Dave Wilson

Richard: cheers mate. had a look at your thread, nice one, see you had the same idea about the aileron servo   Andy: need to get out of bed quicker mate  lol See you at weekend if weather permits

Wednesday 03 June 2009 Again, it has been one of those stages of the build where concentration and getting on with the build has caused me to forget to take pics of the various bits I am doing. So, sorry, you will just have to see the final product as there is no way I will strip it all off and start again just to take pics Before I got on with the dreaded Covering, I need to get the Lights in. I got a full lighting system from BRC Hobbies for £20 + P+P 2x White Fast Flashing Strobe Lights 2x Red Slow Flashing Collision Lights (Certainly need them ) 2x Nav Lights, one Red one Green 2x Landing Lights All neatly packaged running off one circuit board that can be plugged into RX for power or run off a separate battery. I am opting for running off a separate battery as a lot of servo’s are going to be run off the flight battery. As I am sticking with finishing the fuselage first, I only have two lights to put in. Top and bottom Red Collision light. I had carved a groove down the centre of the top and bottom 1cm thick sheets before gunging them to the fuzz in readiness for the wiring to go through AND! Put the string in so I could pull the wire’s through later. So, now is the easy task of taping the wire to the string and pulling it through the fuzz and cementing the LED light into place. Simple task apart from a little bit of glue must have got onto the string inside the fuzz so it had jammed . A couple of quick tugs (hoping the string would not snap) and it came loose and I was able to pull the wire through for the light on the top of the fuzz. The bottom fuzz light pulled through with no problem and both lights are now glued into place and working. Another little job was the tail wheel. As I said before, the plan shows a ‘Castor’ type wheel and I wanted a Steerable Tail Wheel The only ones I could get have thin wire for the wheel to go on and don't look very stable. Flimsy as it was, I attached the steerable tail wheel unit to the bottom of the fuzz but then realised the tail wheel I am using was far to big for the wire leg. Looking at the tail wheel unit closely I noticed that the wire leg was soldered into place on the bearing and wondered if I could de-solder the wire and replace it with a larger one. Rummaging through my spares box I found an old unit with the same thin wire leg so got out the soldering iron and turned it up to full for the job. After a few minutes, the wire came free from the bearing. Finding a suitable gauge piece of piano wire I bent it into shape and re-drilled the hole, where the original wire had been, to size. I then fitted the new wire leg and soldered into place. This was just a practice to see if it would work with the intention of converting the one I had fitted. BUT, I have done such a good job on it and it is solid, I have decided it would be more simple just to take the original one off and replace it with this one. All I needed to do was epoxy a control horn onto the bearing and job done. Next bit of detailing was the exhaust pipe. Not shown on the plan as the I/C exhaust would be used. I used a scrap piece of ally tubing for this. All that was needed was to cut to length, drill a hole in the cowl and I used a Hot Melt Glue Gun to gunge it into place. I will use dry brush painting method to weather it later with a bit of silver, brown and red to give it a USED exhaust look. Now for the Covering. With all the little jobs done on the fuzz, (the ones that can be done at this stage) it was time to put the Solatex on. A job the feared and was not looking forward to doing . Starting Small! The rudder was the smallest part to cover so I readied the iron and cut the solatex to rough size and shape. Starting on one side of the rudder, I followed the instructions, Tacking down, sealing the edges then going over the whole thing to seal and shrink. As it turned out, it was a lot easier than I thought and I didn’t do a bad job of it. I turned the rudder over

Well it’s been a few weeks since the last post when I was a little worried about fitting the wing seats. Time has not been wasted though, I have managed to crack on and get quite a lot done. INCLUDING the dreaded wing seats. Thin ply had to be tack glued onto the wing fillets from front to rear of the wing cut out on the fuzz The wings then had to be bolted into place then the thin ply taped to the wings. Small scraps of balsa had then to be glued to the fuzz and the ply so that the ply would seat closely against the wing. A lot of adjustment and fiddling had to be done to get the ply spot on and it was a good hour or two before I was happy with the results and get on with the next bit. The plastic moulded fillets had to go on now, the rear ones first. After an hour of fiddling with the things I downed tools and set off to an exotic pet shop in Manchester and purchased a PARROT!!!! " The phrase “TRIM A LITTLE AND TEST FIT” was repeated so many times, I thought I would end up whittling them down to nothing! EVENTUALY!! I got them to fit and gunged them on quick before I started to trim more off them out of habit. The Parrot came in handy again with the plastic moulded wing fillets, nibbling little bits off, sanding, test fit, repeat. Eventually I got them reasonably shaped and was able to glue them on. NOT HAPPY! I was not impressed with the join of the wing fillet and rear fillet. The instructions say to use a little filler on the joints so I tried it on one and was still not impressed. I did not want to peel them off and start again as I might damage them but I did realise why the joint was not so good. With all the handling, sanding etc. the thin wing fillets had become warm and warped out of shape a little. I blame it on the parrot for all the “Trim a little and test fit” Anyway, it is something I have to be more conscious about with the other moulded parts that have to go on later. I did however come up with a botch solution. I used some paper thin sheet balsa I had. I cut out a rough shape of the area I was going to cover, dampened the balsa and pressed it into shape against the wing fillets, pinned it into place an let it dry. I cut the piece over size so that it would overlap onto the fuzz and could be blended in with fine sandpaper. Once the balsa was dry it was on with the glue and nailed into place. It looked pretty good once it had all dried but needed a good sanding to blend the balsa into the fuss and fillets. I then give it a quick coat of primer to show up any blemishes that needed a final filling/sanding. With the wing fillets done, it was straight onto the next job. With so many mods needed to convert the model from I/C to ELECTRIC! I had lost track of the various stages of the build in the instructions. So, I thought the best idea would be to start at the front end and work my way back. The Battery Box was first. Remember I had to extend the front end and build a battery box and motor mount to replace the engine mount and fuel tank box? Right. I needed a way to get the battery into the box and a hatch cover. I had to cut the top part of the fuzz away to reveal the battery box in full. That bit was easy but then I have to make a hatch cover to replace the bit I cut off and figure a way to secure it on when flying. Before. After Building the hatch cover was easy enough and I came up with a cunning plan to secure it in flight. Being a penny pincher and a collector of all bits and bobs, I remembered hacking off anything I thought may be useful from my EX TRAINER that was mysteriously drawn to the ground at high velocity, braking into a million pieces. After a quick rummage through the bits I came up with the Magnets from the hatch cover. With magnets in place at the rear end of the hatch cover, the front end could be held in place by the cowl. The front of the hatch cover would just about slide under the cowl so the problem was solved. Magnet at the back and cowl securing at front Staying at the front end, the cowl was ready for fitting. The cowl is made up of three parEdited By David Ashby - RCME Administrator on 15/06/2010 07:11:10

