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Workshop

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Carden Aircraft Cuda

This is the finest 50cc plane I have ever come in contact with. I fly one myself ( the yellow one) and have constructed many of them. This is a build for David Georgeson that will be his first gas plane and it will be great. It will be powered by the new OS 55cc motor and we are excited to see how it goes.

This is a log of how I built the plane. It is not necessarily the best way. The newest entries are at the top so begin at the bottom to see the order used.

7/10/10

The plane flew today and it is a nice plane. Everything went well except for two problems

ONE -- One of the elelvator servos came unplugged from the board and we flew on one elevator for a while. This is no big deal but it did mess up the trim. We resolved it with a zip tie and off we went.

TWO- the throttle servo screw that holds the arm in place came out and the arm came off the servo. The spring in the linkage closed the throttle all the way and the motor quit in the air. David got it home OK and we found the problem. The error was mine in that there are two different screws used on Hitec servos. I used the wrong screw to hold the control arm on the servo and it came out. The proper screw eliminated the problem. This is a lesson learned for me as I thought all the screws on Hitec servos were the same.

7/7/10

Today the parts were in the shop and the plane was assembled and everything went well. The center of gravity was checked and it was close to the correct location. I adjusted the battery location and strapped the batteries in their final position.

The equipment and wires were then checked and the lateral balance was checked with no fuel or smoke oil onboard.

The radio programming was checked and some final adjustments will be made at the field.

7/4

This session completed the inside of the plane. The smoke tank and tubing was installed and the electrical systems were completed and tested. The smoke and ignition batteries needed separate charge plugs since they do not have switches to activate the circuits.

The TME smoke pump was run to set the brushes in the motor and reduce the electrical noise. The smoke system was filled for the first time and the pump was checked to move fluid at the spec rates. The speed of the oil is adjustable from the transmitter and this will allow the volume of smoke to be set from the ground.

 

The second engine test was run and it started and ran well. All the issues from the first run were resolved and the plane is near completion.

 

We are in hold for the painted parts so we can set the balance and run the engine cowled to check temperature and air to the carb.

 

 

7/3

I completed the work on the ignition system and hooked up the RCATS switch to control the motor with the receiver. I tested the system and everything looked fine. I drilled and bolted on a Xohr 22 x 10 prop without the spinner or the cowl. The fuel system was checked and everything looked ready to go. I looked over the plane and made final checks for the first engine run.

I set the plane up outside and turned on all the equipment. After setting the throttle at idle and checking to be sure the throttle was not reversed, I set the choke and began flipping the prop. The gas quickly came down the line and the carp dripped gas in 10 flips. The motor then hit and ran for one second with the choke set. I released the choke and in three flips the big motor came to life and ran at a low idle. It was smooth and quiet on the canister. I warmed it up and took the first set of readings. Temperature of the head was a cool 145 degrees and the RPM were 6500. It idled to 1850 and that was good for the first run. It has nice power and runs smooth all the way up the throttle. This is a hot motor and it will drag the Cuda around with no problem at all. I ran the entire tank out and I was impressed with what it can do.

There were several small issues that the first run created and I will resolve them before the next tank is run.

This was a big day for the cuda and I continue to be happy with the plane.

7/2/10

I checked the paint shop and the parts are not done yet. This is an unusual delay and they will paint the balance of the parts today so they can be ready early next week.

I picked up the landing gear and it is gorgeous with the clear on it. I mounted the gear with locktite and then set the wheels and the wheel pants.

next I worked on the inside equipment locations and the wiring

 

6/21 and 22

Work continued on the setup of the equipment and the painted parts are needed to continue to complete the plane.

I expect the parts this week and then the final work and all the check sheets will be completed. We will then fly the plane and close the project.

6/17/10

Only a little time today. I set the gas system and all the tubing. Notice that the overboard discharge has a loop to reduce dripping if the keeper line is not put in place

 

Next I set the ignition system and the wires that lead to and from the module. Any plugs in the system have keepers on them to prevent a disaster in the air.

The tail wheel was then hooked up and the springs adjusted to track the wheel.

The ignition battery and the battery for the smoke pump were mounted on top of the motor box. Once the CG is measured, we might be moving these, but this is a god starting place based on past Cudas built.

