prgonzalez

Hi Chip,

That's a very nice Ultra Sport. I like the color scheme and the finish you gave to it.

I have progressed in the building. I fiberglassed the center of the wing and sealed the tank area with finish epoxy. I also installed the tubing for elevator pushrods and made the holes for the wing bolts. I will use DEPS build from solid carbon fiber. Now, I need to order the titanium ends. I also prepared the base for glueing the top piece of the cowl. Then, I will proceed with installing the turttle deck and let the sanding begin.

prgonzalez

Today, I fitted the engne, completed the cowl, and did a rough sanding on the nose. So far, so good. I still have more sanding to do in the nose back to the canopy and F2 former.

After 90 mins of sanding, I was so full of balsa dust that I had to take a bath.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

...and that's absolutely normal. To novices to building, please make sure you wear a dust mask. I always use the shop vac to vacuum the dust out of my clothing...at least as much as it can be vacuumed out of the clothing. Don't forget to vacuum your hair (and beard if you have one). Eyewear usually gets covered with dust, too.

The best way to keep dust off of you is to sand outdoors and hold the item being sanded downwind (if there's a breeze...don't do this in strong winds...heh, heh). To help keep the workshop clean, put a furnace filter (or two) in front of a box fan so that it draws air through the filters before the air goes through the fan blades. Sand in front of the fan, and exhaust the fan outdoors. This will pull the majority of the sanding dust into the filters so you'll have less mess in the workshop.

72

A balsa plane like the Master Airscrew one also cuts down on a lot of dust and a lot of time.

prgonzalez

Absolutely, good point for the audience, always wear your PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). A building tip is I use a "Kobalt 4 in 1 file" for carving the wood. It also minimizes fine balsa dust from sanding. To me, the shaping of the wood is faster than using a razor plane for this type of shaping including LE shaping. The key is knowing when to stop and change to razor plane sand paper for final finishing.

Now I remember seeing a fan/filter setup built with cardboard. I need to build one of those. For now, fan and shop vac are my helpers.

prgonzalez

Continuing with the fuse...

Sanding of nose is 99% completed. I will check if some touches are necesary before covering. I also started the turtle deck and am waiting for the turtle deck top glue to cure, then more sanding comming for late tonight or tomorrow morning. For turtle deck sides, I decided to go with 3/32" sheets to save weight.

prgonzalez

After two hours.....spent another 90 mins sanding the top of turtle deck and that's good progress for today. Now a good bath and one cold chela!

prgonzalez

Worked on the fuse today...Checked stab level and alignment and everything is within tolerance.

Also received the DEPS from central and ordered covering material from TH. I expect to have the model ready for covering by next weekend. So, maiden could be three weeks from now.

prgonzalez

long time without posting pictures or progress. Well...My laptop died and had to replace it, get rid of vista[:'(], and replaced it with XP.

On the plane, I have installed the stab, fin, and wings. Checked geometrical distances and everything is within 1/16" of tolerance. I consider this acceptable considering this is my first scratch build and the fact that I am learning to build following plans directions and not over plans. Checked incidences with GP laser and everything is within less than 1/4 of 1-degree. Here, I might use a different angle gauge.

The next step is to work on the fuse/wing fillet, make all hinge slots, install tail wheel, and control surfaces. Then, I will start covering. Woo Hoo!

For future reference to others, more pictures to come soon.

prgonzalez

I continued today with the wing fillets...I filled most of the gap with light weight soft balsa. For the finish, I am using a very light weight spackle. By the way, a similar size balsa filler is heavier than this spackle. I am waiting for the spackle to dry out to do some final sanding and shaping.

prgonzalez

Fuse fillets on both sides are completed now.

Final steps:

1. Install and shape fuse belly blocks.
2. Shape (sanding) control surfaces and make hinge slots.
3. Re-check servo installation and linkages.
4. Lateral balance before covering.
5. Preliminary CG balance.
6. Final sanding.
7. Covering.

prgonzalez

Today, I had time to continue working on the US. I completed the fillets and now working on the belly.

prgonzalez

And the belly is 80% done. One side fully sanded. I added some filler for smoothing the lines.

Tomorrow I will finish the other side.

prgonzalez

After coming back from the field, I continued working on the US.

The other side if the belly is done now. I left some spackle for the final finish and it will be all done. Ready for final check of electronics, lateral balance, and initial check on the CG.

prgonzalez

Okay, today some more sanding refinishing all curves from nose to wings.

After finishing, I opened the access to the wing nylon bolts. I also weighed the model and got 3-lb and 7.4-oz. This includes tank, engine mount, and retracs with wheels and servo.

I think it is going to be a model under 7-lb ready to fly. My gross calculations say 6.5-lbs.

GOGGLES PIZANO

your build looks textbook.i built a us 60 as well.had a os61fx on a macs black pipe for power,mechanical retracts.with the elevator joinr wire as shown on plans.i built it stack as per kit.gotta tell ya...that is one great flying plane.be sure to balance laterally with all equip properly placed as well as the normal logitudinal balance as well.all incidences need to be spot on.shes a real smooth flyer.i did not add flaps,but i personally found her to land very well without them.smooth is the word for this plane,smooth flyer. good luck.

prgonzalez

After another break after taking care of the cars. Coming back to the building. I completed the fin and now started covering the fuselage.

I need to finish this one soon, this US60 and the Giles will be my planes to fly this summer.

prgonzalez

Today, I had a chance to continue covering the fuselage. This time, I am using TowerKote (TK) for the job.

This is my first time using TK. I have found TK is not difficult to work with although it is very sensitive to the heat gun. The iron has to be set at 220 deg-F. It works well and does not bubble.

prgonzalez

Two more hours of work and the fuselage covering is complete.

vmsguy

Very nice work...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's found a file to be a very handy shaping tool.. I prefer a half-round file.. The 4-in-1 is nice, but half-round allows for a longer stroke and can eat through more wood.

I gotta stop looking at these Ultra Sport threads.. they always make me want to start building another one....

I have other planes on the list of priorities I have to build first...

prgonzalez

vmsguy,

I will try a half-round file on my next build.

Yeah, I got the Ultra Sport bug two years ago and always checkout others people work for more ideas.

prgonzalez

Not much progress, but details. Installed elevator halves and sealed the gap. I also installed the engine mount, engine, and tail wheel.

I have also been helping my friend with his B-25. I installed for him a set of robart retracts.

I am also preparing for my next two projects.

prgonzalez

I got into some trouble installing this DEPS. This is my first DEPS. I made some mistakes but I also learned quite a lot for my next build.

After almost three hours of work of doing and re-doing [:@], I was able to obtain a stiff pushrod with acceptable friction. I wanted the pushrods to be friction less or almost nothing. But, it was not possible with the way I built the whole system. I know my next DEPS will be much better. Maybe in the future I may comeback to this one and modify it. But, for now I just want to finish this one and start flying my US. Elevators move freely with no bindings.

72

Try one of these for no friction.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idproduct=4308

prgonzalez

Hi 72,

Thank you for the tip. I just ordered two of them. I will try one on my Giles. I have two independant servos that don't move at the same speed.