A first timers attempt at a Tony Nijhuis Sky 40 for beginners

[toto]

Back in the house now ..... with my mate ..... John Smith .....

 

So looking forward .... tomorrow is fixing the servo cover in place and fitting capping straps along the wing sparks. Probably not much more than that as I dont want to fit the leading and trailing edges until the capping straps have set ....., recipe for a real mess. 

 

If my motor arrives from Kings Lynne models .... I may jump back onto the fuselage and do the conversion. I will need to build the supplied motor mount box either way.

 

This first wing will nearly be done and I'll be moving on to the second. I'm not going to bore the pants off everyone by posting that up again but I will do some progress shots of where I am with it. 

 

After that .... its hinge cutting and control surface fitting.... ailerons, rudder and elevator etc.

 

I am still looking at when exactly I will begin the covering as some parts will be covered prior to other parts geing finally fitted ..... I am talking the tail plane and rudder / elevator .... and wings prior to covering the fuselage etc. .... my head is not clear on that yet but will become clearer as things progress.

 

Niw ..... where is my mate .... John Smith....

 

Toto

[toto]

OK .... so taking up where I left off yesterday ...  Part 37 ....  

 

I glued the servo tray W17 and W18  into position .....

 

 

and added some weight ...... now to let that dry out ....

 

Part 37 .... complete.

 

Part 38 .... capping strips ...

 

I cut the capping strips to fit each of the wing ribs from the 9mm stock as supplied with the kit and as used on the top side previously ....

 

 

i marked them on the underside with their wing rib numbers .... not that it really matters as once they are cut to length .... they can only fit correctly into their intended place.

 

Then I started gluing and pinning them into position ....

 

 

and ..... 

 

 

job done .....

 

 

and one more shot of the completed task .....

 

 

 Part 38 is now complete ...

 

 Part 39 ,,,, 

 

Part 39 calls for the leading edge W27 and trailing edge W28 to be glued into place and sanded to form the correct curvature .....

 

 

Thats coming next after the previous stage has been given a chance to dry.

 

Until thats dry ...... I am going to build the electric conversion motor mount and dismantle the previously installed IC engine ....

 

thats after tea

 

cheers for now

 

toto

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by toto

[toto]

OK ..... a quick change of heart ..... I decided to glue the leading edge W27 in place.

 

 

so the glue goes on ......

 

 

start clamping the leading edge W27 into place ....

 

 

and there we have it ..... done ....

 

 

 

and one more .....

 

 

now to move on to the trailing edge ..... I'll be back soon ....

 

cheers

 

toto

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by toto

[Peter Jenkins]

You can never have too many clamps!

[toto]

Absolutely right Peter ..... and there is more on their way ...... 😄

 

I had to start by sanding off these rough edges left from the overspill from the 9mm capping as fitted earlier ...... better too long than too short ....

 

 

and here is a real clanger I made ...... was not paying attention at all ....

 

 

sanded away far too much here .... but a bit filler once all is done will sort that out ..... a very gentle hand needed.

 

 

then we take the stock trailing edge W 26 and apply it to the workpiece once you have added the glue ...... which I did not photograph ..... speak with the complaints department if you have an issue .....😄

 

 

and here is where its going  .....

 

 

like so .... with a couple of pins to hold it in place whilst I start applying the clamps .....

 

 

like this ...... as Peter says ..... you can never have too many clamps ...... and I still have some in reserve .....

 

 

My metal weights / blocks used to keep the wing on its edge as I apply the glue and clamp the trailing edge.

 

 

and one more from the wing tip edge this time ....

 

 Task 39 is now complete ( one wing ) ...

 

 well .... its not really .... I'm lying again .... got to watch me for that ...... its habitual you know. Part 39  actually calls for the short piece of fixed aileron to be fitted at this stage but I will wait until  Task 40   which deals with the fixing of the wing tip and do them together. 

 

Now ... things are starting to heat up a bit as its all shaping , hinging and all sorts of tasks that can make or break the reasonably successful job that I have made so far for a rookie .

 

I think once this is dry .... I'll set this aside and move on to the second wing ..... get it up to the same stage and screw up the final stages of these together ....😄

 

I'm off to have a quick word with my mate John Smith

 

hope its been of interest so far ....

 

toto 

[toto]

As mentioned earlier ...... there is a motor mount to build as I have decided to go electric with this. i have done a dry build of the mount ....

 

 

and ....

 

 

but I am running out of clear building space to disassemble the Force 46 currently installed in the fuselage ......

 

 

due to waiting for this lot to dry .....

 

 

I could shift things about and squeeze things in but decided against it as its always when you push your luck that mistakes and damage start to happen so thats for later.

 

that's all for now then ......

 

cheers

 

toto

[toto]

Back in the shed and in order to put this wing to bed for now ..... I have to trim down the leading and trailing edge spars to length and fix the wing tips in place. Here are the profiles that I am trying to achieve ...

 

 

Leading edge .....

 

 

and the trailing edge ..... so I messed around with the wing tip to get a feel for how it was going to be .......

 

 

I cut off the extra length from the leading and trailing edge spars .....