Tuesday 05 May 2009 Time to get on with the fuselage……… First off I want to get the Servo Tray and Pushrod Tubing sorted. I decided to mount the servo tray under the Rear Pilot Cockpit area, easy to get at when the wing is off. A simple light ply sheet with a hole cut out for the spare servo tray from my TX Kit was all that was needed for the two servo’s being used to control the rudder/tail wheel and elevator. Another Mod! The tail wheel on the plan is the ‘Castor’ type. In other words it’s free wheeling, No Control! Being only a novice, I want some control on the ground, so, a simple ‘Stearable’ tail wheel is going on. I will be connecting a control rod to the Rudder servo so an extra tube is needed. Being a penny pincher and not wanting to waste any of the parts that came with the kit, I have used the tube provided for the RX antenna for the tail wheel push rod……. It works and saves a bob or two! Now I have the plumbing in, the fuz can now be fully skinned. Because of all the complex curves and shape of the fuz, sheeting is going to take a fair bit of time and patience. Dampening the sheet balsa, pinning to the fuz and waiting for it to dry before taking it off to apply the glue. Going back to a past model I built, after waiting for a couple of sheets to dry, I thought of a way to speed up the process using a heat gun……… I have Learned from a BIG MISTAKE!!!! Rapid drying causes the sheet balsa to shrink, twist and warp and therefore cause the fuz to do the same thing. I have learned to wait and let it dry in it’s own time…. And cut the sheet a little over size to compensate for shrinking. Sheeting done, next thing to do is nail a huge piece of 2” x 4” onto the bottom of the fuz. Well really it’s a 10cm wide 1cm thick piece of balsa that runs the length of the bottom of the fuz from the wing root to tail. The instructions say to glue the whole piece on and when dry, pre shape. I had a quick think about this one. The balsa is 10cm wide. At the tail end of the fuz, it’s only 2.5cm wide. That’s a lot of wood to cut off and with my shaky hands, risking cutting through the side’s of the fuz when trimming was a no go! I carefully marked out the measurements out on the plank of balsa, adding a few mil on the width just to be sure, then cut off the surplus before I glued it on. It made things a lot easier for me doing it this way so I will use the same method when it comes the time to do the Top of the fuz Now all that was needed when it was dry was to do a bit of sanding to get it more or less to the basic shape of the underside of the fuz. One thing I forgot to mention is I cut a groove down the centre of the underside of the balsa and a hole to the topside. This is so I can fit the wiring for the strobe light I am fitting. I also made sure I put the string in the grove and through the hole so I could pull the lighting wire through later. Now for the really fiddly bits. The part of the build that I have NOT been looking forward to doing. First bit is simple. Laminate two pairs of wing fillets and glue to both sides, front and back of the fuz at the wing root. Next is to fit Wing Seats, why have a cockpit when you can have seats on the wing??? Then fit the Wing Fuselage fillets and a load of scrap bits to hold them on. This is getting a bit complicated now so I ne

Tuesday 21 April 2009 Just could not resist these!   Had to see what it looked like             Edited By Dave Wilson on 03/06/2009 17:41:52

