Peter Miller Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 If you do not have a neat hem on cloth it frays.The suggestion that wing tips might fray without a tip is supposed to be humorous. Sorry. Just something that I have said for many years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 ......and the wingtips do seem to get a beating! A few cartwheels or some tip scrapes on some landings and you'll soon scuff them up. Hangar rash and transport gets them too.RoscoEdited By Rosco on 31/12/2016 11:24:58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Thank you for the explanation, Peter. I really didn't know it is synonymous to 'raveling' and sorry for not understanding the 'smiley note' of it right away. I guess it can be inherent to a non native language. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 You must be totally right, Rosco. But please, allow me not to think at those kind of arrivals/rashes at the moment. Right now I'm trying to keep my concentration at... Nice wishes, Sparks and Champagne Bubbles... Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 It's 10:10pm December the 31st here and I'm going to bed soon. I have to work tomorrow and I can't have any alcohol in my system. I can probably get away with one beer tonight but that's about it!Enjoy your celebrations. Happy New Year to you RoscoEdited By Rosco on 31/12/2016 11:41:17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Hello to everybody, Gaston is joining me to wish you all a very sparkling year 2017… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Champagne Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolstonFlyer Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 No not made any progress recently, I am flat out with work, 3 kids and trying to sell my house at the moment. I did join the wings together and build the wing tips, I have to do the sheeting next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Household commitments should remain first priority, WF. No doubt about that. If you can have some progress later on you will finally get there for sure. And this 'new year' just started, so keep your faith, young man. As for me, today was a day off at La Grotte, but at least I was a little 'productive' as I made some sketches for a LE sanding block for the finishing work to come. Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Champagne #2 Control Edited By McG 6969 on 01/01/2017 18:58:34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 Hello again, I do hope you all had a pretty fine start of this new year. Back to La Grotte and to the wing tips, being well convinced that the festive weekend allowed the Pattex to dry sufficiently. Before taking care of the messy part, the ailerons positions were marked to be cut before I’ll start the glassing process later on. Here is the result for the bottom side of the port wingtip. And the top side of the wing. Although it doesn’t seem to be - by looking at the pictures - I had a quite busy afternoon ‘final’ sanding down both wingtips. But then of course, I also realize I’m ‘tóó’ slow… Next will be the sanding of the LE but before that I have to finalize my homemade LE sanding ‘jig’… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR LE Jig Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Looking super neat Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 Thank you for the kind words, Colin. I must admit that 'm glad I took the decision to have a 'variation' to Bella's wing tips. I'm convinced now it will give her a total different 'first' look. Now I'm wondering what it will look like when the blue and white foams will receive their uniform white colour. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 Hi to all, When I was building the two wing parts, I regularly had some opportunity during drying time to switch my attention to the ‘finishing’ method that I should use for the wing after glassing it. So, I went back to my wing ‘test piece’ and applied a layer of Fred B’s recipe with the idea of having a progression showed by masking a part after each ‘step’. For those who doesn’t remember the ‘sauce’, you might fresh up your memory by scrolling down at page 43 of this build blog. The advantage of the’ sauce’ is that it’s quite lighter than to fill up the glass wave with several coats of varnish and it also sands a lot more easily. I simply brushed on a thin layer to fill the glass wave, let it dry and sanded it back with 240 grit followed by a light pass with 400. I then applied some primer with a spray can and had it also sanded down with 600. The advantage of the medium grey colour is that it brings out the details and shows every tiny imperfection, but it also adds a bit of weight. It would be probably enough to only have the ‘sauce’ but with the addition of some grey pigment instead of the ‘vanilla’ one that I used for this test. I'm glad I tried it as it shows that even Depron building can be brought to balsa covered 'scale' standards. Another lesson learned as I’m concerned for the Bella’s wing… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Primer Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 Hello again, Before I can start sanding the LE, I obviously need a ‘sanding’ device. When I saw Peter’s preferred ‘US magical sanding profile’ a long time ago in one of his posts, I got already impressed. But when lately I saw a similar one on Mark’s Ballerina blog, I couldn’t resist and ordered an “Easy Touch” as well. Since the reindeers are somehow tired at the moment, I suppose it can take a while before it gets to BE. So, I decided to have a 'sanding profile' quickly improvised for Bella’s wing. The idea was to cast some PU in the same shape as the leading edge itself. I took the wing test piece, covered a small length of the LE with masking tape followed by some cardboard to create a recess where the LE stops. I then covered it all with a layer of Sellotape to avoid any damage to the ‘plug’. I added a few pieces of acetate to create some ‘walls’ and some Polymer clay to close the mould at both ends. Et voilà… When the PU got cured - hard as rock in about 8 minutes - I could proceed to trim the edges off and apply some aluminium oxide grinding paper with double sided Sello. I just hope now I can get back to here with an acceptable looking sanded edge… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Reindeer Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Elen Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Hi Chris, Looking good there fella.