samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

KochJ,
That's a Soloprop (one of the last ones made).
Our club has a warbird flyin around May/June so you're always welcomed.
I think the composite is probably like carbide: very hard but will shatter if stressed too far.

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Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)
I separated some of the main parts and painted them.
There are too many parts to try to do at once so I paint them as needed.
Today I picked up some rustoleum flat black (#197830) and satin 'hunt club green' (#240260) for the armor plating.
All main form vacuform pieces are numbered on the back which corresponds to their description in the instruction manual.

pic 1:
#7 dash hood.

pic 2/3:
#1 left side control panel and knobs.
(pic 3 shows how it will look when done)

pic 4/5:
#2 right side control panel and radio transmitter.
(pic 5 shows how it will look when done)

pic 6:
#3 dash (instrument panel)

pic 7:
#13 control stick (green stick and handle will be black)
#12 control stick frame.
#17 canopy locking rails
(see pic 3 for control stick assembly and canopy locking rails)

pic 8:
#8 throttle quadrant mount.
(see pic 3 for throttle quadrant)

pic 9/10:
(top down in picture)
#10 rudder rails
#9 rudder pedals
#14 rudder brackets.
(pic 10 shows how it'll look when done)

Ken-h

My Feedback: (3)

Cockpit is looking good Sam. We'll I just got word mine is on the way so I imagine many will be getting their notifications as well.

Ken

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)

pic 1:
I made up some paper templates and marked down 4 3/8" on the front template and 5 3/8" on the back template and then transferred that line to the sides of the fuse. This is the only way I could get an accurate location on the sides of the fuse so the floor is properly located.
I then epoxied 3/4"X10" triangular stock to the sides of the fuse.

pic 2:
I cut up some 3/32" thick balsa sheeting to lay on the triangular stock.
I only used 3" wide balsa and rounded off opposite corners so I could get them into the fuse.
Since the fuse gets narrower towards the back, the balsa sheets got shorter and the last one could be inserted without rounding the corners.
I was going to glue the sheeting in but, presently, I'm not sure if I'll just glue all four sides together and insert the kit into the plane or 'build in place'.
Either way, I still need that floor to give me a reference for measuring/cutting the side pieces.

pic 3:
The dash (instrument panel) has to have all the backs of the gauges cut off so it's much easier for me to just use my belt sander to gently sand through just past the bottoms of the gauges giving me a nice uniform and smooth backing.

============
club meeting.

pic 4-7:
We had our club meeting last night so I took the Corsair in for 'show-n-tell'.
A couple other kit planes were also brought.

Video of the wing folding after the club meeting:
http://www.rcuvideos.com/video/F4Uco...foldtest03-AVI

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)

pic 1:
Instrument panel dry fitted.

pic 2:
My total height is 7 1/8" (about 3/4" was cut off the bottom).
I also had to cut off about 1" off each of those 'lips' on each side and cut some small notches where my sliding canopy assembly is located.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)

pic 1:
Dry fit of backhead.

pic 2:
Original backhead.
There are indentations along the sides for cutting.
The length on mine was 9 5/8" from top to bottom.

pic 3:
A cardboard template for the sides was made.

pic 4/5:
My Jimmy Doolittle 'action figure' is a little short in the cockpit (and that's sitting on his parachute).
With a 2 1/4" box under him, he's about at the right height (Jimmy wasn't very tall anyway!).

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)

pic 1/2:
The left wall and left console cut to fit.

pic 3:
Left side dry fit.

pic 4/5:
The right wall and right console cut to fit.

pic 6:
Right side dry fit.

pic 7/8:
The two sides and consoles dry fitted into the cockpit area.
Presently, there's no room for the pilot's seat!
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa (cont)
Brian at dbalsa called and said the side panels are suppose to follow the curve of the inside of the fuse.
After trying that and dry fitting the two side consoles, I lucked out on the previous cut as the side consoles are at the proper location to have just enough room for the seat to fit between the consoles.

pic 1-3:
The right console is basically done.
Everything seen is included in the kit.
Some provided balsa sheet was zap-a-dap'ed to the inside walls of the console.
The toggles were cut from two pieces of wire in 1/2" lengths with a razor saw.
To have something to hold onto, before cutting them, each time, I rounded over the ends with some sand paper on each end and then cut them until I got down to just 1" left that was then cut in half.
The base of the toggles are small threaded nuts.
I pre-drilled the holes, put the wires in and then put the nut over them and CA'ed them.
The three red buttons are just paint on bumps in the console.
The two red half round circles are safety covers for toggles.
The three throttles are some small tubing with round headed needles put in one end and then the tubing is crushed with some linesman's pliers.
The five dials were painted white, then I drilled a hole in the bottom of each and used a #0X3/16" screw to hold the dials to the top of the console, along with some CA.
I drilled a hole in the half circle and white handle, put a round headed pin in one end and CA'ed them together and also to the top of the console along with two #0X3/16" screws.
The small rectangular box next to the half circle was painted white on the knob and the provided gauge face was glued into the recessed hole and, again, CA'ed to the console top along with two #0X3/16" screws.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)

pic 1:
Oxygen bottle.
Some rustoleum yellow paint for the bottle, some silver for the knob and I bent the provided brass wire around a drill bit.
A hole was drilled in the top side of the bottle for the brass wire and several holes into the top of the bottle and knob to give the epoxy something to hold to.

