Mother's Day weekend.....there went that idea...unless Chris goes to her mom's and I can weasle out of it.

That sounds like a heck of a plan, I am definitely in. I have been to a field in Belpre, is Ravenswood the one where there is a river beyond the outer field marker and a mountain behind the parking lot? If so I flew there about 12 or 13 years ago. I doubt it is the same field though. Either way I am in.

Here are a couple pictures of the nearly complete wings and stabs. Still have to add stripes and dress up the leading edges, but I am getting close.

No worries dean.

I have ordered the laser cut box type mount from Mike. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes in etc.

I'll be welding up my building table today as long as the weather holds. We had 20mm of rain last night! Then I need to get a door and assemble Pete's fuse jig onto it...

Cheers
Jason.

Pete,

Come down on Saturday...then you are still home for mothers day on Sunday.

Anthony,

It is very close to the old field in Ravenswood where we held the contest a few years ago. That field was adjacent to the road, and we essentially moved it about 1/2 mile further down Rt 2 behind the industrial park there. Less then 3/4 mile from the old field, but this one is back away from the road with nothing to overfly. Pretty nice field. A row of trees out in the distance that keeps you flying a little higher than I really like, but I fly really low. Most people don't notice them. Atwood has been there.

Arch

hey jason I have some pics I can post later., it's easy. it's a simple box that runs from the firewall to the nose ring of the cowl. pretty much unbreakable, something that Dave Lockhart and I worked on for a long time. I designed it for Dan Landis's planes, and like it so much I might make it standard on the electrics.

You'll love that jig. Just one thought, don't put too much pressure on the sides and bind it up. you can build this plane on a flat table free standing but I do like the jig. just realize that if you put too much preloaded pressure on the sides where the stations meet the plane, when you glue it and take it out it could twist on you. Think of it as holding the fuse in place, not clamping....

-Mike

Keeping busy in the shop.

I've got the electric twins in balsarite and ready for fiberglass, I hope to get the planes half fiberglass today and finish the second side sunday (tomorrow). So far they are looking good and I just finished them off with some 400.

My vf3 is coming along, I have the wings and stabs cut and ready for facing. The fuse is wet sanded and ready for color.

My V2.2 is now 100% ready for monokote and equipment install.

lot's to do this weekend,

stay tuned kids

Sorry for basic question and this is first time I am painting a model. Got a quart of K-36 and K-201 hardner yesterday and planing to apply with a roller. Just wondering to know, do i need to get any reduce for K-36 apart from the K-201 hardnerr??

..Srikar

HI Srlkar,

Yes you need to reduce it with a DT reducer - DT 870 should be fine - you can get the DT reducers in quarts and gallons. You can also use it with Concept and Clear.

You can reduce the primer up to 50% and use either the west systems foam roller or white foam rollers that you can get at the local hardware, they are for trim detail painting. It's easy to apply and sand smooth starting with 220. Block sand till you start seeing high spots that come up thru the primer, that is how you gauge your coverage and thickness.

good luck and happy priming

dean

Dean,
Thanks for the info. Also which size of SATA Minijet? 0.8, 1.0, 1.2?? I thought of sticking to Iwata BCS, but it may be too small for the base and clear?

..Srikar

Srekar,

Use the Sata minijet with the 1.0. I know that is the one Dean uses and I've also purchased one myself. I have not used it yet but will soon.


Larry

Lary,
Thanks for that. I will order that one. Few more questions based on this.
While I order Minijet, what are the other struff that need get? Air Filters (part number?) etc. I am planing to get the 4 Gal Dewalt compressor. Is that OK? Also any good online place to get SATA??

..Srikar

It's hard to find Sata online. They have some crazy restrictions that don't allow it. Just do a search though, you can find them. It is probably the best I have ever used. Although I use the .8 nozzle.

I'm interested to play with an Iwata LPH80 though. if thier guns are anything like thier air brushes, it should be a real treat!

