Workshop

Jerry Bates Hellcat F6U - 5

This is a build of a 50cc version of the famous Grumman plane from WWII

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10/25 and 26

The plane was inspected by John and myself and all final adjustments were made. We took it flying and it was a fine first flight

The plane worked well except somme elevator flutter that caused us to land early in the second flight. The plane did not react well to the landing and it was damaged. We will rebuild the plane or make a new one depending on the information we get from the inspection.

This plane will fly again, we will just have to make a new plan

10/24/11

Final checks were done and then the plane was assembled for the motor test. Everything worked so the plane was put out and tied to a tree. It was fueled up and it started up with very little effort. The motor ran well and it turned 6400 rpm on top end with idle of 1200 rpm. the exhaust temp was 122 and the head temp was 145. These are all good numbers for the first run.

I started the motor and ran 2 more tanks through it with no problems. I added the cowl after the second tank and rechecked the numbers. I discovered a crack in the prop and changed to another 22 x 10 that was a little lighter than the Xor. The rpm finished at 6660 and the low was down to about 1100 without any real change in the engine temps. This indicated the motor did not mind being in the cowl and the air flow was good for now

It was cooled down and final battery checks indicated that the three flights were still only using 60% of the batteries. One more air pressure check indicates the landing gear system will cycle 10 times on a fill of 100 psi in the main tank.

The plane was disassembled and declared ready for the final mechanical checks before the first flight. The plan is to have John present for the final inspections as a new set of eyes would be the best way to check things. That will happen 10/26/11 if the weather allows us to fly it.

10/20/11

I fabricated the required weight for the balance of the plane out of diving shot. This makes nice weight because you can set the exact amount of weight you want and then package it as you see fit. I put the shot in a small sip lock bag and then put that bag in another. I then used reinforced shipping tape to wrap the package and tape it to the front of the plane above the motor mounts. This will secure the weight and will get it as far ahead on the plane as I can. The motor test will confirm that the weight will stay in place.

With this step done, there are only a few steps left and we can test the motor and then cowl it up and test it a second time.

10/19/11

The smoke and gas lines into the tank needed to be accessible from outside the plane and John suggested they should be in the hatch if it could be arranged. Since the customer is always right I began by looking at that area of the fuse to see if I could get two lines into the hatch area. The inside of the plane is a little compact so it took some time to arrange the lines.

The lines were placed in the hatch area and can be pulled out to fill the systems. The shot below shows the lines pulled out and they are marked so that we do not get the wrong fluid in the tank. This can make the smoke pretty exciting.

The overboard discharge line was placed in the area between the cowl and the wing saddle. This will save having the lines to contend with when removing the cowl. This completes the fluid systems in the plane.

10/18/11

The Weight for the nose of the plane was completed and I removed the wing and cowl to begin to figure out where to put the lead.

The tubing to the gas and smoke systems needed to be run before I could tell where to put the weights so I began the process by hooking up the smoke oil tubing to some silicone tube to prevent melting at the muffler fitting. The overboard discharges for the fuel and smoke were then run out of the bottom of the fuse.

10/16

Assembly of the plane was first up and that took some trimming and adjusting as the glassing operation changed the shape of the wing saddle and the hatches did not want to fit. After that was all solved, the plane was assembled, plugged in and inflated. the gears pooped into position and the plane was on its feet in assembled condition ( except for the canopy).

Above you can see the flaps are down and the ailerons are on right. Everything worked and so we were on to the next problem.

There are nav lights on the tips and landing lights just outside of the gear mounts on the leading edge. There are also 2 beacons on the plane.

The next order of business was to check the CG . As expected, the cg was way off so I set the machine at 5.5 inches ( the proposed cg). and added weight to get the balance we wanted. The weight ended up at 2 lbs and 2 oz to make it balance correctly. I began to fabricate a weight that would bolt onto the plane and be safe to fly

10/14

After the first coat of primer, I gave it a good sanding with the goal of removing most of the primer. This left a speckled fuse and some defects were exposed by the sanding. I used red lead to cover the defects and allowed it to dry.

After the drying period, I sanded it yet another time and leveled the filled places. A final inspection and then a final primer coat was applied to the entire fuse assembly.

This primer state will get us through the first flight. My experience is that there will be changes made to the plane based on the first flight and it is wise to wait for the paint job. There are many details that will be added to the outside later on.

10/13

The fuse was sanded again and then masked off for paint.

I moved the plane outside and put on the first coat of primer. This coat was really doubled since most of it will be sanded back off to fill the low spots.

The paint went on well and the fuse is looking very nice at this point in the process.

10/ 9 thru 12

The fuse was next to be done and the work began with a complete sanding of the fuse one last time. The glass cloth was then sized to cover the front 1/2 of the fuse

I then removed the cloth and mixed up Zpoxy with a 20% thin of alcohol. I painted the resin on the surfaces and then added the cloth. People use credit cards to smooth out the cloth and I find I like to use a latex glove on the hands and use fingers to smooth out the surface. Once there are no wrinkles on the surface I walk away. The temptation is to paint resin on the top and that is a bad idea -- just walk away for about 4 hours.

The shot below shows what it looked like at that point.

The rest of the fuse was then done in the same way and the fiberglass cloth was overlapped.

The next step was to sand the first application with 80 grit paper. This seems impassable since I just sanded the wood surface to 600 grit, but is is the right thing to do. This is not a light sanding as there was white fiberglass all over the shop and lots of sweat on me.

Once the surface is smooth then a first coat of resin was applied to the entire fuse and this time it was thinned about 40% to make it lay in the low spots in the weave of the material. This was allowed to dry over night

The next step was to again aggressively sand it with 80 grit and then with 180 grit to begin to level out the surface. Most all of the sanding was done with a block and this is key. Once that was done. it was cleaned up and a second coat was applied to the entire fuse.

The surface was improving well at that point and one more coat of resin will get the surface ready to prime. The sanding is key to developing the surface and to ensure it would not pick up a lot of weight with the three coats of resin.

10/7 and 8

With the wing done, I started on the fuse. I sanded it to final shape and then filled any places that needed attention. This process requires time as each filler coat must dry and then be sanded and inspected. The shape soon became complete and the quality of the surface improved. The fuse was then ready for glass and cloth just as I did with the wing.

10/5 and 6

The wing was sanded and primed again. The sanding removed 80%of the first coat so that we are not adding weight to the plane. Once the primer dried, I decided not to sand it at all and began with the installation of the equipment. First was the landing gear and then the hatches were primed and bolted in place in the wing.

