I glued the wing skins last night. I applied the polyurethane glue to each skin (& c.f. strip) and assembled the c.f., the skins, and core back into their respective shucks. I then placed them on top of two 3/4" sheets of MDF and under a single sheet of 3/4" MDF. I evenly spaced sandbags on top of the assembly that totaled approx. 350 lbs.

I couldn't help it....I had to slip the wing panels on the spar tube and see what how they looked on the fuse....

Waco was great...now back to work. I didn't get much done tonight...still recovering from extra Sunshine at Waco.

I made 4 lite ply donuts with 4-40 blind nuts for the attachment of the motor mount to the firewall. I then temporarily mounted the back part of the motor mount. I did this now because it will be a little more difficult to get to the back of the firewall later when the front part of the canopy section is glued in place...starting at the back of the firewall.

The canopy section is ready to glue on at the front and back. I masked off the fuse at each end to hopefully keep the glue off the bottom, middle section of the canopy. The middle will be cut loose (see cut lines) after the glue is dry at the front and back ends.

What a nice plane. I really enjoyed flying it this weekend. Those of you who are wondering if it is really that good. It is. If I didnt hate building so much, and werent in need of a pattern plane NOW... I would have one of the more rounded versions like Jims.. Its an awesome plane. Everything about the way it flew was above average in my opinion.

Super nice plane from a SUPER nice guy.... It flew as well as Buddys Eagle which is awesome, but it flew more slowly which is even BETTER. [8D]

Mike,

Glad you liked it so much.

Got some video of the Insight on Friday before the meet...it was a nice, windy day... the video is on the main page at: www.houstonsportflyers.com


-mark

Lookin smooth Mark!!

That is some neat construction technique there. Not bad for a roach

Mine is almost done, glassing and painting now....few weeks tops.

-Mike

flyintexan, I’ve been following your Insight build for the last few months and I think you’ve developed a pretty neat design and a very well engineered airframe. Because of the way you use foam it looks like it would be pretty easy to modify the fuselage shape to the builders taste but not change the wing or tail group.

I’ve been playing around with some ideas of how I might modify the shape and add tri gear retracts. It’s pretty light and it seems like it would be fine with the little bit of extra weight and it would just be for fun flying and not for contest work. Before I order a set of plans do you know how long the main gear struts would need to be with about 2.75� main gear wheels? I can’t tell from the pictures but it looks like the wing is up a little over an inch from the bottom of the fuselage. I wouldn’t want to move the wing position down to shorten the gear legs. I think I would need to side mount the engine to make room for the nose gear. I’ve included a drawing below that shows the idea that thinking about. Haven’t really changed much just a few areas.

Mike,

Can't wait to see pics of your new roach....as well as pics of the Symphony when finished.....I see alot of them flying here in TX and doing very well.


8178,

I think your take on the design is very cool. I measured from the floor to bottom surface of the wing with 1"+ of prop clearance on a 17" apc prop. The height from the wheel axle (2.75" dia. wheel) would be somewhere around 6.5-7". That is with the fuse dead level. With the nose pitched up a hair and less prop clearance for say....a 16x10 or 15x12...the main gear could easily be shorter...by at least 1.5" or more inches.

At one time I considered a semi-side mounted version....see images...(OS 160fx w/muffler).

Hope this helps....

-Mark

I got the canopy cut away tonight. I marked the cut lines and carefully went at it with two hack saw blades taped together. The two blades will give me close to the desired cut width to allow for capping each end of the canopy with 1/16" ply. That way, I shouldn't have to sand or remove much more material to make everything fit back together once the 1/16" caps are in place.

*confusing part starts here***
I wanted to use three pins for the front attachment of the canopy. I will use a hatch latch at the rear (install later). I temporarily set the front faces together with the canopy in place. I carefully removed them without displacing them from one another and drilled three holes through. I applied tape to each of the mating faces and inserted short wood dowels in the holes (to keep the pieces aligned). I applied polyurethane glue to the foam faces and carefully assembled with the ply faces (pinned) back on the fuselage. I then, used the tape (between ply faces) to strap one ply face to the canopy, and one to the front fuse deck. With tape in place and holding each face to its respective part of the airplane, I could remove the canopy (very carefully, so as not to move the ply front facing) and add more tape for curing. Don't forget to remove the temporary pins...I will insert better fitting c.f. pins later.

See next post for more pics on this..........


-mark

More canopy pics....

clear as mud..right?

Here's a link to a much higher quality version of the video flyintexan referred to earlier in this thread. Video is ~2 minutes/29MB.

This is his current Insight flying at the HOTMAC field in Waco 4/16 after the rounds were completed.

http://users.ev1.net/~rwlewis/rcfile...ght_hi_res.wmv

Richard

6.5" sounds pretty long and I'm not sure if that will work! How do I order your plans?

