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My first build, Ballerina


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This looks different to mine.

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This shows the two plates and fixing.

On 15/08/2020 at 11:36, EarlyBird said:

Wing fixing.

Drilled out and fitted LE dowel and tried the TE ply plate.

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Used scrap balsa as location fixings for the ply plate.

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Fitted blind nuts to the plate and screwed the wing bolts in from the wrong side. Placed the plate on the scrap balsa locators.

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Pressed the wings down on the screws to mark the hole placing.

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Drilled them and adjusted to fit like so.

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As you can see on the last picture the plate with rounded corners goes on the bottom of the wing.

 

Not a big issue easily fixed and all part of learning.

 

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? Emmmm my kit was supplied with only one wing plate, so that's where it has been fixed! Seems odd to me that they bothered to cut out the outer wing plate but not the inner, or perhaps it's lurking in the packaging somewhere, possibly ?. I remember a line from Apollo 13 when Tom Hanks says "Looks like we've had our glitch for this mission" lets hope this is my only mistake, anyway no real harm done, I can always cut another piece for the outer.

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The captive nuts must go into ply not balsa!   Probably you fitted the ply plate already and then infilled with balsa - check.   You could check if the ply plate is already fitted by pushing a knife into the balsa - if it wont penetrate far it is probably ply underneath.   The wing will never hold on if the captive nuts are in balsa.   The other ply plate is to stop the wing bolt heads pulling into the balsa wing.

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Today I tackled the cowling. First I cut four pieces of 1/4 inch block to rough sizes and got the angles to somewhere that I thought would work, glued these together and left overnight to dry

 

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The motor standoffs fouled the cowl at the top slightly so a little trimming was required. I wanted to rebate the nose ring as I thought it would be easier to cover when the time comes, I used a Dremel for this with a small channel cutter which worked really well. Cooling is obviously a consideration so I cut the bottom of the nose ring, which doesn’t look to pretty, and fitted an air scoop from Slec. Carved away a bit more balsa and I think it will do the job very nicely. You can clearly see the extra hole in F1 that will help the airflow, just need to cut an exit somewhere near our pilot, Harry (named after my eldest Grandchild)

 

EB41D57C-ECFF-4977-9CCD-7D330835FC43.thumb.jpeg.eacf9bb282a262dfcaee15cb9f7d3f64.jpeg 

 

It looks a bit lop sided in the picture, but when the prop and spinner are on its looks OK, ish!

 

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It looks like Ballerina has a cheeky smile or the beginning of a double chin which I like a lot !! The front end looks a bit bulbuse in this shot, but it looks ok, as Peter says “from 50 feet” she’s gonna look like Darsey Bussle ?

 

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Next on the list was cutting and fitting the hardwood braces for the servos, I used some liteply for the supports and some 1/4 inch hardwood spars glued in with some Aliphatic, which is my go to glue, small amounts needed for a very strong bond and great gap filling if you’re not so good with the razor saw!

 

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So the fuselage is nearly there, a few bits to do but I need to clear the decks in preparation for the wing build, which I am really looking forward too.

Edited by Steve Goodwin
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I find that painting inlets and cockpit floors etc with matt black paint looks good.   Artists acrylic black paint works nicely.  Easier than trying to get film inside awkward parts.  

 

Peter's method of building a wing works well if the sequence of build is followed precisely- quicker than normal build and results in a straight wing.  Much the same on all his recent designs - different to conventional builds as LE and TE sheeting is laid on the board first if I remember correctly.

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Thanks for the tip KC, I shall source some acrylic paint when I can get some diesel ?

Onto the wing, as this is my first build one of the first things I have had to do is get familiar with “plan language” Which has been interesting. I started out by removing the ribs from the laser cut sheets and sanding down all the burnt surfaces. Then I drilled a larger hole for the servo lead to pass through and started with the dry assembley. First layed down the lower sheet and 1/4 spars, lower cap strips TE cap strips and dry fit the ribs. Cut and dry fit the insert ailerons. I left out the two outer ribs as I was not 100% sure how these were laminated, I know they are handed. 