-Mike

As promised here are a couple peeks at the newer electric front end. I consider it a work in progress. It's ridiculously stiff and light, but it has it's disadvantages. It's a lot more work for one. You have to pay a little more attention to cooling, and it's not quite as easy to install and remove the motor itself. It's not difficult by any means, but the stand offs are just SO simple.

Still there have been quite a few requests for this, so I am working on it. This method seems to work well, but I am going to keep scratching my head and see if I can't make it better.

I have to thank Dave Lockhart for the idea of this, we had been discussing it for a long time. in the end a simple box attached to the cowl around the spinner area was the simplest, strongest way to go about it.

I would suggest making a rear support after the motor is mounted and you know exactly where and how it will sit. Future versions will probably allow a tad bit more space between the spinner and the mounting plate.

have fun!
-Mike

A couple more pics just for the heck of it.

These are a matched pair of electrics, 2 of the 12 planes I have been working on lately. very light. Right now they sit in about 6-8 ounces of primer each, the first brush coat to fill the weave. This coat gets sanded all the way off, then it gets sprayed. usually it takes one coat like this, one full coat of spray, and then you just work the problem areas.

And then there were 4......and then I can build a plane for myself....and get to work on that 110!

Make some dust,
-Mike

G'day Mike,

Thanks for posting the pictures of the VF3E box mount. Certainly a picture tells a thousand words mate! The pics make it look like a tight fit for the AXI outrunner but I'm sure it's just an optical illusion.

I have managed to find a good source for polystyrene foam via a fellow pattern flier. I note in your VF3E build, you detail the honeycomb process. What is that yellow tool you're using to do the honeycombing?

Cheers
Jason.

I'd say the Axi has plenty of room all around it. it looks tighter than it is. This is not necessarily a bad thing at all. Works like baffling as long as you get air to it and a place for it to escape.

The yellow thing is a hot knife, available from CST. It's about $30 and needs a power supply to heat it. it works fantastic.

-Mike

Outstanding work Mike! where are those planes going? He must feel real honored to fly a plane that you built for him!!! I know I would!!!


gary

Jason,

If you want to honeycomb and have a soldering gun, you can simply bend up a cutting tip for it. That is what I use and have different pieces of music wire bent up to do different cuts. One I have is just for cutting servo wells in foam wings and another for landing gear blocks.

I'll post pics later.....ok...it's later

Pete

Mike or somebody I am at the point of installing the root on the wings an according to Garp. HaHa I have to cut so much off at the root of the L/E to the T/E But if I do this the wing want fit right. 7/8" from the L/E down to nothing on the T/E

hi Wendell, looks like a done deal. the drawing shows the taper cut, but it is already cut into the core. Now depending on how the plane is built and how much the wood preloads as it wraps around F2, you may have to sand/adjust a little. if the taper is already cut, you don't have to cut it even more.

From the pic it looks like you did it fine!

-Mike

These 2 are going north to Dan Landis. These are also the 2 planes that 3D person was referring to. There's nothing wrong with them, never was. Funny how vicious rumors and outright lies get spread. I wasn't very happy with the way the glass looked and Dan wasn't either. he was ok with it at first, then after a few he wasn't.....LOL It's ugly as hell when you glass it and do a micro baloon rub, but looks fine after sanding. It also had one spot on the tail where the glass had lifted, about as big as say a silver half dollar. it happens....just bad timing. Well, to make a long story short, I didn't have time to sand them out before I left. So they were not very pretty. They look like they have bubbles in the glass when you don't sand out the micro baloon clumps. I use a LOT of micro baloons. The more you use, the lighter the finish. I turn it into toothpaste....and it's unsightly. I had never delivered a plane in that state before, and never will again. I was rushing and just skipped a step. With wood planes, sometimes it's best not to know what it looks like UNDER the paint!

So I agreed to take them back home and put the first coat of primer on. Only took about 45 minutes of block sanding, and then rolled the primer. And while they were here I did a few more small details just for the heck of it.