Tuesday 21 April 2009 OK. Last week sort of put a hold on the build. Monday and Tuesday was spent going out shopping with the other half for birthday presents "  . Wednesday was my daughters 21st so it was out on the town for a few glasses of the old falling down water . Thursday was spent recovering ops:" src="http://www.bmmfc.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_redface.gif" /> . Friday and Saturday was spent nurse-maiding the dog after his 3 hour operation on Friday morning . Then….. Sunday, the weather had the audacity to change into a really warm, calm, sunny day causing me to pack the car and go down to the field for a fantastic days flying…. I was very annoyed about that…..NOT! Anyway… Monday morning I got back to the build. Apart from forgetting where I left off, what I was doing and what I was supposed to be doing, I finally managed to get myself organised and get started, after a quick brew. Time to sort out the Aileron Servo’s. A couple of HS86’s would do for the ailerons so I started working out all the measurements, dimensions and materials that I needed to fix the servo’s in place. Ply was the obvious choice of mount, working out what type of mount was a different matter . I wanted to keep it simple, no complicated boxes, mounting brackets and silly stuff like that so I looked closely at the point in the wing where the servo’s needed to go. Now for my cunning plan! I decided that the simplest way to mount the servo’s was to cut a piece of ply to fit in the space between the ribs and the front and rear, top and bottom spars. The spars making good mounting points and gluing area, so the ply was cut to shape using a balsa template. Getting this ply mounting sheet in place was a totally different matter. I had previously glued all the rib caps in place and this is something I did not take into account before trying to fit the ply sheet . The only thing I could do was to carefully cut the rib caps off so the ply could be fitted in place. I must say, they are a perfect fit and do the job well. I glued in a couple of hard wood spars along the outer edges butting up to the ribs so the ply would have little or no flexing when the servo was operating. Once everything is in place, I will add a couple of horizontal spars, if needed, just to give it that bit more strength and support. Next was to mark out the position of the servo. I dry fitted the aileron in place and using a ruler butted up against the control horn, I marked a line on the servo mounting plate. This gave me an idea of where the servo would fit. I then fitted a control horn on the servo and lined up the end of the horn with the line drawn from the aileron control horn, Lining up the servo parallel to the line drawn. This gave me the exact position to fit the servo. With a hole cut in the ply, the servo fitted nicely and lined up with the aileron perfect. What I noticed at this point was that the servo was at an angle and not parallel to the wing ribs. I have only seen this on a few models and to me, it seems a lot better way than the norm. The reason being is that if the servo is fitted parallel to the ribs, the control rod is at an angle to the control horn on the aileron. This in my eyes puts a lot more strain on the servo and linkages than it would if everything was in direct line as in this case. If I am wrong, please correct me. With both basic servo mounts in place and the glue dry, I drilled the holes for the servo mounting screws, fitted the servo’s and fitted the extension leads. I did not forget to secure the joints of the servo lead and extension lead with insulation tape before pulling them through. A FIRST FOR ME! Tying the string to the end of the servo lead, I pulled them through the holes drilled in the ribs and through to the wing centre section. Once both leads had been pulled through, I fitted a ‘Y’ lead and taped it up against the bulkhead of the centre section…. I don't want them worming their way back into the wing once I have cut the string off! I fitted NEW rib caps to the top of the wing but on the underside,I decided that a sheet of balsa between the ribs (covering the servo) would be better for when it came to covering the wing. The idea came from the balsa template I made for the servo mount. IEdited By David Ashby - RCME Administrator on 15/06/2010 07:11:38

Monday 13 April 09 Just before the weekend, I got stuck into getting a bit more of the wings done. Next job on the list was to hack off the Ailerons and Flaps. These are cut from the Trailing Edge spar. Using a very fine saw blade, and shaky hands, I managed to release both flaps and ailerons from the wings. The tops had been sheeted previously but before the bottoms could be sheeted a couple of things had to be done inside the ailerons and flaps. Control Horns had to be fitted….. MORE LAMINTAING! Two pieces of balsa and one ply to form a mounting block for the control horn fixed into place with a dollop of epoxy. The control horn is then glued and screwed onto the block. Drying time over, the bottom sheeting can now be cut to size, slot cut to go over the control horn and glued into place. I am going to go off the subject now as it was at this point that “SHE WHO MUST BE OBAYED” started nagging me again to “Leave my toy alone” and get my backside down to B & Q to get some bits we needed to finish the bedroom. Reluctantly, I downed tools and transported said backside and the moaning misses to B & Q. I am glad in a way that I went as I made a very nice discovery. Looking through the adhesive department something caught my eye. Remember, a lot of PVA is used on this model and drying time can be a real pain. I noticed a bottle of Unibond No More Nails Express Wood Adhesive. Reading the label it is a form of PVA glue but has a much FASTER dying time, 5 minutes, and is very much stronger and lighter. It is also Water Proof. A little expensive at £4.80 a bottle but I thought it would be worth a try. Some of you may have used this glue before but for those who haven't, Get A Bottle! I tried it on some scrap and it works beautifully. Plenty of time to adjust bits into place and is workable in about 5 to 6 minutes. Now back to the flaps and ailerons. Epoxy dry on the control horn blocks and horns in place I used the new glue to fit the top sheet. Clamped in place, I had just finished boiling the kettle and making a brew when I checked the aileron just glued. Taking just a few of the clamps off showed that a good bond had been made so one by one the rest of the clamps came off . There was the odd spots where a few mill gaps showed but a drop of the old cyno cured them. So, two ailerons and two flaps done, using the new glue, and ready to be sanded in a fraction of the time it takes using normal PVA glue….. I’m Sticking with the NEW glue! Slots are then cut in the leading edge for the hinges and glued in with cyno. When all hinges are in place and dry, the flaps and ailerons can then be offered up to the wing to mark and cut slots for the hinges on the trailing edge of the wing. Not glued into place yet though, all have to be covered first so only a dry fit for now. Next is a bit of cosmetic detail, wing caps. A pre-shaped balsa rib is mounted on the end of each wing. This is so a blow moulded Wing End Cap can be mounted in a way that it will be flush with the wing sheeting. A little sanding and/or filling may be needed to blend the end cap and wing sheeting smoothly, but that has to be done later. As the flaps and ailerons have been cut from the trailing edge spar, they are quite a tight fit. The insruction manual calls for a little sanding of each end of both flaps and ailerons to get the correct fitting. I think I will be using my vertical sander for this one to keep everything nice and square All in all, the wing is taking shape nicely and that nagging doubt at the back of my mind about cocking up when I put the top wing sheeting on is gradually fading. After a fantastic weekend at the field , seeing Austin and Andy get their ‘B’ Cert and Steve getting his ‘A’ Cert

