Martyn

If it were me I'd fit a servo in each wing, if your radio supports it you can control the differential throw of the servos (more up than down) without having to rely on off setting the torque rods.

And a note on closed loop systems - you must ensure that the hole spacing is the same at both ends (between centres), if not the tension in each line will change as one end will move a different distance, and will make the servo work harder.

Andy

- throttle , top in picture, port side of fuselage, at an angle.

- rudder running pivoting bar.

- elevator running snake (not fitted yet)

Any comments or criticisms, make them quick, before I go much further.

Had to ream out the hole in the wheal just a tiny bit, to suit the tube O/D.

But I think that looks rather good.

No doubt there are other ways you old-timers would have done it different.

Comments always welcome.

Here's a good tip for anyone interested.

 If you are cutting a snake outer-tube to length, try to remember to take the inner rod out before you cut it. Othewise you'll cut the inner rod too short.

Guess how I found this one out !! 

Yep, been there done it and got the T shirt. (I just kept quiet about it)

Andy

I use these forums (fora ?) to learn from other people's mistakes.

Thought it only fair to share some of mine.

 - - - - -

Another one was to force fit the new prop on my new engine, just to see what it looked like, using the the prop nut.

Now there's no way that prop's ever going to come off without the use of a saw.

Martyn

Simple solution, all you need is a short piece of wood and 2 Jubilee clips.

Put a nut on the end of the motor shaft to protect the thread and stop the shaft cutting into the wood.

Place the wood against the nut (like a second prop)

Slip Jubilee clip over both the wood and the prop and slide up to each side of the hub. Yes it helps if you have at least four hands!

Tighten both Jubilee clips together . Hey Presto! the prop starts to pull forward.

If the prop still refuses to budge with a reasonable amount of force try warming the hub with a heatgun whilst tightening the clips.

Of course, if the clips have marked the prop in any way - bin it!

Good luck.

Rob

Good idea Rob, I'll try it.

It will be easier to fit, - remove, - fit, - remove, - fit (etc) the engine without the prop.

Now learning how to fit the covering.

I wanted to wait and get a photo of the whole build in wood, before covering. But at the speed I'm going that may be some while yet.

I've finished the tail assembly so I've been covering that this weekend.  And it's actually come out really, really nice.

Only mistake here (I shouldn't keep mentioning my mistakes; people will think I'm rubbish at this !) was on one surface of the elevator;- it was harder to stick down than the others, and it's come out a little 'bubbly'. Even where there shouldn't be any bubbles at all. I can only think that I forgot to remove the protective plastic film from the sheet. But then I wouldn't have done that because that would be really stupid !!!

I did have trouble with the mylar hinges. I trial fitted them all together (six in total). Then glued all six into the elevators. Then trial fitted again. Then put glue on the remaining halves, than had a mad panic struggle as one of them wouldn't go in, as the other five were setting, very quickly. Rather than have all six stick only half-in I decided  to push the five all the way in, and deal with the errant one later.
Seems to have worked fine in the end, but a bit of a panic at the time.

Rudder I did last, and therefore it went really well.

The fin was more difficult because of the concave front edge. I naïvely  assumed that the covering would shrink round the curve, but of course it wanted to shrink to a straight line and not touch the leading edge of the wood at all. In the end I split it with a knife, and wrapped each side round the leading edge a little.

The rudder is hinged to the fin in two places, and there is also a hinge to go into the back of the fuselage itself. Not sure how that'll work but it looks like it should go fine. That'll be after the fuselage is fully covered and the whole tail assembly gets glued on.

Tail and wings are going to be silver. Not sure about the fuselage colour yet.

Been away for a while, so not picked up on the threads.

My only concern (reading back) is the welded undercarriage. This locally hardens the piano wire by the joint and can easily snap with a heavyish landing and write the plane off. That is why we recomend that the undercarriage be bound and soldered.

Another tip, if you intend to use snakes for control, ensure that you wrap the famous 1.5 turns of masking tape around the snake outer where it exits the fuselage and make sure it is glued into wood at that point. Also do this by the servo, then you will never have a problem with control surface error as a result of a floating snake outer.

Thanks Eddie.  If the undercarriage falls off I'll let you know.

Little question for you on the rudder instructions.

Should the control arm thing normally go above the elevator (like on the full-size) or below it (where there seems most space). I've installed the servos (photo a few days ago) but haven't looked at stting up the closed-loop wires yet.

I'll probably stick to the very-stand-off scale.

The rudder control holes are 50mm apart.

If you have a rudder-bar extending through the fuselage, the holes will be farther apart than 50mm. Doesn't that cause problems?  Think I saw a picture somewhere of someone using two rudder servos, each with their controls sticking though either side of the fuselage.

Regarding the forced on prop, If it has been forced so tight onto its shaft that it needs some kind of puller to remove it, it needs cutting off anyway. This is because the forces induced on the material that the prop is made from will inevitably have developed hairline fractures within, and are very likely to increase resulting in prop breakage which in turn becomes dangerous to borh yourself and anyone with you while the engine is running.

 Advice, cut the prop off, ream out a new one to fit correctly and be safe to all around you!!!