They are some pretty sweet planes. I'm sure he'll be happy with them. I sure wouldn't kick em out of bed! (figuratively speaking).

So that's 8 down, 4 to go, and 3 of the 4 are VERY close. I may have myself a plane for the nats YET!!!

-Mike

wow!!! It must be alot of work building those things to perfection...

gary

Well, it is, and it isn't. It just depends on how anal you are. When I have time, I'm about the worst there is on details. I do things a little different than most people. And in a different sequence. I don't go nuts trying to chase my tail until I get things glassed at least. I get it close, then work it from there.

For instance most people install the rudder cable exits before glassing. Seems logical. One problem! If you epoxy them in, the glue and the housing is SO much harder than the wood around it, you will NEVER get a nice clean exit without creating a lump and a crapload of filler. if you do it right after the glass cures, it trims out cleaner, cuts down cleaner, and sands pretty darned flush. I only wish I could do the deps exits the same way.

But if there is a little gap or ledge here or there, who cares. As long as it's MINOR, nobody will ever notice. When you build and finish a plane, you know where every single defect is, and every time you look at it, you see nothing but those defects. When someone else looks at it, they say "wow" because they never notice the small irrelavent stuff....like a little oopsie in the paint here or there, or your paint lines not matching exactly from one side to another, or a 1/64" gap in the belly pan (yeah ok now EVERYBODY will be looking closer LOL) but seriously, some things matter, some don't. It's really up to each individual to know where that line is. because I have built a LOT of planes, for a lot of people...and everybody is different. Sometimes I get "why did you bother with that? I could have done that myself and had these a month ago!" and some people say "I thought you were going to do >insert 3 minute detail here<" and are really adamant about it.

Let me tell you, building for someone else is TOUGH. I'm not going to lie and say I don't enjoy it a LOT....but when what you have in your head and what they have in thiers don't line up....or something goes wrong.....well, it's a ton of stress. I've had a few rounds with a few people here and there, but I have to say in the end it's always come out very good except for a notable exception here and there. And in each of those notable exceptions, the person never actually FLEW the plane, so what the heck.

Long answer for a short comment. but really, it's as much work as you want it to be. if you want a basic beater, I can build one of these from table to flying in about 10 days (assuming I don't have a zillion things going on....I can't remember what that was like...) but the ones I am about to do for myself? Well, I want to do something over the top special, so it's done when it's done. May, July, December, next year, who cares. A truly over the top killer plane should be enjoyed throughout the build, if you're going to rush and not take extra special pride and care, why bother? But the devil is always in the details. the more details, the more work it is. I'm always dreaming up new ways to do things. I am also always a little hesitant to do something way different on someone else's plane. One day I'm going to cross the line into "oops", and it had better be my own bird.

Back to the grind!
-Mike

G'day Pete,

Thanks for the tip (no pun intended). I do have a couple of soldering irons but they're a little different to your one. Not sure that they would be suitable because one is quite big (an old ferguson) and the other (a Weller) uses special magnetic tips. For $30 it's probably just as easy to use the CST one.

Really looking forward to receiving my short kit from Mike and getting started. One thing is for sure it really forces you to source a lot of stuff that you wouldn't even consider with an ARF. My last 4 models have been ARF and prior to this everything was scratch built from plans or from a kit. ARF's make you lazy IMHO and although they're cheap relatively speaking, they generally don't last as long as something you built yourself.

Should have my bulding surface finished this weekend and then I can assemble your jig design onto it. I plan to make it so the bench doubles as a foam cutting station as well. Will post some photos once it's done..

Cheers
Jason.

Yeah...I have a pair of weller soldering stations. They are nice, especially my old green one with the little parts tray. I have used that so much at remote sites and was really bummed when they stopped making them.

I got the Radio Shack soldering gun just for cutting holes in foam. Total cost not counting a piece of music wire was $2 at a garage sale. If I didn't have this I would certainly buy the CST unit.