Tweet
Yeaaaaa Vampir..... Its just not an event until the little guy shows up on the flight line. Bravo Michael.
-
Len Buffinton
Team Horizon Hobby -
Dobranoc! All the edges have been rounded. The tail feathers will be removable. Pulling a hinge pin allows the elevators to be removed as the elevator horn is slid out of its 'drive tube'. The same set up was done on the Eaglet and works nicely. Here are the components loose, dry fitted then soldered and with the push rod clevis hole drilled.
The elevator horn's push rod end is canted forward to clear the fin post end of the fuselage. The 'drive tubes' will get let into the elevators as the hinges are installed.
Pozniej!Comment
-
Znowu ja! The hard points were glued into the stab. Two are to mount the stab onto fuselage and two are for cables to attach. The cables and turnbuckles will get set up later. The fin and rudder outlines are made up of laminations just like what was done for the stabilizer and elevators. The wide one was cut in half length wise to make the two rear-most rudder curves. After the outlines were scarfed together and re-inforced with 1/64" ply at the joints the internal structure was put in place along with gussets and a rudder horn mount. Everything will get sanded fair once the glue has dried. The alignment pegs will get glued into the fin's bottom surface and corresponding holes will receive them in the stab.
PA!Comment
-
So what is your go to adhesive on this build Jelly?
Is it CA or Alphatic?
Jeremy
SCC
AAA TT TN
Comment
-
Jeremy, I know you asked for glue used for this build but here is what I do for every build, sailplane or otherwise. CA gives me a runny nose so I would say I have an allergy to it. The only time I might use CA is to make a quick jig or fixture. I do this outdoors to avoid the fumes. Otherwise, I am just not a fan of it for my style of building. For me, it is difficult to sand relative to the softwood surround. If others like using it then... great! I usually buy Elmer's wood glue (aliphatic) by the gallon because I use a lot and it doesn't cost much but I bought Titebond last time because Elmer's was sold out. They work pretty much the same. I have had absolutely no glue failures with aliphatics as some have reported on other, less informed, websites!!! The wood lets go first! I would have no problems gluing firewalls to airframes using it but since I like the fuel proofing associated with epoxies I use them. I have a nice stash of Ambroid for joining sheets of wood or for glue joints that will show after sanding. Ambroid is the best! Sig-ment and Duco cements come close. 3 Rivers Archery sells a fletching cement (nitrocellulose cement) by the can which is very good. I have fletched arrows (I'm a recurve kind of guy! Now... if I could only learn to knap flint broadheads like my buddy BillyB...) with it but have never glued wood together and sanded it for a test. 30 minute epoxy and longer cure finishing resins are also used. These are used to laminate CF tow into wood or for applying fiberglass cloth to structures. If I lay up fiberglass items with polyester resins then the same is used to add details to these parts. It takes a little time to cure if temperatures aren't above 70F so I only do this in the summer and... outdoors because polyester resins stink. Sometimes, I use RC56 for canopies. Lastly... contact cements, like what is use to put down linoleum flooring, work really well. The Prufling and Balestruccio have 1/64" ply stuck onto their frame work using contact cement. You get one chance to stick the parts together correctly because the wood gets destroyed taking them apart. I think I covered them all. There you are!
Dobranoc! I put the elevator horn in position so you can see the clearance needed at the fin post. The fin and rudder are done. The stab was aligned then pinned onto the fuselage then the mounting holes were drilled. 6-32 bolts and 'T' nuts will keep the stab in place. The 'T' nuts were secured with 30' epoxy at their surface and onto the stab mount plate. The bolt heads are proud of the surface so the fin's bottom edge was clearanced for these. Next, pilot holes were drilled into the stab and through the fuselage. The holes were enlarged in the stab and fuselage to fit aluminum guide tubes for wood dowels located in the fin. What was done was to dry fit the tubes and pin the fin to the stab then push a sharpened dowel segment up through the tubes and into the fin's base. This provided a 'punch mark' guide for drilling the fin to receive the dowels. Then all was taken apart, glued then re-positioned for the glue to dry. What is neat about this set-up is the aluminum tubes are proud of the stab mount surface so the stab can be placed in proper position easily then its bolts screwed in place without fiddling around for alignment. The wood dowels glued in the fin are long enough so the fin LE won't 'rise up' at speed. Cables and turnbuckles will secure the tail feathers relative to each other. Split pins will allow easy disconnect for dis-assembly as is done for the Vampyr and Eaglet.
