Le Fish from Leading Edge Gliders USA

[phil tobin]

Slightly off topic (forgive me Tim) but when I said I was a total novice, I am at building models but have had (some) experience of flying. This is a snap in the early eighties of my dad & me flying on a "families day" at RNAS Yeovilton. My dad served as an airframes & engines technician on fast jets in the navy for years & even flew his models off the deck of the ship he served with when the cod war was on in the 70's, what a fella! Check out the turn-ups.....nice

I think I'm flying a Kamco Kadet & my dad has a Kamco Kavalier, not sure, It's been a while

[Frank Skilbeck]

Here's a video of mine on its test flight in very light winds

 

[r6dan]

I didn`t realise once all the radio gear is in,thats it!!

[phil tobin]

Thanks for the vid Frank, it looked like a successful flight, what happened with the landing, it looked like that bush swallowed it up?

 

Yup Dan, that's it. Got the call from the model shop to say my p6 is in, I'll read your blog on how to build it when the time comes

 

I'm sorry this build is a bit slow but finding the time is hard & I couldn't help going flying today after not getting out last weekend...I must try harder

[Frank Skilbeck]

Posted by phil tobin on 21/11/2010 21:10:05:

Thanks for the vid Frank, it looked like a successful flight, what happened with the landing, it looked like that bush swallowed it up?

 

 The lift had just died, if you note it dropped a wing in the turn further out, so I'd decided I better bring it before I went for a walk and the ferns near the path didn't seem a bad option.

[Geoff N]

Best way to get hold of a Fish is to have a very good friend  who travels to the states and can bring one or two back hand luggage.

I have just recovered my wild thing with "New stuff" and its transformed it  stiffer and smoother. Now looking to get hold of som more "new stuff" to recover my Fishes wings  that do tend to flap a bit

Anybody got any to trade ?

 

[phil tobin]

I don't know if this is the stuff you need Geoff?

 

I got a little more done today with the servos fitted in & running the snakes along the outside of the fuze. I've glued them in & filled the fuz so it shouldn't show when the covering goes on. The only carving left is a place for the nose weight to go in & the carbon rods I'm setting inside the fuz at the rear, should have some pics on here soon. I've thought about it & am going to cw tape the from the wing seat forward & use butted strips to get the finish i'm after as Ken did.

[Tom Foreman]

Check out Dawson on Vimeo for awesome Le Fish footage, there is also a big fish available now as well

 

 http://vimeo.com/16942330

 

Tom 

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Phil,

 

I like that film idea for transfering things from one half to the other. I'm sure that could be of wider use.

 

I'm finding this thread very interesting - never flown a glider - it might even get me thinking....oh hang on I've already got a list of power projects a mile long. Do I really need another item on my "bucket list"?

 

BEB

[Geoff N]

Posted by phil tobin on 23/11/2010 22:56:35:

I don't know if this is the stuff you need Geoff?

 

I got a little more done today with the servos fitted in & running the snakes along the outside of the fuze. I've glued them in & filled the fuz so it shouldn't show when the covering goes on. The only carving left is a place for the nose weight to go in & the carbon rods I'm setting inside the fuz at the rear, should have some pics on here soon. I've thought about it & am going to cw tape the from the wing seat forward & use butted strips to get the finish i'm after as Ken did.

 Thanks for the link. The easist way with snakes is to put them in the middle before you join the fus. Everything on mine is sealed in the centre. Itresting surgery when I wanted to convert it to 2.4. You can just see the outlines of things if you hold the fuz up to a strong light.

[ken anderson.]

phil-what i would/wood do is before you join the fuz half's together with all the radio etc in is.....to take a photo of the installation with a ruler beside it so if you need to go in...you can measure off where the bit's are.......

 

     ken anderson     ne...1.

 

 

ps......make sure you use metal gear servo's...or you will be back in the fuz before you know it..... 

Edited By ken anderson. on 24/11/2010 10:17:09

[Tim Mackey]

I would like to know a little more about this laminating film technique - Ive often read about it, but never actually seen it used. Is it self adhesive, or what?

Obviously its like a sort of heatshrink in flat form form, but what next?

If anyone has anymore info, or links etc, please start a new thread over in building techniques, and share the knowledge.

[Bill_B]

Duplicate post removed.

Edited By Gumball on 24/11/2010 12:23:25

[Geoff N]

Posted by Tim Mackey - Administrator on 24/11/2010 11:27:48:

I would like to know a little more about this laminating film technique - Ive often read about it, but never actually seen it used. Is it self adhesive, or what?

Obviously its like a sort of heatshrink in flat form form, but what next?

If anyone has anymore info, or links etc, please start a new thread over in building techniques, and share the knowledge.

 Tim please move this to correct area.

 

New stuff is self adhesive laminating film . does not srink but also does not strech .apply with hot iron. I have coverd my Wild Thing with it . Smooth and rigid No Cross weave tape . New swtuff 250 micron directly on to EPP no filler or spray on adheasive.

see for starters

new stuff 1

new stuff 2

newstuff 3 

 

[phil tobin]

Tom,

 

Thanks for the link, he looks like he's having fun.

