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Hi again everyone!
Yep, a new construction... I know, I know: after the horrible incident of my Topaze in Vermont last September, I clearly remember myself saying "never again an old-timer!!!"... Well, you know how we all are, there's nothing like the smell of balsa dust and cyano in the morning!! So here we go again. My choice of plane was dictated essentially with the gained experience of the Topaze build: I wanted a model of comparable size (4,5 meter wingspan), but a simpler design (no all moving stab, for instance). One other thing to be considered was that I expected a three parts wing with a sturdy central section. After some researches, the decision was made for the Slingsby Skylark 3B, modelled in 1987 by John Elliot. The cool thing is that our good friend Marc Beaupre also offers a short kit (wing ribs and fuse formers) for a very reasonable price!! I ordered the plan and canopy from Trapplet UK, and the parts beautifully laser cut by Marc arrived a couple of weeks later. Here's a short build-log of the plane...
The construction started by the fuselage; classical build: 1/8" balsa planking on the formers, and a lot and a lot and a lot of sanding afterward. To be continued...
Yep, a new construction... I know, I know: after the horrible incident of my Topaze in Vermont last September, I clearly remember myself saying "never again an old-timer!!!"... Well, you know how we all are, there's nothing like the smell of balsa dust and cyano in the morning!! So here we go again. My choice of plane was dictated essentially with the gained experience of the Topaze build: I wanted a model of comparable size (4,5 meter wingspan), but a simpler design (no all moving stab, for instance). One other thing to be considered was that I expected a three parts wing with a sturdy central section. After some researches, the decision was made for the Slingsby Skylark 3B, modelled in 1987 by John Elliot. The cool thing is that our good friend Marc Beaupre also offers a short kit (wing ribs and fuse formers) for a very reasonable price!! I ordered the plan and canopy from Trapplet UK, and the parts beautifully laser cut by Marc arrived a couple of weeks later. Here's a short build-log of the plane...
The construction started by the fuselage; classical build: 1/8" balsa planking on the formers, and a lot and a lot and a lot of sanding afterward. To be continued...
Attached Files
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. The three parts wing is now almost done. Quite conventional build, except that precision needs to be there at the two outer joining sections. I followed the designers' instructions, and built one half central section in the same time as the connecting outer wing panel, so that everything is as aligned as possible. The outer panels are joined to the central main section with carbon blades and rods. I also constructed the canopy frame and fitted the canopy on the frame and fuse; so far, I'm rather pleased with the results
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