The servos were hooked up and tested with the receiver and all was fine. I then make links for the surfaces and adjusted them for zero position with the equipment on.

Everything worked and the rates and expo was entered in the transmitter and checked. The high rates are really high and that will make for some fancy flying later on.

The wing now needs only the lenses over the lights and paint to be complete. We have decided to fly it in this state so the wing is ready for the first flight and it was removed from the fuse and stored safely for later.

10/4/11

The wings were sanded again and the first coat of primer was applied. This was done for the top and bottom with adequate drying time between sides. While there are spots that need improvement, the wing looks good after only one coat of primer. This is a very hard surface that will hold up a long time. I added red lead to the trouble spots and allowed it to dry overnight.

The ailerons and flaps were primed first coat

10/3/11

The wings were sanded a third time and recoated with resin. Each time the sanding is with a finer grit and the resin is thinner. This will be the final coat on the wings before sanding and primer. The sanding ensures that we will not pick up a lot of weight in resin and that there will be an improvement in the surface.

10/1 and 2

The wings were sanded and a second coat of resin applied to both sides. It will need three coats and then some primer to see where we are on the surface.

9/30/11

The other three wing panels were glassed yesterday and today. After they were done, the wings were set aside to dry

9/28/11

The rest of the ailerons and flaps were covered and they cane out well.

The lenses were next to consider as they need to be done before the glassing operation can be done. The wing tip is equipped with a light that needs a lense for scale appearance and to prevent the light bulb from overheating the surrounding area. The landing lights are in the wing and need to have lenses made and the leading edge cut out for the light to escape.

I began with a sheet of clear plastic and a hot gun. The plastic was heated and formed around the tip and then allowed to cool.

After trimming and cutting out the tips the lenses were made and ready for further trimming when they are installed

The same process made the lenses for the landing lights and they came out very well.

The wing was final inspected and some sanding was done to improve the surface. I like to start on the bottom of the wing and a wing this size is best done in parts. I cut the fabric to size and checked it on the wing

I then put the resin on the wing and then placed the fabrics on the wing working out all the bubbles and wrinkles to make the wing nice and flat.

9/27/11

The ends of the trailing edge were processed to fit up to the fuse. This takes several glue ups and some sanding to get right.

The wing was then sanded to 300 grit and the final fill was applied and let dry. The surface is now close to ready for the glassing operation and the Resin and cloth are both in hand and ready to go.

The ailerons and flaps were sanded to final with 600 grit paper and inspected for final surface.

One aileron was then covered with the same fabric as the elevator and rudder.

9/24 to 26

Finished the wing work and then matched it to the fuse shape. The wing is now built and shaped and now needs to have the wing tip lenses made and the hatches checked prior to glassing it.

9/19 and 22

Shaping of the wings was first on the list and that was done with various grades of sandpaper and some cutting gouges. The wings were worked into shape and sanded to 300 grit for this session. All the surfaces were sanded into shape and the positions were checked. The ailerons and flaps were rough build thicker than the trailing edge of the wing and so they had to be adjusted to taper with the wing. This process takes time and yields a nice flat surface for the top of the wing. It is key to the performance of the wing that all the surfaces are aligned properly. The wing came out very well.

9/17/11

Removed the wing from the fuse and returned it to the wing rack. The wing was set in an inverted position and the wing tip blocks were made and installed. These fit between the wing tip blocks and the outside of the ailerons.

Next, I constructed the trailing edge from the flaps to the fuse sides. This area is fragile during the build and was damaged in handling. I removed damaged wood and constructed a strong system for the trailing edge area. After the glue was set I trimmed the area and the wheel wells were completed.

The wing was then turned over and the trailing edges were done on the top. The entire thing was then left to dry before sanding to shape

The wing was then complete and sanding to final shape will bring it to the glassing and covering stage. This wing has as much stuff in it as I have ever seen and that means it took a great many hours to get right. During the sanding operation, I will be sure to check every detail of the fit and finish as the glassing will freeze the surface.

There are still some issues to work out on the wing

-- lights and lenses need to be addressed

-- the guns were supposed to have hard mounts behind the leading edge and those were not put in on time. An alternate system is under design as the guns have to be removed before storing the plane.

-- the fit of the hatches will be adjusted after glassing

9/11 - 9-13

adjusted all the parts of the plane to final shape. All moving surfaces were finalized and checked for throw. Wing servos are mounted on hatches and several changes were made to them in order to make the linkage work. All electrics were cycle checked and some problems were found and corrected. Many small things were done and that clears the way for the rest of the woodwork.

9/8 Spoke too soon -- landing gear system took several more hours to complete after cycle testing. Have it set up now.

9/6/11

Landing gear retract servo is in and I installed the servo on the board and tested the landing gear system for several tanks of air. All is now well with the gears and the air system to back it up. This has required the effort of up to 3 people at a time to make the system operate and now we can say it is where we wanted it to be......

on with the build

8/24 and 25/11

I continued to work on the landing gear problem and I resolved the problems only to have the retract servo stop working during the tests of the air system and landing gear. This was a new servo and should not have failed. However it did

WARNING - Statistical content that will be sleepy --

Things like servos have a performance curve called a bath tub curve because it is shaped like a bathtub. There are failures in the early part of the life of the item and then the failure rate becomes very low for a long time until it begins to wear out..

This is why I run lots of tests on the plane before I fly it. I want to get through the error part of the bath tub curve before I fly it and have the landing gears fail to come down. I hear people say that it should not have failed since it was new. The truth is that it needs to be run in before you can trust it at all.

I did not have another servo that mini size so I put it on order.

Back to the cowl, I glued the fin doors on the hard ramps and allowed them to dry.

Once the fins were in place I sanded and prepped the entire cowl. I used red lead to fill the pin holes and other problems on the surface of the cowl.

Lots of sanding and it was ready to do a first prime coat. This is where one finds out what the surface looks like.

You can see above, that the first coat came out well and the look of the cowl was really nice. I recoated the red lead in places and continued to improve the surface. This will go0 on for several days before it is ready to use.

The prop and hub arrived on the brown truck so I wanted to look it over. Very nice indeed

8/22 and 23/11

Big day for the build as John was here for some discussions on the plane. I began by the first full assembly of the wing. Everything was on it except for the linkage.

The main gears were a problem for us as one of them wanted to hang up instead of work under air pressure. We worked on it and I was not satisfied that it was done.

We made many decisions on the plane and discussed all the remaining work.

The cowl cooling fins were a problem that we worked on. Since I had cut all four of the vents out earlier, there were no problems with them as they were the correct size and were all present and accounted for ( almost). The problem was how to hold them in the open position and have then stay there. We made hard wood ramps for the vents and glued them into the under side of the cowl. They were left to dry .

