Edgeflyer

Couldn't resist using spare excess mix to enlarge skid. Original foam was mostly worn away. You can mould this mix like putty abpnd it sticks well, is light and Sands easily . It needs to as this is a mess. Michael Angel I'm not, did he start like this??

Next turning attention to the tail. No wonder these are cheap. Lots of unglazed gaps around the tailplane and find meant the horizontalk plane was off w.r. to wing. Filled with epoxy mix then pulled into position and held there while glue set. Tidier and stronger. Filets formed all round.

I've covered surrounding fuse with masking to stop epoxy filler applied to hatch from gluing it into place, then after tidying the hacked out piece I can remove for further mod. Will this work?

First stage of refitting and sealing inspection hole to make a better lower hatch with access to ESC, wing bolts, RX and stabiliser (plus supplemental rx battery to avoid loss of control if motor battery fails ???)

ps.. Apologies for appalling typing errors. Useless touch keypad and predictive garbage, sorry, text to blame plus my overly hurrying. second ps.. crucial if doing the cf tube type mod at the front, to ensure the large lipo will still slip in under the tubes location before finalising their position. Space is a bit limited. A bottom hatch would have been a much better idea, but all the foam models I have seen (all 3 of them) fall down on space for electrics. Still pondering over battery fixing. I don't like the standard velcro stuck to foam and battery, but no doubt others find this works and I am worrying too much. I once had a nicad pack ejected through the cockpit in a rough landing which promptly ruptured and caught fire. Realistic but not good.

Horrible bulge is first attempt at filling large hole left by removing a previous fpv installation by last owner. I'm using scrap epp foam ( much better than this epo type, although the latter is better than I thought it would be as this is my first epo model apart from a Multiplex Elapor design ... same foam, much better quality design though. Here I used epp, cut with a sharp long blade in a sawing action, roughly carved then placed with epoxy and balloons, before final shaping and sanding to leave curved and hopefully smooth. Tempting to put a hatch here to gain access to the nose for batter attachment etc. Next step will be to make good with more sanding filling and decorating. I'm tempted to add cf rods through the fuse stern to gain stiffness and strength, before it breaks . Also planning to add a 3 axis stabiliser with the rx before resealing the bottom inspection hatch to make this a better trainer for my 8 year old would be pilot. Who has experience of the now discontinued 3 axis Orange add on that I found in my spares drawer? I also want an isolating switch in the nose for safety before launch. More anon....

Messy front end shows cf tubes which run nose to rear of canopy hatch and do provide lots if torsional strength. Cross tubes prevent tendency of nose to squash inwards. Tubes will provide location for some battery retainers shortly.

When these were set I carefully lined up 2 long tubes to go from the nose under the crosstubes and touching the fuselage inner sides. This is tricky. I used a thin piano wire to make the insertions from the front. The tubes slope upwards. When I got the wire in the right place, I opened out the front holes with a thicker wire, this time using heat just enough to elarge the holes to be a tight fit with the correct angles melted in. I kind of hope these tubes with their open front ends will also let cooling air in round the Lipo to the esc. (Probably a bit optimistic as they are only small diameter) They do give the nose a sharky look. Pics to follow. Seems a bit tedious this having to have pics in an album first.

Using this time a drill bit just smaller than the cf tube, I used a 6mm one, I aligned and bored holes for two cross pieces below each end of the cockpit hatch. Using epoxy, this time filled with the microballons, I glued in each tube, having cut them to length with the dremel before gluing as it is easier with the larger sections. Again working the epoxy generously into the holes first.