WacoNut

Still working on fiberglass parts.
The wing fairings are now ready to mount to the plane. The tail fairing and the turtle deck are also finished. The wheel pants are getting close. I haven't even started on the fiberglass hood or the boot cowl yet. Those will take alot of work.

Here is a pic of a wheel paint ready for primer and the finsihed wing fairings.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

After dinner I went back down to the shop and istalled one of the wing fairings.
You can see it is attached with #0 screws. Looks really good. I will get the other one mounted tonight and work on building the bottom fairing tomorrow. I also need to open up all the holes in the fabric for the turtle deck and the tail fairing screws.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

The turtle deck is now installed.
Between the wing fairings and the turtle deck it was 148 screws. I have to say my hand is sore from driving that many screws with a small screwdriver.

That's it for today.
Anthony

VincentJ

Your progress is really moving along. Every piece that you add makes it look sooo good, can't wait to see it in paint!

WacoNut

Thanks VJ,

The fairing on the bottom of the fuse to the wing faring/wing saddle is a bit of a pain. You basically have to cut 3/32 sheeting to form the fairing matching up to the fiberglass wing fairing and the back of the wing sadlde and blend to the fuse. On top of that trying to keep both sides even. I struggled with this during the 1st build and I knew I was going to have to tackle it again so I carefully removed the old ones and used them as templates to cut the new ones.

Worked out pretty good. I need to give them a good sanding and add a little filler in here and there then cover with fabric and fill the weave. I should be able to wrap these up today.

WacoNut

After sanding I didn't need to add any filler. Fabric has been applied and the 1st coat of polycrylic.

I am glad to get this fairing out of the way.
Anthony

mango12

Anthony, I am totally amazed at your rate of progress !! Wish I could build that fast. But, I am STILL waiting on replacement parts, so all I can do is sand, and contemplate what to do next.......

WacoNut

Hi Scott,
Welcome back. The rebuild is going well. I beleiev you asked about the fabric. 10yds will cover the Waco.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

The bottom fairing is complete.
It turned out pretty good. After a good sanding it should be ready for detailing and paint.

The fiberglass hood is now ready for paint as well. I need to work on the boot cowl and stripping the paint from the landing gear and the bottom wing center section. The to do list is getting shorter.
Later!!
Anthony

acerc

Looking great Anthony. That to-do list getting smaller is a good feeling. But it also really slows thing's down as well. Been working on my cowl mount which require's numerous epoxy cure time waiting. Three days to get 12 blocks epoxied in place.

WacoNut

Thanks Robert,

Well when I am putting all those rivets down and the 272 corrugations on the aileron's I will be hating life.

Will be good to see the Waco whole again.
Anthony

acerc

Ahhhh, good times my friend.

mango12

Thanks Anthony, Already have the fabric and non tautening dope to apply it with. Now I am just waiting on something to apply it to !! Have the pinking tapes as well, and ordered piano hinges and the angles for making the ailerons today. I am running out of things to do until I get my stab tube and phenolic, and two ply ribs to complete the last wing panel.
The Dominican Republic was fantastic btw. We stayed at the Hard Rock resort and casino. All inclusive, and the concerts on the beach were great !!

WacoNut

Glad you had a good trip.


I spent several hours stripping the boot cowl. I had built up simulated overlapping panels with high fill primer and it made the job tough getting everything off. The boot cowl suffered more damage than I had thought, several fractures and delaminations of the layers. I will have to do some repair work on it before doing any work to it for painting.

After that long stretch I decided to mount the tail fairing and the hood. Nice to see it starting to look like something. All in all a good weekend.
Anthnoy

VincentJ

That cowl looks pretty rough. Can you get another instead of repairing it? Rest is looking perfect.

Suprfort

My Feedback: (27)

Anthony,
Good luck with your project. I built the plane that won best Biplane at Top Gun 2007 and again Best Civilian with numerous magazine covers. I builds very well from the plans and instructions. You will have pleanty of power with the ZDZ engine.
I still have the Waco and fly it often just takes a little time to assemble.
Mike Barbee

mango12

Anthony, I'm sure you can repair the damaged boot cowl faster than you can get a replacement !!
Nice to see Mike Barbee gettin in here !!

WacoNut

VJ/Scott,
The boot cowl is repairable. The hood wasn't in much better shapes and I was able to repair it to as new condition. I would hate to have to redo the access doors I have added to the boot cowl. In a couple of evenings of work I will have it back in tip top shape.

Mike,
The Waco is a good build. The plane flew fine and was severly damaged due to pilot error. I got too slow on final and paid a steep price. The 3W-157 engine pulls the snot out of the Waco. Plenty of power to spare with that engine.

My Plastruct order arrived today so I am going to switch gears again and work on the aileron's. It's all got to get done eventually.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

I forgot to strip the aileron's when I stripped the other parts. I have 2 of them stripped and in primer and I will have the other 2 stripped tonight.
I have to pick up some more glue tomorrow anyhow.
Later!!
Anthony

mango12

Anthony, did you have any trouble with the supplied wheels fitting into the wheel pants correctly? They seem a little out of porportion and it looks like the valve stem will rub against the wheel pants. Any idea what the full size dimensions are for the wheels? I have some wheels that came off of my 47% Decathlon that I may wind up using instead of the ones supplied with the kit.

WacoNut

Scott,
My wheels and tires fit fine, they do fill up the pants. There is not enough room to air up the tires with them mounted on the gear. I may see if I can make a slot to where all I have to do is remove a cuff to fill the tires. They do bleed off air over time.

I will show you my mounting when I get things back together. Be careful not to cut the axles too short as I left my long enough to pin into a piece of ply on the opposite side of the pant for support. Very strong setup.


I had an issue with my truck today after work. thought I had a brake issue in the back. Stopped and bought brake shoes on the way home and come to find out an aluminum shield from someone elses vehicle made it's way up under my truck and lodged in the gas tank strap and would shift over and rub on the drive shaft whenever I hit the brakes[:@].

I did receive my stitching today so I am switching gears once again. I want to get the stitching completed so I can finish up all the fabric work,tapes and polycrylic.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

My stitches from Scale Rib Stitch are difefrent this time. The strips are 2" wdie and 36" long. The last time I bought some they were 12" long. I like the longer strips better. I will not have to piece the stitches for the full length ribs.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

Problem,

Scale Rib Stitch has changed the makeup of the tapes. There is no longer a removable top layer to expose the stiches. They are covered with a tissue like paper which bridges the stitch like a tent. The stiches will not be pronounced like the older stitches I have applied with the wider spacing and as far as I am concerned are useless for my application.

Very Disappointed.
Anthony

acerc

That really suck's. And I assume you tried to remove the tissue. How about putting some Poly on it and see if the tissue lays down? Which I am sure you have tried I'm just wondering.

WacoNut

It's a no go Robert,
The old version of the tapes was great. You could adhere the rib tapes over the stiches with the exposed tape on the stitch tape then iron it down along the edges. There is no way to adhere the rib tapes now without adding heat and this will distort the tapes while trying to apply.

While I am sure the product is usable it will in no way look similar to the stitches I have already applied. In my case they are totally unusable. I just removed them from the wing and I will go with the 3" scale spacing for the entire plane. At least they will look uniform.

I hope VJ is not expecting the old version of tapes as he will be very upset after waiting this long.
Anthony