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Belated Ballerina


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So eventually, albeit much later than planned, I've managed to make a start on my contribution to the MB. Whilst my build has been delayed it has given me the opportunity to watch and learn from other builds - and wow what progress you guys are making !! The variations being built and the techniques used are most impressive - if mine turns out half as good I'll be made up !!

My Ballerina is going to be very much as per the plan - sheet tail feathers, single servo & bellcranks for the ailerons and this little beauty up front providing the grunt !

-Saito FA-40a

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Thanks Martyn, I will certainly be needing guidance for sure - I'll be using you guys as my online instruction manual if thats ok !

I opted to cut the wing ribs using the sandwich method - don't know if I'd do that again - created a bit of a monster to work with but with much trimming and sanding got there in the end !

Wing Ribs

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Pinned down the lower sheeting and spars etc and started putting all the bits together - one variation I did make from Peters process was to pin the lower capping strips to the board before attaching the wing ribs - with hindsight I would like to have had all of the lower sheeting pinned down as Chris had done to keep it all nice and flat - but heyho you live and learn !

First Wing Panel

That's where I'm at for now - nothing earth shattering but at least I'm back in the game ! - if it looks like I've got anything wrong or out of place please make comments - as I've said before you guys are my reference manual !

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Possibly a little late now, but if you are using the sandwich method, I would advise cutting the templates - one each end - out of 16g aluminium strip so they don't get sanded away while shaping the blank

Following on from your last post. You just need to be careful that you can still see the plan. If you are going to cover things like spars and ribs, extend their positions by drawing on the plan so you can track backwards using a straight edge or square for alignment

Edited By Martyn K on 19/01/2016 12:21:42

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That was why I didn't pin the lower sheeting down initially - because I was uneasy with it hiding so much information on the plan - but it seems a much better idea to do it now as the bottom of the wing is flat and the board will keep it that way. I think I'll try it on the other wing, as you say Martyn make some reference points to transpose on to the upper face of the sheeting and build up from there, Thanks.

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If you intend to pin all the 1/16 parts to the plan first when building the wing I recommend taking a few photographs of the plan to refer to!

A few nice Saito's going into some builds too! I think the Ballerina definitely needs that 4 stroke soundtrack to it! These electrickery lads don't know what they're missing!

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Absolutely Chris, its got to be IC for me every time - this is my first four stroke can't wait to get it running !

I'm working off a copy of the plan so I have the original beside me - providing I read it properly frown should be ok ... I think transposing the reference lines accurately onto the top of the 1/16 sheet is the secret !

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Oh Good! Another one and with a civilised powerplant.

As I have said I will go electric when airliners do and when I see an aerobatic dispaly with a full size electric powered PItts Special...with Smoke on!!

pitts 1.jpg

PS THat is one of our club members giving us a little show before coming back to the field with his models

Edited By Peter Miller on 20/01/2016 21:40:02

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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks the part Peter !

So I've made slow progress on the first wing panel but by adopting Peters "Purple Plan" I think it's now at the stage where I can lift it from the board and start on the second wing this weekend.

dsc00310 (small).jpg

It's just another wing - others have made better I'm sure and definitely quicker so theres not too much to say but I did have a couple of "oops" moments which give it an individual touch . . .

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Oops No. 1 =

dsc00312 (small).jpg

When I made the ribs I obviously didn't taper the rear to a fine enough point. As a result the 1/8 x 3/8 TE was too thin to make a decnt joint leaving a large step where it attached. To compensate I went up a size to 3/16 x 1/2 TE which fits perfect but the wing is now slightly deeper.

So would it be best to trim the TE back or just leave it and make the tip slightly bigger too ?

dsc00313 (small).jpg

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