Piers Bowlan Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 Personally I would laminate the tailplane from two sheets of 1/16in medium balsa glued at 90 degrees to each other. I think you will find that this is quite resistant to warping and much stronger than a single sheet of balsa. If you find it a little heavy you can always 'add lightness' by cutting some round holes with something suitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted April 14, 2020 Author Share Posted April 14, 2020 Thank you Piers. That would certainly be stiff. I came across the remaining part of the sheet that I used for the bad stabiliser. Easily recognisable by the outline of the tip plates. It is also quite warped, so maybe it is not so much the design as poor selection of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 I think it must be an art form selecting a piece of wood that won't warp at some time in the future, clearly I don't have that skill. Built up structures when skinned with thin balsa seem better in this respect but still no guarantee against small warps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted April 14, 2020 Author Share Posted April 14, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 New horizontal stabiliser and elevator made from 1/8" soft. This one is nice and flat, and very stiff now that it is covered. 13g compared to the old thin one at 19g. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 I did not put a bevel on the elevator. With 1/8" thick it would need a bit of a gap for mylar hinges. I made a practice stitched hinge as that opens both ways from a flush joint. It was easy to do and works as needed. Close joint when straight and very free movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 Hinges sewn. I am pleased with that. Fuselage prepared for re-fitting the tail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 I finally got round to joining the new tail feathers to the fuselage. All straight and level and still not warped. The lighter tail does seem to have made a difference to the balance, I need about 500mAh less ballast up front. (I have a range of 2s batteries). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 I did some TLC on Mayfly this winter, which is on the Dark Nights Fix Up thread. This week I also made up a wire undercarriage. The aluminium one is too much weakened by all the holes that I put in it, and is probably the wrong type of aluminium as well. I dislike bending and soldering as it all tries to spring apart and go off at odd angles. I have done wooden jigs before. This time I had an idea to superglue the parts to a glass plate. That worked remarkably well, it held firm enough even in the fore-aft direction. Being glass I could also line it up square on the lines on the mat underneath. All done. The wheel hubs had started to loosen, so they are glued again as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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