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**Swiss1** · 01-20-2018, 01:55 PM

Got my fix, for now anyway!
I'm just working on the Decathlon after it's little incident in Huntsville, new tail is made and covered and wings are stripped and about to get recovered

SCC

AAA TT TN

**ARUP** · 01-21-2018, 11:04 PM

Jeremy- you should put the Decathlon re-build in the 'Tow Planes' forum!
Most of the time today was spent making the TE from laminates of 1/64" ply then sanding these laminates fair. The inboard and outboard sections were done first. Then these parts were pinned to the plan and paper templates were made to fit between them so that ply could be cut and glued to join them all together as a unit. After sanding one was put on the board so the a false LE and balsa spar with ribs could be fitted and glued. When this fragile assembly is dry it will get pulled off the board and sanded so the ribs are fair relative to each other. Then loose ribs will get abutted to the ones on the structure and get sanded close to the proper shape so that 3 more elevator halves can be fabricated. I'm itching to start the wings but the tail feathers have a bit of work to go, yet!

Godnat!

**ARUP** · 01-22-2018, 01:45 PM

The right and left 'half' elevators are built. The third and final layer of 1/64" ply gets put onto the TE before the other half ribs can be glued onto the structures. Before putting the half ribs onto them the aluminum tubes for the CF joiner rod will get let into the structures. The structures will be on a jig to maintain frontal view symmetry.

Off to work!

**ARUP** · 01-29-2018, 12:18 AM

Now that the first clam shell halves of the stabilators are built it's time to put the joiner rod tubes into them. The joiner rod itself was used for alignment as well as some proper packing while the epoxy cured then the elevator drive pin tubes were let into them taking care for alignment. Ya don't want one stabilator with a different incidence than the other! This was done with the stabilator halves on the fuselage. When the epoxy cured for these they were removed from the fuselage so the other clam shell halves could be built onto them. The main and nose spars were added then the ribs followed. When the glue dried these were sanded fair so that the false LE could be added. I weighted these down on a granite surface while the wood glue dried. The other large gussets were added to support the drive pin tubes and 'in-fill' of balsa was glued between the ribs then sanded fair. This will give the ply a landing for glue. That's all that's left to do with the fin/rudder and stabilators... add the ply! I'll show that when it gets done. It'll be a little tricky!

**ARUP** · 01-29-2018, 12:27 AM

Computers are creepy! Don't ask me why that one picture isn't like the others.

The elevator drive pin is free floating so that is the reason the tubes are flattened on their ends. The joiner rod tubes have a little music wire retainer epoxied at their ends. Magnets will get epoxied into the joiner rod's ends to aid in retaining the stabilators. They are a snug fit on the joiner but ... might as well add a little insurance with the magnets pulling toward those retainers!

More to come!

**Mosquito** · 01-30-2018, 06:02 PM

Such beautiful work Michael.

**ARUP** · 02-01-2018, 01:28 PM

Putting 1/64" ply on stuff. The end caps were fitted first. Just drill the holes then trace around the root end and cut with a scissors. The iron set on 'hot' was used to put a little curve at the end of the ply before gluing it. A paper pattern was made for the big parts. After they were cut wood glue was put on the structure and the part was placed onto it then pulled back off. The glue itself acts as an indicator where more glue is needed. After the extra glue put down this was allowed to dry. The iron was used to put the ply onto the structure. Bass is used for the LE. The stabilator was placed onto a sheet of Bass and its LE was traced then cut with a band saw. Some 'roughing-in' of the shape was done with the LEs free hand then these were stained. After the stain dries they will get glued to the stabilators, get finish sanded and re-stained. This same process will apply to the fin and rudder.

Gotta get to work!

**Asher Carmichael** · 02-01-2018, 01:50 PM

Inspiring!

**Sled-Works 1** · 02-04-2018, 04:30 PM

You really do nice work doc. Thanks

**ARUP** · 02-04-2018, 05:32 PM

The stabilators got their LEs installed. The LEs were stained then glued in place. They get stained before applying glue otherwise the glue gets in the wood fibers first which won't stain. That doesn't look very nice, at least to me it doesn't! Masking tape was put ~1/32" away from the joint then sanding commenced. The first picture shows stabilator on left with masking tape in place and before sanding. The stabilator on the right is after sanding and tape is removed. The tape acts as an ablative indicator so that the ply isn't cut into too much. Once this was done the tape was removed and finer sanding done using 400 grit. The second pic shows a close up of the masking tape eroding away. It's a great way to add wood to pre-finished parts! The third and fourth pictures are of the finished LE.

More to come!

**ARUP** · 02-04-2018, 05:41 PM

The stabilators' ribs received their cap strips. Again, paper patterns were made. After they were cut and offered to the structure they were 'fine tune' sanded to fit. The TE of each cap strip/gusset was sanded thinner so they wouldn't be so 'proud' of the surface at the stabilators' TEs. The second picture shows the ply layers due to sanding. Once the fabric is applied things should smooth down even more... I hope! Hope that makes sense.

TJ- you commented 'beautiful'... it's too bad a lot of ugliness has to be done before a little beauty shows!

It's amazing the scrap that accumulates to do simple things like cap stripping!

On to the fin and rudder for the same treatment!

**Spookyeng** · 02-08-2018, 05:22 PM

Looking great Michael!

**ARUP** · 02-09-2018, 03:22 AM

And... no...thank YOU Jeremy! (an inside joke)

Here's another 'fix' for ya!

I had to put rabbets on my rudder. It was an experiment.

Not that kind! A step joint was created (rabbet?) to let 1/64 ply into the near LE of the rudder. It worked pretty well and saved having to cut and form a new rudder LE as was done with the stabilators. The rudder's balance overhang end was capped first. You can see where the step joint was sanded into the rudder by the lack of stain. I clamped a straight edge onto the rudder then used one of my little sanding sticks to cut the rabbet. After these ply parts were glued then the rudder ribs got their cap strips.

The rudder construction is completed! Time to do the same for the fin then the wings can get started! Whoopee!

If I'm using these woodworking terms incorrectly please feel free to correct me. I won't get too angry.

Good night!

**Mark9** · 02-09-2018, 03:00 PM

Mike, I too came into this thread a little late. Read every post this morning. Nice work! It makes me feel like a true hack.

**ARUP** · 02-10-2018, 06:26 PM

No, no, NO... Jeremy... thank YOU! I finished the fin. The pics don't show a dowel let into the fore portion of it. This dowel will help anchor the fin to the fuselage. Here are a few pics showing the ply cut and put on one side plus the finished item with the rudder. The second pic shows the rabbeted LE with sheeting stepped onto it. On to the wings!

OÃche mhaith!

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