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Just another Ballerina


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Definitely worth having one John. The angle clamps are surprisingly strong!

BEB, for some reason I read the instructions to it when it came. Must have been bored or no RCM&E in the bathroom! Very simple and descriptive with a few trick to setting it up quickly. Hope yours comes soon Craig you'll build everything in it once you have one!

So, 2am and insomnia has got the better of me, probably due to thinking of the glue drying or getting started on the wings! Sneaked downstairs and slipped on some jeans and a fleece jumper, coffee made and out to the workshop. 5 minutes later the heater has it up to a comfortable 17 degrees, it's 4 degrees outside and trying it's hardest to snow!

The fuze was glued up around 8pm so it's been drying for 6 hours already and the yellow aliphatic has turned almost clear so I cut up some 1/8th sq spruce then took the fuze out of the jig. Made a paper template of F5 and F10 but 1/8th oversize so it included the positions of the stringers. The templates were matches to the formers and the positions of the stringers marked out. The stringers were then pinned in position dry and checked for straightness.

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Note the top centre stringer is tacked in position with cyano gel because I simply didn't have enough thin pins!

Once I was happy with the positioning of the stringers I made sure they were all pulled down to the formers and wouldn't move by wrapping some masking tape around them and securing to the fuselage sides. Another check and a couple of minor adjustment then I ran a small blob of Superphatic between each stringer.

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I then spread the superphatic all around the joints including inside the fuselage on the underside of the stringers with a paintbrush. I'm always wary when using spruce as it seems to repel glues. The best I've found for spruce is either very thin cyano if the joints are good and not too porous or superphatic.

I also had a quick planing and sanding session on the Vulcan Fuselage with which the Ballerina is sharing the bench.

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I noticed on the drawing that the front turtle deck around the cockpit ends butted up to the stringers. I'll add a strip of soft 1/8 Sq balsa to the front of F5 to give it something to glue to.
I wouldn't put the stringers on top of the front deck otherwise there will be a step in the fuselage. The will be a slight step as th deck is 3/32 and the stringers 1/8 IIRC but that will sand out.
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Ok, that's an option

I think that what Peter Miller did was to extend the front cover behind F5, and then cut it where the stringers are located. Then the inter-stringers pieces were added to the same length.

The photo is not very clear but I think that this is how it's built

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Posted by AVC on 13/01/2016 13:06:18:

Ok, that's an option

I think that what Peter Miller did was to extend the front cover behind F5, and then cut it where the stringers are located. Then the inter-stringers pieces were added to the same length.

The photo is not very clear but I think that this is how it's built

Yed, but it is all purely cosmetic so you can do it any way that you like. I usually have to add a little bit of wood where two turtle decks meet but with strintgers it is simpler just to extend the front deck back a abit.

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Thanks Martyn. I know a lot of people read the blogs and don't necessarily comment because most of the time there's no need to say anything! If just one person steals an idea or trick and uses it on their own build then it's worth it! I've stolen plenty of ideas from other blogs, including yours! wink

 

Chris, it may seem like fast progress but really it's still lots of hours of work, I just do it late into the night!

Nothing done last night though as I had to go Ice skating! Don't ask, it wasn't pretty!

So in an effort to forget that embarrassment there'll be lots of building tonight!

Edited By Chris Barlow on 14/01/2016 17:45:30

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After removing all my thin pins from the fuselage I have made a start on the first wing half. I started by cutting and gluing up the undercarriage blocks. The main plate was assembled from 1/8th ply as drawn. The beech block was replaced with a lamination of 1/8th ply then 2 layers of 3mm epoxy sheet then a final layer of 1/8th ply all laminated together with epoxy. I have used beech and hardwood blocks for torsion landing gear before and found they nearly always elongate the holes eventually. Hopefully the epoxy plate will fare a little better?

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I also cut the dihedral brace and from that made a dihedral template for the root rib.

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Starting on the actual wing I cut and pinned down all the 1/16th parts including the underside cap strips. Onto them I pinned the 1/4 sq spars and ribs. The top spars were then fitted and the false 1/8th leading edge cut and planed to the correct angle. This was done by pinning it to the plasterboard sheet alongside a 2' rule to keep it straight and then the angle planed with a David plane. The strip was unpinned several time to check the angle and size until I was happy with it.

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The sheer webs were also cut to an accurate width and height making sure they were square.The advantage to assembling the wing dry without glue is that the sheer webs can be cut and ready for fitting, the square ends ensuring that all the ribs are square to the spars.

