John H. Rood

Drawing reference lines has helped double-check my efforts at alignment. Even just labeling things as to up/down/fore/aft/port/starboard etc helps me with basic orientation.

Fuselage sub-assemblies completed. G&M's design/engineering is a big help as things really do square-up. Next step is to make up the aft spine pieces and then things really come together. A really fun build underway!

SO THERE I WAS... minding my own business, immersing myself in aliphatic, quietly communing with The Monolith, when THE EXTRATERRESTRIALS arrived. They wanted to "probe" me, I respectfully declined, recommending that they try a normal human instead. They said they'd consider. Overhead photo courtesy the MotherShip.

Excellent, Mr. Edmead! This is gonna be great. Already lookin' like a sleek swept-wing fighter, right there!

Adjutant McG, I am no expert, but one thing that might help set one's mind at ease with regard to battery DURATION (using 4.8V NiMH) is that, at least in my experience of powering just two servos with 4.8V 300 mAn packs, THEY LAST ALL DAY. And I mean, ALL day! Like, flying pretty much non-stop from mid-morning until dusk in warm and halcyon Southern California. Same is true for 750mAh packs True, the airplanes I've been flying flying are relatively small and lightweight, ergo the batteries are likely driving less powerful servos than we might use now on our 1/10th scale Sabres, but there it is. As a PSS flyer, you might wanna ask yourself, "HOW LONG AM I GONNA BE OUT THERE IN A STRONG CHILLY WIND, ANYWAY? And be chilly, I mean ICE-COLD, like, you begin losing touch with your face, your fingertips, the works! Junior Aircraftman Cadet Rood

Martin, I just plain screwed up! Indeed I remember you going to considerable trouble to clarify that little typo and now I’ve gone and resurrected it! Sorry about that! I owe you one there. I wish this forum allowed us to edit and delete at will. But I can at least reiterate: THE TAILPLANE IS MADE OF TWO LAMINATIONS OF 1/4" BALSA, NOT 1/8" !!! If any doubts, just look at the airfoil section on the G&M plan -- it is clearly of 1/4th balsa laminations, not 1/8th. Edited By John H. Rood on 23/11/2019 14:23:27

Cardboard templates for cutting out the sheet balsa tail parts:

Rough shape achieved. The Sabre nose shape is complex, and my main thing here was to utilize G&M's quadrants and stay with them. I did everything so far with just a sanding block and 60 grit and then 100 grit.   I don't like sanding with loud power tools;   I enjoy the quiet of doing it all by hand where possible.  Also later on I wrapped the sandpaper around a dowel to do internal bits, tight spots. The quality of design in G&M's three-layer lamination enabled me to do all this basic shaping with just the quadrants, layers, and the plan views, but without consulting photo/artwork references. However, near the session's end tonight I got a bit overenthusiastic with the 60 grit and took off a bit too much on the leading edge of each side (the area just above my thumb in the photos); this happened because I did not check back often enough with G&M's accurate side elevations.   Later on I'll need to fix this to get the proper side profile at the lip. And of course there is more shaping to do with the whole thing. But the overall feel is there and it is straight and squared-up -- and hopefully it will come out true to the plan specs. Edited By John H. Rood on 23/11/2019 02:27:38

A ways to go, but it's a start. And fun! Backside:

Captain Barlow, your happiness with the 4.8V NiMH route is glad news for me -- as 4.8V NiMH is really the only thing I know how to use nowadays -- so seeing as it works for you, I believe I can just stay lazy oops I mean "keep it simple"! Cadet McG, kudos on your fine workmanship and meticulous ways thus far. "Now GO, and commit this sin no more."     Edited By John H. Rood on 22/11/2019 16:44:09

Just more of the simpler odds n' sods... laminating the FOD Collector and the two ply wing bolt plates (WP-1). Ascend Mount Olympus... High Noon at the Klamp Korral feeding trough...

Lower skins are now ready, and later on the uppers will be trimmed to fit.