6/16

This session was dedicated to working on the surfaces and equipment while the painted parts were in the body shop. I began with the wing to fuse joint. The pins and the 1/4 x 20 bolts were glued into the wing root and the holes in the fuse were corrected to mate up the wings for final assembly.

The wings were then bolted in place and the servos plugged in for the first time. The linkages were then adjusted and bolted in place so that the ailerons were centered and aligned to the wing tips. All the linkages were also assembled with locktite for the final time.

The elevators and rudder were hooked up and tested in the same way. The time spent here makes the motor test day go very well. The throws were tested and the values will be set on the rate switches at a later time.

06/15/10

The session began with the tail surfaces. I glued the hinges in place and checked them while the gorilla glue set up.

The cowl was checked, filed with additional red lead and sanded. I then primed it again and sanded it with 600 paper. The landing gear and wheel pants were put through a similar process and were ready for paint. The canopy was masked off and preped for the paint shop. The parts for paint were then taken to the body shop to be painted red and white with clear coat on top. This process usually takes about a week.

Next I installed the servos in the wings and made the linkage to hook to the control horns.

I glued the hinges into the ailerons and set them aside to dry. Later, I assembled the ailerons to the wings and checked for movement.

 

 

6/14/10

Some time was spent on the Cuda after some illness and other distracting activities. I began with the preparation of the painted parts for the plane. The Cowl needed one additional access hole for tuning the carb and then I applied some read lead to the problem areas in the fiberglass.

After the read lead dried I sanded the entire cowl and cleaned all the dust off of it.

The first coat of primer went on and was allowed to dry.

The wheel pants were processed by gluing a ply plate on the inside of each pant and then drilling a hole for the shafts to pass through.

The pants were then aligned and mounted with two screws . It is important to get them set the same distance off of the ground. This was completed and the pants were then primed

The landing gear was then primed after sanding and cleaning. The gear will get white paint but it uses a different primer than the other parts.

Next I began setting up the radio equipment and all functions were tested. Everything worked just fine.

Next I glued hinges into the surfaces and set them aside to dry.

6/1/10

The session began with the completion of the covering on the plane.

I also added the trim. The trim is in gold and it makes the plane look very nice.

 

I then added most of the graphics to the plane and that improved the appearance dramatically.

I trimmed the canopy to size and sanded the sides of the canopy frame so that it fit on the fuse just right. I mounted the pilot in position using screws through the bottom of the frame and into a rail glued to the inside of the pilot.

I then glued the canopy to the frame and clamped it all around the edges for support. The canopy glue takes about 4 hours to set up and is cured in 24 hours,

The next item was to make the final assembly of the exhaust system. It was slipped into the silicon mount and bolted to the engine. You can see below, the header and the rear of the canister in the air flow hole

Note that the bend of the header is such that the bolts would not fit in the holes so I made studs for the threaded holes in the head of the engine. I ran the studs into the holes and then used double nuts to hold the header to the engine head.

Next I put the cowl on the plane and marked the location of the header pipe which was in contact with the inside of the cowl. I cut away the cowl and reinstalled it on the fuse to check that the header would be clear of the cowl.

I cleaned up all the cut lines with a dremmel and the cowl was ready for sanding and priming.

 

I took paint samples to the body shop today and they will be ready to paint as soon as I get all the parts ready and primed. Painted parts include --- cowl, canopy, landing gear and wheel pants.

 

5/31/10

The covering continued with the turtle deck and a checker stripe down the side. I had to clear the shop to work on a plane for the lineville fly in, so I put the plane on the big table for the first time and gave it a look.

You can see below that the plane is starting to look good now. The covering is going on well and I had to decide how to finish the rudder area and complete the white on the bottom of the fuse.

After more work on the plane, the covering was done and the results are shown below. The gold stripes are yet to go on and some other graphics will improve the look of the plane.

After the trim is on, the plane will look close to completion. It is really quite a long way to completion as the painted parts must be sized and primed. The paint shop will take about one week to get all the paint on and let it cure. There are also issues of installing the equipment and final checks that will take some time.

