Matt,

I sent you an email regarding areas.

Hole coring was done on a cnc router that otherwise rarely gets used. 1/4" holes on 3/8" center to center distance. Coring this way on wings removes about 0.75-0.85 oz./panel typically. I did coring on all other foam parts on the prototype kit just for fun...probably saved 3+ oz. total on all parts. I do not do this on every kit as the setup and drilling time is still quite time consuming...my router rapid speed is underwhelming...but it cuts very nice..have done a couple plugs.

Best Regards,
Mark

Have spent the last couple days filling and sanding the fuse, getting horizontal stab ready to mount, sheeted the turtle deck, and have finally started on the wings.

Wing tube fits perfect, which I have started installing with gorilla glue. Wings are all I have to sheet yet, I'll be using 1hr epoxy to bag them with.

This model builds fairly fast. I'm on hold with the fuse right now waiting for some supplies, which should be here by end of the week.

I've only drawn blood once so far. Things will slow down some now as I return to work this week. This has been a great way to spend the holidays.

First wing is skinnned, LE, TE, root cap, wing tip cap, hinged and with 8 robart hinge points is 10.5oz to this point.

Starting 2nd wing.

Wing in the bag for the next 24 hrs. That's the end of the bagging.

Wts so far. I haven't tried to lighten anything. Rough sanded.

stab/ 10 hinge pts 145g
rudder 6 hinge pts 36g
R wing 8 hinge pts 301g
L wing 8 295g

Will be heading back to the fuse now. Good time to fit the motor, pipe, stab, and tail wiring prior to closing it up with the foam pieces.

Have to clean up the shop first.

RM,
Im curious as to why so many hinges? Pattern models don't fly fast and control surface loads are not very high. But then again I haven't used points; is it a point thing?

your weights are reasonable for foam cores. What does the fuse weigh?

I was wondering the same thing about the hinges.

I've been thinking about it also. I'm mostly concerned with getting it all together before the gorilla sets off and starts foaming.

The ailerons are 29" long with 4" cord at the inner and 2.75" outer and run full length as I'm not using tipped wings or stabs. Right now I'm spaced at 4" spacing on the ailerons and 3-3.5" on the elevators. Elevator LE are just over 15".

What kind of spacing do you guys use?

Fuse wt is 776g as it sits right now. Doesn't have the top line foam attached yet.

Hi rm,

I'm away at work at the moment and won't be home untill Wednesday. I can't remember the spacing dimensions, but I use 5 CA hinges on each aileron, 4 on each elevator and 4 or 5 on rudder. I've never had a problem with that.

CA hinges make it easy as they are assembled and aligned dry before gluing.

Thats what I use also. Ca hinges have turned out to be simple. Their thickness is the same as a #11 blade or saw so as long as you have centers right, slots are simple. I also use about the same number per surface as Scott uses. Spacing on ailerons is about 6" and a little less on elevators and rudder. This isn't terribly critical tho so if you prefer a smaller spacing its np. Again that's for Pattern planes. And I always seal gaps.

IMAC planes use less spacing because of the higher loads that free style imposes.

Edit-- I forgot to mention that several planes ago, I started drilling a 1/16" hole in the middle of a hinge slot to enable ca glue to wick into the slot. It works great particularly for very tight fitting hinges.

Fitting the motor.

Header is a flex header 50mm drop. wt 107g

I measured 12.5" header length along with 16 7/8" on the pipe, so gives me a total length of 29 3/8", so prob 29.5" with spacing, without modifying anything. I'm gonna try it at that since I've been running my motors at 29" and that's pretty close. Will only have to run with 1 of Matt's super couplers. Can always shorten it later.

Ignition is a nice design. Comes with rubber isolator mounts similar to a servo. wt is 87g naked. You insert your own wires similar to a servo wire into a rx, so your wires can all be made to custom lengths.

Spinner backplate spacing came to 3/16". I'll add a 1/8" ply ring taken from the backplate, so I'll have a perfect sanding marker for the front end and end up with 1/16" spinner clearance.

RM,

A couple things..... the DA flex header has a coiled steel section that is open like a spring, under the unsintered Teflon tape. Exhaust gas will find its way to the surface of the tape and will turn the tape black eventually. I had one of that style header for my 55cc except in my case the spring section actually broke .

Dont fret it. If it happens to you, get the Teflon off and grind the spring off the two ends. You can reconnect the two exposed ends using my method of ultra copper impregnated ceramic cloth. Or I'll send you a coupler. That's what I did with mine for the 55. That was four years ago and about 300 flights. It will save some weight too especially if you replace the aft steel tube with ally. Good luck

Edit- in hushed tones.....shhhhhh.....don't tell DA, they didn't listen the first time.....LOL

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of flex headers. Not much else available these days, especially with a 50mm drop for this size motor. That's the main reason I chose this motor. 55-60mm would be even better for this plane.

The exhaust port shape is unique to DA. You can make an adapter from aluminum and use the hatori header. Except get the header from RC Japan. It's about 18$ plus 20$ snh.

Regardless, if it breaks you can fix it

Pipe tunnel

RM,

Having built more than a couple pipe tunnels in wood fuses over the years, let me suggest you add strips of 1/64" ply along the bottom edges. Saves the bottom over time. Or use thin carbon rod or tube.

Its looking great. Youve done a good job on the model build. And as you have found out already, it's quieter than the composite fuses.

Thanks Matt. Are u saying the walls will seperate from the floor, not sure what u mean. The floors glued to 3 of the fuse formers with the top of the sides glued to 1/2" foam and then glassed with 2oz cloth.

Worked on the front end today

Got the spinner ring set, added air intake, located needles, and reinforced the firewall with g10.

No....what I meant was the bottom of the fuse where the tunnel sides end should be lined with strips of hard stuff. It forms rails along the pipe tunnel opening if you will. Over time, if not protected, it will dent and ding and tend to look shabby. I have used ply strips and carbon rod. I like the carbon rod (.078") fared in with epoxy filler.

The tunnel itself is fine. I made mine from 1/16" balsa in past builds. The tunnel sees no forces per se. The pipe should be soft mounted to fuse former.

Got throttle and choke servo setup. PIA getting everything lined up.

I did a 180 on the choke arm, got me more spacing with the throttle arm.

Used heli links and balls. Pretty lite weight and easy to adjust.

Started shaping the bottom front end. Won't finish it until I get the top front on.

Added the 3rd hold down bolt on the front.

Mounted the horizontal stab. This is a real good time to have a plan for the servos in the tail and install it. I'm running the 3 servos in the back and they are all sbus servos running off a 3 way hub.

I just used futabas software along with the ciu2 device. Just requires a y harness and batt along with the servo all hooked together. Open the software, hit the connect button, and you can then change the parameters and write it to the servo. I set the channels for each of the servos according to my tx. I also activated the soft start for each. Hooked up to their respective wire, plugged all 3 into the hub, the hub to the rx sbus slot, and your ready to roll. One other note if you don't want to spring for the hub, which is just a fancier name for a y harness, it's fairly easy to just make your own.

RM,
Did you ever use the DLE35? For a 10# plane it has all the power you need.

I've never used the dle. I put an eme on my pentathlon. It's running good, but only 1.5 gallons so far with a 20x10 falcon carbon.

I agree with u, any of these motors would be good on a sub 11lb plane.

Got the tail and wings mounted.

Very nice RM!

Here is another build in progress with a custom canopy.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2142014