Piper Meridian project
08-27-2003, 01:47 AM
#151
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Piper Meridian project
Here our final picture for the night, looking striaght down the beast towards the tail end.
it is about 11 inches from the widest left side to the widest right side former to give you an idea of scale here.
Masking tape on right side is due to me breaking the former and it is drying in place supported by some masking tape.
In this image you can clearly see the backbone support struchure and the dual in line 1/4x1/8 runners on the left side only currently.
The ugly part about this is the dripping wood glue, I can not afford to nor use CA or super glue for the build because of a new baby on the way so....wood glue doesn't stink nor harmful so dripping will have to surfice for now.
You can see twist ties holding the runners in place in some places allowing that part of the wood to dry in place.
The rear wing former is visible and soon will be doubled by the wing doubler which is placed behind it.
On the left side you can see the boots that will have the planking that the top of the wing unit will butt up against. Once that plate is in postion then some doublers will be glued across the plate to sucure it in location and reenforce the lateral support here.
If your lost when I give directions I am giving directions based on the aircraft sides, not the side of the picture.
it is about 11 inches from the widest left side to the widest right side former to give you an idea of scale here.
Masking tape on right side is due to me breaking the former and it is drying in place supported by some masking tape.
In this image you can clearly see the backbone support struchure and the dual in line 1/4x1/8 runners on the left side only currently.
The ugly part about this is the dripping wood glue, I can not afford to nor use CA or super glue for the build because of a new baby on the way so....wood glue doesn't stink nor harmful so dripping will have to surfice for now.
You can see twist ties holding the runners in place in some places allowing that part of the wood to dry in place.
The rear wing former is visible and soon will be doubled by the wing doubler which is placed behind it.
On the left side you can see the boots that will have the planking that the top of the wing unit will butt up against. Once that plate is in postion then some doublers will be glued across the plate to sucure it in location and reenforce the lateral support here.
If your lost when I give directions I am giving directions based on the aircraft sides, not the side of the picture.
08-27-2003, 03:24 AM
#152
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Piper Meridian project
So I am standing looking over my work and visualizing my next step and what the final fuse will look like when I am drawn to the nose cowl. After some wondering and looking over the area with a nose cone in my hand and looking at how bad the parts line up I go over my plans and parts to realize that my entire cowl area is wrong. Luckily I only have to fix the area in front of the firewall and thus it is not that big of a deal but it does set me behind my not existant schedule. I've drawn up new outlines for some parts I think work better and are closer to the real aircraft.
08-27-2003, 04:23 AM
#153
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Nice
Great work.
Once you sheet that structure, it's going to be very, very strong. Most people get in a hurry, and use too few formers on these kind of things. The extra formers will help you a lot when you sand it too, avoiding what Dave Platt has called "The starved horse look".
Looks like you're well on the way to a very good looking airplane.... and you can be proud that it's something out of the ordinary, too.
Don't stop!
Once you sheet that structure, it's going to be very, very strong. Most people get in a hurry, and use too few formers on these kind of things. The extra formers will help you a lot when you sand it too, avoiding what Dave Platt has called "The starved horse look".
Looks like you're well on the way to a very good looking airplane.... and you can be proud that it's something out of the ordinary, too.
Don't stop!
08-27-2003, 10:03 AM
#154
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Piper Meridian project
Nice work ThunderAI,
I haven't posted in a while but I am definitely keeping my eye on this one... Keep up the great work. Your diligence will pay off.
I haven't posted in a while but I am definitely keeping my eye on this one... Keep up the great work. Your diligence will pay off.
08-27-2003, 02:33 PM
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Re: Nice
Originally posted by Mike James
Great work.
Once you sheet that structure, it's going to be very, very strong. Most people get in a hurry, and use too few formers on these kind of things. The extra formers will help you a lot when you sand it too, avoiding what Dave Platt has called "The starved horse look".
Looks like you're well on the way to a very good looking airplane.... and you can be proud that it's something out of the ordinary, too.
Don't stop!
Great work.
Once you sheet that structure, it's going to be very, very strong. Most people get in a hurry, and use too few formers on these kind of things. The extra formers will help you a lot when you sand it too, avoiding what Dave Platt has called "The starved horse look".
Looks like you're well on the way to a very good looking airplane.... and you can be proud that it's something out of the ordinary, too.
Don't stop!
08-27-2003, 02:34 PM
#156
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Piper Meridian project
Originally posted by justrfb
Nice work ThunderAI,
I haven't posted in a while but I am definitely keeping my eye on this one... Keep up the great work. Your diligence will pay off.
Nice work ThunderAI,
I haven't posted in a while but I am definitely keeping my eye on this one... Keep up the great work. Your diligence will pay off.