5/30

With the work done on the cowl, I re glued the interior structure and set the cowl aside. The shot below shows the brackets that were bolted to the fuse and then glued to the inside of the cowl.

With the work done on the fuse, I began the task of covering the remaining parts of the plane. First I finished the wings and added striping

The parts were then sanded at 4 levels of paper ending at 600 grit.

The fuse got the same treatment and with some time it was sanded and all the curves were shaped and ready to cover.

I then began the fuse with the under side of the stab and the elevators. I used a set of colors that will blend with the under side of the wings.

Next was the top of the stab, elevators and the rudder fin. The rudder will be done in several colors, but I wanted to get the fuse done before the rudder so that all the lines will match.

The covering on the tail assembly took about 6 hours to do and seems to have come out very well. There will be gold to add after the entire fuse is done and all the holes are cut for the various things that go in the fuse. The rest of the fuse will not take as long as the tail assembly.

5/29

This was the session devoted to the canopy structure and the cowl to canopy joint. I began with the frame built in an earlier session and checked it with the fuse to decide where the pilot and the dash panel would go. I started building the structure from light balsa and some hard wood were the screws will be located.

This plane looks best with a dash area so I constructed it and planked it with 1/16 balsa.

Experience has taught us that David will need to get into the canopy later for many reasons so I take the time to build a trap door in the floor of the compartment. It begins with the frame as shown below

The frame is then planked and shaped for the dash area as well as the trap door. This is an unnecessary step but it ads to the appearance of the plane without adding much weight, so it is worth the effort.

I made a white dash panel as shown below with switches and instruments and fit it to the dash area of the new canopy frame.

After the construction was done, I painted the area and added the dash panel

At the same time I was doing the canopy and dash I worked on the cowl mount. The joint between the canopy and the cowl is key so I took lots of time with the cowl area. As you can see below, I taped the canopy down securely to the frame so that I would know where the upper surface would be.

The cowl sits on a frame you can see through the fiberglass about one inch ahead of the canopy frame. I use the spinner back taped to the cowl in perfect alignment to control the front of the cowl. I mounted the frame to the motor box and then adjusted the frame to the same height as the canopy. This is done with lots of fittings and small adjustments.

Once the upper surface was correct I trimmed the back of the cowl to match the front of the fuse with a 1/16 gap.

You can see the upper cowl frame in the shot below after it was glued to the cowl. There are side frames as well and they were fitted in the same way as the upper.

Once the fit was right I glued the whole thing together.

Below is the glue I use to bond fiberglass to wood as epoxy is not good with those materials. This glue is fine but it takes overnight to set up so I do the gluing at the end of the session.

Below is a shot of the pilot area after the wood working was done but before paint.

 

The fuel system was sorted out the rest of the way and is all set for final install after covering is complete.

5/28/10

The Cuda got some internal work done today. I have had enough problems with plugs and extenders that I no longer use them. I spent time today splicing wires for the plane. I extended all the servo wires so that they can plug into the fly board directly. These splices are soldered connections and they take time to get right.

The pilot arrived and was fitted into the plane. He looks nothing like David, but promised he would fly well and he is dressed in the proper colors to look nice in the plane.

The last of the equipment arrived and the assembly should go very well.

I fit the switches into the plane and the fuel and smoke system fill ports were put in as well.

The canopy frame was completed and ready for the floor and pilot station.

5/27/10

Had some time to work on the plane after a contracting project I am doing. I mounted the switches in the side of the fuse where they will be accessible to the fly board. THe board is a voltage regulator and it protects the 4.8 volts to the receiver at all times. It also has multiple plugs for each channel and this eliminates the y connectors that are dangerous to use.

Next I made plates for the smoke and gas fillers supplied by Jersey Modler. These are upscale systems to be sure the fluids are clean and safely delivered. There are cans to go with the system for smoke and for gas.

I set the plates in the side of the fuse and the connectors will be bolted in after the covering is complete.

Next the landing gear was mounted to the plane using 6 - 32 bolts.

5/25/10

I began the session by checking the incidence on the flying surfaces and everything was good

I assembled the motor to the motor mounts for the final time and locktited all the bolts. i set the throttle linkage and mounted the throttle servo. This is in preparation for mounting the cowling and the canopy.

