Darran Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 Frustratingly again I went to my club today hoping to get some flying time in, but even with the glorious weather no one was there to take me up. So back to the build this afternoon it is then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 Well a word of caution for everyone. I went to my model to continue the build to find the following fire damage. This was caused by a magnifying glass on a stand being in line with the wing and a large window. Luckily the fire put itself out and didn't burn my house down. Another lesson learnt. Now my thoughts on rectifying this damage is to strengthen the damaged spar either side with balsa, similarly removing the rib cap and strengthening the rib in the same way before adding a new cap. Is this the best thing to do ? Edited By Darran on 26/06/2014 20:11:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 That was both lucky and unlucky Darren you could butt a piece of spar up to the rib on top of the burnt one, that would give it more support. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Wow! That's one to look out for! We had a similar incident last year at work when a large spherical flask filled with clear liquid focused sunlight from a window onto a cardboard box. Lucky the smoke alarms attracted attention and the matter was dealt with before any serious danger or damage. It just shows,.. BEB PS - Johns right - a splint along the spar and a bit of packing will sort it out! Phew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 John / BEB with hindsight it's easy to see the issue I caused myself. But you don't think at the time. I have no idea when the actual fire happened it could of been while I was at work any of the last couple of days. frightening really. should I brace the wing rib also as the cap burnt through and has wasted about an inch along the rib top and about 1/8 inch deep Edited By Darran on 26/06/2014 21:38:12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Yes just put a piece in it wont show under cap strip John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I have one of those Orb fish tanks, and they say that also must never be in sunlight, the street light over the road sometimes shines through it and presents a perfect dot on the wall behind the tank, not powerful enought to do damage but a riminder of the power of optics.... Lucky escape Darran! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Never seen that before on a model, easy repair but lucky it hadn't focussed on the servo.. Keep at it, it'll soon be in the air. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 The offending arsonist I plan to push on with this over the weekend so I will post some more build pictures up. Going to fix the damage and start covering the tail. And sheet the cockpit area. Should come along nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 I repaired my fire damage and started on the tail covering. This is what I got so far. Needs a little work on a couple of pieces, but an ok first effort I feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Yes, that looks great. Isn't Solartex lovely to use! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 Yes BEB it was rather forgiving and with more practice my finish on the underside will improve no end. Can I ask when you did the sheeting for the cockpit did you use the same method as the centre sheeting by joining two pieces together with cyano. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Really struggling with sheeting the cockpit area. Off to read the other build blogs for inspiration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I did a card template first Darren And I did in 2 pieces front and back, join's barely visible once stained John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Posted by Darran on 29/06/2014 11:12:26: I repaired my fire damage and started on the tail covering. This is what I got so far. Needs a little work on a couple of pieces, but an ok first effort I feel. The covering looks good. Just an observation if I may. There does not appear to be any chamfer (rounding off of the edges) on the moving tail parts to allow the up and down movement. It may of course just be the way the upside down picture shows it. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Posted by Kevin Fairgrieve on 01/07/2014 21:12:18: Posted by Darran on 29/06/2014 11:12:26: I repaired my fire damage and started on the tail covering. This is what I got so far. Needs a little work on a couple of pieces, but an ok first effort I feel. The covering looks good. Just an observation if I may. There does not appear to be any chamfer (rounding off of the edges) on the moving tail parts to allow the up and down movement. It may of course just be the way the upside down picture shows it. Kev Oh dear did I miss something, was I supposed to round off the edges, didn't realise that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Hiya Darren, sorry mate I missed your post. Yes, mmmm, the cockpit sheeting. Tricky, probably the most difficult bit of the build. When I was doing mine some one (can't remember who!) had said that they had managed to do it in one piece. So I thought "Mmm, that looks hard, double curavature and all that, but he did it so it must be possible. I had a go with a card template - could I get the card to sit right? - could I hell as like! So I thought well if I can't even get the single piece of card to work no chance for a piece of wood - anyway what would I use for template, given that I couldn't get the card to fit? So, I did it it two pieces - like John front and back. I may have put in another half former to support the joint - can't remember. Each was put on separately - they were not pre-joined - I know that. Anyway that was much easier. Just take a bit of care to get a nice close joint and as John says you won't see when its stained - well unless you really look for it! BEB PS Person who said he'd done it in one piece later posted to say he was mistaken - and he'd actually done it in two! