Paul Coxon

Hi Timothy, I too am building a Seagull P47 and powering it with a Laser 100. I'm about half way through the build and have come up with a few queries that I thought I'd check with you. a) Having fixed the motor to my nice new mount to allow 145mm as per the instructions between the firewall and the prop spinner I've found the cowl couldn't possibly fit and I've had to now use a dimension of 128mm ! Did you have a similar problem ? b) I've fitted larger wheels (3.5" and raked the oleos slightly forward as was suggested by Jon Harper and had to cut down the oleos and trim the wheel well to achieve this, but the wheel well flaps that fit onto the oleos are well clear of the bottom of the wing which will case considerable turbulence. This problem is not caused by my adaptions. Did you have the same problem ? c) I notice that you haven't fitted the bombs ! I fitted mine but a friend advised against it. Not sure whether I should remove them ? Any advise gratefully received Paul in France

Going to see my Dutch friend tomorrow, he's agreed to help with the wing. Since I'm going to change the oleos which will take weeks I guess, is there any reason why I can't proceed and install the retracts based on what I have ? I don't have to return the straight Oleos yet. I'm guessing the only difference will be planning for the crank which will eventually need to fit in the wheel well. I've phoned Premium UK Retracts re the Oleos. They are happy to exchange the ones I have for the cranked ones i.e credit the £80 for the ones they sent me and charge me for the cranked ones. The only sting is that whilst they will do them for their best price, this could cost me another £100, ouch ! But they will look so much better ! Paul

Hi Jon, Thanks again. I've just spent an hour writing a detailed missive and the forum didn't post it, I lost the lot. Very much shorter version is. I'll carry on with the tailplane but as far as the wing is concerned I'm going to take everything over to a new friendly Dutch friend of mine who speaks good English and lives only 50 miles away. He's an engineer and a prolific model builder with 16 RC planes, many scratch built. Time to call in the local cavalry with so much complexity, there's the flaps to think of too for which there are no plans or instructions and it's unfair to put so much of a burden on you. I'll keep you updated on progress ! Now back to bed !! Cheers Paul

Thanks for the photo Jon, I see exactly what you mean. Whilst I didn't specify which oleo, I was 100 percent clear on what aircraft it was for and I put myself in their expert hands. Clearly they have sent me the wrong oleos and with a bill of circa ?400 I think they should have paid more attention to detail. I've just e-mailed them requesting they change the oleos. Unfortunately it took weeks for the others to be made and over a week in the post, so progress could now grind to a halt. Is there any reason why I shouldn't move on to the servo boxes while I wait ? Regarding the front spar, I could overlap what I've done with another piece of ply by about 30mm on the outside and extend the spar by a couple of inches if that helps. Thinking about it, I'm reluctant to saw off the leading edge. What do you think ? And what do you think about the other spar suggestions ? Cheers Paul

Unfortunately the retracts have to be cranked forward quite a long way already as per the plans, I've already moved the retract back a bit but any more would have looked weird. I'll have to get round it somehow unless I cut off the leading edge and do it again. Should I do this or do you think the others suggestions are viable ? Re oleos I'm afraid I don't know what cranked ones are, I just asked for retracts, oleos and everything else I would need for a P51D Mustang and that's what they sent. Should I ask them to change the oleos if they're wrong Cheers Paul

Hi Guys, Well I've made some progress recently. The retracts arrived last week and I'm delighted with the quality, a good recommendation Jon. I don't know what to do with them yet, but that will come ! Armed with lots of earlier advice I took the plunge and started to glue the wing together. I've now added leading and trailing edges and tips, but haven't shaped anything yet and yes I did put the ply on the leading edge, but it doesn't go very far into the wing, since if it did it would foal the retracts. I now have the choice as to whether to insert ply spars, do servo boxes or run channels for leads but logic tells me to put the spars in first, then insert the retract bearers, cut for the wheel wells etc before doing the servo boxes. So its the scary stuff next ! Looking at Jon's hurricane, it looks like there are short spars that don't cross the hole wing, which would be easier. Another suggestion from a friend in France was 6 mm ply scars right across the wing over 700 mm long and running either side of the retracts which would run through the wheel well, so the spars would need to be trimmed to accommodate the wheels, is that overkill ? Another suggestion from a Dutch friend was to build beams in carbon fibre, assuming I know where to get the CF of course. Just looking for a sanity check at this stage ! See photos below Thanks Paul