PA pa!Comment
-
Mike, about the fletching glue. Are you buying it in a big supply? If so, how are you applying it? I have used it before and it's kinda like plastic model airplane glue if I remember correctly. I usually am using the smaller tubes of it and it can be deposited in small amounts on the fletchings. -
We bought one can that is a pint(?) but I don't have it in front of me. It is at my buddy's house. We use those cheap plastic 'artist's' brushes found at the toy section of the Dollar General Store. They are small enough to apply the glue to the arrow shaft and then to the fletchings. He has the tools for coating the wood shafts and I bought the fletching jigs as a sort of community effort!
-
-
OK, I think you covered my question
Jeremy SCCAAA TT TN
Last edited by Swiss1; 02-22-2019, 04:51 PM.Comment
-
With that emoticon I take it the answer is not to your standards. If you don't think you will like the answer then don't ask the question. You needn't visit this or any of my threads in future.Comment
-
Wiecej! These are 'loose ends' pics. The hinges for the tail feathers have been epoxied in place. A long music wire hinge pin allows them to be taken apart. Also, the elevators can be put either side of the stab for they are mirror images of each other. You can see how the aluminum tubes, proud of the surface, are able to guide the stab and then the fin once the stab is bolted down. The next pics shows where clay was stuck into one end of the brass elevator horn guide tubes before they were epoxied into the elevators. Rudder horn components are shown before and after assembly and paint. The elevator horn is shown in situ as is the rudder horn. Some pics show how dowels reinforce the structure (I hope!). The dowels are just toothpicks. Wood glue was worked into drilled holes via music wire before the dowels were hammered home.
Dobranoc!Comment
-
I can't start the wings until the Aircraft Spruce cap strip stock order arrives so I started covering the tail feathers. Sig Mfg. Stix-It was brushed on the perimeter of the structures then Koverall was attached using iron. The pics show some stages of the process. Use sharp blades to remove the fabric. To avoid the 'fuzzies' Stix-It was brushed onto the fabric at the edges and allowed to dry before the fabric was trimmed. I used a lot of leftover Koverall so that has been saving some $$$!
The second pic show an elevator and the rudder above the stab.
Stodkie sny!Comment
-
Dzien Dobry! Parts are getting assembled and cut so the wings can get started this weekend. The wing rod has its wing tubes cut to length, spar stock is ready and ribs will get cut out. The drawing shows one pair of landing wires/cables(?) and a set of stabilizing struts just like what is done for the Vampyr. The sticky point is the wing is drawn as if there is no 'D' tube. If that is truly the case then something has to be done in order that the wing not twist with aileron input. That would create some roll reversal, adverse yaw or whatever it is called. One thought was to put a 'mini- D' tube in the LE so that the LE ribs noses would still be proud. It would tie the fore spar and LE together. The second option is to add more cables and keep the spar simple. The second route it is! Stay tuned for more build pics!
Do widzenia!Comment
-
Dzien dobry! Cookie tins were used as forms for the curved tips of the ailerons. 3/32" balsa was soaked in hot water (remember...no ammonia) then clamped onto the tins to dry. When dry the laminates were put together with aliphatic glue and are drying as I type.
Do widzenia!
Comment
-
Znowu ja! The aileron curved tips were sanded to smooth them out but they will need to be tapered in thickness, later. All the ribs were cut out and their noses were trimmed to receive the false LE. The two outermost aileron ribs were blocked up on their TEs to account for washout as they were pinned to the stack for the nose job. The false LE will lay squarely against them by doing this and not be twisted. 3/32" balsa Laminates for the swept portion of the LE were soaked in hot water then put on a form to dry. They get glued later. All the ribs are shown at their stations. There aren't many!
Pozniej!Comment
-
Csesc wszystkim! A tool was made to shape the wing tube shear webs. These shear webs will encapsulate the wing tube within the spar. The spars had a small segment glue to them so that this portion of the spar is as wide as the wing tube.
In the picture above you can see the wing tube cradled in half of its shear web. One done... a whole bunch more to go!
Dobranoc!Comment
-
Witamy! The first picture shows the spars, wing tube packing supports and two 1/4" ply root ribs which were cut tonight. The next series of pictures show how the wire TE will be captured. Aluminum tube segments were cut to length, slotted one end with a Dremel cut off wheel then the 'ears' of the tubes peened over a mandrel. The really blurry picture is supposed to show how a radius on the anvil was used to 'fine tune' the wire pass-through on the tube. These tube will get let into each rib and 1/64" ply either side will secure them. This worked well on the Charlotte so I'm using this method again!
The tubes were squeezed in the vise to the thickness of the ribs. In the last picture the two tubes on the right have their pass-through holes at an angle. These are the ribs next to the ailerons which are a little longer than the others.
Dobranoc!Comment
Comment