dyrbr_d

I was about to order a new plane last week when I realized I have too many R/C toys that do not work. So this is Toy #1 of of 8 going to be restored to flying conditon.

Plane must have been crashed, and that is why I started the rebuild initially, but lost interest and started to use it as parts. The plan is to get this fully operational. I am in search of a new power plant, I am thinking 90 size two stroke.

Follow along as step one is install the ailerons.

-dyrbr

dyrbr_d

After some research, I am going with either spoilerons or flaperons.

Link to some interesting RCUniverse reading

The build process is the same, just an adjustment in the radio TX of which I will ultimately end up using. I want to do some testing at the end of the build to see which works better on this airframe. I will update this thread with the results.

Ailerons will be full length strip that are 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) wider than stock. This modification will add a second wing servo, servo mount, servo extension, and servo horn. The new ailerons are slightly heavier balsa than stock, and shouldn't flex as much. In addition the servo will have much better control over the surface with the newer servo arrangement pushing nearer to the center of the aileron and not the inboard end as in the factory torque rod setup. I have never been happy with the factory ailerons, and hope this will fix that, in addition reduce the chances of flutter.

-edited to add pictures

dyrbr_d

I didn't get much done today, was busy doing other stuff.

I did remove the old servo tray.. I could have left it in place, but this removes a couple grams. The servo tray was removed by cutting around the plywood with an X-acto knife.

dyrbr_d

The torque rods were removed by a cut off wheel on a dremel. A small cut was made at the bend of the rod, and the end pulled out.

LeeHop

Bravo! Keep it up. I'm watching

dyrbr_d

I got a little side tracked, it is absolutely amazing what people can do with monokote and an X-acto knife. I definitely have a couple ideas for when this gets further along.

But for now just a simple cover over the holes where I removed components.

If I have time, tomorrow will be servo bay mounts and installation.

dyrbr_d

Today, I got a little time to get some work done on the wing.

Servo placement was the goal for the day.

Idealy the servo should be centered in the wing to maximize efficiency, however this creates a larger roll inertia, so inboard is desirable.

I went with about 1/3 of the way from the inboard end of the aileron. The ailerons are larger than stock, so I wanted maximum power transmitted to the flight control surface, and roll inertia is somewhat desirable on a trainer style aircraft.

The servos will sit on the outboard end of each bay, and have the servo arm facing toward the wingtip.

dyrbr_d

I cut up some old balsa stock to mount the servo's on.

Balsa is in an "H" pattern that is not yet glued in to the wing ribs.

Next step is to route the servo wires back to the center of the wing so they can enter the fuselage.

dyrbr_d

To install the servo wires I cut open the covering and then the balsa skin. Then routed some string through the ribs and out the hole in the center of the wing. The string will later be used to pull the servo extension out through the hole in the old servo mount. The strip of balsa that was removed to install the string was then re-glued back into place, and the covering material ironed back down, with a long strip to cover the small gap.

LeeHop

Nice work, dyrbr_d. Was there a trick to cutting the holes in the ribs? Obviously you couldn't stack them and drill them all at once. Did you use a sharpened brass tube?
Tnx - Leeh

dyrbr_d

Lee,
I used a 1/2 inch drill bit.

If I was building the wing from scratch I would have used the brass tube trick. But because this wing is already assembled I just quickly drilled the hole through one rib at a time.

dyrbr_d

A good link to reference when instaling hinge pins is

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_42...key_%2C/tm.htm

Specificly post #14

Anyone know how to link to that post specificly?

On with pictures

Ailerons are finally covered in monokote and the hinge pins installed

dyrbr_d

My cheap / strong way to make control surface linkages.

Set ATV on transmitter to maximum travel of the servo. I maximize the servo throw, and adjust the linkage on the control surface to get the desired throw. In addition I add aileron differential by using a servo arm that sits slightly towards the front of the wing. More or less differential can be adjusted later in the computer transmitter after the test flight.

4-40 rod with one end threaded is used for the aileron linkage.

The required length is measured and the rod cut with a dremel tool. The smooth end is then sanded to roughen / clean it up. A large soldering iron is used to heat up the rod and the clevis and solder is added. Then cleaned up when it has cooled.

The only way to change the length is to remove one end of the clevis off the control horn and twist; this stops any un-necessary movement in the rod, yet allows for adjustments.

dyrbr_d

Ailerons, hinges, linkage, and servo's are finally installed and working. This is a big step, it has only been several years since this wing has had ailerons.

The wing had lots of loose covering that wasn't put on properly. Initially I tacked down the covering and pulled it tight, but now the covering is on there and not going anywhere. This definitely stiffened up the wing. And it looks much better now.

Hitting the monokote with sandpaper will help the tape stick better when attaching the wingtips, so just the last 1/2 inch of the monokote got roughened up.

dyrbr_d

ABS plastic wingtips are scraped clean on the inside to remove old residue.

Wingtips are then hit with sandpaper on the inside to help the tape stick better.

Wingtips are then cleaned with acetone to remove any oil, greasy fingerprints and to roughen up the plastic.

Double sided tape with a backing is used to attach the wingtips. First the tape is put in place on the wingtip. Then the wingtip is put in place and adjusted to fit exactly where needed. The tape backing is pulled out at an angle to allow the tape to adhere to the monokote wing surface. The wingtip will be exactly where you want it, no adjusting necessary.

dyrbr_d

Ok the wing is now flyable, but still not done.

The wing had some wash in. So I twisted the wing back into place, and hit it up with a heat gun to get some washout. I now think it is perfect. A couple more times before it goes into the air, and the wood will take a "set" and it won't keep moving back.

Now the cool stuff.

There was a tiny, tiny, tiny hole in the wing on the top left side, so I made a patch to cover it

Pictures describe how

dyrbr_d

Left wing has the compass pictured, right side has a mirror immage of the compass pictured in the same location.

Left wing underside got a spider, just because it was an interesting practice piece.

dyrbr_d

Sorry about the multiple posts,

More than two pictures is too large for one post.

Dragon is located on underside of the right wing.

Now the wing is completed and ready to fly.

Onwards to fixing up the fuselage (It will be a while before I get started on that, but will update the thread accordingly)

dyrbr_d

LeeHop

dyrbr_d -

Love the decorations - they remind me of modern tattoos. Really makes the plane look unique. Do you cut them on glass with a swivel knife?

Regards - LeeH

dyrbr_d

Lee,
Actually the compass on the topside of the wing is a tattoo (mine). I seem to use it more and more often.

The other two designs are actually from a tattoo book. They were easiest to do, because there is no shading or multiple colors. I am not a big fan of the "tribal" tattoo's but it is easy to do out of monokote.

A standard #11 X-acto blade and a sheet of glass was everything needed to cut the design.

I have an idea or two for the tail surface that will be way cooler and more complex than the existing designs. We will see how they turn out.

-dyrbr_d

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Where did you find that spider, or, how did you 'search' for it on Google/Yahoo? I'd like to find some similar designs, but have had no luck in digging up anything worth working with.

Thanks,

Bob

dyrbr_d

Bob,

Search google for tribal tattoo and then click on images to get a search of only pictures. You have to go through lots of pages to find something interesting. Lots of the pictures are the same thing, over and over.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks...

Bob