Monday 07 April 09 THE WINGS ARE DRY!!!! Late afternoon and the wings are finally dry. They look’s to me as though they have changed shape a little so I WAS a bit worried . After 15 minutes of measuring and checking, dihedral OK, no warps or twists and a dry fit of the Leading Edge, it all seems to be fine. Only Time Will Tell! It may be just me and the sheeting making it look different, I don’t know. I think I will get a better idea when it comes to fitting to the fuzz . Putting all this to the back of my mind for now (what was I talking about???) I got on with fitting the Rib Cap Strips. These are 1.5mm x 5mm balsa strips that cover the top and bottom of the ribs. This gives an even surface in which to cover the wings. Now a few days ago whilst on a trip to Leeds Models, I paid 48p in good faith for a sheet of balsa specifically for this job. SHOULD HAVE READ THE INSRUCTIONS FIRST!!!!! The instructions clearly state “Using the scrap from the die cut wing rib sheets. Cut wing rib caps to size and glue to top and bottom wing ribs ” Rib Caps cut from scrap So, the new sheet of balsa I paid so much money for goes in the balsa box ready for the next build and Caps, Wing Rib, for the use of, are duly cut from the scrap and glued on. Next job. The leading edges are glued in place. I have used Masking Tape to hold them on and WHEN they have dried, I can get on with shaping them. I don't know about you other Balsa Bashers, but I find shaping balsa with a Razor Plane is very relaxing and therapeutic….. Or is it just me being a bit weird??? I don't care, I love it.

[size=150][b]Monday 07 April 09[/b][/size] After a weekend at the field, I thought I had better get on with the build. Wings First. Still a lot to be done on them so first up is the Leading Edge sheeting. Bottom sheeting is simple :D . Cut to shape 1.5mm sheet balsa. From wing root to tip and from centre of the leading edge spar to just overlapping the false leading edge. Once happy with the dry fit, it was on with the gunge to glue it all down. It says in the instruction that [b]White PVA wood glue [/b]is to be used, so that’s what went on. Pinned down as far as I could, the sheet stayed in place. The same method was used for the other wing half. Once all was dry, it was time to do the dreaded top leading edge, one side at a time . The instructions called for the front leading edge spar to be pinned to the building block from root to tip. Sounds easy but trying to pin through hardwood spar was a nightmare! :evil: With a numb thumb it was well pined down after 20 minutes or so. Next the rear spar had to be pinned, easier this time as the spar is balsa. The spar had to be packed up with 3mm scrap at the root end and 6.5mm at the tip. This is done in order to give the wing the correct washout (it will be a washout if I don't get it right!) when complete. I do not fully understand what this means at the moment :? , a bit too technical for me so if someone could explain it would be a bit more knowledge under me belt. :geek: Again the balsa sheet was cut to size and dry fitted, well not completely dry as it needed dampening to form the correct curve of the wing. Once everything looked ok it was on with the gunge again and the sheet pinned in place. Now this is the boaring bit… It HAS to be completely dry before you can remove the wing from the building board to start the other side. Now as we all know, PVA glue can take months to dry so as I had a little time on my hands, I decided to cut out the shape of the cockpit. Very easy this bit. Use the template from the plan to mark out the shape of the cockpit and cut away. Both front and rear cockpit took all of 4—5 minutes to do so its brew and butty time till the PVA sets.         Glue is still no where near dry on the wings so a bit more work could be done on the fuzz to help the brew and butty go down. The mounting block for the Stabiliser and guide blocks for the fin was a good idea to be going on with so I cracked on with them. 2 pieces of 3mm balsa glued horizontally in place inside the fuzz, for the Fin Mount, with sections cut out for the fin to slot into was an easy enough job to do but the next bit was more LAMINATING. The mounting block for the stabiliser is a little more tricky. 2 pieces of pre-shaped balsa are laminated together to form part of the mounting block. Once dry, they are epoxied into place on the inside of the fuzz firmly up against F10 and the fuzz spar. Wait to dry, used 5 minute epoxy so had time for a quick fag. Then, another pre-shaped piece of balsa is laminated to the piece just glued in. This is glued on top of the fuzz spar and up against F10. Apparently, according to the instructions, it is done this way so as to retain the shape of the mounting block.         With both sides done, the wings are still not dry   but the smell of coffee helps my brain kick in! Why not use old Roy Leavers method of PVA/Cyno mix??? A minute sliver of the cyno on each rib and along the spar will cure the PVA so I can get on with the rest of the wing. Now for the DOWN side… just as I was about to take the pins out to lift the wing, I suddenly remembered that I had Sheeted the underside so there was no way of getting near the ribs…..  :evil: Perhaps if I open the cyno and let the fumes gently waft over the wing it may be enough to set the PVA, dream on, I will have to wait. :roll:

