oK... GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS...[:@]

I put most of the nacelles together for the last 2 days. Everything but the servo and tanks are done. I put the engines up on the wing.. see the attached pics. The good news is... the inside two engines fit right on the money! Bad news... my number 4 nacelle sits off the lead edge as expected since that part of the wing tapers; my number one nacelle sits very far off! (see the pics)

If you look at the pics, you can see the difference in the two outside lead edge gaps.

Solutions... suggestion... anything....[X(]

Bill

Looks to me like you have the engines right on.I blieve I would use fiberglass and filler from the inside if possible, then blend it in outside with epoxy and microballoons.
Randy

Billy,, good looking setup,, I think that looked much like mine,, but be sure to put the f/glas inside. Also I've been thinking about the multi fly in in Pens.. but haven't found the thread.. I might come do you plan to attend.. Please let me know where the info is on the event. Jim

I will make flt #36 37 and 38 before attending, given I have a field to test fly.

Jim:

[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3159008/tm.htm]Multi-Madness Meet[/link]

It's a sticky in this forum, at the top of the thread listings. Also in the event calendar.

Bill.

Bill,
I have not recieved or built my C130 as of yet. I was thinking if the outboard engine nacelles are not mounting flush with the wing, then maybe an idea would be to remove some of the glass on the number 2 and 3 engine pods. This would allow the number 1 and 4 to become closer to the leading edge. It may take a bit of work but this will stilll ensure the engines are still in alignment.

Just a thought.

Craig.

I thought about the same thing, but the lower portion may very hard to shape... and then, the thrust line may change. It sounds like a good idea, but I think at this point I am going to fiber and fill.
Bill

Oh... any more thoughts on the retracts?

Retracts?? good question. Have not put too much thought into it lately. I may prefabricate something prior just to get an idea of how to work it. I am looking fwd to the arrival of my C130, hopefully soon. Keep us posted to your Nacelle mounting. I was wondering if anyone else has run into the same issue that you have. I would imagine the fibre filling should work well.

Craig.

Ok.. looking back at everything makes you really think about the engineering behind this C-130. Even without the pure electronic stuff... this is a complicated thing. I talked to Jim Corkern the other day about soemthings, and we really got to talking about it. I think that this plane, on the first build goes something like this...
done a task...
scratch head...
Lower head... s
ay a few cuss words...
grab a beer...
think that you could or should have done something 3 steps ago...
Attempt to patch, fix, or re-do that you are calling yourself an idiot for doing or not doing in the first place

Overall, mine is starting to come together, but I am really thinking about what I should have done earlier... and in what order.

My big headache right now is the front wing saddle where the two wing dowels go through... I had epoxied in the wood holder and thought it was in. I went out in the garage one day and it was on the floor. The epoxy had not reacted fully, and has not to this date. It is a semi hard rubbery compound... what to do now? I CA'ed in a new one last night, but got to thinking how much easier this might have been if I had done this before I joined the halves! anyway... I am through venting now.

Crap. I forgot to ***** about the pin holes in the nacelles.... There ARE LOTS of them in the nacelles. I guess it is because it is a much smaller part.

Bill R

Bill

This thread is great, especially for us builders who have not started yet. It does look like a challenging project which has its own appeal. If there is any other hints or tricks that you can share with regards to the build they would be greatly appreciated. I will have to send off another email to Bob Sealy regarding the progress with the C 130 I had ordered, I should of had it by now, I think.

Craig

Billy I would not trust CA to hold the leading edge dowels. I used West system epoxy that took 12 hrs to set. I have seen epoxy that did as you mentioned so I reco.. get rid of the epoxy and buy new but use at least 30 min to 1 hr epoxy. I used a clamp system to hold the block in while it set. Remember I had a lot of difficulty aligning the dowel pins to the wing/block, and cracked the fuse. This is why I used 1/4" ply former for the dowels on the leading edge.

I am still planning to attend the Pens fly in we spoke about but havent as of yet test flown the herk. (Ramada?)
But 35 great flights isn't all that bad. I have solved the engine out / fuel leak problem so I expect to keep "4 turning".

Jim

Well, regardless of the fly-ability of my plane I will be there. I just CA to tack the dowel holder in place. I used some epoxy and glass to go over a portion of it last night, and will probably put more glass on tonight. I have 2 of the nacells ready for painting!... man let me tell you, the NUMEROUS small pinholes were very hard to get filled. I finally got them filled and primed after MANY primes, fills, and resands. Now for the other two. I am wating for my last 3 servos to come in this week, but I have the holes already drilled. The fuel tank is another story. I opted for an 8 oz tank... barely fits, but is is in there.

