FW Models ASW-17 is here!

[yyz]

Great work, Tom. Add yaw string, balance and you're good to go!

[tewatson]

Spent the past few days working on detail bits. Wing tip wheels required a bit of re-profiling work on the base, then painted them with automotive urethane. The airframe is also supplied with very scale wing linkage fairings, in the event one uses a top-exit arrangement (as I did).

Finally, added the call sign...double X-ray flies again!

[yyz]

Tom, as always, was very thoughtful and thorough in his description of his build and all of that effort has really been a gift. I can't thank him enough.

I only diverged from his build in one way: driving the elevator with two servos. Likely overkill on my part but I wanted the peace of mind that a redundant setup brings.

While I started out trying to put two thin wing servos in the tail, it ended up being a multi-day fools errand so I decided to use independent bellcranks driven by carbon pushrods attached to servos behind the main landing gear. This method ended up taking quite a bit of real estate in the tail so I will have to use a pushrod for the rudder as well. All of this likely saves a bit of weight in the tail but, for a glider of this size, likely won't matter much.

The only thing I did remotely Watson-worthy was to use these pushrod guides from McMaster-Carr to support the pushrods mid-way down the fuselage:

https://www.mcmaster.com/6126K44/

And a link to the pushrods purchased from Goodwinds Composites:

https://goodwinds.com/20015.html

The bellcranks were fashioned from 3/32" G10 with some carbon reinforcement. The bearings are brass tubing.

Mike

[tewatson]

Pretty clever, especially the slotted bellcranks to allow for the offset stab pin arc.