8/21/11

The wheel wells are done and filled for improvement of the surface. These are tedious to make but are worth it in the end.

8/20/11

After some time for visitors, I began the right wheel well and the constructions is proceeding

8/13/11

The wheel bay on the right wing was roughed in and the gear operation checked. It looks good except for the intersection of the wing and the wheel bay. I decided to put a flare on the surfaces to be sure the structure was there and to make it look more scale.

8/11/11

The Wheels were changed to 4" and so I could continue with the build. The new wheels were mounted and the construction of the wheel bays began.

Above you can see the crutch I made to build the wheel wells. Below is the balsa on the crutch and glued to fit the size of the wheel well.

Below you can see what it looked like before fitting it in the wing

Once roughed in, the area looks clean and the aerodynamics will be good.

8/6/11

The gear doors were removed from the surface of the wing and checked to be sure they will work.

The gear bay area was then cut out with great care. I cut them to just clear the gear and the wheel as the final shape can be determined later on. I immediately hit a problem with the size of the wheel. The gear extends aft far enough that the aft spar would be damaged if the wheel is used at the preset 5" diameter. The best choice would be to make the wheel smaller so that it will not hit the spar when it retracts. This will require discussion with John before we proceed.

8/4/11

With the fuse pretty close and all the radio stuff in and working it was time to turn to the under side of the wing. The gear bays are sheeted and now it is time to make the gear doors before I cut out the wheel wells. I started with the wing and the retracts with a drawing of the doors taken from the plans.

After checking on the size of the wheels I taped over the area to protect the wing panel and drew the outline of the bay door on the tape for guidance on the fiberglass lay up.

Next I made the center bar out of balsa and taped it to the wing panel. This will make the hollow for the shaft of the gear later on.

Above you see the gear doors laid up with three layers of cloth and some c/f strips to reduce the chances it will flutter as the gear is retracted. The wheel will turn 90 degrees as it retracts and the gear door will see full flight speed. After it was set up I put an additional coat of Zpoxy on it to begin to develop the exterior surface.

I use Zpoxy and medium cloth to make these parts and they are hit and miss to get them done. I make more than one set about 1/2 the time. After I cut the bay openings it is hard to ever make another door. I sometimes make a spare just for the use of the owner after the plane gets some age on it. The act of making a spare appeared to guarantee the early demise of the plan, so I am reluctant to make spares. I let this one sit overnight in order to inspect it.

8/3/11

With the cowl set in final position, I set the three batteries for the ignition and the two main. These were attached to the motor box to get them up front as much as I could. After they were secured I lit up the receiver from the on board batteries and everything looks good. The switches all work fine and there is just one battery to go ( lights and smoke)

The last battery would not fit on the outside of the motor box so I found a place in the inside to mount it. It will drive the lights and the smoke systems and therefore do not need to be switched on the outside of the plane. I put the battery in place and mounted a switch inside the plane to allow you to choose to use the smoke and light system or not.

NOTE TO JOHN -- This beast has become complicated enough that there must be a check list for assembly and preflight. There is just no other way to get everything set properly so that you do not loose this plane due to a preflight error. I have started the preflight check list and I think you should just resign yourself to using it each time you assemble the plane.

Below is a shot of the equipment bay and any additions to the equipment would have to be done in a bigger plane.

I rough sanded the fuse again and corrected some small things on the surface. It is looking pretty good and the entire fuse is through construction and now we need a cockpit and it will be ready to begin the surface prep.

7/30/11

I removed the cowl and checked the glue up for strength. Everything looks good so far. The next problem, is holding the upper ring to the plane. Since there are no opportunities for bolts from the front or the back I needed to think up some other solution to holding it in place.

My first concept was a sliding clamp for the top. I began by removing the pins used to locate the ring initially. I then made a clamp to test the concept. The first step was a ring to match the ring glued to the firewall. I then added another ring that would clamp the cowl ring in place.

Above you see a shot of the upper ring clamp in position with the side blocks attached to prevent side motion of the cowl. This approach seemed to work pretty well and there are no bolts on the upper part of the cowl. To remove the cowl I removed the lower bolts and then shifted the cowl up to unlock the sliding clamp and the cowl slid off the motor box. This is a tight space but it seemed to work. The batteries and other weights will have to be added to the area in such a way that the cowl can still be removed.

The cowl was then in position and I rough shaped the outside of the fuse to match the shape of the cowl.

7/29/11

The cowl work continued and with the top ring pinned to the firewall. I needed to look at the bottom ring and decide how to attach this to the plane. I inverted the plane decided to make a ring for the lower cowl. The ring is shown below clapped to the firewall

next I drilled for 6-32 bolts through the firewall and into the ring.

I then set blind nuts in the ring and bolted it in place from inside the equipment compartment. The ring is lined up to be 3/16 lower than the surface of the fuse belly. This will allow the cowl to fit over the ring and be flush with the belly. I then cut the bottom of the ring to be sure it was clear of the motor box sides and it would allow the cowl to be removed later with the ring adhered to the cowl.

after the cowl was test fitted to the ring, I covered the area with seran wrap to prevent the ring from being glued to the firewall and added hysol glue to the ring surface.

The cowl was then glued with hysol and slipped over the upper pins and on the lower ring. I taped the cowl to be sure it would stay in place as the glue requires 8 hours to set up. This is the finest glue there is for fiberglass to wood joints.

7/28/11

The wing was attached to the fuse and bolted tight in position. The belly pan joint was then shaped and sanded after the fuse was built up to match the belly pan. Below you can see the finished product and the joint looks very nice.

The next area of concern was the cowl. I began by positioning the cowl on the firewall and getting alignment with the upper area of the fuse. I was interested in getting the position of the cowl established so I decided to use pins in the upper cowl ring

I drilled 2 holes in the ring and positioned the cowl with tape to hold it. Below you can see one of the holes and the tape holding the cowl in position. I transferred the location of the holes to the firewall and then drilled the pin locations

Below you see the cowl with the pins in position. This will hold the upper cowl ring in place and further fasteners are required to hold it in flight.

7/27/11

The item of the day was the tail cone assembly. I first thought it ought to be removable and upon further thought I decided it could be fixed to the airframe. After painting the retract area, I debated how to do the rear cone.

I began with a block glued to the rear former and then shaped the block and rough sanded it to the proper shape.

Below you can see the finished block with the lower hatch in place. The shape and size match the illustration I am working from so this area is ready to go.

