tube check was fruitless. The wing tube is perfectly aligned and perpendicular to the centerline with no adjustments necessary. The laser cut fuselage sides were perfectly aligned.

Next was the top forward former, carbon/ply brace, and then the diagonal braces installed.

Installing wing adjusters.

Install center top bulkheads and little cross piece, top stringers, sides. Note the sides are cut at different length, a right and a left. Trial fit them, mark and notch a slot for the stringer to go through the back bulhead.

Trial fit the back deck, notching the foam so the stringer goes through. This keeps the back deck aligned with the fuselage sides. Glue the back deck in place. Everything fit perfectly. I put pins in after taping to give the top deck recessed about 1/32 inch. That will allow for sanding to a blended joint between the top deck and fuselage side.

Tape canopy base plate. Glue back one in place (sand bevel at bottom so it fits perfectly) Put on top piece, put on front piece, glue top piece in, glue front piece in. Glue front bulkhead. Mark where back Violett slide mount fits. Drill through both canopy back piece and bulkhead. I used inner pushrod which fit well if drilled slightly .

Front deck sheeting strips. This process took very little time. Most strips required no sanding to fit. Re-trimmed twice with a straight edge to true the strips as it wound around the top.

Sand and trim front sheeting. Sand and countour back sheeting with back former. Sand canopy frame so its about 1/16 inch smaller than the front and back formers. Sand and rough up the gluing surface of the canopy inside mating surfaces. Use a straight block to set the canopy on while the glue sets. Trim the edges of the canopy. Canopy mounted-

Hi Don,

Have you figured out where these pieces go? I know they are supports for the upper turtle deck former but I can't figure out their exact location!

Here c/o Don

And here for the triangles you circled.

Cut a piece of 1/8 balsa for the back of the rear deck. Trace it around mark the center line, flip it backward and put it back in. This will tell you how symmettric the back of the deck is (vertically) You can shift it around a little, put tape on after gluing and it will hold the position.

Stab mounting. Draw center line, trial fit stab tube per instructions. Cut the taper in the stab center and tack glue some 1/8 inch spacers. Check alignment. Alignment was perfect with the wing tube. The benefits of the laser cut fuselage. Mark center ine of stab outer tube and then glue in place, making sure it engages the stab rib inside the stab. Cut the tube with an exacto saw, fit the root rib in place, mount the stab adjuster by placing the wire in, drilling and putting the screws in, then grinding the edges off the other side as instructions state. Place the stab center rib on the fuselage, drill through the hold through the fuselage on each side, trial fit the stab center ribs. Notch out the red nyrod outer rod (stab adjuster screw clearance) and then glue it all in.

Done

Stab root rib and adjuster mounting and fitting. Done.

Check alignment of wings at center, sand the hole a little to make sure both wing roots match up. Glue in the wing sockets. Make sure they engage the rib inside the wing. You can fell it click as you push the tube through. I went about another 1/4 inch past. Check on straight table, with ruler, and wings in the chucks. Add some weight if needed on top to keep the wing straight. Before the glue dries double check Back, Center, Front (with wing tube installed)

Wing mounting. Fit rear adjuster and front retainer screw. Rear adjuster phenolic and front retainer screw is parallel to wing tube for good on-off without binding. Notch foam in wing core to fit. Slide in donuts and center wing tube. Trial fit wing on fuselage, lightly sand wing root so its a good fit against the ply root rib when mounted. It should be a close fit from the start if wing tube was gluied in wings in hte right spot. Double check measurements of wing and mark incidence points for wing LE and TE per instructins. 1/4 degree of incidence. Take wing off and trim wing tube phenolic at wing root to give you 1/8 clearance to fit nicely through root rib.

Vertical fin mounting. Measure 4 1/4 inches, cut across, then align with the fuselage, mark and cut out the notch to clear the rear fuselage top deck. Sand for a good fit. Ready for mounting.

Here is a picture from the back with the rudder taped in place, and a picture without. As you can see basically if you eye ball the vertical fin its really precise to match it up to the rear bulkhead and fuselage sides and after measuring each side left and ritigh its verified that a pretty good sight picture shows the alignment. The laser cut parts really make it easy to align everything. If you use a laser level, great but you don't have one you can just eyeball it and its pretty much perfect to match it to the fuselage sides and rear bulkhead.

Cowl mounting. Dremel out the bottom and front- leave the back strip in per instructions. I put some tape around the edges to keep from cutting fingers with fiberglass edge. Sand 1/4 back from the front of the firewall (note I left some extra overlap in the front when I sheeted the top deck so its not sanded back to the firewall, there is a little hanging over the front which is why it looks crooked but its all 1/4 inch back from the firewall). Mount engine and mount. Check cowling fit. It fits very well. Done in 15 minutes and ready for glue.

Rudder is 15 1/4 inches long total. Here are some pics of measures so far. Bottom of fuselage will have 1/2 inch block plus 2 inch block. Bottom of rudder foam piece has 1 3/4 piece. Any case, hope this helps.

From bottom of fuselage side to top of fin (not counting counter balance) 12 3/4 inches.

Super thread Don! I am really close to the same place as you and hope you keep us up to date on your progress. Ready for the belly pan and lower deck.
RC11

I agree, Don. This thread is very informative and useful.
I appreciate your effort keeping us informed on the assembly of this plane.
Bob

Dremel out front of chin cowl for engine cooling, then dremel out clearance for YS connecting rods/pump. Trial fit chin cowl. Guess what, yes, it fits just about perfect...

Trim balsa from around back rear lower deck. Sand flush with a block to make sure its straight and to keep from sanding into the foam mating surface.

Mark the spot where you cut the taper in the front to conform to the rear chin cowl.

Used tape to mark a space-rough cut with saw. Sanded to final fit.

Don

Back deck taped, glued and front piece mounted in place. Chin cowl taped in place. Landing gear clearance cuts made. Pins provide about 1/32 inch clearance for sanding the taper with blending into the fuselage sides.