Toward the goal of keeping all the glue joints on the inside, here are the matched sets of wing skin outsides: Here are the insides, folding them over and gluing the seam with Titebond, then laying it down to dry: I'm building these skins on a very heavy and flat glass surface. After taking these pics I glued up the other three skins as well, and adding books on top as weights so they'll all hopefully dry nice and flat. Next is to mark the ribs and spars on the insides. Edited By John H. Rood on 20/11/2019 00:00:12

Well, yesterday the wife went out and bought a wreath for the holidays — our first of the season — but/and/somehow this lil’ balsa thing confused it with the ancient spirits of MiG Alley, the lofty heights of glory over the mighty Yalu River!

Bright and early this morning, Commander Garsden's mention of fishing trawlers induced the wife (and I, by default) to mangle her brave new hot plate holder / trivet / Sabre wing jig as seen here: I think she was figuring the FJ-2 Fury's unique wing fold feature ought be introduced right here so as to free up stowage space aboard the trawlers. I'm not sure she was right about it, but in the end, the PSS scale judges will ascertain the soggy, briney truth.

This talk of gelati and pizza and prancing horses and philistines and lost foam... it could only lead my ridiculous meandering mind to visions of Stromboli... BUT I DIGRESS.

Seldom is an aviation-minded book a highly-regarded thing by "real" writers and critics. Seldom is a respected writer ALSO a pilot that flew F-86 Sabres in combat over "MiG Alley" in 1952. THE HUNTERS has both of these exceptional traits. USAF fighter pilot James Horowitz wrote his first novel, this one, THE HUNTERS, while flying F-86's in Korea; it was published under his literary name James Salter to what's become enduring praise.  Here is the author, in the cockpit, during the war: In the literary world, Salter went on to wide recognition as one of the truly great American novelists.  He also wrote a few screenplays for Hollywood.  On his passing at age 90, his first novel THE HUNTERS was remembered near and far. For example, The Paris Review, and The Guardian. THE HUNTERS eventually got the Hollywood treatment, Robert Mitchum and all.  Not a bad movie according to most critics, and to this day the aerial cinematography is shimmering and I'd go out on a limb to say that the novel and the movie are a natural for most any PSS F-86 Sabre 2020 Mass Build enthusiast. And here's an earlier version than my paperback, this one's hardcover -- and gotta love its jacket: Edited By John H. Rood on 11/11/2019 18:53:43

Thanks, Phil! And thanks for hosting this Mass Build 2020. To be sure, I've by no means quit on building the 2016 A-4 Skyhawk, but I was unable to resist this 2020 Mass Build. The design looks gorgeous and the kit is fantastic. So now I've completed the wing jig --plenty of gussets and a little Dawn Patrol action today with an all-sheet balsa catapult launch USAF Sabre I created many years ago, long before all you kiddos were even hatched: And speaking of hatched, not many people are aware that, early-on, the XFJ-2 Fury tried out a fairly unusual internal flotation system for those unscheduled ocean landings. With the scale judges looking on, I've developed a faithful rendering of that very installation: This system has already proved helpful in explaining to the wife why I REALLY NEEDED TO BUY THIS KIT!

Well, Sir, welcome aboard! This is going to be great fun. Best wishes on your build.

So, fishing sinkers I have. This is a very weighty topic. Thanks, Peter for the encouragement. I was hoping to hitch a ride inside a stray Antonov PSS model of ungodly size that might be wandering around the North Atlantic, but indeed a B-52 is a high altitude bird that can keep the champagne cold. Manifest destiny!

Posted by Mark Kettle 1 on 12/09/2019 08:09:28: A big thank you... for the lesser worded title on this thread. "In 1961 The New German Federal Luftwaffe" I know I am not well in the head, but I feel this is THE GREATEST TITLE, EVER, for a Sabre build blog. Possibly even the GREATEST TITLE, EVER, ANYWHERES for a build blog of ANY aircraft type.  REDACTIONS CAN BE FABULOUS!  Hilarious how it turned out! Edited By John H. Rood on 08/11/2019 19:14:52

2019 Autumn colours outside => 2020 Mass Build Commences. All the spanwise jig parts in stacks:

Assembling the jig spanwise members J2, J3, and J4. First I cleaned them up a bit with sanding sticks and a round file and it was soon an easy fit. The drawings make everything very clear.

OK now all you PSSA Ozone-Adventurers, I shall begin my build here on Day 1 with assembling the wing jig. The drawings sure are a help in understanding what’s to go where!