7/24 and 25

It was time to address the retractable tail wheel area of the fuse. The plans call for this area to be planked with the under side of the fuse but that would make any future service of the many mechanical functions nearly impossible. I wanted to make a hatch for the area and they require some time to complete.

I started with the construction as it was and spent a cup of coffee deciding how to go about the build of a hatch for the entire area. This sort of building is conceptual in nature and, without the help of hallucinatory drugs, can require several attempts to get one that works well.

After the thinking was done, I decided the hatch had to extend from the former ahead of the gear mount. I removed the stringers as seen below.

Above you see I made a duplicate former with the notches for the stringers. I drilled and glued in posts to pin the former in position. I use Seran Wrap to be sure I do not glue the hatch to the plane. I have found the best way to build hatches it to do it right on the plane and then you are sure it will fit correctly.

Below you see the stringers back in position and I made a balsa former to go ahead of the one that holds the landing gear mount. The stringers were then glued in place but not to the ply former as that has to stay with the plane.

To the rear of the tail wheel I made a ply mount with a 6-32 bolt and a blind nut in the bottom of the plate. This will be the bolt that holds the hatch on the plane.

Next I set rails from the front of the hatch to the rear on each side. I made blocks for the rear and mounted a plate to the rails that will secure the bolt. The hatch is roughed in and it is time to see if it will come off of the plane.

Below you can see the process worked just fine and the hatch did remove properly. The hatch was then bolted back on the plane to get ready to plank it with the bottom of the plane.

After the planking was applied the hole was cut for the tail wheel and clearance for the wheel assembly to move to the down position. This all worked out well and the rough shaping and sanding could then begin

Once the planking was all on the belly of the plane, it was time to see if the hatch could be removed. The shot below shows that there will be ample room to work on the linkages in the future and the hatch looks like it will work out very well.

7/20/11

The tail wheel has been a problem for us and John got a hub made from Aluminum that will work just fine. In order to look scale, it needs some holes so I measured out the locations and center punched the spots before putting it in the drill vice. I leveled the face of the hub to be sure it would drill straight and set it up on the drill press.

The drilling operation was done with care and some cooling liquid. Drill speed is the key here and that is a lesson for another time.

The hub was then complete and we found a radiator hose fit over the hub pretty well. I cut one and fit it on the wheel. Looks pretty good so we will give it a try on the plane.

nice looking setup. This is a testament to John's ingenuity to figure this one out.

7/18/11

I assembled the plane to be sure the hatch will work. looked OK to me so I thought I would set it on the scales to see what it weighs at this point in the build

I added the pilot, the wing servos and the main landing gears and set it on the scale. It weighed 10 lbs and 3.3 oz.

Well, that did not seem right at all so I got another scale and it weighed 14lb 3.3 oz and I was confused. I went back to the first scale and it agreed with the second one. I am left to conclude I read the scale wrong in the first case. Anyway, the weight is very light and I am pleased with it.

7/16/11

The hatch problem was first up on the list so I made a ply board for the three switches, air in and air gauge. I fitted the board into the space above the wing and hooked up all the services to go into the fuse. Things are getting tight in the fuse so space is limited.

The shot below shows the cut out fins and the position of the hatch for the services. This will be convenient for the assembly of the plane and for the operation of the radio.

next I set the upper line of the hatch and reinforced it with balsa.

The area was planked and rough fit. into place.

Below is the shot after trimming and the construction of the air vent.

7/15/11 I returned to the plane after some time to recover from a session with a doctor.

The cowl was fitted to the fire wall and I did not like the way the plans show the cowl to be attached to the fuse. I began devising a better way to hold it on. First the issue of the cooling fins needed to be addressed.

COOLING FINS on the cowl --- we have not really decided about the version of the plane we are doing and the principal difference between the various planes was the number and location of the fins in the back of the cowl. After studying it more, I decided to use the F6F version 3 plans and they had two fins on each side. I cut out the fins and numbered the cuts to return them to the correct position

I then made an upper ring that fit the shape of the firewall and I glued the ring to the inside of the cowl with Hysol glue and let it sit overnight.

After a long time the new shop is done and the work has started on the plane again. 6/30/11 the bird was back on the bench and some recounting was done to be sure where things were when work left off.

I cut out the cowl front panels and assembled the plane to be sure of where we are. Looks fine

One of the oldest questions is the one about services in the fuse. There are 5 systems that need switches and then there is fuel, smoke fluid and air pressure that need to be accessible during flight operations. You can see below that there is not a lot of structure to deal with for hatches and things. This required more thinking

First I mounted up the motor and set the throttle linkage and the choke links. The choke will be operated from in the front of the cowl.

The inside of the plane is getting full so I put the throttle servo up close to the firewall and that makes nice short links. I tested it all out and it works just fine.

The ignition module was also mounted close to the firewall on the other side.

With the fuse in flight position, the motor box looks like a good place for the batteries since these planes are usually tail heavy as all get out. The lower side of the fuse was not planked as yet in case the hatches were to go there. I looked it over and that is the best place to put the switches.

Decision

In order to get the services in the plane I decided to try having 2 main batteries switched, the ignition switched, and the air input and air gauge all in one hatch.

The smoke and light system will be turned on and off with channel 9 on the transmitter and there will be one battery for both systems. The transmitter will be the only switch for the systems.

The ignition system will have one switch on the plane ( in the hatch) and no kill switch on the transmitter. We will use the throttle kill capability of the transmitter to shut the motor down from the transmitter

Receiver channel layout

Channel 1 Both aileron servos on a Y

Channel 2 Elevator servo

Channel 3 Throttle servo

Channel 4 Rudder servos for rudder and the pilot

Channel 5 Retracts are run with a servo to an air valve and is on switch E on the transmitter

Channel 6 Smoke pump on switch A

Channel 7 Flaps are on 2 servos on the left var switch on the side of the trans

Channel 8 Lights are electronically controlled on the right var switch

Channel 9 is a digi-switch to turn on and off the light system battery and the smoke system

The hatch will be somewhere in the lower section of the fuse. I put the wing on and inspected the fit and finish of the wing panel. Everything looks good and soon I will close up the bottom of the fuse.

12/10 - 19/10

The equipment is going in and that takes a shoe horn. I began with the cockpit bottom which I bolted in place so we can get into the area if we need to. The bottom of the cockpit will be the mounting surface for a lot of the electronics and I started with the wiring from the aft section and set the second receiver ( this is the main one) and the light system actuator.

The gas tank and the smoke tank were fitted in place. I constructed a velcro holding framework for under the tanks and finished it with some foam padding.

