Slingsby T-45 Swallow ~ 1/3-scale Kit by Peter Goldsmith (Build thread by JimD)

[JimD]

Catching up on some finishing details on the elevators. The leading edge balsa gets tapered for a top hinge line. Razor plane is way better than sanding all of this material away!

[JimD]

Thanks Gunny...I am really warmed up on this build so I should fly through those 2-33 wings!

[gunny11]

Nice job on the release Jim.

[JimD]

Next step is to install the pull pin mechanism. This was made from a piece of brass tubing and 4-40 push rod wire.








And we added some filler to blend the fin into the fuselage.

[JimD]

Before the nose blocks are added, the tow release needs to be installed. Peter has designed a simple release that uses a "U" shaped piece of wire with a pull pin type release. The wire was sanded and crimped to give better adhesion with the epoxy.


The pull pin will be on the top side of the wire "U" and the forces will be downward on the front of the "U". This means that wire behind the front bulkhead will want to move upward. To help resist this force, we cut pieces of 1/8" plywood to epoxy along the top side of the wire.



A West Systems 404 filler and epoxy mixture was used to secure the wire and plywood strips in place (first one side and then the other). Fuselage was tilted on its side so that epoxy mixture would pool nicely over the parts being secured.




Note the saw cuts we made in the top fuselage spruce stringer in order to get the necessary flex to bring the sides in to the front bulkhead. We also used water to wet the plywood fuselage sides to assist with this bending process.

[Tango Juliet]

Estes BT-5 model rocket body tubes work as well. And judging from the photo, the Estes tubes may be a thinner wall, and thus lighter still.

[JimD]

Some may consider this as adding excess tail weight, but i like having these guide tubes for the servo wires rather than having those wires slopping around inside the fuselage. Yes, I know that the wires can be glued to the fuselage frame...but what if you want to remove them?

BTW...T-n-T Landing Products sells these light weight cardboard tubes:

http://www.tntlandinggear.com/phenolic_wing_tube_sockets.htm

They are at the bottom of the page of wing tube sockets.

They are 36" long, so I joined two of them to make the length needed for the Swallow.

[ARUP]

At least there isn't any color on 'em! Like 'red'!

[JimD]

Epoxy is set so flipped wing over to do the other side of the wing tube.



Now that the fuselage sheeting is nearing completion, time to start thinking about adding the nose cone.



Seems like it should be simple, but orientation these large balsa blocks are sort of a Rubrics Cube!

[Tango Juliet]

The advantages of a kit.

[ARUP]

You're moving right along!

[JimD]

Time to sand out the last of the bottom fuselage sheeting!

[JimD]

Time to break out the West Systems and epoxy the tube into this wing panel.

First thing is to scuff the shine off of the tube, then mix, apply, and wait!







While that is curing, we fixed a minor issue with the stab servo covers. We noted that the screw holes in the servo covers are aligned with just the edge triangle pieces on one side. Solution was to cut small pieces of 1/8" square basswood to make these wider.

[JimD]

Time to cut the wing tube sockets.

Fuselage is about 7-1/2" wide and each wing has a channel for the socket that is about 12-1/4" deep.




That totals up to a length of about 32"

The carbon tube sockets are about 19-5/8" long



If you cut off a 7-1/2" piece, it leaves you with another piece about 12-1/8" long.



Now you have a tube for the fuselage and one for the wing. The other tube will be cut the same way and the 7-1/2" piece will be excess.

The solid wing rod is slightly over 27-1/4" long. This means that a spacer will need to be added inside each wing tube so that the rod will be centered within the three tubes.



We cut a 5/8" wide piece of 1/8" plywood to make a spacer for inside the wing rod tube. This extends 2-3/8" inside the tube and will be epoxied inside the tube and positioned perpendicular to the shear web that is abuts.





All of the parts are dry fit to check before adding epoxy to bond everything together.

[Tango Juliet]

I think he is too.