08-27-2003, 03:11 PM
#157
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Piper Meridian project
the "starved horse look" is when there are small dips in between the structure like a starved horses ribs through his skin, but you have plenty of support and shouldn't have this problem .
08-27-2003, 07:19 PM
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Piper Meridian project
Originally posted by jneesy
the "starved horse look" is when there are small dips in between the structure like a starved horses ribs through his skin, but you have plenty of support and shouldn't have this problem .
the "starved horse look" is when there are small dips in between the structure like a starved horses ribs through his skin, but you have plenty of support and shouldn't have this problem .
09-08-2003, 08:29 AM
#162
RE: Piper Meridian project
I resolved the dripping wood glue problem by slightly thinning the glue with water. Using a small brush, coat the contact surfaces of both parts, assemble and secure then coat the edges of the two joined parts. The advantage is the thinned glue penetrates the wood fibers deeper, ensuring a good bond.
09-12-2003, 10:09 AM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
we havn't had very many update pics for awhile and i want you to know that things are still steaming ahead even though there are not many images. ( partly because it looks ugly and its difficult to share ugly things). With that said here is the tail from someplace near the beginning to today, still unfinished.
09-12-2003, 10:14 AM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
Man those are ugly. Anyway it is strong and should be finished in a coupel of days. I need to put sanding sealer on it and sand down the leading edge of the weight balance. Hidges are sunk robart pin hinges. The pivot point which is about 3/16 into the leading edge stock of the rudder so the rudder moves close to how the real tail moves. There is fillment puddy on the tail and rudder which is why areas look different then others, not to mention the rudder side that looks like ti was burnt. It has sigment / filment puddy all sanded into the crack to reenforce the balsa. Sigment is also in other areas to strengthen where filment puddy would not go. Once the sanding sealer is on, I'll sand it down again, and paint the SOB so it looks good.
09-12-2003, 02:33 PM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
Here are a couple of imaged for your amusement. The tail is partly attached to the fues. Still lots to do, but it looks like it fits. Servo placement will get interesting to say the least.
09-12-2003, 02:36 PM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
The filment in the last image on the upper rear of the tail has yet to be sanded down, once thats done it would look like, so... ugly. I still need to add in the lower frame under the rudder so it blends with the fuse section and then do all the stuff mentioned in the post above.
09-14-2003, 04:14 AM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
Well, wait till you see the next image line up. Tail is coming along great and so is the tail area on the fuse. I still have to sand down the puddy to blend well and once that is done I will take a couple of images of that process. Then its off to get the servo set up for the rudder done. This all in mind while I try to stay out of the way where the bolts that attach the stab to the fuse will go. It is rather crampt in the aft section of the fuse.
09-14-2003, 03:56 PM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
Sorry for the poor quality of these images as my camera and I can not stand still enough to get a good image in the lighting conditions, so here you go...
These images should be rather self explanitory, but if the quality s soo poor you can not make out, it is the rudder drive servo mechanics.
Once the side walls are on the base section of the tail you will not be able to see this and the only exposed part will be the rudder cleves.
These images should be rather self explanitory, but if the quality s soo poor you can not make out, it is the rudder drive servo mechanics.
Once the side walls are on the base section of the tail you will not be able to see this and the only exposed part will be the rudder cleves.
09-17-2003, 10:00 PM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
Hey guy,
I've beem away for a while and look what you done! Great job! I'm very impressed! I know you must have read this a couple of hundred of times, but how long before final assembly?
Tamecat
I've beem away for a while and look what you done! Great job! I'm very impressed! I know you must have read this a couple of hundred of times, but how long before final assembly?
Tamecat
09-18-2003, 05:51 AM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
I do not have a clue when "final" assembly will take place. If you mean when will the aircraft be at a level such as an ARF kit, only heaven knows. But each day something is done to it, so eventualy it will be finished. Right now I am a little...preocupied...with the tail and rudder assembly. Controlling the rudder effectivly with little flutter will be a pain in the final assembly but for the temporary fittings there now it seems to run just fine although not very smooth.
Once I finish up the doors to the cab space under the tail I will start on the stab which should take some time to finish as it has some difficult parts, but I have picked up some skills/ideas from problems I faced in the tail to help make the stab assemly quicker with less problems.
Not sure when stab cx will start however.
Once I finish up the doors to the cab space under the tail I will start on the stab which should take some time to finish as it has some difficult parts, but I have picked up some skills/ideas from problems I faced in the tail to help make the stab assemly quicker with less problems.
Not sure when stab cx will start however.
10-14-2003, 11:56 PM
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RE: Piper Meridian project
The project is not dead by any means, just on hold while I go through some times here in our economy with little money to fork towads building. I tweek things then and now but nothing worth posting about. When I've got some progress done on th estab i'll post but I dont know when that will happen.