12/1 - 5/10

lots of stuff being worked on ---

The wings were planked and filled. I then rough shaped the leading edge and the surfaces.

The top of the wing is thicker at the root and the leading edge is massive in order to support the landing gear and all the stuff in the wing.

Below you can see the flap and aileron hatches and the landing gear mounts. The wing is looking very good at this stage and it now needs the trailing edge work to get all the surfaces in place and working well.

This is a close up of the air vent in the bottom of the belly pan. You can see the air will come in the hole in the front of the belly pan and go out the chute in the bottom. Also the side vents are in and they will ventilate the cowl too.

With the wing on the fuse, you can see how the plane is taking shape.

The inside of the equipment compartment was next on the list and that first means the cockpit floor must be put in place. Before I could do that, the pilot figure had to be dealt with. I sort of wanted to automate him a little, so I began with an undressing. This is a fully articulated figure so I needed to see what made him tick.

His legs were too long so the band saw fixed that part pretty well.

I then removed the upper part of the body. The parts are all jointed and so I removed them so that I could freeze him in the seated position.

Next, I removed the head and glued a shaft in place. I glued the torso so that he would be sitting from now on.

I tried several approaches to the automation and landed on the simple approach. I loaded him full of Jack Daniels and removed his spine and all internal organs from the back. I mounted a small servo in his body and attached it to the shaft.

Above and below you can see him redressed and sobered up. With the servo to one side he looks to his right and below you can see him looking to his left. This will make the installation of the pilot very easy as we can strap him in and run the servo wire through the floor of the cockpit and plug it into the rudder circuit. As you move the rudder, the pilot will look in the direction he is turning ---- just as it should be.

With this step complete, the floor of the cockpit was put in place.

Below you can see the beginnings of the structure paint. The inside structure of these planes was all painted with zinc chromate to fight rust. I painted the servo bays and the landing gear forward bay to get an idea of how it will look in the plane. Seems just fine.

11/29/10

The second half of the bottom of the wing was planked. This is a very slow process as each piece of planking has many cuts in order to make it fit properly. Below is a shot of one of the parts ready to glue in place

Once all the planking was on the wing, the flaps and ailerons were fitted and the shroud material was cut to length. This completed the planking on the wing. There are still many hours of work left on the wing but the rough construction is done.

11/23 -- 27/10

Work on the belly pan was done starting with the structure on the bottom of the plane. The wing was bolted to the fuse and the formers were glued in place starting at the tail and working up to the trailing edge of the wing. The trailing edge former was doubled with was paper between the two parts to keep them from being glued together

The formers were then placed on the wing section followed by the nose of the fuse. These formers on the nose were doubled for the same reason as before. The stringers were glued into the entire length of the plane to be sure of the final alignment.

Once the stringers were in place, I cut them at the two joints for the wing saddle. The wing was then removed to be sure it was clear of the fuse.

The next part was to begin the main air vent that is in the center of the fuse and it removes air from the lower cowl area and vents it under the plane. This is complicated by the belly pan so the vent is built in three parts. I made if from 1/64 ply to keep the weight down. The shots below show the construction of the vent.

Next were two side vents that do much the same thing by moving air out of the cowl area. They were made from soft balsa and shaped per the photos of the navy plane. They were glued in after rough shaping. The planking would cover the edges of the blocks.

The planking began with the sides of the wing section and it was carefully cut to fit tight to the wing and match the contour of the belly pan. The sides were done first and glued in place.

The bolts that hold the wing on were then placed with tubes as guides for bolting in place. The tubes were fit in place and glued once the fit was right. Above you can see the hole in the aft section for the screw. Below you can see a shot of the tube inside the belly pan.

The balance of the top planking was fit and glued in place around the three vents. This process takes a very long time to get everything fitting properly. The belly pan was then filled and set aside to dry.

The wing was then set in the cradle and final wiring was checked to be sure it was secured to the plane. The planking of the wing began with the leading edge and the planks were custom fitted to the frame around the various things in the bottom of the wing.

Above you can see the left wing planked and the hatches in place. The mounts for the ailerons and flaps need to be completed and the wing will be roughed in.

Prep and setup for the build

This is a plane for John McGowen and he has waited quite a while on my list to get this plane done. As I begin the build he has not yet decided how scale this plane will be and that is fine since those decisions will be made as I begin to frame it up.

The plans for this kit have many pages and I studied the planes and made a list of materials. This is a short kit and I gathered all the wood and sorted the laser cut parts into bags according to what they will build.

All other things like glue were checked to be sure I had proper quantities. The wood list will be put in the final book with the plane and on the customer invoice

Decisions on the general features of the plane will need to be made:

ENGINE -- It will be a DLE 55 gas motor with electronic Ignition

RADIO EQUIPMENT -- Futaba 9C will limit us to 9 channels

SERVOS -- Others have flown this plane with 100 oz/in servos and that is a minimum for us. The elevator will be done with one servo.

LIGHTS -- Nav lights with a switch on the plane -- landing lights with the retracts down

BATTERIES -- Two for the main power and one for Ignition. All 6volt. Mains at 2700 ma and the engine at 1500ma

AIR SYSTEMS - Retracts for the main and tail wheel and air for the canopy

Stab and elevator Construct

The stab construction began by laying out the plans and getting all the wood and parts together. The stab has a symmetrical air foil and it is built by making the top half over the plans as shown below

The parts were glued up per the plan including the wing tips.

As you can see below the top half is build and planked and then the bottom half is built over the top. Also notice there is a shroud designed in that overhangs the trailing edge of the stab and covers part of the gap with the elevators.

After the top half was constructed, the trailing edge had to be cut flush with the aft end of the ribs. (See the drawing above) so I used a flat gouge to make the cuts. This can also be done with a mini plane or sandpaper. I use the gouge because it is really fast and accurate. The trailing edge must be flush.

Below you can see I checked the cut with a straight edge to be sure it is flush as I was ready to plank over the ribs and trailing edge.

Next I cut 1/16 inch soft balsa from some 6" wide stock and fit it to the leading edge with the shroud cut for the trailing edge. When the fit was good I glued it in place with CA on the structure and yellow glue on the leading edge joint. I then checked each rib.

Below you can see that the leading edge for the bottom is in place and I glued up all the rest of the parts.Once all the parts were in place, the stab bottom was ready.

Below you can see the ribs have been glued top to bottom and the one leading edge is in place.

The joint at the leading edge was reversed to provide better strength.

The rest of the bottom half was glued up and the trailing edge was trimmed as before. Once that was done, the bottom was planked with 1/16" balsa as before.