The entire wing was then disassembled , aliphatic applied to the bottom spars and assembly began again! The ribs were pinned in place, glued only to the lower spars. The top spar was then glued in with aliphatic and then the sheer webs glued to the spars. With the ribs now square the trailing edges of the ribs were pinned in position to the board and a line of superphatic run where they touched the 1/16th sheet and caps below.

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The lower leading edge sheeting was then pulled up to the ribs and glued with thin cyano. The undercarriage blocks were glued in with aliphatic. To aid locating the centre of the hard block I have drilled a small pilot hole through to the underside of the wing.

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The false leading edge was the fitted and glued with thin cyano for speed.

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Before I forgot I threaded a pull through through the servo wire holes and tacked the servo end to the lower spar with a small spot of cyano. I've put pull throughs in before and lost the end inside the wing!

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With the lower assembley of the wing complete I started on the "D" box skin. The top of the spars, ribs and leading edge were sanded flush then coated with a line of aliphatic. Then the 1/16th sheet was located on the spar with 3 pins to prevent it from slipping. The entire length was then secured with clothes pegs, lots of them. The rest of the sheeting was pinned to the ribs, working forwards to the leading edge.

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I have lots of clothes pegs, and they're not for the washing!

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The aileron trailing edge was then glued in along with 1/4" thick blocks for the hinges.

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Finally to finish the evening the triangular brace was fitted next to the aileron opening.

 

Edited By Chris Barlow on 15/01/2016 04:16:09

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No building tomorrow as it's my wifes 40th birthday party and I'm told I have to celebrate it with her crook There will be words if I disappear into the shed!

With the "D" box complete and dry I'll lift the wing and have a look to see if I missed anything before sheeting the remainder of the wing. The disadvantage of fitting all the lower sheeting is that it covers the plan and you have to remember what goes where! The slots for the brace will be cut then it'll be time to start the other half.

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Smashing work Chris - so neat I really do feel like a old bodger now!

I know what you mean about putting things like the pull through string in when you think of it. The number of times I've said to myself "I must remember to do X before a sheet the bottom - I'll do it later" and of course the inevitable happens I end up spending an hour wriggling and wiggling some bit that could have gone in within 5 secs - had I remembered!

BEB

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After unpinning the first half wing from the board and checking the plan to make sure I hadn't missed anything I made a start on the second half.

First part was to cut and pin down all the 1/16 sheet and cap pieces.

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These were pinned down and tack glued with cyano then I left them for 10 minutes to make some coffee.

When I returned the rib positions were marked on the edges of the sheet which was then unpinned, the rib positions transposed over to the opposite face and flipped over. The 1/16 "template" was then pinned down again but this time the leading edge lined up with the trailing edge and the trailing edge lined up with the leading edge, making sure R1 was still in line with the edge of the template. The marks for the rib positions were then joined with a straight edge.

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The wing was then built exactly the same as the first half but opposite handed. I laid the first half in front of the second just to make sure. laugh

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Just for John S here's the workshop floor...

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I need to get the sweeping brush out soon!

The wings were ready for joining so I set up a 2" prop with some balsa packers and a strip of angle

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The wing was set up and dry fitted with the brace and packer in place as a trial run. I marked a line across the trailing edge and used a square to check that the trailing edge of the elevated wing lined up.

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The brace, spars and R1's were then glued up and the wing reassembled and pinned/weighted down, finally checking everything was lined up before leaving it to set.

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I prefer to leave off the remaining top sheeting for now so I can see that the brace is sufficiently glued and close fitted.

So whilst the wing was setting I did a few bits on the fuselage. The front turtle deck was cut to a close size then one edge on each side tack glued to the fuselage sides. The hole for the cockpit was marked using TLAR and cut on one side. The offcut was then used to mark and cut the other side. The balsa was then bent over the formers and marked to the centre line of the 1/4 sq stringer down the nose. The cut was made by firmly holding a 12" rule against the balsa whilst cutting with a scalpel. One side was then tack glued down then the other side was cut in a similar fashion. Final adjustment and fitting was done with 120 grit sandpaper to get a good joint.

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At the rear of the cockpit where it meets F5 I cut a short piece of 1/4 triangle to match the curve of the former and glued. The rear of the cockpit sides were then glued and pinned to it.

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I also cut the fillers between the rear stringers, realising the gaps are not as even as I'd like! All the fillers were cut and fitted then superphatic was brushed on the inside to be drawn into the joints between the fillers and stringers. The curves on the fillers will be filed and sanded in later.

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I cut down some 1/2 sq balsa into triangular stock and braced out between F1 and F2 before I forget and glue on the bottom sheeting. surprise

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Last job was to joint 2 pieces of medium 1/4 balsa for the tail plane ready for marking and cutting later today.

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