 

These two parts are key to the appearance of the plane, so I tend to make them at the same time and be sure they line up and look smooth together

The clips were mounted to the motor box and whatever else the photo shows

next, I began the canopy construction with 4 hard dowels cut to fit in the fuse. These will hold the retaining bolts and they were fitted to the fuse and glued in place. I made the ears that will hold the canopy frame in place and you can see them in the shot below. I use blind nuts on the back of the ears so that the canopy bolts can be tightened down before flight.

 

You can see two of the arms installed with bolts through the hard points.

In the shot below you can see I recessed the bolts heads so that they will not be seen after assembly.

Next I built the frame on the ears and glued them in place securely.

The ears and the hard rails were pinned together for more strength.

The front former was added and braces were glued in place.

The canopy and the cowl were fitted on for a first test. Note the cowl is taped to the spinner back to align with the motor.

another view of the front end

 

5/23/10

The work continued on the fuse. I added some cross-braces to the inside and then cut and fit the turtle deck on the top rail. The operation of fitting the joints and the cutout for the rudder took a lot of time and is worth it as this will be one of the main things you will see as you look at the finished plane. I used blocks to keep the foam turtle deck lined up with the frame and tape to hold it down on the rails. I used wood glue to make sure I could sand the joint and to be sure I did not hurt the foam in the fuse.

Once the glue was dry, I shaped the areas and rough sanded the joints. I did a fill on the places that needed work and set it aside to dry

5/20/10

The aft under side of the fuse was then rough shaped to prep for the completion of the fuse.

I then completed the belly of the fuse around the canister outlet. I first glued in the oversized wood panels.

Below you can see the belly area after rough shaping

5/19/10

With the stab and rudder on the next step was the tail wheel bracket and the area surrounding the mounting plate. Below you can see where the belly pan ended and the rudder post is at the rear.

I put sides on the open area from 3/8 soft balsa and let that dry

Next I fit the tail wheel plate to the opening and mounted the tail wheel in the slot. The plate was then glued in place

 

 

5/18/10

The top of the aileron was sanded and then covered and assembled to the wing. Below is the first wing and it came out very well.

The bottom of the wing was trimmed in gold and it is ready to have the hinges glued in and the servo set. The second wing was then covered and each wing takes 6 hours to cover and set up correctly. This process is not fast and it yields a very nice looking set of wings.

Next I put the wings on the fuse and set the stab. This requires that it be straight , flat and no tramble. Time must be spent to make sure the measurements are done correctly and then the stab was epoxied in place.

The next step was to build the rudder platform and be sure it was straight and flat to the top of the fuse. The rudder fin was then fit to the structure and aligned to the fuse. When it was correct, I epoxied it in place and the flying surfaces were all set.

5/16/10

It was time to start the covering process. I sanded the wings to 600 grit and inspected the surfaces for flaws. Everyone had their own process for covering and so I will not go into detail on how I cover.

There are a few things that are skills in covering and with those you can cover as well an anyone. Just stop by the shop and I will be glad to show them to you but they are not the kind of thing you can describe and have any success at putting them in practice.

After the sanding I clean the wings with air pressure and then several tack cloths. If you are one of the many folks accusing the covering of not sticking down, it is likely that you are not getting it clean.

There is a great debate on the two leading brands and I find they are different and I can use each one with great success. This plane will be Ultrakote due to the colors and the checkers.

I covered the bottom of the wing first and it got the panels as you see below. If your covering is not on the way you want, DO NOT PANIC. Just remove the panel and recover till you get it right.

 

Trying to go fast is fatal to the covering -- patience is the number one thing --- give the material some time to react to the heat and to shrink up

The top of the wing came second and it came out very well. I finished it off with some gold striping to set off the colors and the contrast. The wing looked very good so I went on to the aileron.

I covered the bottom of the aileron and then I put the control horn bolt through the surface and secured it with a nut. I wa sure to get the bolt tight and then inverted t he aileron

On the top the head of the bolt was recessed and so I used CA to secure it and then filled the hole and set it aside to dry.

5/15/10

I worked on completing the construction of the equipment area.