 

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Once I was happy with the fit, I glued the ribs in and left to dry, making sure everything was square.

 

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Next was the aileron ribs, again a good sand to remove the charred edges before glueing into place72B32614-4F13-4851-BFD4-E1CEC453D814.thumb.jpeg.c2ffc81a43b6c8ebf80270e894d7865e.jpeg

 

I was a little unsure to the exact fitting of R2b/c and lower cap strip, as you can see from the photo, I cut the cap strip thinner at the TE, not sure if this is correct but should be an easy fix if it needs adjustment later. Next onto fitting the under carriage mount and retaining block, this took me a little thinking time, as the lower sheeting restricts fitment, so I wedged some more ply under the brace just enough to contact all the relevant ribs and epoxied this in place along with the hardwood brace. I will strengthen this further with the triangular stock as noted on the plan, I am very happy with the final result. Incidentally R1 is only dry fitted, as per Peters instructions.

 

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So to finish of I still have some cap strips to fit and the spar webs, please chip in if any of this is incorrect. If not I’ll start with the other wing ?

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3 hours ago, EarlyBird said:

I forgot the paper tubes for the servo leads, I always forget them.

I’m going to use wing servos and extension leads, if these are threaded during the build do I need a tube?

not sure that my current servo installation is strong enough, as the ply carrier laminated to the 1/16 sheet looks a bit weak. A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link ?

 

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I need some guidance here, the plan call for a ply brace ( I have marked this in pencil) for the undercarriage to support the 8swg wire

 

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Looking at the shape (on the plan) of the undercarriage, the wire will penetrate into the wing at R1. A 90deg bend will be positioned between the two R2’s. Why on the plan does it appear the the wire penetration between R2’s? Some pictures please

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You may not need tubes for servo wire but it's handy to put servos in later so they dont get in the way whilst covering.   Any plugs& sockets in the extension should be secured with tape or clips or shrink wrap to avoid coming apart.   When replacing servos just tie a bit of string or thread to the lead when withdrawing - then you can pull it back in later!   Very old trick!   'Streamline' the plugs with tape to avoid catching too.

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That u/c block needs to be edge on  -not flat on.  Drilling the hole in situ is not advisable - better to line up the pre drilled hole in block with a bit of 8swg whilst gluing.  The hole may need slight filing to allow for the radius of the bend in the wire.  The extreme tip of the wire needs gripping to avoid slop.   And the u/c block is glued to a ply R1a half rib which is against the centre rib.

 

 

Edited by kc
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Bracing the servo blocks to wing ribs with 1/8 balsa might be a good idea.

 

I haven't tried it yet but Sid King's idea of taping servos with several layers of masking tape and then epoxying them to a 1/16 ply plate seems a good idea.   The ply plates are held to wing ribs with small blocks and screws so are removable.   If servo needs replacing it seems the masking tape is just cut away. 

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22 hours ago, Steve Goodwin said:

I need some guidance here, the plan call for a ply brace ( I have marked this in pencil) for the undercarriage to support the 8swg wire

 

5FF75D4F-2A06-45CB-ADFE-3030AC3CCD6B.thumb.jpeg.cb0e28c1c55a21db77f3ba4cd2021284.jpeg

 

Looking at the shape (on the plan) of the undercarriage, the wire will penetrate into the wing at R1. A 90deg bend will be positioned between the two R2’s. Why on the plan does it appear the the wire penetration between R2’s? Some pictures please

@Peter Miller can you give me some help here, I’m a little confused as to where I need the support for the U/C. I assume the hardwood block positioned at R1 requires a hole to be drilled for the U/C wire, if so why does the plan call for another plywood brace between R2’s? If you could help that would be great. 

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13 minutes ago, Steve Goodwin said:

I assume the hardwood block positioned at R1 requires a hole to be drilled for the U/C wire,

Yes that is correct. The U/C wire then runs in the groove to just before R2a where it bends at right angles again. The wire is held in place with flat U/C brackets.

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