Phil Beard

Just sorting out the ailerons and flaps on the wing. Starting to look like a big wing now with the ailerons and flaps in place.

Martin those sheets are actually 48 inch sheets.

First photo showing the 1/2 inch hard balsa leading edges that I had to cut from sheet. Unfortunately in order to do this I had to remove the safety guard from the Proxxon circular saw, which has now been re-instated. If only they'd made it being able to cut 13mm depth all would have been ok. Second photo showing the leading edges being attached. The third and fourth photos showing the leading edge which has been planed and sanded to shape and now with the wingtips that have been attached and are also now being planed and sanded to shape. Things have been progressing in the background and I'll update the blog on a more regular basis going forward.

Wing trailing edge has been made up of 2 pieces of balsa and a central piece of plywood. Now being planed and sanded to section.

Unfortunately the process chart had some naught words in it and so has been removed.

Grumpy Gnome. The port side top skin is being fitted at the moment and should be fitted for Saturday morning when I can start on the leading and trailing edges. Weather here on the West coast of Scotland has been great yesterday and today so getting out walking.

I've checked the top skin today and it feels like all the ribs have bonded to the top skin. The PSS guys specifically Harry Twist gave me the following process chart if the skin doesn't adhere well and would be helpful in problem solving to assist with my next steps.

Forward half of starboard top wing skin glue down. Luckily the servo wires have just arrived in the post seconds after taking the first photo so will be able to glue down the aft skin later once I've managed to put the servo wires in the wing, which was a foutery job. Aft skin now glued, hopefully that will get the ribs evenly bonded to the top skin. Have to say I wish I hadn't given away all my big stressing books plus others to my old company in Ireland when I retired last year. Had to look for other suitable items.

The socket set is back out in action, to provide weight for the glue to bond the upper port skin to the upper main spar.

Big Sabre wing join up starting today. Thank God those drop tanks are finished.

Both drop tanks are completely finished now each weighing 250g. These will be slightly adjusted weight wise once model is completely finished so that CG doesn't shift significantly once these are dropped. Whoever got me to build these I will verbally abuse, as these have added about 2 months sorting out the drop mechanism and actually making the drop tanks. Will be fun flying with the PSSA guys on the Great Orme and dropping them. Will post a video showing them being dropped from the wing in a day or so.

IMG_2062.MOV The drop tanks have had a coat of lightweight filler applied to fill all gaps a help create a more circular geometry, this has been sanded back and then each side of the lower part of the drop tanks have been glass clothed on both sides with a second coat been applied just to the bottom of each as this are will sustain more of the impact on being dropped. Attached is a video showing the drop tank mechanism in action. I've used the toggle switch for the landing gear on the radio gear for the drop tank function. IMG_2062.MOV

Andrew, Not sure what part of the UK you're located. The PSSA guys hold a number of Fly-ins around the UK and the details for these can be found https://www.pssaonline.co.uk/ Whilst the majority are held on the Great Orme in North Wales, most people all travel from various places around the UK for the weekend and we have a good days flying and a group meal in the evening. I travel to these events from Ayr in Scotland and it's worth the effort to meet the guys at these events. Hopefully we'll see yourself at one in the future.

Sabre drop tanks progressing and getting a light coating of lightweight filler and final sanding to shape. The actual pylons will be shaped once I've glassed the main part of the drop tanks. Also attached is a small video showing Phil Cooke of the PSS flying his Mass Build Sabre on the Great Orme on the 30th Dec 2024 as we'd brought the New Years Eve Fly-in a day earlier due to the weather looking better. Also a couple of link to more photos from our End of Year Fly-In taken at a windy Great Orme, Llandudno, 30th December 2024. [https://www.flickr.com/.../98511.../albums/72177720322878632] Mass build Sabre.MP4

Planking of the drop tanks still progressing.