On the Pensacola flyin... I have inlaws that live next to Hurlbert Field in Ft. Walton so I will drive in that morning from there. Last time I was there I went to the AF museum over at Eglin and took some VERY nice large format pics for documentation... Which anyone can have if they want them... just ask.
Well... back to work
Bill

If you're going to the Armament Museum at Eglin, you should be able to get all the documentation on the "First Lady" that you need. It's either there or at the Air park at Hurlburt.
Randy

Hurlbert has a public air park? I was not sure if a civi could get in.
Bill

Last time I was there was before 9-11. It's right inside the main gate. We got in OK then, the SP told us to park in a small parking lot beside the guard shack and you can walk in an look around. I don't know about now, but I suppose you could still get in. Hurlburt was my first assignment out of tech school in 65. There is an A-26 there that I worked on in Thailand in 1966. It was sitting pretty close to the highway. They also have another Herk gun ship there, and I believe a C-119 "stinger".
It's pretty nice, you should take it in while you're there.
Randy

rryman, when were you at NKP? I worked on the A26s there and have always thought about building one. Now that I am back in the USA, it might just work out. BYWWw, I worked Comm-Nav out of the trailer down by the BX snack bar.

John

rryman, when were you at NKP?...................................
=========
Yep, I was there. I was a "gun plumber", so to speak. I built a model of the A-26 some years ago, but had an engine failure on take off and lost it. Still have the fuse, but need to build another wing. I had the plans for a long time before I built it.
Randy

Are ther any updates on the C-130's in progress out there. I am still waiting for mine to arrive. I am glad I ordered it a while back. Hopefully it will be here soon. Nice looking A26 Rryman.

Craig.

Progress!!!
I spent a week in D.C. ..... went to the new Air and Space Museum... just a note... the recent private space flight... well it in the Smithsonian under tarps. It is going to be placed in the original museum on the National Mall. You could make the ship out under the blue tarp. The guards would not say anything, but some of the volunteers would.

Anyway... I have stepped off into the deep end now.
Here are some of the pics of the glassed nacelles... spaces and all






Bill

Looking real good Bill. I like the way you mounted your engines. Great pics. A one piece wing? That would be hard to transport. Keep up the good work.

Craig.

yep... one piece wing.
Bill

Looking good,, have you done a weight check? Just wondering how the weight is shaking out. Our field has 10 days left then we are closed out. Currently no luck in finding a new field. Local city officials told us they have no land. Local land owners are afraid we will scare the cows. So not looking good for this area. Jim

Here are a few more in better lighting.
Bill

Just info guys and gals on watching details. I took the herk out yesterday to fly. The field was marginal with grass mowed only a short distance, but given a 10 mph head wind take off did not appear to be an issue. (remember 4 saito .30's) not over powered.

I fired the plane up and began normal engine set up. It has been about 4 months since the bird has been up. I noticed #2 engine not responding when the other 3 engines went to full power. #2 stayed at 3000 rpm. I looked closer and noticed the throttle was still closed. I pushed on the throttle arm and found the barrel was stuck from the 4 months downtime. After moving the throttle the plastic clevis stripped out. So I benched the bird and tried a field repair. After the repair I could get full throttle but the engine was way out of rpm range with the others. So I packed up and went home. Remember details, details details are what keeps these birds in the air. Can't get into the workshop now plane will have to wait until contractors complete painting. Next week I'll have it ready again. Best of luck and Bill what about the weight..? Jim

good save man.... chalk another one up to preflight. Another one of our Snowbirds air show performers crashed today near Thunderbay Ont. Pilot ejected after engine lost thrust. Plane was an 30 yr old CT-114 Tutor. Almost ready to start my palmer plans Herc.

Grinder.

Ok,, finally pulled #2 engine and replaced the linkage. When I had the engine off and nacell's open I decided to make another round of tuning all the engines. So I reset the low speed needles on the saito's. Then tuned the top ends. Much better idle. The .30's will idle around 3000 easily and given the weight of the plane 22#'s it won't move in grass. The warning is when idle this slow you have to land under power. This is too slow an idle to plan a final approach and flare. It will drop out of the sky like a stone if you try to flare. So the plane is cleaned up, hopefully I find a location to fly. Temps here 95 humidity 100% heat index of 110. Not really good to spend multi-engine time tuning in the heat. Now send some cooler weather down south.. Jim