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Posted by Darran on 01/07/2014 21:18:54: Posted by Kevin Fairgrieve on 01/07/2014 21:12:18: Posted by Darran on 29/06/2014 11:12:26: I repaired my fire damage and started on the tail covering. This is what I got so far. Needs a little work on a couple of pieces, but an ok first effort I feel. The covering looks good. Just an observation if I may. There does not appear to be any chamfer (rounding off of the edges) on the moving tail parts to allow the up and down movement. It may of course just be the way the upside down picture shows it. Kev Oh dear did I miss something, was I supposed to round off the edges, didn't realise that. Looks like it mate. Not a big disaster. It is just going to cost you a few feet of Solartex. Remove the Tex. Round off the surfaces on the elevators and rudder, recover and carry on. You can make it out in this picture. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Kev well spotted another lesson learned. Should only need to do three pieces so not to bad. Plus it's more covering practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Right then I have stopped the moving parts to the tail section and rounded the edges, will this be enough it's difficult to see from this picture, also it looks a lot rougher than it is now as this was taken pre my finishing sanding Edited By Darran on 09/07/2014 06:54:54 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 I have also now completed the cockpit sheeting, not bad for a first attempt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Whilst finishing the cockpit it became clear that I have an issue somewhere with the wings and or their mounting. when fitted firmly in place the one side wing is higher than the other when measured from the surface of my building board to the wing leading edge. initial measurements so that the degree of difference seems to be increasing as you measure along the wing. so it is the same height off the work surface near the cockpit but by the time you get to the end of the leading edge its some 8mm different. I am guessing that this cannot be a good thing and I am not sure what I can do about it any advice would be appreciated. Edited By Darran on 09/07/2014 07:14:25 Edited By Darran on 09/07/2014 07:14:42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Hi Darran, the sheeting looks great! Wait until you come to cut the cockpit hole - a bit of a stressful job that one! The wing tilt problem: The real issue is not whether the wings sit perfectly relative to the base of the fuselage sitting on the bench - its whether it sits in line with the tailplane and fin. So reattach the wing and have a good squint from the front and back. The wing must be parallel to the tail plane and at right angles to the fin. If it is - then there is no aerodynamic problem - just a cosmetic one we can easily fix with a bit of U/C tweaking. If the wing is wrong there then this must be fixed and we have to find the cause. The most likely cause would be that the side members of the fuselage which act as the wing seats are not level. To test this, lay a long straight edge on the seating and again squint from front and back to see if it is parallel to the tailplane and at right angles to the fin. If not, we are into a bit of gentle sanding of the seating on the high side - or inserting a shim on the low side. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I would imagine its the wing seating myself Darren I had to do exactly as BEB says with my model, bit of gentle sanding and it was sorted John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 09/07/2014 08:30:04: Hi Darran, the sheeting looks great! Wait until you come to cut the cockpit hole - a bit of a stressful job that one! The wing tilt problem: The real issue is not whether the wings sit perfectly relative to the base of the fuselage sitting on the bench - its whether it sits in line with the tailplane and fin. So reattach the wing and have a good squint from the front and back. The wing must be parallel to the tail plane and at right angles to the fin. If it is - then there is no aerodynamic problem - just a cosmetic one we can easily fix with a bit of U/C tweaking. If the wing is wrong there then this must be fixed and we have to find the cause. The most likely cause would be that the side members of the fuselage which act as the wing seats are not level. To test this, lay a long straight edge on the seating and again squint from front and back to see if it is parallel to the tailplane and at right angles to the fin. If not, we are into a bit of gentle sanding of the seating on the high side - or inserting a shim on the low side. BEB BEB By right angles to the fin does that mean that the wing training edge should be straight and form a right angle from the edge to the fin on the tail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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