[size=150][b]Saturday 04 April[/b][/size] I got up this morning and it looked like a lovely day. So, I thought leave the build, pack the car and off down the field :P . 9.45am arrival and nobody about except a loan helli lad in deep depression because his battery had packed in :cry: . I offered my services to re-charge his battery, as he had not got a charger with him, and 20 mins later he was in the air. (lucky for him another hilli guy had turned up) 11.50am and still no one flying down the fixed wing patch and the weather beginning to turn . Sulking I gave up and came home to get on with the balsa bashing. Now before I left for the field, BIG surprise , the post man turned up with a hefty package for me, so as soon as I got home I tore into it…. How’s this for credit crunching prices and GOOD service to boot! Late Thursday I went onto the Giant Cod (rc supplies) website and put an order in. It all arrived this morning. Virtually Next Day delivery. The contents of said package are as follows: [b]One XHY50-55 400kv Brushless Motor[/b]: The chosen lump to get the chippy off the ground (or spare for the Texan) [b]Motor Mount and Prop Adaptor[/b]. [b]Bag of 10 pairs of Deans connectors[/b] [b]4 Servo extension leads[/b] [b]10 thingamywatsits[/b] that go on the dooberies on the servo that the push rod goes into which helps to give fine adjustment of the push rod All this for £45.75! And that includes P&P!! :shock:     I am a little disappointed because when I placed the order, he was out of stock of the 70amp ESC I wanted. At only £15, I am not really surprised he is out of stock. I have been promised though that he will send one on as soon as he gets some in :P . Another couple of goodies I got the other day are 2 scale pilots, well, one pilot instructor and one trainee pilot, after all….. It is a Training aircraft I didn’t like the paint detail on these pilots, too clean and shiny and not really authentic looking colours. A quick going over with fine sandpaper and a new coat of paint soon put that right. I hope I have done enough to create two different looking caricatures, one Instructor and one Trainee. The pic does not do them justice but see if you can spot the difference.         Whilst on the subject of cockpit detail I wandered off the subject of getting the wings and fuzz completed and started looking at the instrument panels. Both front and rear panels are the same and all that comes with the kit is a couple of rather sad looking stickers ( I could have said crap looking but I am trying to be polite :roll: )     Anyway, actual building was put on one side as I got distracted with the cockpit and started doing a bit of online research. I wanted the cockpit to have some sort of good detailing or it would just be a waste of space. I could not find a good photo of the instrument panel anywhere, either instruments missing, broken or both. The only way I could do it was to get pics of each individual instrument, re-size them and past them onto the original crappy stickers. I have downloaded an actual ‘Pilots Manual’ for the Chippy and found pics of all the instruments. Using Paintshop Pro, I have scaled the pics down to fit the original panel stickers. What I will do next, when all is done to perfection, is print off the new panels on sticky back photo paper ready to go into the cockpit..   There is a couple of knobs, dials, lights and switches to go on yet, but it's getting there and looks a lot better After all this mind wandering and side tracking, I think it’s time to get back to the build. I still have to sort out how I am fixing the [b]TWO[/b] servo’s in the wings, the flap servo or servo’s and get the plumbing in for the Elevators and Rudder before I can skin the fuzz………. My brain hurts with all that so I might just have another quick look at the cockpit to settle down again.

[size=150][b]Monday 31 March 2009[/b][/size] Before I started the Motor Mount/Battery Box, I finished off skinning the fuzz top half. Simple to do by dampening the balsa and pinning to the frame, Allow to dry, take it off and apply glue. Put back on and pin in place. All that is needed now is to cut out the shape of the cockpit areas, I will do that later.         [size=150][b]Now for the Big Mod[/b][/size] A lot of thought had to go into the Battery/Motor Mount Box. The supplied Ply is 1/4 inch and cut to form an angle at the front for the I/C Engine mount, this giving the correct thrust line for an I/C motor. An 8oz fuel tank is recommended and I know the battery I am using is over 8oz. Then there is the ESC and Flight Battery. Not knowing the weight of the recommended I/C motor, I had a guess and worked out that the ELECTRIC motor I am thinking of using may be a little heavier. So the only thing to do Is construct a New box out of lighter ply. I have already cut out the New F1 and some new extension spars so all I need to do now is measure out the dimensions for the new box and cut out the parts from 1.5mm light ply. Just to keep the weight down a little more, I decided to get the old dermal out and put in some lightning holes for good measure. I used triangular spars inside the box to give it a bit more strength and mounted a surplus ELECTRIC Motor mount box on the end all gunged together with a couple of barrow loads of epoxy.     I then marked on the outside the position of the original F1 and the new F1. Again using triangular spar for support and strength, I epoxied the new balsa and play laminate F! into position. (YES! I have painted the inside white.)       After a dry fit, YES! It was spot on! I slipped the box into place and bunged on another barrow load of epoxy. Once it had all dried, I then glued on the new supporting spars I made up.             The next head scratcher is the cowl. This will need a lot of adjusting as I have to get the battery in from the top. My plan is to cut the top of the fuzz away, the same length as the box, and make a battery compartment lid. This means I will also have to cut part of the top of the cowl to the same dimensions. For now, I think it’s brew time whilst I have a good think about this one. Or, I might get on with some other bits until I come up with a cunning plan. By the way, I started the box at 9.30am …. It’s now 7pm!