Next I drilled and pinned all the joints on the motor box and the landing gear plate

After the building was done I masked off the equipment area and painted it. The paint seals the balsa and hardens the foam parts for use later.

 

While the paint dried I final shaped the wings and tail surfaces and gave them the second and third sanding. After the sanding with 320 grit, I inspected the parts and did a final fill to correct any imperfections. One more sanding with 600 and the covering will begin.

5/11/10

The session began with the final 2 glue sessions. I set up the belly pan and the turtle deck in the same way as the other foam panels. The panels were then left to dry for at least 2 hours each.

below you see the belly pan after it was trimmed and cut out for the motor box. I then used white glue to attach it to the bottom of the fuse.

Below you can see that tape was again used to hold the pan in place as the glue set up. I use at least 10 rolls of tape on each plane and it is the most effective clamp I have discovered.

The partition in the canister compartment was then drilled for air passage as described earlier. It was then glued in place and reinforced inside the compartment.

The motor box bottom was cut and fit to the plane and then glued with CA. The canister was test fit and everything looked good to go.

 

5/9/10

The session began with the stab and elevator assembly. The glue was dry so it was un taped and trimmed to shape and rough sanded

I then put in the control horn dowels just as I did on the ailerons. They were drilled in the drill press and then glued in place You can see them below at the upper corners of the elevators.

I then beveled and hinged the elevators so that there would be 3D throws in case they were ever needed. In the shot above the hinges are in place and the shape is good

Below you can see the elevator throw built into the bevels

 

The rudder and fin were shaped from the first glue session and then the cut lines were drawn and the surfaces cut out on the band saw

The rudder and fin were then glued up as with the other surfaces. Wood was glued on all the cut lines and set aside to dry.

Once the glue was dry, the trimming was done as before and the beveling and hinging were completed. The shot below shows the finished rudder and fine ready to go on the plane.

As with the elevators, there is a lot of throw built into the rudder joint.

 

Next I returned to the fuse to continue the install of the equipment before the building could continue. With the motor on the firewall, I put the motor box top plate in position and fit the throttle servo in position. The throttle arm is on the engine cab and so the linkage must be run to it. I decided to set the servo on its side and run the linkage through the firewall. You can see the hole for the servo arm in the shot below.

After the servo was in place the throttle worked very well. I powered the servo up to check the throw and there is more than enough.

below is another shot of the linkage going to the throttle body.

I then inverted the fuse and mounted the header on the motor. The canister fit under the landing gear plate and the length of the assembly was a little long so I cut off the back of the header to position the canister .

Next I assembled the header and the canister and put it in position. Everything fits fine and so I turned my attention to the mounting of the canister.

The canister is firmly positioned by the header in front and just needs some way to keep it from hitting the sides of the compartment or rattling around in flight.

I cut a piece of ply to fit into the canister compartment and then cut a hole large enough for the canister and some clearance. I then used silicon tubing to mount 4 supports. The tubing will not be affected by the heat of the canister and the support will solve the mounting problem. There is also a need to pass air through the canister compartment and out the back of the plane. This flow will keep things cool that need to be cool. I will cut additional holes in the partition for this purpose and then fit it into the canister compartment.

5/8/10

Work on the stab and elevator continued by laying out the elevator cut lines

Next I cut the parts on the band saw and cut wood to fit the leading and trailing edges of all the surfaces and the ends. I glued all the wood on the surfaces in three gluing sessions and allowed the glue to dry.

After all the glue was dry I trimmed the wood and rough shaped the surfaces. I then glued on the tips and set the surfaces aside to dry

I then glued up the rudder foam in the same way as the wings and the stab. Above you see the rudder after the glue dried.

I then trimmed the edges and glued wood to the leading and trailing edges and the top of the rudder was glued in place

 

 

5/3-7 / 10

Several sessions were needed to do the tasks listed below. Due to computer problems I could not post the progress on a daily basis.

 

I began by setting tramble on the wings. Tramble is the measure of the wings on squarely to the fuse. It is measured from the center of the tail to the wing tips. This makes sure ont wing tip is not ahead of the other. I measured and adjusted to get t he wings correctly oriented.