pic 2:
A hole was drilled into the side of the control panel that will be mounted on the right wall and the kit provided cloth mesh (conduit cover) was epoxied into the hole.
The control panel was painted black with white paint added to the tops of each knob.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)

pic 1/2:
Left side console.
Some 1/4" diameter tubing cut, glued to knobs.
I drilled out 1/4" holes in the bottoms of the holes to make them more 'vibration free'.

pic 3:
Dry fit of the gas tank wall that goes a few inches in front of the dash (instrument panel).

pic 4/5:
I cut/taped the kit provided clear plastic and gauge set and then taped those to the balsa sheet and then hot glued the whole thing to the back of the dash.
The gauge set is a one piece of sheet and matches the dash holes exactly so no individual cutting is needed.

pic 6:
More balsa added to stiffen the dash.

pic 7:
Front view.

pic 8:
Parts done so far.
The 'set of dials' box was zap-a-dap'ed and screwed to the right wall (left in picture: got things backwards in picture).
The rudder peddles were epoxied to the two 'L' brackets.

pic 9:
The five toggles on each set of arming switch boxes were done as on the right side console's toggles.

pic 10/11:
Most of the 'stuff' is done on the left side console.

v6goose

Great work!

Keep it up...

Goose

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Thanks, Goose.

==============

Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)

pic 1:
The canopy rail guides zap-a-dap'ed and screwed along the top of the side panels from the back.
Dry fit of the throttle quadrant mount.

pic 2:
Back of the throttle quadrant mount showing the two screws and zap-a-dap holding the throttle quadrant to the mount.

pic 3/4:
The throttle quandrant mount zap-a-dap'ed and screwed to the left side panel.
The far side throttle is 5/32" aluminum tubing that is flattened and two pieces of 1/64" thick ply epoxied to both sides of the flattened tubing.
The other three throttles are 3/32" tubing flattened after a pin was inserted in one end of the tubing.
A small drill bit was used to drill a wide hole into the top of the throttle quadrant and CA used to hold the levers in place.
Three pieces of small brass wire was painted and inserted into three holes on the end of the bottom of the quadrant and secured with CA.

pic 5:
Mark 8 gun site bracket made from sheet plastic.

pic 6-9:
Mark 8 gun site just about done.
The bottom was ground off at a 45 degree angle on a belt sander.
Some aluminum tape was used for the top of the gun site.
I used two #0X3/16" screws to hold the aluminum site bracket to the thin clear plastic and two more screws to hold the site bracket to the top of the gun site.
A 1/14" thick dowel was epoxied into the hole at the back of the gun site for extra support.
The clear plastic was cut with a small set of tin snips and then the edges were sanded smooth.

Ken-h

My Feedback: (3)

Sam,

Did you ever get the issue sorted out with the cockpit? I'll likely start digging into mine next week. It's all here and summer is coming.

Paul,

How are you making out on yours?

Ken

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Yo Ken,
Check out post # 257 for cockpit fit.
The kit is pretty 'straight forward': just need to take your time to get everything correct.

================

cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa (cont)
I will not be able to install the cockpit until I first install the tail gear former since the former must first be glued together and then slid into the tail via the wing-to-fuse opening.

pic 1:
Orientation of left side and dash.

pic 2:
The left side is done.
To get the dial and round disk to be secure to that thin aluminum tube, I put a pan head #0X3/8" screw in the center and epoxied it to the tube. I then hollowed out the bottom of the dial with a small drill bit and epoxied it over the screw.

pic 3:
Painted some dials and put them and a few knobs on the dash.
Only need a few more knobs on the dash and it'll be done.

pic 4/5:
Pretty cool idea on the kit's method of holding the 'dust cover'(cloth) onto the base of the control stick.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Cockpit (cont)