[b]Sunday 29 March 2009 11.45am[/b] The sky is blue, the sun is out, a gentile breeze, in all a gorgeous day for flying. So why am I not down at the field? Hospital AGAIN! :twisted: Had to go to the Pain Management Specialist this morning at 9.30am… On A SUNDAY! :?: He was a pain specialist all right, a Sado Masochists would be a more appropriate name for him. So, I am stuck at home trying to get the feeling back in my arms and legs whilst you lot are probably having the time of your lives at the field. BUMMER! Right. Back to the wings. For the past few days I have been tinkering and tweaking the wing halves and central wing section, dry fitting and more tweaking. I think I have now got the bottle to finally glue them together. It says in the instruction to “Pin the centre section to the building board” Problem ONE. The underside of the centre section looks like a roller coaster. Half a role of masking tape, hammer and nails and finally a spirit level to make sure the centre section was all as it should be and I’m ready to glue the first wing half on. Out with the cement mixer as a shed load of EPOXY is needed. The Dihedral is 7.5mm at the wing tip but it does not say exactly at what point of the wing tip it is to be measured….. At the leading edge or trailing edge???? I cut a block of soft wood to 7.5mm and fixed it to the bench at the wing tip as a guide, dry fitted the wing half, AGAIN, and it looked like it should be measured at the leading edge. Dry fitting the other wing half confirmed this so mixing of the epoxy began. A good dollop of epoxy on all the joints and the first wing half slides into place with no problem. A few scraps of wood under the wing helps keep it all in place as the epoxy dries. 20 minutes later a quick check shows it is all lined up as it should be. After another 30 minutes, a quick brew and butty, it’s time to gunge the other wing half in place. Problem TWO! No room on the bench so it’s off into the kitchen to bung it on the worktop. The other half of the roll of masking tape is used to get the centre section level and ready. No hammer and nails this time as ‘She who MUST be obeyed is watching. Another good dollop of epoxy applied to all the joints but this time the wing half is not going on as easy as the first. A little gentle persuasion with a 2lb lump hammer is all that’s needed and on she goes. Dihedral set up and scrap wood blocks in place to keep it all in position. I left it to dry for an hour whilst I got stuck into another brew and some bikkies then went to see if all was ok. Now it was at this point I realised something was missing. Nothing to do with any wing parts I had forgot, no, just I had not taken any photos of joining the wing halves. Sorry guys, all I got is the wings all joined up. By the way, they look to be ok, no twists, dihedral seems to be ok and even, so it looks like this could be the first set of wings I have made a proper job of…….. We Shall See when it is inspected! Next on the chopping block is the fuselage, another game of two halves! Like everything on this plan, the basic foundations and shape are cut to size and pinned to the plan first.         The keel and top spar are first up. Then, other temporary spars are laid and formers laid out and ready. More laminating to be done! There are two balsa F6’s, it does not say to laminate them but as they are just behind the wing trailing edge I thought it wouldn't harm and give it a bit more strength. Two other balsa/ply formers are to be laminated and after doing this, the shed door was opened as I was feeling like a hippy with all the fumes from the glue. (must get an extractor fan) Now to cyno the formers in place so out comes the ‘Square Block’ to make sure they are all at 90o/o Once all is dry and checked, its time for the spars. Again, like the wings, putting on the top spars has always been my downfall. So, a lot of dry fitting and measuring is done BEFORE I go anywhere near the cyno. Now this is where I found out I had made my first (and it wont be my last) Cock-up! The centre spar just would not fit into the last former at the tail end. I knew it had to bend and twist a little to form the shape of the fuzz, but no matter how good a contortionist it was, it just would not go in. For nearly an hour I measured, looked at the plans, read the instructions and went over it again and again but just could not figure out what was wrong. It wasn't until I looked very closely at the photo in the instruction book that I realised that I had put the former on upside down! My second heart attack! [b]VERY[/b] gent

[b]Like the wings lovey![/b] :D Right then, it’s the wings next. On every model I have built, the wings have always been a problem for me . I’ve always made a bit of a “Thomas Halls” of them and they have never turned out quite right. Mind you, they have always been [b]SCRATCH BUILT [/b]and these ones are [b]PRE-CUT![/b] So, lets see what mess I can make of these then. [b]Back to Laminating![/b] For the first 1/3 of the wing (from the root) the main front bottom and top spars are double thick. This means cutting a piece of spar to legnth, chamfering 2 inches off one end and laminating it to the main piece of spar. Simple enough so far! 2 top and 2 bottom are done in 10 minutes Now we pin the front bottom spar to the plan, pin the rear bottom spar (with 3 mill packing under) to the plan and start adding the ribs. Before adding the ribs, holes have to be drilled for the push rods that come from the servo in the centre wing section to the bell crank, to the elevator… (knee bone connected to the thigh bone etc) Remember I said I was not using this method but putting a servo in each wing?? Good job I dry fitted first! I was drilling holes in all the ribs for another mod I am doing when I suddenly realised I DO need to drill the holes as stated in the instruction. Why? Well for the servo leads to go through. See, my brain does work occasionally. For once, I got the ribs all spot on! All 90 0/0 to the building board and dead on line. No celebrations yet though, I still have to put the top spars on! A quick dry fit showed that everything was looking spot on for once. Not wanting to spoil this run of good luck, I left the top spars on and added a drop of cyno to keep them in place.     Adding the front false leading edge, spar doublers and all the other bits did not change anything. All was still square and hunky dory….. I am still holding my breath though as there’s a long way to go yet! Now then, on rib W2 (near the wing root) there is a score line forward of the front spar. This is so the rib will BEND?? To fit correctly onto the front False leading edge. In the instructions, everything is glued up apart from W2. This is glued in place once all the other bits are dry. Now being forgetful, (NO I didn’t glue it before I should) whilst I was checking all was squared up, I noticed that W2 was well out of line :twisted: . After the heart attack, sobbing and reaching for the scalpel, my brain kicked in again and remembered it had to be bent over and glued into place. Remembering (brain still working) a tip someone gave me, I dampened the rib with a little water first (to help it bend without splitting), gently bent it round and pinned it in place. One it had dried it was on with the Cyno. I will not boar you with the trouble I had getting the pin out after.     [img]http://www.bmmfc.com/images/chippy/chippy08c.JPG[/img] [b]PERFECTION! :ugeek: [/b]   All that was left to do at this stage was cover the top of the Ailerons and Flaps. With this done, the next big step was to take the pins out and lift the wing off the plan. The pins were a bit stubborn but they did come out with a little persuasion. It was lifting the wing off the plan that caused the problem! I may have been a bit over enthusiastic with the Cyno in parts… it had stuck to the polythene sheet covering the plan. Again, a little gentle persuasion did the trick and after a couple of minutes the wing came off, the plan that is. Now! Was it all still square? was it all in line?? was everything as it should be???? [b]PERFECTION!!!! :D [/b] Though I say so myself….. The first I ever done! And not just the one wing half but BOTH. To say that I am over the moon would be an understatement so YES, I am pleased with the results Now watch me cock it all up when I start shaping the front false leading edge to the ribs!!!     After admiring my handywork, a quick brew and butty, I got on with the shaping. I must admit, the false leading edge is a little wavy in parts but I am not worried at the moment. In the instructions it says to “PRE-Shape” the false leading edge. Detailed shaping is done when “PRE-FITTING” the top and bottom skin before gluing. Now That’s MY Excuse and I’m sticking to it! Next part is to attach the wing halves to the centre wing section….. When I get the bottle to do it!