I rough shaped the stab and sanded it to be sure all imperfections were addressed. I left the edges square as I find I do beter if I put the final shape on laer in the build to prevent damage.

The stab was then set aside to be put on the fuse at a later time

The elevators were next to be done. The elevators are constructed in halves much like the stab. See the drawing above for details. I first glued in the leading edges for both the left and right sides and then added the ribs.

I cut the ribs to rough shape

I then turned both elevators over and placed them over the plans. The Elevator control horn was made up so that the servo could be located in the fuse and there will be a push rod down the center of the fuse that will activate the motion. The shot below shows the control horn and rod being glued in place with the elevators in the inverted position

Next, the structure was glued in place on the bottom of the elevators and the ribs trimmed to rough shape. you can see the result below.

The hinges were located and drilled on both the leading edge of the elevator and the trailing edge of the stab. Because of the design of the elevators, the hinges operate in slits in the leading edge. I roughed in the slits and tested the hinges.

Before the elevators were completed, I refined the slits and tested the throw I could get.

The trim tabs are metal on the full scale so I planked the trim tabs and final shaped the surfaces.

Construction of the fuse

The firewall was completed as shown in the section on mounting the engine and then I prepared the motor box sides and top. I used servo screws to position the firewall and the motor box sides.

The joints with the firewall were frozen with thin CA and the hardwood triangle stock was glued in the corners of the joints. Since I know the owner of the plane, I am adding extra reinforcements on the motor box and some other places.

Next I set up the top view of the plans and put the motor box over them. I use blocks to hold the sides on the plans and prevent movement. There are lots of different ways to do this, but it must be stationary and square to the board. I use Luan doors for boards. The cost about $25 at the H depot and they last for several planes and then they make fine shelves for the upper part of the workshop. They are flat as long as your bench is correct and you can sand off all the gunk that accumulates.

The motor box top was glued in place being sure to keep everything square and the down thrust in the firewall. Servo screws were used to hold everything tight to the firewall.

The formers were then glued to the motor box and then re glued for strength.

next, I set the assembly on the building table.

below you can see the next step. I drew the center line of the fuse on the board and then drew the location of each of the formers. This allowed me to place each former and set it square to the board. The stringers are what hold the rear part of the fuse so I put them in place and added each former in turn.

After some time and a great deal of checking with squares, the fuse is taking shape. I cut off the formers so they would sit flat on the board to square the formers. The part of the formers I cut off will be added after the top of the fuse is done.

The structure was then re glued to be sure all the joints were correct and glued up as they should have been.

Next, I build the frames for the air container and glued them to the formers. CA will not do a good job on the air tank, so I used some glue that will hold it better. It was wise to get the air tank in at this stage as it was easier to get the structure in place.

The front end also got stringers and the first several also got some triangle balsa supports that are not shown below.

Next I began the work on the stab saddle and the support for the tail assembly. This plane builds better if the entire top of the fuse is completed while it is still flat on the board. The stab saddle is key to the structure and the first fit of the stab showed plus 1.1 degrees of incidence. I measured the stab relative to the building board as that is the datum for the plane.

There was a lot of fitting to be done in order to get the stab straight and level with the correct incidence. I got it fitted but did not want to glue it in as yet. The linkage that will operate the elevator must be cleared from the fuse structure and the rudder fit before the glue up is done.

The stab was final shaped and sanded before mounting. I then set it up and cut the fiberglass cloth to fit.

I used Zpoxy resin to wet the surface and then stretched the cloth over the wet surface. I worked all the bubbles and imperfections out of the surface and allowed it to set up.

Once it was dry, I trimmed the cloth and did the bottom side. The resin needs overnight to set up before sanding and priming. I decided to do this before mounting to the fuse because it would be a lot easier than working with the finished airplane.

While the stab was drying, I framed up the vertical fin over the plans much like the stab was built.

Above you can see the first side framed and planked. The ribs and leading edge were then added to the upward side and the strobe light for the top of the rudder was installed. Once the shape was correct, I planked the second side of the fin and shaped it .

Below you can see the fin with the filler on it

You can see the strobe light that will be at the top of the fin. The lenses for all the lights arrived today so I can be sure they will fit on the plane.

Below you can see the rudder framed and hinged to the fin. It needs to be finish sanded and shaped. The fin will then be glassed and the elevator and rudder will be covered with paintable fabric.

The glassing operation turned out just fine and the stab looks like we hoped it would. In the past I had problems glassing balsa and the problem was using too much resin and working the surface too much/. The hot plan is to wet the surface and then apply the cloth. I pull the cloth flat and as soon as it is flat, I leave it alone. I find the top coat of resin or primer should be put on later after the first coat sets up.

The resin will take overnight to be sandable and then you can do what you want with it. I added no more weight than the monokote would have done.

I then sanded the stab and applied a coat of primer to see what the surface will look like.

I sanded the elevators and checked them for final shape. I then used Solartex natural covering and covered the bottom of the elevators

I finished the covering with the top of the elevators and then assembled them to the stab to check fit and finish.

In the shot above you can see the primed stab and the covered elevators. They came out very nice and the next steps were to fill the imperfections and apply a second coat of primer.

The elevator hinges were then glued in place and the control horn was checked to be aligned for the control rod to be added later.

The fin was sanded and glassed just as before and then it was put in place on the plane. The backbone was then glued on and the turtle deck began to take shape.

Next was the beginning of the planking operation and the skin for one side was put on and allowed to dry. I use CA on the interior joints because it holds well and is fast. I use yellow (yella) glue for the joints that show because it can be sanded better than CA. Lots of pins and tape hold the soaked wood to the formers.

The lower area will be planked after the bottom of the fuse is constructed.

How about this, John??? looking like a hellcat now!!

Above you see the fuse after it was removed from the board and rough shaped. I checked it for straight and everything looks good.

Next I constructed a rack for the fuse that will allow it to be worked on without damage. This will become the rack the plane is stored in and the method of assembly at the field. The saddle was lined with foam and the plane test fit.

Below is the inside of the fuse and you can see the flat cuts in the formers that will have the bottom half glued in place and additional stringers. the rest of the fuse will then be planked and sanded just as the top was.

Before the final construction, there are some equipment issues that needed to be resolved while the fuse is open. John will order the tail wheel and the servos for the elevator and rudder need to be set up.

I test fit the wing on the fuse and you get an idea of the size of the bird and the layout.

below you see the wing configuration and the motor box. The motor has been mounted so that is not an issue.

The elevator servo was put in place and the control rod was made and adjusted to fit to the elevator control horn. Below you see full up elevator with the servo hooked up and working

The shot below shows full down elevator and this will be more than the spec calls for.

