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Lucas's Rans S-9 Chaos


Lucas Hofman
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2 hours ago, Lucas Hofman said:

ps. Running a motor/propeller at full speed in the workshop give a hell of a noise!

 

It's also wise to remove any stray paperwork etc or you spend time afterwards trying to sort it out again ?  And, of course, not as much noise as running a glow engine indoors.

 

I got complaints on one occasion from my wife who was hosting our cycle club committee meeting in the room adjacent to my workshop about the excessive noise I was making when doing motor tests.  I was presented with ear defenders and safety goggles as a joke award at the following club dinner (a lot of club members were RR employees).

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3 hours ago, Lucas Hofman said:

Basil, I always start by making a scan to PDF of the drawing. Up to now at the local copy shop, but for the Rans Peter was so kind to mail me the PDF files. 

 

Having those you can - using Acrobat Reader - force display at 100% and pan to the part of the drawing you need. Then you can print it on your own A4 printer. Doing this for everything that needs cutting out gives you the paper templates to glue on the wood.

 

I am lucky to have access to a large plotter so I also can print a copy of the whole drawing to build the wings on.

 

Hope I managed to make myself clear.

Lucas

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image.png.455dca1fb71b03a038355784e5c35847.png

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All has become clear now, amazing what a good nights sleep can do to your savvy!. I always get a 'Good' copy made of any plan  especially the RCME give aways, they are so flimsy.I also like to get a mirror copy to aid 'Other' wing asy. Thanks all.

Bas

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Somewhat childish maybe, but I do have pleasure in laying out all parts of the "kit" out on the drawing:

image.thumb.png.82aced3bfc7e19e054617ad3e317ce41.png

 

However in this case it proved very useful:

image.thumb.png.b0c6f812d8ae3c0e6827c8cb39e803f6.png

 

You may remember this is a 110% rans S-9. Apparently I managed to open the 100% size PDF when printing out the template for C1, F7 and F8. A lot better to find out now!

 

Regards, Lucas

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My standard size one is just about complete and I'm hoping to commit it to the sky tomorrow.  The CoG is slightly forward of the 3" indicated on the plan but perhaps not quite as far as the 2 3/4" mentioned in the magazine article.  As my pilot will be behind the CoG he'll sit out the maiden ?

 

I've fitted the struts and the tail rigging.  I made tabs out of 2mm fibreglass board which meant slots were needed in the fin and tailplane.  I just wish I'd cut them before building - it was a bit tricky on the almost complete model.  I used 1.6mm split pins for anchor points on the fuselage although it was difficult to find the hard point for the one under the tailplane l/e.  I'll post photos tomorrow if there's anything left to photogtaph!

 

It's always better to find mistakes early though after cutting out the formers so neatly it must be frustrating to find they need doing again.  I always try to remind myself that anyone who never made a mistake never made anything (I've made a lot!).

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some progress today: at last the firewall is ready.

image.png.eafeda656d0a304ac433a33f6c62e2e6.png

 

I always pull the nuts in using the X-frame from the motor to be used. Then one is sure things will fit. There is no point (I think) in hammering or pulling the T-nuts completely in, it only destroys the fibres in the wood. 

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And the first frame for the canopy is in the "mold". It is a joy to use the little proxxon circle saw to make the strips. I am using it more than I expected.

 

image.thumb.png.f16b4f84072d8c2c50297ae9a0b98215.png

 

image.png.8cd7669235d23a3a33bb5c6d6f930397.png

 

image.png.eea1acf201dc062427d99014745fa4fa.png

 

I waxed the "mold", the plate and the wedges. We will see tomorrow if the frame releases clean. Those who look well see 5 laminations. Here in Norway one buys plywood in mm (and this is 1mm). 

 

Tomorrow I will start on the fuselage sides. Since this S-9 is 110% I have to glue some strips to a standard 100mm flake to get enough height.

 

Cheers, Lucas

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I have never build a model with a tapered wing. With a constant chord wing I have always made 2 ply templates and made all ribs as a block. When doing the same with a tapered wing all edges will not be square and thereby give bad glueing front and back.

 

What is the best way of creating the ribs?

 

Regards, Lucas

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I print out the ribs or cut them off the plan. Mount them on the balsa (or ply) sheet and cut them out individually then use the first set to cut the other wing set.

It might take a little longer but it works well

When I have a parallel chord wig I make a ply template and still cut each rib out individually. This is very economical with wood as one can interweave each rib and get more out of a sheet.

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On 24/04/2022 at 10:01, Lucas Hofman said:

Let us wait with the praise until it comes off the mold…. (Or not)

Now! 

image.thumb.png.71c9cdd1531cda77cc4a7d6e1a0bc4ca.png

 

Laminating is fun! At the top of the picture the box with wax that I use to prevent the laminate to glue to the mold or the wedges. 

 

Tomorrow the last one!

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Some progress. Glued the 2 sides together (with remount glue). Glued one doubler on top, that was already cut to shape.

 

image.png.707aae3a364546791c9bf4e472d37ac2.png

 

After cutting the balsa sides I glued the other doubler on the bottom of the stack (this garantees a left and right side...) for a final sanding.

Thereafter mark the position of all frames on the sided before removing the drawing.

image.png.5a314a41db3326bdef593b2d77ca8e5e.png

 

Finallly mark the position of all frames on the inside of the fuselage sides/doublers. 

 

image.png.0e266330f2fb2b89aa00cf7c3622eff7.png

 

Now we are ready to put everything together this weekend!

 

image.png.f54d74e659958390956a54b196154b5c.png

 

 

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Tonight mounted the fuselage in the jig and glued the side together at the back and F6, F7 and F8 in place. This is a nice phase; it feels like making a lot of progress quickly!

Slightly irritating that when I pulled the sides together there was 2mm difference in height. Given that I used a square when glueing the 2nd fuselage side that should not have been the case.

 

image.thumb.png.d1c3e0dd7e11bb1dea0f2112106611df.png

 

I am prebending the front. When wetting the sides with water and ammonia. The latter makes wood fibres very plyable, so not much force is needed. Let's see tomorrow if F1 will fit.

Cheers, Lucas

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