Dbalsa kit (cont)

pic 1/2:
The kit has two pieces of 1/8" ply plus the molding plastic with rivets on it.
I cut the center out of the molding plastic and then transferred that hole to the 1/8" ply and cut that hole out with a scroll saw.
I then drilled a 23/64" hole in the other ply for the clear plastic tubing.
I put the clear tubing into the bottom ply with the hole, then spread out the cloth over the same ply and then laid the second ply over the cloth so the two ply's sandwich the cloth. I then used four hex head servo screws to hold the two ply's together and then used a dremel cut off disk to make the servo screws flush to the top surface of the top ply.
Later, when I know the control stick is the correct height in relation to the seat/pilot, I'll trim off the cloth, glue the ply's to the underside of the cockpit floor and then glue the molded plastic with the rivets to the top of the floor.

cdohaney

Sam,

Have been following your build and just want to say you are truly a master!!!! Your attention to detail is simply amazing. Keep it up....I look forward to your daily posts.

Chris

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Thanks Chris,
The quality of today's products is 'light years' ahead of just 10 years ago so it makes it much easier to build nice looking 'stuff', plus having the web spreads a lot of knowledge around.

========================
Not much more that I can do on the cockpit since it can't be installed until the tail wheel former is installed.

Tail wheel/tail feathers.

pic 1:
I epoxied the tail wheel former to the other three pieces of ply that holds the air cylinder.

pic 2:
Dry fit of the former to the other two plys which are the rudder servo tray ply and the vertical fin support ply.
Note: I'm not gluing the two plys to the former for now for ease of aligning/cutting the slot in the fuse.

pic 3:
Dry fit of the former in the fuse which aligns with the front edge of the door hole.

pic 4:
Dry fit of the rudder servo/vertical fin plys.

pic 5:
A slot is cut into the top of the fuse for the vertical fin ply which is 139 mm (5.47" ) from the front of the vertical fin filet.

pic 6:
The vertical fin with the ply plus the 1/4" thick vertical fin support.

pic 7/8:
Dry fit of all the parts to the fuse.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Mine is all done except the cockpit which I will install after painting. It balanced ok with the radial which means a twin would require some serious preplanning to alleviate adding many pounds to the nose.

Sam:
I finally gave up and put a hatch in the bottom of the fuselage. Boy, am I glad I did as I have had things in and out several times. I have got long arms but not that long, especially if the cockpit is installed.

I did not feel the short plywood piece was enough strength for the fin. I epoxied in a 5mm carbon fiber rod on the inside of the leading edge with about 3" sticking out the bottom which protrudes into the fuselage. I then braced it in the fuselage with plywood. Then I replaced the fiberglassed balsa rudder post with a 1/4" carbon fiber sheeted balsa piece. I was afraid the suggested construction would not withstand my kind of abuse.

The only problem I had with the tail group was getting straight holes in the 10mm carbon fiber rods. Also, when completed and tightend up, I still get a little flex between the two elevator halves which I am not happy about. I even added a plywood plate to the bottom of each elevator 1/2 so I could put larger washers on the bolts when tightening. I am anxious to hear your two cents on this set up.

Paul

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Oh, one more thing Sam.

On the tail wheel assembly. I added some extra plywood to where the air cylinder is attached and used a blind nut on one side. The extra plywood allows you to tighten the bolt without squishing the assembly. Even with a hatch, being able to hold a locking nut and removing the bolt would be a circus. Just my 2c worth.

Paul

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Paul,
Looks like we think alike, as you'll see in this post!

=================
Tail gear/feathers (cont)

pic 1/2:
Here's the kit provided double plate mount for the tail gear.
Blind nuts pressed in from the back.

pic 3:
I'm using two long bolts and two short bolts to hold the tail gear to the mounting plate due to limited access to the bottom two holes due to the triangular support that is attached to the bottom.

pic 4/5:
In order to get access to those two lower mounting bolts, I needed to cut about a 1/4" square piece of metal off each side of the triangular support using my band saw.
This will allow me to use a hex head screw driver.
Without removing these pieces of metal, it appears to be impossible to mount/remove the tail gear once the former is epoxied into the fuse.

pic 6/7:
In order to make the air cylinder removable, I'm using a long hex head bolt and a blind nut.
I cut two 1" square pieces of 1/4" thick ply and epoxied them on the inside of each side of the back air cylinder support.
Presently, I'm going to make an access hatch (like a servo hatch) just over the hex head bolt, on the side of the fuse.
I see no other way to make this area serviceable without a hatch.
In order to get the tail retract out, the air cylinder must be removed and this hatch, presently, looks like the only viable option.

pic 8-11:
Here's the air cylinder mounted.
I also cut a notch in the back ply for a little more room for the air line (see 2nd last picture).

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Paul,
Got a problem with the gear in the UP position.
It definitely is sticking out too far! (see pic 3-5).
How is yours working?