 

BEB,

 

Do it, you know you want to have a go at slope, no motor/fuel/battery to pay for/worry about & you get to fly your model while looking down on it with a nice back drop all day long if you wanted to

 

Geoff,

 

Bit late now as i've run the snakes down the outside of the fuz & filled in, hope it will be ok. I did this because it's getting a little busy in the middle of the fuz with longerons & extra carbon i've added.

 

Ken,

 

That's a good idea, i will do that. I also hoped that my film used to transfer from one side to the other on the fuz will help if need be. The servos i'm using in the fuz are HiTech HS 311 standard servos & HiTech HS 85MG in the wing, i hope these will be up to the job?

 

 

[ken anderson.]

you will def want M/G servos in the fuz-----once the nodel is built and the innard's sealed--you wont want to cut it open and dig out the servo's to replace the gear's.......i would def put the m/g lad's in the fuz......it'll save ....

 

 ken anderson  ne..1.......head of the M/G servo party....

[Frank Skilbeck]

On mine, I ran the snakes in slots on the outside of the fuselage and cut a hole through the fuselage for the rudder and elevator servos, these were then fitted with a hole to the Rx compartment to thread the leads through. The servos were then simply covered over with a bit of solarfilm, so if they ever go faulty I can just peel back the solarfilm "hatches" and make new one.

 

The Rx is under a foam hatch as I don't use a switch just an extension lead which I plug into the battery. The battery is buried in the center though so if it ever needs replacing that will need some surgery.

[phil tobin]

ok Ken, i've been looking at these, should do the job?

 

installing the snakes.

 

fill & sand & fill &.....

 

 

 

 

smooth man...smooth

fancied a change of material so i got the piano wire in the elevators & glued, started some sanding too.

 

got the wing beds out & cleaned up the wings a bit, Slid the carbon spar in & out the grooves already cut in the wings, top & bottom to clean out the melted foam.

 

applied some contact adhesive on the roots, left it drying for about 10-15 mins, the temp in my workshop is low so everything takes longer to go off

 

top spar going in

 

extra carbon going in aft of the main spar top & bottom. Trailing edge wood will be laminated with ribbon carbon, sanded & glued on, should have pics soon.

 

 

[r6dan]

Lookin` really good!

[phil tobin]

Made some time today to get more done...

 

set the extra joiner in...

 

laminated the trailing edge hardwood with ribbon carbon glued on with thin c a & sanded to width. The lot was then glued to the trailing edge with contact adhesive. It's a bit tricky avoiding getting the adhesive on the beds but running a knife along the edge did the job.

 

Left it all to dry

 

 more done on the tail group with radius' & more sanding on a foil shape..

 

I hardened the edges with a smear of thin c a all the way around to help protect against knocks...i like that blocky look

 

 

Really beefing up the fuz.

 

I couldn't resist a bit of bench flying.....

 

 

 

Bow time....they say it's hard-earned so i'm saving it for after the maiden....resist...resist

 

 

[phil tobin]

it's hard to get to work with all the snow now but i've got the fuz together & started filling & sanding the wing.

i'm getting there slowly

[phil tobin]

fuz ready for sanding...

 

i've used c w tape from the middle seat of the wing to the end of the nose, using the filler will help to hide the line & any other dents etc in the foam, well that's the theory.

 

After much filling & sanding i got the fuz as good as i could get so i covered it.

 

Being a novice builder i found the covering quite hard, i used a light spray glue to help adhere the film, this worked well but was unforgiving if an adjustment was needed. The canopy was a real pain, i had to get help with this as i didn't have enough hands to heat, stretch & smooth out the film. I covered the fuz with three seperate film parts working from the bottom up..

 

I've concentrated on getting the best finish i possibly could as i want it to not only look good but be aerodynamically good with no saggy bits or rough finish, I'm happy with the result but the are one or two bits that could be better.

 

I used clear scotch tape to hinge the rudder & elevator rather than the mylar that come with the kit because i think it's more user friendly & easier for maintenance. The fin & tail were silicone sealed at the joints with the fuz & each other to give a smooth finish with no gaps & i inserted carbon pins through the tail into the fin for strength (thanks Ken ) Still got to hook up the controls but it's getting there & got plenty to do on the wing.

 

 

 

[ken anderson.]

looking good phil-nearly there..........i wish we could buy these...fish/guppy's over here....as they are excellant flyer's and very 'ding' proof........which comes in handy when you are flying with the HTP member's up here in god's country.....

 

 

 ken anderson   ne..1.

[r6dan]

That looks really well finished,I always rush the finish!!

 

[phil tobin]

 I sanded the wing smooth & slid it in to place today, the wing has no servos, covering or eailerons but it would give me some idea of AUW, it's at 32 oz so far. Leading edge gliders say it should be between 30 & 40oz so hopefully it will come in on target when all finished & balanced..

I also had a look at COG which looks near to where it should be (2 3/8" from leading edge) but we'll see when the wing is finished.