gavoss

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Mark,

I'm not familiar with NHP. Is that one of the light weight fillers you can get from, say, Dave Patric or Tower here in the states? Again, great thread and thanks for all of the info. gv

GW-inactive

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gavoss, here is a link to major hobbies sale page, They carry it, and I'm sure more well stocked hobby shops have it.
Tower used to carry it, and may still stock it.

Often listed in catalogs as

NHP MICRO-FILL WHITE
and
NHP MICRO-FILL BALSA

gavoss

My Feedback: (16)

Gerald, you forgot to include the link, however, I already have one for Major Hobby. I've included it here in case anyone else needs it. Thanks for the answer. It does appear to be a light weight filler, similar to the Dave Patrick stuff. gv

http://www.majorhobby.com/

Pieter de Jong

Dear Mark,

Great work! I recently ordered a synergy via Breackmann in Germany, so the whole topic is already printed on my desk.

I've got a couple of questions and I hope you'll answer them:

Can I use this topic as a reference for building the synergy, are there a lot of differences?

Is there a digital file (like pdf, adobe illustrator or coreldraw) from the synergy, so I can use it for designing a finishing scheme (I only need the outlines)?

thanks in advance, Pieter

MarkNovack

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George,
I think GW fixed you up on the filler. NHP is Northeastern Hobby Products, good quality American company. I like their hobby epoxies and fillers.

Pieter, building the Synergy is just like the Enigma except the canopy. The canopy floor is finished, then the canopy is glued on, and faired in with lightweight body filler (not heavy Bondo, but the putty in the tube). Properly finished, it looks as though it was molded into the fuselage.

There are finishing files for the Synergy, but please contact JP at the company e-mail for details. I do not know the business end of that subject.

I had wanted to continue the building tonight, but we are in the middle of a kit packing, airplane maintanence cycle, R&D, and a meeting tomorrow night at the sister factory, so it will be a few more days before I get the technical portions of this thread cranked back up. This does not really delay the delivery at all, as our painter will not be ready for the first fuselage for another couple of weeks.

Thanks to all for your continued interest and patience. This will be seen through to the end.

Thank You,
Mark

MarkNovack

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Well, it has been a few days. There are several painstakingly sanded stabs and rudder sets. We have commenced designing four new airplanes and conception of another. Last years show damage has been repaired, we visited Sinsheim show and have strategized kit fabrication for the next year. Now it is time to build.

The last step performed was clipping away the aileron. We used the table saw to make the 3mm slice at the root end, and then the scroll saw to finish any cutting still needed. The lumps where smoothed on the belt sander and I commenced facing the ailerons and wing TEs.

With the ailerons cut off, first the marks for the TE facing inlay were made. This is of such great importance that if it is not done, I can assure you that the wing will fail.

Here are the markings for the inlayed root end of the TE face.

MarkNovack

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THe wing is carried to the band saw and the parallel cuts are made.

MarkNovack

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I use a hobby knife and sever the end and slice down to cleanly cut the foam. The scab drops right out.

MarkNovack

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Same thing, different view

MarkNovack

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Again, wood glue. The ailerons are already capped and drying. It takes about an hour to glue all nicely. During the gluing of the aileron, one is provided a chance to remove any warp that occured in the aileron by gluing it onto the cap nice and straight.

MarkNovack

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We inlay this 4cm into the root. There is no reason why it cannot be inlayed 6 or even 8cm, but 4cm relieves the stress riser that always occures in the corner. This is so important with wing as light weight as these are. Do not skip this step when sheeting with contest balsa.

Tomorrow, I shall sand down the faces and cap the root of the aileron and the opposing face on the wing. I will use 1mm ply for that operation, then the TE of the aileron and wing will be capped with the same 1/64" ply used on the TE of the stab and rudder. Then it is hinging, beveling, final sanding, and we will finish up the fuselage.

MarkNovack

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Here is what the aileron looks like sitting flush on the wing after the faces have been sanded flush with the surface. The razor plane followed by 80grit and 240 makes this failry quick and easy.

It is ready to start hinging.

MarkNovack

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Just like the elevator and the rudder. The surface is taped to the wing for marking the hinge locations. The ailerons will each get 6 hinges, spaced on these ailerons 18mm from root and tip with 97.6mm between each hinge. Please refer to the stab hinging process for the formula we use to detirmine the spacing. It is just easier to calculate mathamatically than to use the TLAR system.

MarkNovack

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Again, the Tettra hinge slotting guide. Simply the best method I have ever used. Central Hobbies is the best source in the USA that I know of for these tools. After the marks are made, it takes about a minute with this tool to cut 6 perfectly centered slots.

Please note the styrafoam blocks under the stands. I wanted to make this minor point because I have been guilty of not doing this in the past and it really does affect the outcome of the work. Simply this; bring the work to you. It is imortant that you are comfortable, balanced, and steady when doing work that requires extreme accuracy. How many times I have reached over, craning my neck and twisting my body to drill a hole or make a cut and the cut turned out poorly...taking the minute to position the work and yourself can save time in the long run and makes working much more pleasant. (OK, enough ergonomic philosophy, I'll get back to work)

MarkNovack

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Again, this method results in great alignment. I did not have to elongate the slots to get this tip relationship. The Tettra tool...I can't say enough good things about it.

MarkNovack

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I refer again the the table saw cut that left a 3mm slice. 1mm ply facing on the wing cap and root cap leaves a perfect millimeter clearence. Add the Oracover, and the final clearence will be about .6mm. Pretty!!!

MarkNovack

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Again, JP used the router to cut the depth for the hard points. The position set the pivot of the ZN horn directly over the hinge line.

MarkNovack

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The MK B.B. Adjuster attaches to the side of the horn, so the side of the horn is the part that must line up with the hole in the servo arm.

MarkNovack

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The hardpoints are going in, and at the same time I shall cap the root of the aileron and it's opposing face on the wing, and apply the 1/64" ply to the TE or the aileron. I will apply the ply to the wing TE after all of this dries as there are some angles to deal with and I do not want to move the cap pieces accidently.

MarkNovack

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It took about an hour to get two wings glued and taped up. I took a break to get this posted, and I'll go back and do some more gluing. I have used blocks to keep the capping flat against the end cuts and a piece of hard balsa along the TE to keep the 1/64" ply in place. Just like the stabs and rudders, but a little bit longer.

MarkNovack

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A good shot showing the TE balsa piece. holding the ply on. Also, I did not have to block down the hardpoint. JP bought a new router and it is cutting so well that the hardpoints fit perfectly and stay put just right.

MarkNovack

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OK, three will be ready to sand and bevel tomorrow. A couple will have some catching up to do.

Next up is the belly pan.

MarkNovack

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The belly pan mounting is quite easy but it is very important that it is done well. It is such a large piece of the fuselage that a poor fit will look really out of place and you will see it even when you sleep. There are many ways to do this and we use several methods, always trying to do it better.

First, mark the spot for the colling intake and exhaust. The pipe stinger will fit through the exhaust hole, so rough fitting the pipe in it's approximate location is necessary. I just hold it about in position and eyeball it as the hole is going to be far larger than the pipe's stinger. On my airplane, I will be using an ES Composites 140 2 cycle medium length pipe their part number 2C140M80.

Here is my exhaust mark.

I will continue when I can post the photos

MarkNovack

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I just jot the location. I am making each hole slightly different here so I am not marking it at all precisely.

MarkNovack

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Back to the Dremel grinder. Again, I am using the Dremel diamond coated cutting wheel on this Kevlar belly pan. Then I use a sanding drum and finally, 400 grit paper to remove the fuzzies.

Here is my exhaust hole.