Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Wingtips are all masked and ready for metallic gray.

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Fuse is just about ready...

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Off comes the masking tape... Looking good!

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Chris shows off the painted wing. It awaits some trim and a clear coat.

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Trim's on the wing....

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Wing and fuse all set for the evening. Clear will go on tomorrow. Time of completion: 9 pm. At 4:00, we left for awhile and came back at 6:00 to start masking the trim. So, a good day and can't wait to see the results of the metallic grey tomorrow once the clear goes on! Not to mention some stickers to liven it up. Test flight looks to be next weekend (23rd).

Michael

All Clear....
 

cleared that is!

Just finished getting all the clear on the airplane... 2 more photos for you to drooooool over =)

and this one...
 

Here's the last one for now.

drooool
 

Hey bro, can I please take it home so I dont have to keep coming online to look at it?? =) hehe

updated pic
 

getting there..... put it together for a pretty picture =)

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Looks great!

Ted

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

6/21 update.....

I've been sick for two days, so no work on my Tsunami (what a way to spend a birthday :( ). Did acquire a few more parts, including a YS 120 for the plane. Once the fuse gets joined, things will go quickly from there.

Chris is working on getting his ready to fly. Might not make it for a test flight this weekend, but we'll fly it within a week. His is looking sharp.

July 21st is the race.... one month to go...clock's ticking again.

Michael

Getting there!
 

Almost done. Need to put the rudder on and hook up the tailwheel steering for good. Other than that most everything is done. Looks like a test flight after I get back from Reno..

Chris

6/25 update
 

Okay, 6/25 update. I'm back up to normal operating speed after being smacked with a mild case of the flu or a really bad allergy/sinus problem. Phew! Now that I have my energy back, I was able to get into the garage and join the fuselage on my Tsunami tonight. Joining fuselages is no simple task - at least for me that is. It takes about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to successfully do it on my account. Wetting out the strips of 1" wide tape, putting them on the fuselage sides sticking up 1/2" above the lip with 1/2" on the fuse side (1 fuse gets it along the top, other on bottom), aligning the fuses with spacers, and then removing the spacers to drop the molds together is tedious! No photos of it (not much to show), but I will be boring into construction full speed this week along with next week, since I'll have it off of work. This Sat and Sun will be "off days" as my brother Chris and I are heading to Reno to check out what's going on at Pylon School for the "real stuff".

Chris's Tsunami is coming along as you can see in the previous message. I have to re-clear coat the rudder on my account of shooting it with a bad mix of clear though and that's why it's not attached on the plane yet. Everything else went fine, but once I get that re-shot, we'll attach the rudder, balance the plane and see what she does.

Hopefully, in Aug/Sept we'll install a prototype telemetry system in the models to see what they're doing in the air. More to come later on this...

Michael

6/26 am update
 

Got the urge to pull the latest fuselage from the mold this morning. All I can say is WOW! The fuselage joint turned out extremely well along with a very light fuselage! Not bad. I didn't get a chance to weigh it before running off to work, but it is a very light fuselage. This airplane could very well be under 8lbs with a YS 1.20!

A few notes -
This is the first fuselage that I have pulled out which utilized wax as the primary mold release. Up until now, I was using PVA and a paste wax. The PVA is MUCH harder to pull the part out of the mold with. The wax releases easily and cleanly, along with having less blemishes in the part. I found that PVA would collect dust which related to little dents in the part and that it would sometimes pool up and cause a low in the mold. All in all, I'm a convert to wax-based releases now.

I also saw that the fuselage had a somewhat golf-ball look from the aeromat. This means that I must have removed the vacuum too quickly before the parts totally cured. Not a problem other than having to have some extra primer. One day, I'll try bagging the outer surface, let it cure, and then layup the core and inner surface layer. This will alleviate any problems like this....

Photos to come in the next installment (tonight or tomorrow)

Michael

1 lb 4.1 oz!
 

Okay, not the lighest (record for me is 1lb 3 oz), but I added some beef to this fuse because the last was on the virge of being light in some areas. Nevertheless, this plane will be light!

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Here she is.... Looking good too! I'll be boring into construction on it starting tonight.

Weights:
Fuse - 1lb 4.1 oz
Stab - 4.3 oz
Wing - 1lb 12 oz (including spar, landing gear mount, etc)

=== total airframe weight of 3lb 4.4oz!

Michael

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Vroom vroom!!! More power... These are the pictures that make you want to work on the plane...

So, as you can see, I cutout the engine hatch and are visualizing a little!

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

I cut off the rudder and started cutting out the elevator slot on one side. Need to do a little filling as I oversanded the rudder post before joining the fuse halves and it isn't glued well in a couple of spots.

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Inside the fuse... A little dusty from all the cutting!

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Last photo for the night. This is a heads on view of the fuse. It's really dusty in this shot!

More to come as I progress on in the next few days.

Michael

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

No new photos, but did get some stuff done on my plane last night. Most of it was engineering of stuff, but nevertheless progress was made. Most of the parts are in hand to mount the motor, tailwheel, servos, etc. The question I am facing is fuel capacity..... A four stroke is usually good on fuel consumption, but with a four stroke like this possibly running 30% nitro, I want to make sure that enough is onboard the plane. Right now, I am targeting 20oz, which should be plenty...

Probably no more updates for a few days. My brother and I are off to Reno today for a vacation and to go see what's going on at the pylon school in Reno for the full-scalers... :) Construction will resume Sunday.

Michael

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Well, spent three days in Reno last weekend and boy am I enthused to work on the Tsunami even harder. Nothing makes you want to build a racer more than being around the real thing for a few days.... I took some shots while at Reno, including some cool sunset ones. Go to www.warbirdaeropress.com and look on the message board for them...

Anyways progress on my Tsunami. Chris's looks like the test flight is two days away.

I cut out the firewall, glued it in, mounted the motor, cut the flaps and ailerons out on the wing, touched up some areas on the rear spar on the wing, and did general cleanup. Were some light areas in the aeromat on the fuselage that needed extra epoxy.

The firewall is made up of a honeycomb material. Actually, it's called gilfloor and is used as the floor in 747's...

Michael

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

Firewall's glued in... On the left, you see a circular piece of plywood. The blind nuts are attached to this and the plate will be glued on the back side of the firewall. Blind nuts will not necessarily go into this honeycomb material - not to mention the fact that they would pull through easily once you penetrate the fiberglass.

Tsunami - composites, part 2
 

A little glass on the back side...