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Help with Dihedral for Keil Kraft Elmira


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  • 7 years later...

I have a Keil Kraft Elmira which has been in my many lofts over the last 50+ years!

I have started the build and I have decided that I would like to reduce the dihedral and add ailerons and (over wing) air brakes.

If anyone could pass on any knowledge and wisdom to help me with this I would be so grateful.

Remember though, I've done absolutely no model aircraft building or flying for over 50 years,

I mean I don't even understand how the the wing joining set up on the Elmira works!

I have read Dave Hughes' build and flight test report and I don't quite understand the modification he recommends for the 

"rather soft silver steel" which he had to replace with piano wire. I seem to have very stiff wire in my kit. Did KK upgrade it?

Hoping for help, Roy Barber

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If you haven't built a model for 50 years I reckon you would find it much easier to build exactly to the plan!   Better to have a finished model than an unfinished one that ran into problems.........

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I have an Elmira from the original kit. It was built 1982 and upgraded to ailerons in 2006.

Currently in mothballs as I'm flying mostly electric.

 

When did the conversion I did this.

 

1. Reduce the dihedral to 1/2 what it was (from memory 4" down to 2" at wing tip). Drastic measures were done via a "SAW" and inlay of new dihedral brace.

 

2. Took 1/4" out of the wing incidence at the fuselage simply use a 12" rule locate at trailing edge 1/4" downfrom leading edge remove that triangle,

    in my opinion the wing incidence was too great which meant Elmira flew too slowly hence the poor rudder response. Any way she still flys well now.

 

3. Made ailerons by simply cutting the trailingedge of the wing tips starting 1 bay from inboard end of the tip going to 1 bay from the outboard wing tip.

the width stops at the sub spar e.g. leave that intact.

 

4. I used a pair of HS81mg servos to drive the matching aileron mounted near the inboard end on 1/8" liteply plywood between the ribs.

 

5. Set-up a coupled Aileron/Rudder mix on the transmitter controlled by a switch (flight mode) so I could use it if needed...

 

6. The wing joiner is two 10SWG piano wire lengths going over three ribs in the root/tip of the center and tip panels. Between the upper and lower spars you cut out the rib cente and make a box with vertical sheet webbing each side of the spar. Then for flight you add a 3/8" or 1/2" x 3/16" spruce or birch wood joiner ( this is the original method as supplied in the kit).

 

 

So .... she flys nicely in a vintage way - don't expect to be able to "Roll" because she won't. but the model looks much better than with bucketfulls of dihedral.

 

for completness here is a link to a few photos of mine within a review of Vintage Models replikit version.

 

Nige

 

 

 

Edited by Nigel Sharp
my typo error's doh!
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