👍 You realise you won't need that Easy Touch now😂 Regards Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 Well, at least not for the LE of the Ballerina, Mark. But quite certainly I will have some other leading edges to handle in the future... ... and if not I'll give it a 'prominent' place in La Grotte. Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Next Build Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 Hi to all, There is some good news regarding the ‘homemade’ PU sanding profile. It seemed to work as I was hoping even with my apprentice skills. The only spot where it was somehow tricky is at the join of the two halves due to the dihedral angle but I’ll get it ‘fudged’ with the glass fibre. Apologies for the light quality of the following picture, but it’s the first time I have to frame such a large item. I think I’m getting envious of Danny’s or Tim Hooper’s ‘photo studio’ now. Suddenly Bella’s wing has become quite ‘large’. Well at least, that’s the feeling it’s giving me. Even Gaston - somewhere at the top left corner of the picture - seems to become very ‘small’ now. Also a bit weird that, after all that work and dedication to get it finally complete, I have to cut in it, ‘trying to find’ back the ailerons… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR L(arge) Wing Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Looks excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 Thank you, Peter. I hope your adjective will also be of application when the Bella gets into the air. I must say that I was surprised how well that 'sanding thingie' performed for the leading edge. Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Excellence Control Edited By McG 6969 on 06/01/2017 13:44:03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 Hello everybody still out there, I had the opportunity to only spend a few hours at La Grotte this afternoon and decided to have the ailerons removed from the newly completed wing. It still gave me a strange feeling to have that kind of ‘deep surgery’ though. The ‘intervention’ went quite smoothly and while enjoying a coffee break before trimming/sanding the aileron edges, I was still wondering about the ‘impressive’ size of the Bella’s wing. Please remember it’s a total ‘first one’ for me. From a former ‘hesitation’ to a subsequent ‘doubt’, I decided to measure my wing - as supposed to be 1346mm/53” wingspan - but my meter told me it was 1436mm or 56.5”. A slight difference of 90mm… After a long moment of ‘freezing’ panic, I measured the half wings, both being totally equal at 718mm… each one 45mm overly long, but at least they are 'symmetric'… and maybe the worst of it is that I can’t understand ‘how’ it happened. Next was to try to find a ‘fudging’ or ‘bodging’ solution. Cutting down half of the wingtips doesn’t appear to be really easy to implement, cutting down at the centre section is totally ‘not done’ of course. As it was exactly today one year ago that I started building the Ballerina, I can’t even say “Happy Anniversary, Bella”… Matata mingi (or ‘Lots of trouble’ in Swahili) Chris BRU - BE / CTR Wing Span Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 It makes no difference in the grand scheme of things Chris, means yours is unique Keep Calm N Carry On John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 A little extra wing area is no problem . My last design is 56" in fact it measure 55.5 " Doesn't really matter I once did some very accurate scale drawings of the Taylor Monoplane. THis included the original version as per the Taylor plans and a clip wing version. When I spoke the the builder of the clip wing he didn't even know what the span was. So if a full size builder doesn't know what the span was why on earth worry bout your mode!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Hi Chris, the wing looks good. I don't know how many times I've said it but.....keep up the good work!Don't cut anything. Leave your wing as is. Rosco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta Foxtrot Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Regarding the leading edge sanding towards the dihedral joint...I am in the process of building a wing using Peter's prefered false leading edge design. I have experimented using strong double sided tape to attach and shape the leading edge before joining the wing panels. Once shaped the leading edge is carefully removed and reattached after the wing panels are joined. It worked well for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I simply sand to shape up to the join and finish that last bit by hand. IT is hidden by the fuselage at that point anyway so can't be seen. If it is a person's desire to achieve perfection in every detail...I admire them. If it looks OK at a few feet and flies well and doesn't fall apart in the air That is all I ask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 Thank you all gentlemen for reassuring me with my wing ‘oops’ situation. It will remain as is then. @ Delta > I’ll make a ‘mental’ note of your trick for the future. You’re right Peter, I could have stopped earlier and finish by hand, but then as you wrote it is ‘under’ the fuselage anyway. Meanwhile, after a bit of head scratching, I found the reason for the extra 90mm of my wingspan. As I was planning to make my covering in 3mm Depron, Simon advised me to make a few extra ribs to avoid some ‘sacking’ of the covering between them. So, I had to redrawn the wing with a bit less spacing to allow for 12 ribs. Above is the ‘new’ drawing in red marker still under the cling film. As I probably had an intense early senior moment, I drew the first spacing of 45mm at the root simply TWICE but was then lucky to use a mirror view of the drawing for the other half, hence the ‘grow’ of 90mm and the presence of 13 ribs now in the ‘Mk2’ half wing… So, as far as I’m am concerned, there is really no “perfection” here in the close neighbourhood, Peter. Maybe I should replace the ‘HD’ in Bella’s name by ‘XL’ now? Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR XL Span Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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