=====================
tail gear/feathers (cont)

pic 1/2:
Manual air pump tested the gear up and down.

pic 3-5:
Dry fit of the former/gear in the fuse.
It appears that the wheel will be sticking out too far.
It seems like I'll have to put some new mounting ply in so I can move the gear higher into the fuse.

pic 6:
Down position looks like it'll have the tail pretty high off the ground.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Sam, refer to post #186. The center of the axle is about 1/4" above the closed doors. Yours appears a little higher but not much.

Can you move the air cylinder forward just a tad or can the ram be shortened just a little. I have had my plane on its wheels and the rear tail wheel was not to high. (I originally thought like you that it was way to high). There is also a picture of the tail wheel in the up position on page 28 in the manual. The top picture has a 1/4 shot of the plane laying on the ground with the wheel up. That position looks pretty close to yours.

You can also see where I put my hatch. It seems like I have my arm in there all the time working on lines, wires, etc. It is about 6" in front of the air cylinder.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Sam, refer to post #186. The center of the axle is about 1/4" above the closed doors. Yours appears a little higher but not much.

Can you move the air cylinder forward just a tad or can the ram be shortened just a little. I have had my plane on its wheels and the rear tail wheel was not to high. (I originally thought like you that it was way to high). There is also a picture of the tail wheel in the up position on page 28 in the manual. The top picture has a 1/4 shot of the plane laying on the ground with the wheel up. That position looks pretty close to yours.

You can also see where I put my hatch. It seems like I have my arm in there all the time working on lines, wires, etc. It is about 6" in front of the air cylinder.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Sorry for the double post.

I think I see your problem. Looking at your pictures, I do not see the special 1" extension for the air cylinder ram. That is unless yours landing gear is newer and the problem was addressed.

Check this out. If the ram is pushed all the way in, it is 2 1/4" from the end of the cyclinder to the center of the ball swivel. In the open position it is 4 1/4".

I mentioned this in a earlier post. I hope this will resolve your problem.

Paul

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Paul,
I measured the cylinder shaft in the closed position and it's about 2 3/8" so I've got the latest one.
I see what you mean about the air cylinder: I had to move the mount back (forward) about an 1/8" to get full piston closure.
Could you post those pictures in Post # 184 in a slightly larger format (I use 50KB) so I can see your access hatch and tail wheel (I've got old eyes!).

================
Tail gear/feathers (cont)

pic 1:
I've made four mods to get about 1/2 the wheel (as per prototype) into the wheel well.
All four may not be needed but I did (or will do) each to insure proper wheel location in the up position.
mod 1:
In order to get full movement of the cylinder piston, I had to move the mount back about 1/8".
I used a razor saw to cut along the epoxy and re-epoxied them in the new locations.

pic 2/3:
mod 2:
As you can see in the two pictures, the angle of the cylinder to the closing mechanism is too close to 90 degrees so the air cylinder doesn't quite pull the mechanism in the full up position. (There's about a 1/4" difference.)

pic 4:
mod 2 (cont)
I've drilled a small hole in the inside curve of the arm that connects to the end of the piston rod (in center of picture).
Tomorrow, when ACE hardware store is open, I'll pick up a small lightly tensioned spring: connect one end to that hole and put the other end to the former.
Not much pressure is needed to get the mechanism in the full up position and the spring will get that last 1/4" of movement done.
In the down position, the spring will be parallel to the 'folding' arm so the spring should not try to pull the gear back up (this will have to be test, yet!: also, the air in the cylinder should overcome that small spring tension in the down position).
An alternative to the spring would be to rotate the end of the cylinder up about 45 degrees and make a new ply mount.
This new position would pull the folding mechanism up that last 1/4" yet still clear the former in the down position.

mod 3:
pic 5:
I put a notch in the top of the main retract plate to allow more UP movement.

mod 4:
pic 6:
The compression spring in the oleo pushes the gear: therefore, if I wrap a thin wire around both ends while pressing the oleo in a quarter inch or so, that will allow the wheel to be farther into the wheel well.

pic 7/8:
When putting the former and gear in from the wing hole in the fuse, I have to first put it in upside down and then rotate it 180 degrees after passing by the wing former in the picture.

pic 9:
The wheel gear is now about an 1/8" too high which I think the compression of the oleo with a piece of wire, should fix!

A few more mods that I just thought of:
Another mod could be putting a strip of 1/8" (or so) thick ply along the bottom of the mounting plate.
This would rotate the everything up about a 1/4" (or so) and thus allow the doors to close.
Or, just glue the former at a slight angle to the fuse.
Thinking about it, this may be the easiest!
Rotating the whole former is probably the largest single factor in my wheel not far enough into the wheel well.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Yes, but will have to do it at work on Monday.

Paul