The wooden control rod will bend under stress so I added a support that will also be a brace for the width of the fuse.

next was the tiller control horn for the rudder. I made it from brass rod and I soldered a control horn to the end of the shaft for the pull pull system to attach.

You can see the tiller in place in the rudder and it will be glued and banded in lace for final assembly.

below you can see the elevator control horn, the rudder control hour and the wire for the aft light in the far end of the fuse,

I have to pause on the back of the plane while I wait for the tail wheel assembly

Moved to the wing saddle and began with the former at the leading edge of the wing. It was designed with a notch in it that was not correct so I filed the area in and glued the former in place.

Next I constructed the wing saddle from some 1/32 ply and some supporting wood.

With the saddle in place, I checked the wing alignment and pinned the leading edge in place with 1/4 inch dowels. They will be glued in the wing later on, I just wanted to get them in position now.

On the trailing edge I added blocks that will be spacers for the wing bolts and then fitted the wing saddle to the top of the wing.

I found I do not have a bolt long enough to mount the wing so I went to the air system. I ran the tubing and valves to the system and pumped to 100 lbs. With adjustments, the retracts came to life and all was just fine. The big landing gears move as planned and I cycled the gears 18 times on one load of air. The tail wheel will use some air so that number will be reduced later.

Above you can see the retracts down and locked and the fuse has the firewall doubler in place. This will form the mounting ring for the cowl.

Next I made the drawing of the retract doors. This will be used later after the planking is in place.

Above you can see the wing mounting plate with the holes and the blind nuts in place. I took care to be sure the bolts were square to the plate so they would thread in easily.

The wing was then mounted to the fuse for the first time and all looked very good. Below you can see the plane up on its feet for the first time and it looks ready to fly.

Another view of the plane shows the ailerons and the planking on the trailing edge of the wing that will form the fuse fillet later on. The wing can now be finished as I am sure things are straight and true.

The tail wheel arrived and so the work started on that area. I inverted the fuse in the rack and began with the bottom half of the former that will hold the tail wheel mount. I reinforced the former and mounted the tail wheel bracket and tested it for operation.

The air drive is a small thing that next needed to be mounted securely to the fuse. This will take a beating as the plane lands and weight is placed on the tail wheel. I made a ply bracket and glued it in place under the mount and then screwed it to the ply mount. This allowed the retract to work very well.

I tested the air system with the wing on and all of the retracts working. Everything operated very well and there was enough air for 8 complete cycles of the gears.

below are shots with the gears up and down

The air lines and wires were then routed to be out of the way and I then began to route the control rods to the rudder and the elevator. Due to the differences between the tail wheel and the plans, I removed the control rod that was made earlier as it interfered with the operation of the retract.

I then hooked up the pull pull to the tail wheel and tested to be sure it worked and then did not bind once it was retracted. Everything looked fine.

I decided to run a metal rod down the side of the fuse and hook into the elevator. This is tricky because of all the wires and air lines that need to go to the back of the plane. I tied all the wires in a cable and attached it to the top of the inside of the turtle deck. This will give me room to put more stuff in there. I started with the servo for the elevator in the old position as shown below.

I ran the rod and put ends on it to attach to the servo and then moved the servo over to the the side. In the shot below you can see the new rod and it works very well.

Next I had to figure out how to make the rudder work. The first step was to glue the hinges into the rudder and stabilize it for further testing of the control horn. I then covered the thing and glued the hinges in place.

Once the glue was dry, I could see what the rudder control rod would look like. I used nyrod since the path is a little curvy. It needs some more braces but I am convinced it will work.

I hooked up to the servo and fired it up. The rudder and elevators work fine and the rods are clear with the tail wheel up and down. After several hours on this area, I moved on to the retract control.

The air valve was mounted on a plate and a servo was mounted to be near the controller. After making linkage to connect the servo, it was glued into the plane between the rudder and elevator servo. In the shot below you can see that it is a tight fit and that there will have to be a hatch since this area is aft of the trailing edge of the wing. This looks like it will work.

I assembled the wing and charged the air system. I turned on the rcvr and the thing came to life just fine. For the first time, I could use the elevator, rudder and the retracts from the transmitter and it all worked -- good o

The shot above shows the equipment with the wing in place. it was then time to figure out the belly of the fuse. I dry fit the formers on the wing structure and then was satisfied that the center section of the wing was ready to plank.

Below you can se the center section planked and the wing in position on the fuse. The parts were then dry foot again and adjusted to fit.

the parts were fit and decisions made on how the wing portion will work. the belly pan will be cut at the double former at the leading and trailing edge of the wing. this will allow the wing to be removed with the pan attached to it.

I debated hatches and things and decided to conserve the weight and make it simple. The services will have to be located somewhere on the belly.

I turned the plane on the bench so that the supports could be put under the wing tips and the tips of the stab. This allowed me to be sure the wings and stab were flat and parallel to each other. this is required because the gluing of the stringers to the formers will stiffed the fuse and it is good to have all the surfaces lined up.

After all the stringers were glued in place aft of the wing, the structure got very stiff. I tested the electronics and the lights again to be sure everything works properly.

Engine Position and Mounting

The engine is a DLE 55 cc engine and it is in hand and ready to go. The engine designed for the plane is an OS 550 and several things were noted about the engines

The DLE is longer from the mount to the back of the prop I changed the plans to allow for this difference. I marked the motor box sides back 1/2" from the plan position as shown below.

The dle is a rear carb motor and it likes having some room behind the carb. After I marked the mount location from the plans I cut a hole in the firewall and made a plug to fit over the hole.

The plug is made by using two hole saws in come 3/4" ply and then gluing 1/16 balsa over the one end. The plug is shown above.

I mounted the motor to the firewall to ensure it will fit properly.

Next I ran the final check of the motor position be propping the engine over the plans with the firewall in position. I checked that the front of the motor will be in position properly by using a square as shown below. This step is unnecessary, I set it up for illustration of how the motor will fit in the cowl

I checked to be sure the muffler would work with the cowl and it looked good.

Below you see a shot of the rear plug in position.

I then used a square to see if the head of the engine will clear the lower cowl intake. The square indicates it will have to be cut out just ahead of the lower scoop. I will try to avoid this problem and therefore stopped work to research solutions.

below is the cowl with the lower scoop.

Research on the solutions did not yield any good answer to the cowl question and the motor would like the additional air flow from the cut out of the front. I will go ahead and figure to09 cut out the cowl enough to clear the head and give the good air flow.

