Stingray Construction
 

Here is the rest of the pics for the wing attachment. All that is left is to put the root cap on and sand it to shape and the wings are done until glassing.

Anti rotation pin plates glued in and the holes drilled to accept pins

Stingray Construction
 

The pins glued to the wing plates ready for glueing into the wing

Stingray Construction
 

foam routed out for ply plates

Stingray Construction
 

The fuselage weighted down and pins ready for installation.

Stingray Construction
 

monitoring the incidence as the glue sets.

From a friend
 

I've just recently started checking out this Jet Forum thanks to Chris here. It's great to see these jets not only look great, but have an engine that sounds realistic to boot. I like the sound so much I downloaded a video from one of the threads here of a Super Reaper flying over head. When I play it I crank the volume up real loud. My kids really get a kick out of it :) . My wife isn't quite as amused. Especially, when I told her how much that baby probably cost :mad: . Your plane is looking pretty sweet. You've gotta luv a plane that looks fast just sitting on a box. The jet looks like it's building up pretty easily too. I like seeing the threads though of folks telling of the mistakes that were made. It helps me and others learn what to look out for, not just with this particular jet but, with building in general (and what the heck, some of them are pretty funny). Chris is a pretty good builder though :rolleyes: so I guess the building of this jet is going to be just one long, smooth process :o . All in all Chris I hope for you an awesome looking jet and a flawless 1st flight. Brett

Stingray Construction
 

Mistakes?, what are those?, you mean like gluing the aluminum spar into the extrusion and having to fight the wing to get it off?, I have no idea what you are talking about! Thanks for the compliments, It should be pretty cool when it is done. I am going to have to start getting up the nerve to fly her now or I will just end up with a cool looking test stand!





Chris











P.S. For those of you building the stingray, apply a little grease to the spar extrusion before you set the wings!!!!

Stingray Construction
 

I just got home and opened my Stingray (for my birthday)! My first Yellow kit. The glass work is AWESOME, really! I am impressed greatly for the $$$. If only I had time to build it, well maybe after the Boomerang. I'll get toit by Fall. Mr. Paul Hopkins, where did ya get the nifty clear canopy? Thanks.

Stingray Construction
 

You got a Stingray for your birthday ?? !! :greedy:

Did you know that it's my birthday in two months and 1 day's time ? Is that long enough for you to finish building the Stingray, and then send it to me as my birthday present ?

Gordon

Stingray Construction
 

Gordon, with the accident investigation in full swing and two toddlers, I could not screw a clevis on in two months!!!

Stingray Construction
 

Sorry - I momentarily forgot that you had all that happening. :(

I met pilot Willie McCool's father (Bahrent) in Vegas 3 weeks ago - he flies R/C at the North Las Vegas R/C airfield, and I found myself sharing channel 21 with him.

What an incredibly nice guy. He was just back from meeting NASA, and he had to be hurting like crazy... yet the only emotion that really showed was his immense pride as he rubbed his space shuttle pendant between his thumb and forefinger, and proudly announced "My son flew the space shuttle!".

BTW, since I didn't say it before - happy birthday !

Gordon

Stingray Construction
 

Wow, that is really an incredible story. He must have been more proud of his boy than any dad ever. I hope we can make the Space Transportation System far safer for those who follow.

Stingray Construction
 

Well, here some pics of the vertical fins. The initial fit of the rudder was a little off but no big deal, just took a little more sanding and fitting. Here again, I did not like the way that the angles of the hingeline and the pushrod were in relation to each other, it seems that there could be a fair amount of binding as the rudder throw increased so I had a couple of ideas to make it better, or so I hope! I was going to machine a torque shaft that went into the bottom of the rudder and down to the servo utilizing a fully concealed linkage and then change the angle of the mount so that everything would be perpendicular when set up, I changed my mind on that because I was worried that I would not get enough leverage on the linkage so I am going for mounting the servo farther up in the fin through a hatch and jsut run a direct drive to the rudder. We will see how it goes! I hope that the fin will be rigid enough when everything is finished.

Chris

Stingray Construction
 

I chose to use the large robart hinges on the rudders as well, better safe than sorry!

Stingray Construction
 

fin, rudder assy.

Stingray Construction
 

Hope this works

Stingray Construction
 

Too far to turn back now!

Stingray Construction
 

The servo mount.

Stingray Construction
 

Here is the last one for now, I should have them the rest of the way done by morning, I hope.

Stingray Construction
 

Yellowaircraft,

Yeah i was quite surprised too. From plywood part bag#3 of parts 401-429, i had 5 parts 401, 402 and i cant recall the other 3 of the top of my head ( some of them duplicated) but noticably missing parts such as the canopy support plats and wing spar support plates, so progress is somewhat stalled.
i spoke with y/a and they are sending me replacement parts.

i appreciate these things happen, despite how disapointing and inconvenient they are to the customer, but y/a has been great in accepting this and getting the replacements sent out.

( Y/A feel free to send me a PM if theres been any offence caused)

Stingray Construction
 

Strato, if it is not too late, flip the servo around so that the output arm is facing up, instead of down. This will put the control horn closer to the aero center of the rudder and make a torsional flutter mode less likely.

Paul, what about that cool clear canopy?

Stingray Construction
 

Thanks Woketman, I will try to get it flipped, I have not glued anything yet. The only problem I will have is getting the servo out if I need too. I put it upside down so I could get to the screws through the bottom of the fin. I will lt you know how it goes.

Chris

Stingray Construction
 

Birdseed,

If someone's to get offended, it ought to be the guy with the missing stuff! Thanks for being so patient, actually....That is MOST strange to hear about something like that. It happens from time to time that someone gets shorted a part or two, but what you are describing is a pretty good-sized fluke. I'm glad we got the parts on the way to you. Again, sorry about the delay.

I'm also a little concerned about the angles (rudder hinge line relative to the pushrod angle). I think the way you handled that, Stratotanker, is very sound.


By the way, my computer has been acting up again for those of you who are expecting email from me.

Stingray Construction
 

Thanks, I am still tinkering with it. I was a little concerned about the mod but am more certain that it will work now that I have had a couple of replies supporting my efforts! One other thing, when you drill the holes in the fin for the rudder hinges, be very cautious, when I was drilling out the holes everything was good until the bit hit that carbon roving and it caused the bit to jump off center, you experienced guys may have already known this but this is my first experience with carbon fiber, just thought I would pass it on to those that are building that might not know about it.

Chris

Stingray Construction
 

I've found it a little tough to assemble the rudder to the fin with the hinges in place due to the sweepback of the fin. Am I missing something?

I'll post some pics of my speedbrake actuating method later. I deviated a bit from the instructions.