That's it!...We can start a canopy recycling program........collecting all the canopies from lost composite birds, due to mid-airs, old age, tails failing off, etc., etc. and morph them into new scratch built wooden airplanes......lol..

I prefer to think of it as an old composite bird "restoration" program in that the new wooden parts are replacements for the worn/destroyed composite components. In this case, Chuck resurrected an Aries that simply needed everything replaced but the canopy.

Chuck, your new Aries looks GREAT!



Keith Black

You guys are great. I may consider Keith... j/k Mark.

I will be taking a small break before my next adventure but i am totally hooked on Wood Pattern Planes!! Actually, i hate working with composites and i feel that I can handle wood easier, plus i can change things and try stuff that i want to do. Marks design lends itself well to letting the owner modify simple things like i did and not change the total dynamic balance of the design. I have learned so much by asking questions on the phone, in person and surfing RCU (black magic thread) about building techniques and design theories. I say theories cause someone somewhere has built a plane that flies great for no apparent aerodynamic reason!!

I can't wait to get flying again and get comfortable with this plane.

If anyone has considered building an Insight.. go for it.. you wont be sorry.

Chuck

Continued to work on the wings as they will be the first to get into the finishing stage (monokote or paint) while I continue to finish up the fuse and prepare it for glassing and paint.

- sanded the wing roots flush to wing skins
- laid out the location for the wing adjusters (near trailing edge)
- inserted adjuster socket into the wing root
- transferred this location to the side of the fuse - to do this I referenced from the flat canopy deck down the sides of the fuse on a piece of tape at the trailing edge and leading edge of the wing. This gave me a good starting point for the adjuster slots
- used 1/16" ply to attach adjusters to the inside of the fuse
- 1/16" ply washers mounted to inside of fuse at the wing stud locations
- laid out the ail. servo locations on the wing panel.....also double checked the wing depth at this location using a pin, just to make sure the servo would'nt bottom out against the wing's top skin
- drilled the ail. servo lead holes using my v-block wing tube guide (sorry, no pics...but look further back in this thread for my wing tube drilling setup)
- built balsa boxes around each servo
- cut through the wing skin using the servo box as a guide and removed foam.....luckily, I found the ail. servo lead holes right where they were suppossed to be.
- double checked fit and glued in servo box using polyurethane glue.

Jim Sheffeild has graciously offered to paint the Insight for me and i am really anxious to see what he comes up with for this plane. He has some real talent with the paint and it is going to be so cool to have a one off, custom paint job on this plane! All I can say is I must have been real good in a past lifetime!!!

I hope I was as good as you, Jim has also offered to paint my Voodoo Express
Nick marson

Hi

Whats the difernces between this Insight that you are currntly working on and the one in the current plans ?

Thanks

Troy

Nothing.

I did however move the wing tube forward about 3/4" to help offset the weight of the OS with the Standard Muffler...


-mark

Progress:

Glued in 1/16" ply plates for use as hardpoints on ailerons and elevators....will do the same on the rudder

Sanding on wings and fuse....a bit of filler and will do some more sanding....the surface must be good prior to glassing and paint...

Added an 1/8" hard balsa strip to the trailing edge of the wing for a stronger, cleaner T.E.....will sand flush tomorrow.

Laid out cheek template on the sheeted core in its shuck....ran the whole assembly through the 9" bandsaw. Will cap the ends and hollow out one for the head of the OS before gluing to the fuse sides...

Hey Mark!

Finally done! Just finishing up the final touches.
Will give flight report later this week.
Got to get ready for the pattern contest in Lancaster, ha!!!
Hope I did her some justice.

Love to fly pattern

JJ

Jarvis, that is aweswome, can't wait to hear about the maiden.

Flew mine again yesterday, just getting used to her and love it, had the engine running stron, then things went sour.. then i realized how lucky a guy can be.

My prop had started to come loose and was cutting itself on the spinner, almost sheared the blades off. I will take pics tonight and share my luck. If i had lost a blade i am sure i would have shook her to pieces.

Chuck Hochhalter

Jarvis,

Your Insight looks great! I really like the way you softened the cheeks with the dark blue and I see you rounded the wing tips a bit. Hope it flys well for you.

Really Nice Job.


-mark

here are the pics of the close call....

always check the prop.. i will learn from this.

OK, Jarvis.. I gotta ask. is there a story behind the I'Nsight on the fuse?

just curious.

Chuck

This is what happen's , when you send the WIFE to do a Pattern flyer's Job

always check the prop.. i will learn from this.

If that's an APC prop, the hub is very hard---often a good idea to cyano a disc of 80-100 grade wet-and dry sandpaper to it and/or the spinner backplate---they can slip even if done up tight ,even directly against a knurled alloy prop driver. Same thing with a carbon prop.

Thanks for the tip! I will probably do this just for added safety.. i would have been devastated to loose this plane or any plane on the 4th flight!

Chuck Hochhalter

After a very long week at work I finally got back to John's Insight.......phew.

I have the wing panels finally ready to for finishing. These panels will be sent to Jim S. today for glassing and paint (yes, the wings will be painted).

The cheeks have been rough sanded after capping each end. I also cutout the right cheek to allow clearance for the OS. After some measuring and such, I marked where I wanted the cheek placement. I used polyurethane (very sparingly) and taped them in place. When cured I will cap the outside edges and start sanding and filling all necessary areas on the fuse.

Its been a while but I have been tinkering along....slowly.

The wing panels are now in the hands of the finishing artist.

The fuse still has some detail work to do but I have been filling and sanding a little at a time.

I removed the motor (had to cut out a touch more around it to get it out.

I still have to place it back in and setup the nose ring which is already made.

I finally secured the blind nuts for good (epoxy) on the back of the firewall using spacer/donuts for extra support.

I also found some nylon washers for the landing gear screws...should protect the c.f. gear plate nicely.

Please-----may I ask-----Why quite so many bolts for the landing gear plate?

if you think about the stress pattern on the landing gear itself.. o.. actually, its because the gear is two seperate legs... left and right.

does that make sense?

Chuck

F3a05,

The landing gear is made of two seperate legs (three bolts per leg). Each leg slides into the fuse side through a slot just below the c.f. plate. The gear legs have blind nuts mounted in them to which the button head screws tighten into. I used a larger than necessary screw (10-32) in a button head with nylon washers to help distribute the load at little bit on the c.f. plate. At this point, it seems very rigid and it should handle grass field flying without any problem.

-mark

Thank you gentlemen--I hadn't noticed it was two separate legs--you've made it clear now!

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I've never had a problem with the bolts holding, it has always been the landing gear rotating aft from the drag of landing and taking off from grass. (Assuming I'm using a split gear arrangement)
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Not sure how many pics I will get of the finishing process, but I did stop by today and visit.... The glassing is underway on the wings, ailerons and elevators. Jim does beautiful (see finish pic of his latest work), yet very light finishing work using a very straightforward process. This process will be documented (briefly) in an upcoming K-factor.

p.s. - third pic is Jim's R/C workshop supervisor.