8178,

Please email me for details at: [email protected]


-Mark

I sanded and fitted the rear part of the canopy to allow for two pieces of 1/16" ply (mating faces). I glued them in place and taped the whole canopy in place for the night.

I then began work on the nose. I had to carefully saw cut the inside surface of the fuse sides at the leading edge of the inside fuse doublers, which end just in front of the firewall. When the cut is deep enough, it is possible to pull the fuse sides in toward the prop shaft.

I mounted the motor (rear lugs only) to the iso mount and then setup a washer/spacer to allow clearance between the spinner backplate and F-1 (nose former). I tack glued F-1 to the back of the spacer/washer set and bolted it to the motor. I then carefully pulled in the fuse sides and glued them to the sides of F-1.

I made two small brackets from 1/4" balsa sheet to help support F1-T (top piece of F1 former) at the desired angle. I glued F1-T in place against the balsa brackets. I was then able to glue on the top sheeting. I used polyurethane glue for this sheet. Once it's dry, I will be able to sand the top sheet flush with the bevel angles on the sides of F1-T.

If you all haven’t seen flyintexan’s Insight plans, you should. I ordered a set and they are very well done. Nice work flyintexan!

Sounds like the shipping time alone is enogh incentive to get a set. Jeez, now if only everyone else could ship that quick.

I ordered them last night at 8:08 PM and received them at 8:26 PM. Now, that is warp speed fast. Who said that 2M ships aren’t fast! I had the files printed this AM for $8.00. Very nice looking work on the plans, great engineering and design.

My next step is to see if it will be possible to change the profile of the fuselage so it has more of a late 80s look. flyintexan said that he doesn’t mind if I change stuff. Right now it looks like the profile of the Tiporare would fit very well with minimum changes and is a shape I like a lot. An anhedral stab might be cool too! Might want to make the fuselage a little more narrower to carry the on the Tiporare theme. Looks like if I side mount the engine a nose gear would fit very well in the nose. The part that has me perplexed is how to do the main gear with the mid mounted wing because the gear struts would be over 6� long. Don’t really want to lower the wing position. Lots of stuff to think about!

8178,

Those are kind words, I am glad your are happy with the plans.....you didn't waste anytime getting them printed did you?

After work I sanded the top sheeting flush with the side bevels and cut some very soft 1/8" balsa to size. The reason for the soft balsa is that the sheeting will have to be applied with a slight twist, since the bevel angle changes from the Firewall (F2) to F1. I used polyurethane glue and masking taped it to death.

Afterwards, I put the fuse on its back and took the motor out. I then applied thinned epoxy all over the inside of the engine compartment. This will soak into all the joints and strengthen the nose nicely.

Anhedral stab would be cool, you know the Japanese are experimenting with that one the Astral XX's. I think there are -3,-5, and -8 degree variations.

What motor would you be running on that? Since you are reducing the drag on it, you might not need an enigne as big as a 1.40 to work. But then again, you are also reducing some lift, so you would need a strong engine. Do you not like Mark's idea of having the mains sit a little lower? That is a viable solution, albeit different looking. Maybe try running a 3 or 4 blade prop?

I sanded off the nose sheeting and it's starting to take shape.

I also cut the pipe tunnel and sheeted the inside walls with 1/16" balsa (vertical grain). I used polyurethane glue to attach this sheeting.....that we'll have to wait a while before working near it.

The bottom portion of F1 was also added. The horizontal piece across the bottom will be cut away later to allow installation and removal of the engine. I will leave it there until all the side sheeting is in place on the lower portion of the nose.

-Mark

Looking good Mark.. Is this one yours or is it for someone else?

BTW,, Did Martin ever resolve his engine problems??

Mike

Mike,

Thanks.

This one is for Martin....his reaction when he flew mine was similar to yours....so he had me start on one for him right away.

I think his engine problems are solved...talked to him about last night. I should see him at the field tomorrow morning for some pattern flying.


-mark

I don’t want to hijack the tread but just a quick answer. I was thinking an OS 160FX with a standard muffler. Chip Hyde has lowered the wing position on his new design, mostly for better visibility of the wing position, so much for the 0 0 0 fad! If I extended the main parts of the fuselage down around the wing area the wing could be moved to the bottom of the fuselage and still use the wing tube. With the OS 160FX side mounted I wouldn’t need the lower channel in the bottom of the fuselage for the pipe, etc. The nose gear looks like it would mount nicely behind the firewall but the main gear wheel wells end up too close to the wing tube. Might need to move the wing tube forward a little to get the gear placement correct. I’m not sure where I’m going with this but its fun to have the plans and play with ideas. I want a 80s retro look and the front now looks like a cross between the lower part of a Tipo and the canopy area forward like a Blue Angel and the transition line behind the canopy that slopes back to the tail. I think I’ll make a little scale foam model to be able to visualize it better. For sure the anhedral stab would be cool

Holy cow!......that looks cool. I have started playing with the 3D model....when I get it close to your drawing I post a jpg....