 

 

and tried clamping the wing tip roughly in position .....

 

 

and tried to assess the material that needed to be trimmed down.

 

 

and .....

 

 

then started to cut down the top and bottom of the trailing edge first ..... as that looked the easiest ...

 

 

The curvature from the top of the wing surface spars continues down the edge of the trailing edge ..... if you can see it from the photo .... it may need a little more sanding but i'm quite happy with that. 

 

 

The bottom edge is more or less straight with the bottom surface of the wing straps so it just needed sanding to meet level with the two surfaces.

 

I may revisit these later but for now .... I think they are ok. I used a mixture of a mini hobby plane and a fine sanding block when cutting away the materials. 

 

The plane .....

 

 

 

and the block ....

 

 

A couple of things when using the plane ..... check your setting on how far the blade protrudes and give it a whirl on a bit scrap. you just want it taking the edge off the wood .... not digging a trench ..... Also .... when using the blocks .... try and bring the block down the wing spars towards the trailing edge as opposed to going across them.  

 

Now ..... to have a good look at the leading edge and figure out in my mind how I am going to gradually reduce the pretty significant amount of balsa that needs to come off the leading edge block without losing the overall profile along the way.

 

I'll be back ...... 

 

In my mind .... the is the single biggest task where I could really blow it.

 

toto

 

 

[John Stainforth]

One thing you can do is cut a female template of the profile of the LE in a piece of thick balsa and use that to continually monitor your progress while you are sanding, to avoid over-doing it. This is an ideal task for a Permagrit sanding block.

[toto]

Hi John .... The permagrit " curved " block is out .... with a fine finish ....

 

 

and after you have taken the worst off with the plane ......

 

 

does a great job ......

 

 

and the last one for now .....

 

 

still some imperfections to be finely taken out but gradually getting there. With the exception of starting with a line slightly off centre going down the length of the leading edge ....... its all MK 1 eyeball.

 

pays your money ...... takes your chances ..... still got the bottom surface to go......

 

back later 

 

toto

[toto]

OK ..... so I started on the bottom surface of the leading edge .......

 

 

its going ok .......

 

 

almost looks meant .......

 

 

maybe still a little left to go .... but I can live with that .... especially for a first attempt.

 

So ....... I still have the wing tip to deal with ... and when held in position .... it looks like things should shape in nicely. However ..... thats for tomorrow night . If I get that done  ... I can lay it aside whilst I tackle the second wing ..... thats the plan.

 

The motor and ESC ordered from Kings Lynne models hasn't arrived as yet but if that arrives, I may take a well deserved rest of wing duty and go onto fitting a motor duty ...😄 .... we'll see.

 

thats all from the shed for tonight ..... hope its worth the watch.

 

cheers

 

toto

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by toto

[Piers Bowlan]

So a pretty major change from IC to leccy, having installed your engine. Not a criticism but what is your thinking behind the change? Just curious.

[toto]

Hi Piers,

 

It's more to do with my slow rate of progress with regards to learning to fly than anything else. Having went with IC in my Arising Star, it's just been one drama after another trying to get things set up properly.

 

I think that I should keep things a bit simpler for the time being and stick with electric until I am less reliant on others to train me. Provided the initial set up is done properly then it's just turn up at the field with the model and half a dozen batteries and away you go. Any drama's should really be down to my flying skills rather than faffing around with dead sticks and other IC related issues.

 

I will still use IC and petrol as I have five glow engines and two petrol but shall wait until I have the time and experience to master them first .... right now .... it's all about stick time .... or the lack of in my case. I hope that makes sense.

 

Toto

Edited November 2, 2023 by toto

[aidan mcatamney]

That makes a lot of sense Toto.  I think you are definitely going down the right road. Once you are comfortable with electric,  then that will give you the confidence to then try your hand out with IC.  

Edited November 2, 2023 by aidan mcatamney

[toto]

Goodies arrived from Kings Lynne today so could be a change in duties tonight.

 

I'll clear up my building board and clear the decks. Stick the newly built wing somewhere safe whilst I use the board space for working on the fuselage. 

 

So 

 

1 x Ripmax Quantum 11 ( 40 )

800 KV brushless motor

 

1 x Overlander 60 A XP2 SBEC ESC

 

2 x APC 14 x 7E Plastic props. ( sized by Kings Lynne Models )

 

Takes 3S to 7S Lipo Batteries 

 

The only thing with the ESC is that it is fitted with a Dean's connector. Boooooooo. I'll need to check and see if I have a Dean's to EC5 adaptor piece. Mmmmm sure I have.

 

The main event will be changing the engine out for the motor. Shouldn't take to long even though I only have the motor mount dry fitted at the moment. I did not want to glue it together until I had test fitted it too the fire wall which will hopefully happen tonight.

 

After that ..... Its wing number two. I wont be doing a blow by blow account of wing two but will do quick progress updates on it to save boring everyone. Once thats done, I can start on ailerons, rudder and elevator ....... forming edges and slotting hinges in control surfaces.

