Steve Houghton

Pushing On The wings are now sheeted and joined. Foolishly I sheeted the left panel before joining them together. I feared a poor join coming up, but thanks to the fabulous G&M wing jig I was able to pin and weight the panels into the jig absolutely flush together whilst the epoxy set, without being able to clamp the two R1s together: Straighten up the Ply Right! Having completed the remaining wing sheeting, I trimmed the wing seat in the fuselage to see how well the leading edge fitted against F4 before fixing the 5mm ply facing. It was a poor fit, and rather than sanding away at the wing I glued a shim of 1/16" balsa behind the ply. I could then dry fit this and sand away at the balsa shim to level it up against F4. When satisfied, I finally glued the ply into place. The shim is just visible here, needing about 1/16" on one side and virtually nothing on the other. This is the bottom of the wing: Fattening Up I bought 3/8" thick TE stock but found it to be slightly undersize for my wing. I laminated a layer of 1/32" balsa to the underside of the TE, where it wouldn't show. I then sanded the top of the TE to fit, rather than risk thinning the lamination to nothing and leaving a thin glued edge that would probably lift in places: What, no torque rods? The torque rods will need to be flush with the lower surface of the wing to cope with the bottom hinged flaps. I thought it best to fit the root TE first, and then cut slots underneath for the full length torque rod tubes afterwards. That way I was more likely to get the TE correctly aligned with the wing profile, having the full depth of TE to glue on. Here's the top view: The slots have not yet been cut, until I finish the wing seating area. (is it June already?!!)   Edited By Steve Houghton on 04/06/2020 23:27:34

Root blocks I nearly forgot - I added a few extra blocks around the wing dowel area. Some in-fill between R1 and R2 to prevent R2 from distorting or collapsing sideways when drilled for the dowel, and small gussets outboard of R3 to support the LE a little more:

Steve, Great progress. I'm following your glassing with interest as I've never tried it myself. Keep us informed about the pitfalls and tips as you go. I'm toying with glass-cloth and Poly-C (for the first time), which will be somewhat less resilient than glass, but stronger than film.

A Screw Loose I'm pleased that the replacement screws for the HS-125MG have now arrived and one has been successfully fitted to replace the stubborn one. Hatch-It The aileron servo hatch covers are supported on 1/32" ply panels with 1/8" ply lugs for the screws: A small border all around with three strategically placed screw mounts, which just about allow the servo to be inserted. This was always going to be tight, with round hatches limited in diameter by the rib spacing: Like the proverbial square peg into the round hole, the servo nestles neatly into place: Batten down the hatches Hatch covers will be neatened up later, and will have pushrod holes cut appropriately. I thought about Martin and Gordon's hidden pushrod idea, but don't think I'll have clearance for the servo arm to make it work: Graffiti I hope no-one looks closely at the reverse side of the hatch covers, but I laminated an annular ring of 1/32" ply onto the 1/32" disk, making 6-ply in all, which is slightly more resilient than a single layer of 3-ply 1/16". The centre of the ring was in-filled with 1/32" balsa, then someone came along and scribbled all over them and left epoxy finger prints - sorry! Roll your own I used the old method of rolled gummed paper round a balsa strip former to make oval tubes to guide the servo wires complete with plug, leaving the tube former in place whilst glueing, to prevent tube collapse: The tubes are just long enough to let the plug reach the inner end: Hinge blocks added, and the two wing panels are ready for sheeting and joining:

Hi Pete, That's a very kind offer, for which many thanks. However, I've just placed an order for some spares. Looking online I've discovered that the screws for HS-125MG are M2.2, and standard Hitec servos are M2.6. No chance of sourcing these from my 'regular' size hardware trinkets box then! So far, all the KSTs fit together nicely. I'm having a go at programming my JR DSX-9 TX today. It'll be the first time I've programmed any mixes for flaps/crow brakes etc., but the manual has a good section about setting up a four servo glider wing. Regards, Steve

Pete, Thanks for your useful experience comments about the servos. I know the KSTs are OTT on power, but they weigh only a few grams more than micro servos - 24g each. I've just found that the HS-125MG arm mounting screw doesn't fit on one of the servos, and I can't work out what the thread size is. The screw from the other servo fits either, so the thread in the output gear isn't damaged. Trying other screws I found that M2 is too small and M2.5 is too big, so what can it be? I may need to buy a replacement horn & screw set. It looks like HS-125MG has a unique set.

Tony, I agree with Martin about the development of new skills during each mass build. This was my first planking attempt as well, but I now have another technique under my belt (I hesitate to call it 'skill' after one attempt!). I like your neat work.

Hi Chris, If there's going to be a prize for best fitted cockpit, you'll be right in there with a chance. Looking forward to seeing it develop.   Edited By Steve Houghton on 12/04/2020 17:39:16

Very smooth and neat as usual, Phil. I like your facing strips at the bottom of the rudder. I'm hoping to make mine flap, so I may use your idea for added protection.

Thanks, Harry and Phil. The KSTs were a very reasonable price from Phoenix models, comparable price to HS-65MGs, and I bought the HS-125MGs for a bargain price during the Barnstormers' closing down sale. I'm trying to find anything else to do before returning to the complicated tail end bearings and fairings - I'll probably finish skinning the wings and mounting the fuselage servos next.

Torque of the Town I'm using a hybrid wing servo solution, with in-wing mounted aileron servos and torque rods for flaps. Noting Phil's advice on another thread about possible damage to flaps on a low-winger, I thought that thin torque rods would provide a little 'give' in the event of the flaps catching on landing. Hence, Radio Active 14swg rods from Blackburn Models - 7.5inches long. Slimmers World I'm using slim wing servos, at 10mm thick. Hitec HS-125MGs for ailerons and KST DS135MGs for flaps. I've always wanted to try KSTs, and am hoping the slightly stonger gear train than the Hitec will provide more resilience against flaps getting caught on landing and damaging the gears: Mountings are cut from 5mm ply: The tabs on the top of the aileron mount below (one marked 'L' are actually spacers to keep it the correct distance from the spar, and parallel to the trailing edge of the wing. Here the servo is resting on the top of the mount, but will be fixed below it in the wing, for bottom driven aileron horns: A few recesses cut into the wing for the aileron servo, which will hang under the mount: A few recesses more for the flap servo, which will sit atop the mount: Drop the mounts into place and thankfully everything fits nicely: The shot below shows the spacer tabs on front of the mount, ensuring that the pushrod exits perpendicular to the trailing edge. I'm not a great lover of angled rods - they never run smoothly for me! I've mounted it one rib bay nearer to the root than shown on the plan, so that the wire reaches the root cavity without needing a buried extension plug, and also keeping the weight further forwards: I've not yet mounted the circular access panels, but am hoping to use a 3-screw retention: The KST flap servo is also parallel to the trailing edge, for a straight pushrod. It's mounted as far forward as possible without bringing the torque rod ends too close to the centre of the wing. As other builders have noted, the wing bolt plate will need some recesses to be cut to clear the torque rods, and the servo plus mount must all be flush inside R3, so as not to foul the F14 fuselage keels: Mounting Pressure Now, I just need a way to mount those aileron servo access hatches......