Once the wings were correct, I epoxied the wing phenolic tube into the fuse. As shown below, I added doublers on each side of the fuse to strengthen the joint.

This joint sets the wings in tramble and in fatness, so I was careful to be sure all was correct before the glue went on.

next I addressed the wong to fuse joint. I put one wing in position straight up and put the 1/8" root in position. I inspected the joint and found it was not perfect. This joint is one that you will see every time you look at the plane so it is crucial that it be just right.

My trick is to ship between the wing and the root cap and then glue it all up.

You can see that I used wax paper to prevent gluing the root to the fuse and then shimmed with 1/64 balsa to get the joint just right. I glued it up with epoxy ( ca eats foam) and let it dry. The other wing was glued up the same way.

Next I set the incidence of the wings. This is the measure of the wings in flight. A lone through the air foil should be parallel to the datum line and therefore it would be at "0" degrees of incidence.

The process began with drilling holes in the wing root and gluing in 5/8 dowels and then drilling for 1/4" pins to go into the fuse.

Below you can see the digital level is on the incidence checker and I adjusted the holes in the fuse to get 0 incidence on both wings

You can see that I glued ply doublers when the pins were in the correct position. I later trimmed the ply to be flat with the top and bottom rails of the fuse.

This sets the wings in flatness, tramble and incidence and they are now ready to be processed further. I will sometimes just go ahead and sand and cover the wings just to get them done and in the bags. Since I have not entirely worked out the colors on the plane, I set them aside and continued to build.

 

I began the layout of the equipment by checking the tow tanks to be sure they could fit in the upper section of the equipment area. One tank is gas for the motor and the other is smoke oil. I planned the smoke pump and the battery location. it is key to get this done early so that the building in the fuse can be done right the first time.

Under the gas tanks is the canister compartment and I inverted the fuse and set the motor in place. The header was fitted to the motor and the canister will fit on the end of the header with some teflon tubing between them. All of this looked good to go.

With the fuse understood, I set up the stab parts an drew the servo locations on the surfaces

I then cut the servo holes in the foam with hot wires made for the task. I glued in the hard wood supports and sanded them flat with the surface. I then skinned them in the same way as the wings. I used gorilla glue on the wood skins made earlier, and glued them up with many cement blocks to hold them down and a vacuum bagger to be sure they were properly compressed.

Below you can see the skinned stab halves with the holes cut for the servos.

5/2/10

The session began with the wing tube braces for the side rails. I set these up square to the building surfaces so that the wings will be close to straight later on.

Next I planked the ladders with the 1/8" balsa that will be the sides of the fuse.

I cut the wong tube holes in the sides and the ladders were ready for assembly

I began the motor box by laying out the equipment area and the canister area. I cut holes in the equipment sides to save weight and left the canister area as is.

Below you can see the setup for the motor box. It is key that this be square and straight so I used blocks pined to the board for guides and the parts were all ready for assembly.

 

You can see some of the doublers for the fire wail and the landing gear were put on ahead of time.

I used epoxy and the parts were set up square and clamped in position to dry.

Below is the front view of the motor box. The fire wall is clamped in place but not glued as yet.

The motor has 2.5 degrees of right thrust in the plan so I made a 1/2" spacer from ply and sanded the right side to give the thrust. I checked it with a digital level on the work bench reading 0

Below you can see the thrust washer on the engine reads 2.3 degrees and I continued to adjust the ring to read 2.5.

You can see the motor mounted to the fire wall with bolts and blind nuts with the spacer in place. I then removed the motor and the fire wall was ready to be glued in place.

The motor box and fuse sides were then assembled and the view below shows the rear of the fuse being built over the plans in an inverted configuration. The sides were straight per the plan and square to the building board. The cross pieces were cut and glued in place.

Below is another view of the sides being done over the plans

The front view shows the motor box in position and the wing tube phenolic in both the motor box and the fuse sides. Blocks were glued to secure the sides to the motor box and provide the strength needed in flight.

Below the fuse was removed and the wings test fit and checked for flat to the workbench. The check was successful.

4/28/10

The lines shown below are for the bevel and I cut to those lines with a flat gouge. I began the bevel and hinge by laying out the locations of the hinges and marking them on the trailing edge of the wing and the leading edge of the aileron. I used a Robart drill gauge to drill all the holes.