Thanks for the advice Paul, duly noted ! I hope I have more luck than you do ! Thanks Jon for all the detailed explanation and for putting my mind at rest. It sounds like I'm worrying earlier than I need to, but it's very helpful to have my next few steps plotted out. I just need to stick to the plan ! Have a good weekend Cheers Paul

Now on to the serious stuff, my Galaxy Mustang wing ! Well the 2 pairs of blocks have been epoxied into the wing and I've put the wing aside until the retracts arrive, I'm guessing at the end of next week. In the mean time my thoughts have moved on to servos and leads within the wing and pneumatic tubes as well ! The penny has just dropped that I have foam wings, a first for me and that there is absolutely no guidance within the plans or instructions as to what I must do. To add to this, I had the kit supplied with the wing and parts cut for flaps, flaps are an option but there are no instructions and the guy who did the cutting probably rightly assumed I knew what I was doing, so frightened of making a horrible mistake I've come back to the forum for advice. In the wing I'm planning to install 2 servos for flaps, 2 servos for ailerons and various tubes for retracts, wires to operate them and a pressure vessel somewhere. Question is: Do I surface mount all of these wires ? I guess not since it would look horrible. Do I build a duct on the underside of the wing ? Do I cut slots through the wing covering ? I'm guessing this would weaken the wing ! Do I push rods through the wing and thread the servo leads through ? Do I cut slots in the foam along the leading or trailing edges before gluing the edges on and create ducts back to the servos ? I went flying yesterday, first time this year, which went very well, but when I mentioned my dilemma to a Dutch friend at the field, who speaks good English, he took a deep breath and showed his concern that I had already joined the wing panels together ! He did add however, that this was one of the reasons he didn't like foam, which made me think he's probably biased against finding a good solution. I'm pleased to say I haven't added wing tips, or leading or trailing edges yet, so all is not lost. Neither have I added additional ply spars and leading edges yet, as recommended by Jon at Laser, waiting as I am for my retracts ! I'm hoping there will be a number of you, not necessarily Galaxy Mustang builders, who seem to be few and far between, who have confronted this problem with other foam wing models. What is the best tried and tested solution please, given also that I assume it may be necessary to repair or remove leads and tubes at some time in the future ! Cheers Paul

Firstly I've just discovered why I was unable to present photos in the reply box before ! Normally I use my smartphone to access the forum and I doesn't give you any icons to select. This morning I'm using my laptop and all the icons including the camera are there ! Solution is a) Make the forum phone friendly or b) use a computer if you plan to present a photo. Regards to all Paul

Thanks again Jon, all clearly understood. Pairs are now shaped, glued together and will be glued to the main wing this morning. Retracts will be despatched from Premier UK retracts later this week, so hopefully will arrive in France some time next week. So progress on wing will stop until they arrive and until I source the ply. Bring on the tail ! Cheers Paul

That helps a lot Jon, thank you. Particularly seeing the spar position in the wing and the fact that the raked part of the leading edge is ply AND balsa. Will this move the leading edge forward an 1/8 or do I cut 1/8 off the balsa to compensate ? Cheers Paul

Brilliant Jon, Just the definitive advice I was looking for ! I've ordered the Premium UK retracts, I scaled the oleos off the plan at 170mm and increased them by 5mm to 175mm on the basis that you can always shorten them and you had said previously 10mm either way was fine I'll get on with glueing in the blocks now, then move onto the tail whilst I await the arrival of the retracts. In the meantime I'll try and find some 1/8 ply, either 3 or 4mm when I'm in Bordeaux later this week. There's an RC shop there, currently unvisited by me. Cheers PaulEdited By Paul Coxon on 06/02/2017 08:03:09

Wow, that's more like it Denis, hopefully Jon and others will be able to understand the question now Cheers Paul