jofunk

Don't you hate when your jet decides to have a mind of its own on final.Spectacular landing at Frankfurt Airport

jofunk

Vladimir is making good progress on the nose gear. Here is a pic of the work so far. The 1/4" drill rod is the pivot point.

jofunk

I needed to make some supports to hold the bulkheads level where the fuel tank floor was cut away. I glued the bulkheads to the fuel tank floor with some CA. The landing gear box got epoxied down since there was too much to glue at once……. OMG Becky look some stringers. I started cutting notches for some stringers with my tried and true method. First make a mark where you want the stringer, put a hack saw slice on the mark ,then cut the notch with a dremel and a 1/8" grout bit. the stringer pushes in nice and snug. Once you have them where you want them give the joint a drop of CA. The balsa stripper is a great tool for cutting stringers out of 1/8" sheet. I use the harder balsa for the straight runs and the softer balsa for the stringers that bend. The stringers are not glued in yet. I will need to install a mount between 10 and 11 also between 16 and 17 for the camera pod the plane carries on its belly.

jofunk

Vladimir started detailing the nose strut. He thinks he needs to tweak the length to get all the ornaments in the proper location. Most people decorate christmas trees this time of year. Vladimir is decorating a nose gear strut. Im getting less and less concerned about the airframe and more and more concerned about the beautiful landing gear he is making.

jofunk

I made some mounts for the "non functional" camera pod (don't want to be called a drone). there is a 1/4 20 t nut in the plates on the center line of the belly. I also made some fuel tank compartment side walls, they really stiffened up the structure.

jofunk

here are the other pix.

jofunk

I had to cut the first bulkhead loose and reset it. It was leaning out of whack just a little too much to be pulled straight. I traced out a copy of a section of bulkhead in balsa to terminate the stringers for the nose…..Merry Christmas everyone!

jofunk

i cut out some of the fuel tank floor because the angle changes for the intake. I also made some side walls for the base box. The nose box overlaps the fuel tank box a little. I put some tabs on them and cut some slots to align what I can't see.

jofunk

I doubled up on the stringers in the nose. There is one every 1/2 inch now. I need to put a little sheeting on the fuse side before i start boxing in the intake. There will be a trench between the fuse and the intake. I traced on a piece of paper the side view of the area…….I was grading wood to use the stiffer wood where necessary. A simple way is to hold them down equally on the table. the stiffer stuff sags less. Im killing a lot of time staring at the intakes trying to figure the best way to build them.

jofunk

I cut the stringers flush with the nose box and slid the mating plate in there. It looks reasonably lined up. It won't get glued on until I can flip the fuse over and line up the nose. I boxed in everything that needed it before work can start on shaping the inlets. I temporarily put stringers on the bottom of the intake to get a feel for the shape.

jofunk

The bottoms of F 13 and F 14 were not there because of the landing gear box. I was going to use the section cut off of the lite ply bulkheads to support the stringers but since a lot of the area was going to be cut open I used balsa. I figured it would be easier to cut through. I glued some balsa strips onto the aircraft ply areas to terminate the stringers and give them something to lock into. I also threw down some more stringers.

jofunk

Here is a good shot of the balsa carrying the stringers and the stringer termination on the aircraft ply. Thank goodness for the 1/8" grout bit to cut notches.

jofunk

The nose gear is just about done. Vladimir has it working like a "swiss watch". It took about 30 pounds of air pressure to lift it. That is less than the mains took. Here are some pix. I will try to post a video of it operating soon.

jofunk

Here is a video of the nose gear operating.https://youtu.be/ZXnREAtG_Dk

jofunk

I made a few plates to box in the nose gear area. It would have been easier to install them earlier but it was no big deal. I also started stringing the sides.

p38nut

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jofunk

I spliced the cut off stringers so the wood wouldn't go to waste and installed them on the side. Just the frugal side of me coming out. Although they are a bit stronger in the splice area.

jofunk

I need two 6" turkey feathers for the dummy exhaust. I started messing around with a 1 gallon window wash jug and some aluminum tape. there are 16 "feathers " on the cone so one every 22.5 degrees. That's what the cardboard disk is for.

jofunk

I lined up the rear assembly to the main fuse. I think it will be attached while everything is inverted. It seem I can control and align everything easier. From the front wing plug in to the rear of the fuse the distance is within 1/16 of a inch side to side. That is good enough for me.

jofunk

I made another turkey feather. I also did not glue the engine compartment on yet. The minimal amount of material in the last bulkhead needed to be stiffened with some thin aircraft ply and fiberglass. I also I needed to box in an access hatch for the engine. It is easier to do before everything is glued together.

jofunk

I put a deck in between F 18 and F19 to take the side to side load. The deck along with the engine mount straps will help take the load of the hoz. stab. everything got some epoxy brushed on to help fuse everything together. 4 laters of 2.7 oz. cloth got put on the bottom of F 20 for more stiffening. When your resin crystalizes don't throw it away. A 5 gallon bucket with a 40 watt incandescent bulb will bring it back. The excess resin went on the fuse.

jofunk

I bit the bullet and glued the rear assembly to the main fuse. The rubber bands, T pins and sticks are helping to pull everything into alignment. Ill feel better once I get some stringers on back there……. It just got a little longer.

jofunk

I started putting some stringers down on the rear end. A few more stringer sessions and then some planking.

jofunk

I put a stringer between the ones I laid down, so now they are every 1/2" on center. Just like the front end. The medium CA actually takes a while to dry. It can sit over night and it will be cured.

sierratango

Looks fantastic!