[b]OK! After a late start due to hospital appointments, scans, and a collar on me neck, I have finally got round to starting building.[/b] The first bit is to lay down the foundations of the stabiliser and ailerons to get a basic shape. Thin strips of balsa form the outline on which to build on.     Once this is done, the ribs, leading edge, trailing edge and the centre block of the stabiliser are added. The centre block is two solid blocks of shaped balsa, one on each side of the centre rib. Now I did say I was deadly with the glue! The centre and first few ribs are not to bad for me to handle. BUT… as the ribs get smaller towards the tips of the stabiliser, I have problems handling them. EVEN WITH tweezers. I spent a few hours later on picking the glue from my fingers. Anyway, with one side done it’s time to flip the whole thing over and do the other side just the same. When all is dry, it’s time to cover with the pre cut balsa sheet, trim & sand, then put mucky finger marks all over it. Once that’s done, the Rudder and Fin can be started.     The Elevators, Rudder and Fin are done in exactly the same way as the stabiliser.     More tiny fiddly bits to mess with and more glue on the fingers . I have not covered the fin as yet. I am leaving that part until I have added a couple of little added bits of detail I am thinking about doing. I need to add the detailing BEFORE I cover and I can’t do it until I have the right info. For now the tail feathers are done, apart from the hinges. These are done once everything is covered and ready for final assembly.       [b]I Need yo Balsa, yo Ply and yo Glue[/b] You have heard of the TERMINATOR! Well Now Meet the [b]LAMINATOR!![/b] :D Take one bit of Ply, two bits of balsa, plenty of epoxy, mix em all together an you get something that looks like it does on the plan. :roll: This is just the centre section of the wing  . I thought it was a bit overkill at first. But, looking at my Texan, it’s a very similar construction.     The first thing to do is make two main spars. The front spar is made up of 1 piece of ply and 2 pieces of balsa all laminated together with epoxy to make one very strong part. The rear spar is made in the same way.     The centre section is built upside-down on the plan, :?  a bit confusing at first, but with a blow up view and a detailed plan, a couple of dry fits, it all came together.     The photo in the instruction book and the plan itself was a little unclear regarding fitting the Flap servo bay. Both the photo in the instruction book and the plans don’t show the centre section with the servo bay included. But, after reading the instructions several times, I finally found out how to do it…… Exclude the two centre ribs at the wing bolt block end, cut down one of the centre ribs to fit horizontally across the back of the wing bolt block and it’s done….. One flap servo bay!     The plan calls for one servo to operate the Ailerons mounted in the servo bay in the centre section. I never been keen on this idea so my plan is to mount one servo in each wing. This is one of many mods I will be making to the plan, if it all works or not will determine if it all ends up on the funeral fire or not! The only thing left to do now with the centre section is to skin the top. So… now all the glue is dry it’s simply turn the right way up, cut the sheet balsa to size and glue it on.