 

The thing about the various control surfaces is that I want to form the edges / bevels etc and cut the hinge slots ..... but after that, before gluing to their respective parts, I intend to do the covering first then glue them into place ...... could be a bit of faffing around with trial fits etc but worth it to try and get a half decent job made of the covering.

 

Ok.... enough gum banging for now ..... hopefully see you all in the shed tonight all going well.

 

Cheers

 

Toto 

Edited November 2, 2023 by toto

[Nigel R]

1 hour ago, toto said:

I intend to do the covering first then glue them into place

 

Always hinge first, cover second, glue third.

 

 

[Peter Jenkins]

13 minutes ago, Nigel R said:

 

Always hinge first, cover second, glue third.

 

 

 Well, I'd cover first, then cut the hinge slots otherwise it's the devils own job to find the slots you've made!  Use a centring tool to get the hinge slots cut in the middle of the structure and control surface.

[toto]

Hi Peter,

 

I'd thought of that and what I intended to do was once I had cut the hinge slots, take measurements of where they are and transfer to the drawing. I would measure to both slot edges and maybe even a measurement to the centre of each hinge for good luck. 

 

When it comes to gluing the hinges in place ..... its CA glue and I will smear a little vaseline or something around the surface edges to prevent the CA getting onto the covering....... or so it goes in theory ..... 

 

Hi Nigel ... excuse my not very well explained plan. What I should have said was ..... cut the slots for the hinges first, then cover then glue in the hinge. I think we are on the same page.

 

Thanks for the com,ents chaps.

 

Toto

[GrumpyGnome]

I'm with Peter - cover, hinge, assemble. Simple and works for kits as well as ARTFs....

[toto]

OK .... back in the shed .....

 

stored the 1st wing build up out the way ....... 

 

 

replaced the wing drawing on the build board to take the second wing .....

 

 

and now I'll use the board to sit the fuselage on to change out the Engine.....

 

 

first installing the motor mount .... which is only dry fixed at this point but the 30 minute epoxy is coming out as per the destructions in Part 20  ....

 

 

then fix the motor which arrived today ......

 

 

 

and remove the throttle servo and push rod linkage ....

 

 

I'll be back once I have this stripped down and ready to install the mount....

 

cheers

 

toto

[toto]

OK .... the strip out ....

 

 

out comes the servo for the throttle ...... wont be needing that any more .....

 

 

then the engine comes out .......

 

 

The motor mount was taken apart and some 30 minute epoxy mixed and all glued back together again. The holes on the fire wall had to be bored out slightly to take the tabs from the motor mount but that was no big deal ....

 

 

plenty epoxy spread on all the mating edges between the motor mount and the fire wall and then clamped in place to dry ...

 

 

one last shot for now ....

 

I can't fit the motor as such as I await the epoxy to dry so I will jump back on to the second wing meantime and start cutting out the various wing parts from their sprues .... more later

 

toto

[toto]

OK ..... I cut out the various parts ... leading edge and trailing edge ..... wing spars .... servo panel etc.

 

 

I've numbered them as before ..... and also as before ..... when cutting out the trailing edge ...... I snapped it .... don't ask how .... it just happened .

 

anyway ... I put a little alphatic glue on to try and bind it back together again .... see how that dries tomorrow. Its no great big deal as the " actual " trailing edge block will give it strength again. I can also put a little support strap in as well. ..... just annoying. they are so fragile due to their overall length and you have to be so careful when handling them. 

 

It just means that from here on in, I have to be very careful how much pressure I allow on this part until I am ready to attach the main trailing edge. pain in the nether regions.

 

toto

[Piers Bowlan]

Toto, you ordered a couple of 14x7 props for your Quantum motor, (as recommended by Kings Lynn Models). 
 

I just wondered if you will have sufficient ground clearance with that sized prop, bearing in mind the Force46 prop range is 10x7 to 12x6? Perhaps you might consider lengthening the UC a tad, if so. 

Just looking ahead!

 

On the Quantum motor spec sheet it suggests a 12x9W (presumably W is wood?)

Might be worth running the figures through e-Calc or find a friend tho can.

 

I guess you will be running it off a 4S LiPo?

Edited November 3, 2023 by Piers Bowlan

[toto]

Hi Piers,

 

I'll check it out. I saw the 12 x 9 quoted on the box of the motor ( once I'd bought it ) and wondered. However, sort of trusted the info being given. I'm not confident enough to be determining on ecalc myself as yet but need to be getting my head around it. Something else to do.

 

I have the choice of running anything between a 4s to a 7s battery and have an ample supply of both 4s and 6s to choose from. I'll look deeper into it over the next wee while.

 

Thanks for coming back on this.

 

Toto

[Ron Gray]

33 minutes ago, Piers Bowlan said:

12x9W (presumably W is wood?)

Wide

[toto]

Thanks for clarifying Ron. 

 

I'll fit the motor tonight as planned as the mount will have dried and that will let me get it off the board and make a start on wing 2.

 

A fair bit of jumping about after that between the wings and the fuselage as the control surfaces start to be worked on. The thread is becoming harder to follow so apologies for that but I suppose you have to work out the best order to do things as you go.

 

Cheers for now.

 

Toto