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More shear webs! A pocket was created between the spars so that a 1/4" marine ply joiner could be fitted. CF tow used to reinforce this area. The outer panel cantilever form this point so strength is needed here. Letting glue dry. More filler blocks added. These receive the wing alignment pin and tube. The wings were jigged while the joiner's brass tubes' epoxy cured.
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The two piece wing will capture the fuselage pylon. Making servo leads. They are 'ganged' onto a single 'double servo' plug so that flap and aileron connections can't be connected incorrectly. Now that the servo leads are finished the wings were 'locked' by gluing the 'D' tube LE sheeting in place. The wings were put back down on the board for this to maintain 'straightness'. Straight wing... well... no twists! Cap strips were glued in place. Contact cement used to apply the 1/64" ply. The white paper keeps them apart until everything aligned. You get one chance! Slide the paper out to stick things together. The last picture just shows how I pre-stain stock. In this case it's the 1/64" plywood cladding.
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Fancy tool to hold the cap strips. Dion, this picture is for you, buddy! You can put top and bottom cap strips in place and then adjust before glue sets up. They will hold the cap strips without using pins which might split the wood otherwise. Lower wingtip surfaces got glassed to provide scuff resistance. Storage box built. Tail jigged at proper incidence then the wing incidence set at pylon. A 'dummy' wing section used as a drill guide for the wing joiner rod to pass. The pylon had been a slip fit until getting to this stage. Once everything had proper incidences set the pylon got glued in place. CF tow reinforces the pass through holes. Ply added in front of pylon.
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Michael,
Glad to get in on the start of one of your builds. Turns out your half way done. Shazam ! your fast.
I stop in here now and then to see if any works of art are being created. Glad to have found another.
Hope you have been doing well.
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Kevin, thanks for the compliment but I must confess this sailplane build is a 'retread' and the model has already flown. The builds were posted on the previous aerotowing website so were lost. I asked Len if he'd like me to post them again so here they are! I had posted them on other websites but took them down after one too many insulting comments and benign post removals on various threads by the web administrators. I'll 'lurk' but I probably won't post on those sites anymore. If anyone wants to see a sailplane build from me then they'll find them here and no where else! No malice here!
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The struts were built of spruce with 1/64" ply. The jury struts were added,later. One end of the jury strut fits onto a wire stub at the strut and the other end gets a fitting for attaching to the wing. The strut end fittings were epoxied then the model was jigged in alignment while the epoxy cured. There are five attachment points for each strut. The inter wing connectors and their anchor blocks were fitted prior to setting the struts. A gap cover will keep the bolts from coming out. Beauty shots!
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Lightening the tail. This saved a few grams. Every little bit helps! Fitting more 1/64" ply using contact cement. Special 'scoring' cut in ply to fit elevator LE. The same was done for the rudder. The ply was extended over the gap to create a shroud on the fin and stabilizer. A wheel collar was soldered to a tab then this assembly was glued into the stab. When the stab is put on the fuse the grub screw on the collar can be tightened to keep the stab in place. A small access hole was drilled through the ply for the Allen wrench. The Allen wrench can be seen in action in the photo. Don't you just love action shots!?
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Tail feathers done! Masking tape technique to cover wings. The bottom wing surface has an undercamber so the covering was put in place starting at the front, across the cap strips front to back and center to ends then onto the TE. The fabric was pulled tightly and the iron was only needed to get rid of the fold lines in the fabric from packaging. Some folks say you 'have' to use heat. You 'may' use it but you don't 'have' to use it. If it weren't for the fold lines I wouldn't need the iron. Multiple ways to skin the proverbial cat! The last pictures show some residue left on the structure by the masking tape. It is easily removed by rubbing the tape, pulled from model, onto the affected area to pull the residue off.
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Done! Hatch getting covered in 1/64" ply using contact cement as adhesive. Threaded brass tubes can be seen.
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All ply skinning done! A pine nose block was rough shaped and fitted. Masking tape used as an ablative 'indicator'. When the tape starts to disappear then quit sanding (or be extremely careful to not cut into the ply). Varnish will 'level' everything. The nose block and the rest of the fuselage got another coat of stain. It is still wet as can be seen in the picture. Varnish brushed onto structure and, boy, does the wood color 'pop'!
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More varnishing! Beauty! The covering goes from white to translucent with application of varnish. Skid made from Ash, soaked in hot water then placed on a jig to dry. Don't use any ammonia unless you don't mind embrittling the wood! Allowances made for spring back. Making parts to attach skid to fuselage. The 'O' ring shock absorbers made from auto hose. The white threads in the tubing were colored with a black ink Sharpie pen.
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Brass tube used to ease nylon Allen head bolt through the 'O' ring. This bolt secures 'O' ring to fuselage. A 'T' nut put into 'O' ring and a Pan head nylon bolt secures the skid to the 'O' ring. Look ma... no hands! Ply used to detail cockpit enclosure. A penlight bulb was sacrificed to make the compass glass, A pegboard package rivet was used for a bezel. The compass card was drawn on paper then stuffed inside. There are no known pictures of the 'Balestruccio' instrumentation or panel so this is spurious. It's fun, though!
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Michael, so sorry that things went that way.
Please give me a heads up when you start a new build. I would be delighted to follow.
Kevin
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Thanks, Kevin! It is what it is, right? Their loss! Keep checking in for I have been drawing plans for a new model. I was going to build it 'under the radar' and surprise everyone at the 2016 Horizon Hobby Aerotow but I think I'll go ahead and put it on here to help keep activity levels up. I think the AMA/FAA crap has slowed things some for everyone. It definitely put me in a funk... those bastards! After I put the Vampyr on here I'll post the new build. It'll be sometime at the end of February. It will be extremely unique to say the least!Comment
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More stuff! Proctor Enterprises instruments were used, too. The tow release is a piece of dowel sanded to shape, stuck onto a paperclip wire then dipped in orange dope a few times. A tiny brass rivet used to contain the release. The venturi is a brass tube wrapped with two thin paper segments at its ends (difficult to see the detail). It has a center of brass sheet soldered then pierced to receive the cone. The cone is aluminum wrapped to shape and sanded. Air can really go through it! It is mounted on a stalk of music wire to resemble a tube.
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