  I started scratch building from plans a couple of years ago. The first I built was a 62in P38 Lightning. Not an easy project to start with but I needed a challenge to get my brain working (what bit I have left ) I then built a 32in Mosquito, again not an easy project but both looked good when finished. By now I had got the bug and finally found something to keep me occupied. I scratch built several other models from plans from the RCME mag. (see pics in the Members Gallery [url]http://www.bmmfc.com/gallery/index.php?cat=10002[/url]) Sadly, I have not seen any of them get off the ground. The reason? At the time, 1. I did not know how to fly them. 2. I had nowhere I could fly them apart from the football field at the back of where I live. I had all the gear, TX, RX, Loads of batteries, everything I needed but somewhere to fly and someone to teach me. Now all the models I built have gone, either sold or given away. The reason? The money I got from the sales I spent on a New Trainer and up to date radio gear and join BMMFC (NO I’m not brown nosing ) With a few laps of the field and one takeoff and one landing (please confirm it was me landing and not you Andy  :roll:  ) under my belt, I am well on the way to getting my A Cert. Thinking ahead, I wondered what would come after the trainer??? Seeing you lads at the field throwing your planes about, prop hanging, diagaloops and whatever neck braking stunts you pull off :shock:  put the green in my eyes. :mrgreen: Being realistic, I know my disability restricts me from flying such high performance models….. I can hardly keep up just watching them fly let alone fly them myself. On a few occasions I have nearly gone over backwards and felt the annoying and painful [b]CRACK[/b] in my neck. :evil: So, I went and got a Texan. It’s able to do simple aerobatics and I can keep up with it…. [b]WHEN[/b] other certain members will let me have a go. :roll: The weather though this past few months has dampened the spirits somewhat and when I can’t get out flying, I start getting board again. That old itching to start building again has crept in and the past couple of weeks I have been looking for something to build, from scratch, from plan. Again, reality steps in. The cold weather aint doin me hands any good so I don't want a truck load of balsa turning into scrap firewood because I cant cut straight! The solution?  :idea: Get a Laser Cut Kit! One with all the parts I need, good plans and good instruction. After a week of searching I think I’ve come up with a ‘good un’ So [b]ENOUGH[/b] of the waffle! Let’s see how a ‘[b]Chippy Is Born![/b]’ [b]Day One Monday 09 March 2009[/b] 10am, in the car and off to Leeds Model Shop (sorry lads if you wanted anything, I’ve been thinking about it for too long so I just got up and went) Back home with the box in my arms and a hole in my pocket :cry: . Quick brew and a butty then I will open the box (NO! TAKE THE MONEY) Seems a small box for a 1750mm wingspan De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk, but it dose all have to be put together. Thi kit is made by an Australian Firm, Airsail A quick word before I go any further. I checked the website before I set off. The price was £86.75. When I got there, the price on the box was £97.89. When paying I pointed this out and I was told the price on the website should have been changed…. Not my problem I said and only paid £86.75. The price on the website had been changed by the time I got home. Right, back to the box of bits. It’s taken me just over an hour and a half to go through the 4 page check list and guess what? Everything is there!!! :D  Right down to a small bag of pins and Nothing broken. Two Large sheets of well illustrated plans, on thick quality paper may I add, and a very good photo illustrated instruction book.     The balsa and ply are of good quality and the vast amount of blow moulded parts are just as good. Control linkages/arms, pushrods and tubes, pre-bent undercart, nuts, bolts, pins, hinges, Engine Mount, there is even Scrap Wood included for packing when sheeting the wings!         On first inspection, this is a high quality kit worth every penny. The only quibble I have so far is that the individual pieces are not marked/numbered. Yeh ok, so it’s not an Airfix kit, but for a beginner there may be problems if any of the parts get mixed up. For me though, with a bit of balsa bashin under me belt, the plans and instructions are clear enough to distinguish all the parts and where they go. Now then, this chippy can be built with or without flaps. The main plan shows it without but there is a separate sheet of instructions showing how to install them along with the extra balsa r

Hi Guys   I have been building the chipmunk for some time now and posting a thread on our own club website, bmmfc.com. However, I am a member of the same club a Andy who is building the Stuka and he has persuaded me to post the thread here. So, what I am going to do is copy and past the thread from our site to here (saves me writing it all out again) Hope you enjoy it and thanks to Andy for all his help and advice, both at the field and in the forum.

Hi Andy   As you know, I have had a similar problem myself whilst building the chippy. I have to convert from I/C to ELECTRIC and totaly re-design and build a new Motor Mount/Battery BOX. I know I am only a newby to this game, but if you have a look at my build blog on our site, you will see how I have altered the plans (drawn in RED) and fabricated new parts. http://www.bmmfc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=53&sid=dd92672d6f2406f85253cd593952af2a   It might just give you a couple of ideas. I'm stuck on a couple of bits at the  moment so I will be calling on your wealth ok knowlage soon

Hi Andy   If the BEAST I saw you get at the auction is the one you are putting in the stuka, then bucket loads of epoxy and 1/2 ply will be neaded to keep it in place and tame it!   Cant wait to see you maiden this one

Still need MORE shed space!!! but i wont say no

Does shed extention come with it as I need the room

If I win........ Can you please provide a Larger shed to go with it Mine is getting over crowded

Ohhhhhhhhhhh see Maggie a Tiger Moth.... are those the ones that bite? DOHHHHH!!

Happy New Year To All!! After a quiet Christmas brake, I have decided to enter the shed and continue with the Typhoon build. I thought I left everything in order ready to carry on with the buid but....... I have LOST!!! my Winter Special Issue 2007 with the build info  I have gone down the Electric Path and I have the motor, ESC and battery. What I can not remember is the Prop Size..... Can anyone let me know what it is please. One last thing.... all the moaning and groaning that was going on about the wrong size plan at the start. Well I now have a small complaint. Are we sure that Mr. Nijhuis finaly got it right? Looking at the pic in the mag where he is kneeling next to the model, it looks a respectable size. I have been building exact to the plans but it seems that I need an extention on my shed... This thing is HUGE!  and I am fast running out of space to build! Main thing is... I have realy enjoyed building the Typhoon and that's what counts Well done Mr Nijuis Dave

Happy New Year To All!! After a quiet Christmas brake, I have decided to enter the shed and continue with the Typhoon build. I thought I left everything in order ready to carry on with the buid but....... I have LOST!!! my Winter Special Issue 2007 with the build info  I have gone down the Electric Path and I have the motor, ESC and battery. What I can not remember is the Prop Size..... Can anyone let me know what it is please. One last thing.... all the moaning and groaning that was going on about the wrong size plan at the start. Well I now have a small complaint. Are we sure that Mr. Nijhuis finaly got it right? Looking at the pic in the mag where he is kneeling next to the model, it looks a respectable size. I have been building exact to the plans but it seems that I need an extention on my shed... This thing is HUGE!  and I am fast running out of space to build! Main thing is... I have realy enjoyed building the Typhoon and that's what counts Well done Mr Nijuis Dave