fred123

Finally finished all the glassing. Wings are primed and sanded. Will start priming and sanding the fuselage tomorrow. Love the way the rivets look on redtails dog. Will look into doing that myself.

AIRPLANENUTS

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Great idea with the dowel thru the firewall! Do you rotate it, too?

redtail

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Fred123 thanks' for the attaboy. You ought to try it. It wasn't as hard to apply as I thought it would be and when primered, they show up real well. Can't wait for the painting when I get back from visiting sister in Pittsburgh. That dowel will come in handy when you paint the DAWG. Great idea. Chic

fred123

Don't know how I would be able to do all the finishing work on the fuselage without using the firewall attachment so that it can be rotated. I usually support it with an adjustable stand to be safe, but it is plenty strong enough to hold without it.

redtail

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redtail

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Hey guys, I am technically finished. Moving DAWG off the bench to put the Avenger back on. I will paint the Avenger and the DAWG together in the spring. The top front piece of the bird cage is removable, the socket head bolts will be replaced with button heads. The rear bird cage is not removable. If I see another #1 screw, I'll blow up. Smile. Hope the DAWG flys well, it is really beginning to look good. Hope Roy Vallicourt is pleased with my work? Chic

butlern

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Nicely done, Chic!!

Details look gorgeous!

redtail

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You are so good to me. Appreciate you kind words. I just hope I can live up to the level of craftsmanship displayed by all of my Avenger building buddies. Now to clear some dust off the Avenger. Chic

fred123

I have started panel lines and looking into rivet methods. Would like to use vinyl, but see that fritz no longer offers them on their web site. Any suggestions?? Fred123

redtail

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Hey Fred123, check out cwvmodels.com The fellow's name is Chad Veich Email is [email protected] Go to Youtube, type in Application of Vinyl Rivets from Chad Veich Part I and then Part II Next time I rivet an aircraft, I guess I have to go to this fellow if Fritz is no longer available. Thanks for the tip that he is out of the rivet business. Chic

fred123

Thanks for the quick response on my rivet question. I am in touch with Chad, and he is willing to fill the order. His prices are around $5/thousand up to 15 thousand, discounted for larger numbers. I see you are using rivets a little larger than 1/4 scale (.095) I can see why, don't think you could see them if they were .0625. Could you give me an estimate on the quantity you used and their spacing?? Fred123

fred123

Redtail: Disreguard that last post. Pete just sent me an e-mail agreeing to sell me 5 sheets just like yours for $80...

redtail

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Hooooooo Ray for Pete. Let him know I am coming back to him for the Avenger rivets. A good guy. Chic

fred123

Have finished all the rivets and started painting. I am using gloss Rust-Oleum spray can paint. It is a great paint for our use in gas planes, however, you must wait until the paint is COMPLETELY cured before you try to re-coat. If you don't, it will look like you applied wrinkle finish. I have also started laying out the markings. I found a scale layout of "U.S. ARMY" in the Minard Thompson book, scaled it up on brown paper. I then punched pin holes at the intersection of the lines in the figures. Put the paper on the wing and used a magic marker to make small dots, then mask it off. When I am sure the paint is cured, I will paint black.. Fred123

fred123

When I finish painting the red stripe on the stars and bars, I will have finally finished painting!!! All the cockpit is finished, just need to mount the motor and do a weight and balance. I chose to break the seats into three pieces. Seemed the only way to get all this into the cockpit and be able to remove it to get to the electronics under the floor.

fred123

Finished weight and balance, with total weight at 31 pounds. I used both the plumb bob and the standard method to do balance. Had to add just less than three pounds to the nose. More than I would have liked, but not too unusual when you dress out the cockpit etc..

fred123

Here is the finished motor mount with the 3 lb. lead weight attached to the motor stand offs.

fred123

Redtail : Have you flown your bird yet? If so, how about a report.

redtail

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Hey there Fred123, I have finished the DAWG except for painting. I have it set in primer awaiting paint. Decided to set it aside to work on the Avenger. The plan is to paint the DAWG and the Avenger at the same time and then maiden both airframes. Thanks for asking. Chic

sj3cub

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31 lbs WOW. That sounds more like 33% weight. She's going to be Hot.

fred123

I would be interested on how this compares with others that have been completed on this site. Seems like I remember that 28 to 30 was not too unusual?..

fred123

Just finished my maiden flight. Weather was prefect, with light winds straight down the field. Did a number of high speed taxi tests, then checked it all out for loose stuff. Our field is grass, and this plane does require active rudder on take-off. Would hate to try it on asphalt. Got up plenty of speed of first takeoff.. Don't think this plane would liked to be jerked off too soon. Trim was minimal. Did the first landing without flaps. Tried out flaps on second flight. Has considerable down elevator programmed in and it turned out to be perfect...Landing was a slick on...Great plane..

redtail

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Outstanding, that is wonderful news. Hope I have the same luck. I'm afraid of asphalt with the DAWG myself. Can you show the amount of down programmed in with full flaps? Did she takeoff on her own or with a touch of elevator? Did you use flaps on take off or just landing? Stay well. Chic

fred123

Not too sure how to show down elev. since it would depend on how much flap you used. My advice would be to put in about 1/4 to 3/8 inch drop and give a test. Plane lifted off with only a little up elevator. Purposely did a shallow climb out. Used flaps only on landing. No tendency to get over on the nose.

fred123

Had another beautiful day of flying yesterday, temp. in the high 60's and calm winds. My birddog still is very difficult to keep lined up on takeoff. I did what I had promised myself that would not do, and jerked it off as it headed for the grass. I was lucky that I had enough speed and dropped the nose soon enough that it did not tip stall. After some research, I have decided to put a gyro on the rudder. This is the only way I would dare try to fly this thing off of asphalt Do any of you guys have any advice on how to set this up, and which gyro to buy?