The beveling complete, I hinge the surfaces and checked them to be sure they moved smoothly and that they were straight and true.

The ailerons should deflect far enough for 3D maneuvers and so I checked that and ensured that the deflection was equal up and down.

after the hinging was complete, I cut the wing tip blocks to the rough shape of the wing. This was done on a band saw and I was sure to leave some excess material on the tip.

The tip was hollowed out and glued to the wing.

After the glue was dry, I trimmed and shaped the blocks to fit the tips.

 

The wings were done for now as they will get a wing root and pins in the root once they are mated to the fuse.

 

BEGIN THE FUSE CONSTRUCTION

The plans show the construction of the sides of the fuse. This is a ladder construction from 3/8 square that will be planked to form the main structure of the fuse. This is what sets the Carden apart from the other planes in that it is an engineered structure designed to take stress and vibration for many years. If it should be damaged, it is repairable because of the design.

I first built the ladders over the plans with thin ca.

You will notice a straight edge was clamped in lace to be sure the latter is straight. Since it is the central load bearing part of the fuse it is essential that it be straight and precise.

4/25/10

The session began with the wings being taken out of the wasters and inspected. Everything looked good so I drew the aileron joint on each wing. There will be wood glued to the cut lines so that I can make the bevel later. I use 1/2" balsa for this bevel and so I drew lines 1/2" on each side of the joint lines.

Below you can see the results of cutting the one inch of material out of the wing. This is done with a straight edge and a band saw. This makes a clean cut that facilitates the next steps.

Next, the leading and trailing edges were cut from sheet stock and glued to the foam with white glue. I use white glue because it will not harm the foam and makes a sandable joint. The aileron joints were also glued with 1/2" material and tape was used to hold the wood in place while the glue dried.

I then got the new OS 55GT engine from the box and set it up over the plans to see the size of the motor. This engine is 1/2" shorter than the DA 50 the plane was designed for and that will not be a problem as I will make a spacer to get the spinner to clear the cowl. I also checked the alignment of the canister and found the standard header and canister will fin in the plan and on the motor just fine. This is a new engine and we are excited to run it up and check for power. This OS has only been on the market a short time and should be a wonderful powerplant for this plane.

With the information in hand, I ordered the exhaust system and the fittings I need for the fuse.

After the glue was dry on the wings, I trimmed and rough sanded all the wood to shape and the wing was ready for the next steps. The wings are straight and true and look very nice.

At this point the surfaces have been shaped and sanded with 100 grit paper and the leading edge is still rough shaped. I will leave the surfaces as they are until immediately before covering. To lower the damage to the wings, I do not finish shape and sand the wings or do other surface improvements un till the covering step. I will note the steps I use to develop the proper surface as this is one of the issues most builders struggle with.

The quality of the covered surface is mostly determined by the prep of the wood surface.

4/26/10

The wing foams were next and I inspected them and marked the wings and the waster strips so that the wings can be reassembled as we go. The waster strips will be used thru out the build so the marking is key. I began by gluing in the wing tube liner (phenolic tube) and a ply support for the end of the tube. I glued balsa on the end of the tube to keep the epoxy from getting inside the tube.

Next, I turned the bottom side of the wings up and drew the ailerons on the foam and decided where to put the servos.

Below you see the cutouts for the servo mounts and the hole for the servo itself. I use hot wires in the solder guns to make clean cuts. See the tips and tricks section for full details on this concept.

The hard mounts were glued in place and then sanded flush with the foam.

Below you see the wing with both wing skins in place and lots of weight on top of the package. This requires an absolutely flat table. My competition pool table is ideal since it is 1.25 " of slate. Each skin was coated with gorilla glue and placed on the foam core. Wax paper is used to protect the unwanted surfaces and the foam is sprayed with water to make the glue foam. The weight on top drives the foam deep into the core.

The result of the glue up is seen below before an trimming was done. Both wings were put through this process.

 

4/25/10 I started the build by opening the box and running the inventory on the contents. Everything is complete and the parts all look fine. This step is often skipped in the rush to begin, but it is key to understanding the build and having all the parts for the plane.

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