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Post by rcdude07 on Apr 22, 2013 15:08:48 GMT -4
Thats looking really nice, looking forward to when I step up to a full balsa/ply build. Something about making something from nothing appeals to me. Thanks. It felt quite good to have the stab actually looking like a stab finally.
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Post by rcdude07 on May 6, 2013 6:38:52 GMT -4
Was able to get the vertical fin finished up on Saturday. Hopefully I didn't sand too much off the top as it's supposed to be final shaped with the rudder in place. Also got started on the elevators. The elevators are built up from the die cut elevator base. I got as far as gluing the LE on and getting all of the ribs cut. The ribs are cut from a stick of balsa and I'll be sanding them down to get the correct angle. There's a cross section shown on the plans, so I will probably make a template, draw lines on the ribs for the correct angle, and sand down to the line when the time comes.
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Post by rcdude07 on May 14, 2013 13:46:54 GMT -4
Got the elevator ribs and root blocks glued on over the weekend. Before I glued the LE on both die cut elevator bases I failed to read the "on both sides of the EB mark the rib locations." So I had to eyeball the markings on the bottom side of both elevators. But while gluing them on I eyeballed the placement to get them as parallel as possible to the tops. Next step is to sand them all down to the proper angle. The plans have a nice cross-section so I'll make a template and mark each rib so I don't sand down too much.
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Post by rcdude07 on May 28, 2013 8:19:25 GMT -4
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Post by rcdude07 on Jun 10, 2013 7:52:54 GMT -4
Join Date Sep 2009 Posts 1,361 I got about a good 3 hours worth of work on the bird this weekend from Friday night through Sunday afternoon. Work completed includes the elevator joiner wire fitted in the elevators and the rudder being built. Elevator joiner wire was easy, just used a drill bit to drill the holes as well as wallow out the LE of the elevators so it sits in nice and neat. As you can see from the pictures, the build up of the rudder is the same as the elevators. This time I made sure to mark the rib locations on both sides of the rudder base. You can also see I marked the rudder rib locations better than I did the elevators. Next up is to shape the rudder. After consulting with my dad who has built 2 Top Flite warbirds his recommendation was to deviate from the plans when it came to the elevator counter balance blocks and shaping the LE of the elevators. It's easier to do the final sanding when the control surfaces hinged and taped flat (no shaping) than with the LE of the elevators shaped. I opted to wait until the I've gotten the rudder shaped and ready to hinge before hinging all of these control surfaces at the same time.
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Post by rcdude07 on Jun 24, 2013 9:12:55 GMT -4
That approximately 50 year old walnut tree is still laying in the yard, about 2/3 of it gone thanks to a friend. However, with the on and off showers/storms we had yesterday, I got back to the P-40. Just shy of 2 hours work and the rudder is shaped. Same method as on the elevators was used: made and traced a template for the ribs, used Dremel tool to cut close, then lots of sanding with 220 grit and 100 grit papers. I'll leave shaping the tip until either the vertical stab is glued in place, or just before. Next up, the wings. There are several decisions to be made before starting: retract brand, studying and forming the plan to replace the bell crank with individual aileron servos, payload release (looking at the new E-Flite servoless payload release mechanism). And I'm going to read through this entire section in detail first, just to be sure I don't hit any snags. www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9658&d=1372069599[/img]
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Post by Dr. Evil on Jul 13, 2013 21:40:35 GMT -4
That thing is coming out nice! Can't wait till you finally get it all done and in the air.
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Post by rcdude07 on Aug 5, 2013 10:47:04 GMT -4
Got 2 hours of work on the plane over the weekend. Nothing fancy so I won't waste disk space with pictures. Just cut the spars to length, shaped one end of the spar doublers per instructions, glued the doublers to the spars, glued the TE AFT and FWD at Aileron pieces together and sanded the glue joints. It's important to read thoroughly as the wing halves are built upside down and some pieces have curvature on the top side, which must be placed towards the building table.
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Post by rcdude07 on Aug 19, 2013 7:37:20 GMT -4
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Post by Dr. Evil on Aug 19, 2013 9:23:24 GMT -4
That thing is coming along nice!
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Post by rcdude07 on Sept 8, 2013 20:30:22 GMT -4
Got an hour of work yesterday. Only fitting and gluing the sheer webs in and Rib 1 in place. Hopefully the rib went in at the right angle as only 1 piece of wood has the angle needed at the LE and the TE sat flat on the surface. Didn't waste space on the SD card with pics.
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Post by rcdude07 on Sept 26, 2013 9:53:34 GMT -4
Finished the right wing panel structure this past Sunday. Need to get my retracts and modify the ribs for the aileron servo and figure out wire routing around the retracts. but will start on the left wing panel next.
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Post by rcdude07 on Oct 7, 2013 8:37:04 GMT -4
Got in about 3.5 hours of work on the plane this weekend plus the biggest 2 purchases left for the plane. Earlier in the week I ordered the retracts. I went with Wingspan Retracts 100* rotating servoless retracts that were specially designed and built for this kit. The 100* happens when they are fully extended. R/C Warbirds have a tendancy to nose over, the 100* angle helps cut down on this tendancy since the wheels are positioned significantly forward of the CG. They should arrive sometime this week. Saturday my dad called me from K/C Hobby about a deal on an O.S. .91 four stroke that was too good to pass up. A N.I.B O.S. .91 four stroke for $150.00 before tax. So I jumped on this as it was too good to pass up (normally $300+ for a new engine of this size). This engine will have plenty of power to pull the Warhawk around the sky in an almost scale like fashion (maybe just a tad faster/more powerful). Saturday I finished up the second wing panel. The build went exactly like the first wing panel so nothing fancy or different to report. I did however find one mistake I made on both wing panels. But was fixed. I was taught to never throw away your scraps as you build because they may come in handy later. Well, I discovered I didn't take the wing AFT TE at the flaps all the way to wing rib 1. So I found my cut off scraps for this, and glued them in place as needed. Doing so means I'll have more sanding do to later, but a complete structure. So, lesson to pass on is: never throw your scraps away. Sunday's work involved modifying ribs 8 and 9 in both panels for the aileron servo rails since I'm going with a servo per aileron and not the bell crank system the plans recommended. The work here was straight forward. Using the servo rails that are provided for the aileron and payload release servos for the middle of the wing, mark appropriate locations on the ribs, using a sharp hobby knife cut out the markings, test fit the rail, tweak as needed, test fit the servo to ensure clearance. Next up is figuring out the servo wire routing for the flap and retract ailerons, making those modifications, then on to joining the wing panel. I think I have a plan for what I want to do, but I want the retracts in hand first to see if there will be any interference around the landing gear. I may get the servo wiring done this Saturday. I won't get any work done Sunday as Sunday is the Flying Tigers at Jordan Lake, NC, annual Club Fall Fun Fly and I'll be out there with my dad and a few of my planes.
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Post by Dr. Evil on Oct 10, 2013 17:02:22 GMT -4
WOW....that thing is coming along nice! How many more hours do you think it'll take to get her completed?
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Post by rcdude07 on Oct 26, 2013 13:43:43 GMT -4
WOW....that thing is coming along nice! How many more hours do you think it'll take to get her completed? Lots of hours. I started working on fitting the retracts, but going to have rethink the plan, cut too much plywood web away and going to have to cut the spar. Then route the servo wires through the wing panels, prep the wings for joining, join the wings, finish the wings, build the flaps and ailerons, build the fuse, sand the fuse, fit all together, glue all together, hinge everything, test hinging, final sand, cover, pin the hinges, break in the motor, range check/setup controls.
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