The plane was designed for a glow motor that weighs 3.4 lbs with the mount and the muffler. The DLE is 3.5 with the muffler and 3.6 counting the ignition module. This tells us that the plane will be close on weight and balance. With this info I will put the servos inside the fuse and not back in the tail to avoid a tail heavy problem at the end of the build.

The gas engines use less gas than glow so the tank will not be any problem at all. I will mount the ignition on the side of the motor box and that should resolve any other problems with the engine install.

Later in the build I will set up the throttle linkage and control arms.

Begin the Wing

First step was to get out the plans and study them again. The delay in the project meant I needed to get up to speed on the plan.

This is a big wing and it has lots of moving parts. I began with the center section and it is composed of ply ribs and dihedral braces. The structure was assembled without glue and checked out.

The shot above shows that I put blocks on the board to hold the center section in place and then I started gluing the joints with thin CA and checking the alignment of all the parts. The weak spot in the wing is the spot where the dihedral changes at the ribs that ser set at an angle.

The shot below shows that I continued the hard wood spars beyond the plan distances. The spar was supposed to stop at the rib to the right of the clamp and that would just not do the job at all. I continued the spar to the next rib and then I will restructure the joint to spread the load down the dihedral brace. These braces were laser cut from 1/8 ply and that is a bit thin to take the load of a hard landing. I will increase the strength of the wing outside the dihedral change.

The u shaped cutout to the right of the clamp is the bay for the retracts. My lan is to build the center section and then both wing extension and plank the top of the wing in total. Once the wing is roughed in and straight, I will turn it over and add all the mounts, servos, lights and hinges that will be needed to make it work.

The shot below shows the structure with the spars and the interior leading edge. This shot shows the section in the upright position ready for planking. I glued the planking on and then it got a first sanding.

Below, you can see the section after planking and it is inverted for the bottom construction. The first step was to cut out the ribs for the wheel wells. At the top of the shot you can see the right side with the ribs removed for the wheel.

Next I made 1/4" ply plates to hold the retracts. These plates are considerably larger than t he plans called for. This is the weak spot in the wing since the under side of the wing must be open for the retracts. The entire force has to be handled by the top of the wing and this is very dangerous. I started with the enlarged mounting plates and I positioned the retracts and checked the motion.

Under the enlarged plates I added structure that will allow the wing to survive a hit on the landing gears. You can see below that I have added reinforcements to the area under the plates and I positioned the plates so that the gear will fold all the way up and lock without contacting the under side of the wing planking.

After the structure was complete I mounted the landing gears to the plates with blind nuts and 6-32 bolts. I also routed the air lines that will drive the gears later on.

Next I framed a hole in the top planking that will allow the services from the fuse to be connected to the wing. You can see the two air line connectors in the hole.

The gear plates were then glued to the structure with Hysol glue that will give a good strong system in the center section.

With the landing gear in place, I then set the center section on the board with the left wing section flat on the plans and the center section inclined as shown on the plans. The spars and ribs were then glued in place.

Below you can see the wing section with the spars in place and the rear spars ready to be glued to the structure.

The shot below shows the spars in and next I put in 1/16" web supports to tie the upper and lower spars together. This little bit of wood will accomplish amazing things w2ith the strength of the wing.

Once the structure was done, the wing was planked on the top and removed from the board. I did not plank over the area of the flaps and the ailerons ad I will build them with the wing inverted and the bottom structure exposed.

Next I set the right wing panel on the board just as I did the left. It is essential that the wings be done flat and straight so a great deal of time was taken to be sure the thing was done exactly right. A warped wing makes the plane hard to fly.

Below you can see the wing after all the top planking was on it. The wing looks like is is all build but the entire under side and all the equipment has yet to be done. I am about 20% done with the wing rough construction.

This is another view of the wing and you can see the anti-hedral in the center section top surface and the dihedral in the tip sections. This is an unusual wing and it is a trial to build straight and get all the services in it properly. The list of things include

2 aileron servos with hatches and ailerons wired to the center section

2 flap servos with hatches and linkages wired to the center section

2 tip lights with wiring to the center section

2 air lines to the retracts and to the center section

The next task was to support the wing in the inverted position so the build could continue. The planking is contest quality and that means it is easily damaged so I did not sand it prior to inverting the wing. I then built a support that allowed the wing to be in a flat position and not warp or strain the structure. I began with a strong piece of 3/4 ply and checked it for straightness. I constructed a cradle for the center section and confirmed that the wing would fit as it should

I then hot glued foam to the cradle so that the wing would not be damaged as I work on it. The wing fit well, and the construction could continue.

Next I ran the wires for the running lights in the tips. These will plug in at the center section and the lights will be behind lenses that will be red and green. For now, I just wanted to get the wires routed to the tips.

I bolted the landing gears in place and hooked up the ail lines. There will soon be a test of the system once I get wheels that will be right for the plane. Everything is looking good so I went on to the next things to put in the wing

The ailerons on the Hellcat were done two different ways depending on when the plane was built. The earlier ones had exposed hinges that protruded through the under side of the wing and the ailerons rotated around the lower hinge. This was good for the crew chief because the aileron could be removed very easily and the maintenance was simple. The drawback is that the downward motion of the aileron was like a flap and the upward motion was like an aileron. This produced aileron differential and the plane would yaw wildly when the ailerons were used to the right.

The later planes had ailerons with the hinge set up like I did on the elevators shown above. (way above in this file). They rotated around a hinge in the center of the leading edge of the aileron and that made the flight characteristics much better than the older models

For this plane, the centered ailerons are stronger and eliminate the fragile exposed hinges that can be damaged while handling the wing. The plane would fly better with the centered hinges and the appearance is not an issue since the hinges are on the bottom of the wing.

I, therefore, decided to go with the centered hinges and I began the construction with the hatch rails shown below. They are hard wood and the planking will cover 1/3 of the rails and the hatch will cover the rest.

The aileron hatches were cut from 3/32 bass sheets and the servos were mounted on the hatch. The servo arms will operate through the hatch and be connected to the aileron control horns.

below is the view of the servo mounted on the hatch and ready to be mounted in the frame.

The Build of the ailerons came next and it began with the plans covered with wax paper and a 1/2" leading edge tapered to fit the trailing edge of the wing.

The 3/32 sheet was glued to the leading edge and the ribs were set in place. The hinge blocks were glued in place and then a ply plate that would hold the control horn bolts was installed.

The design of the hinge is just like the elevator so I drilled for the hinges and then made the leading edge round so it could pivot correctly

The trailing edge of the wing got blocks for the hinges and holes were drilled.

The aileron was then installed and fitted to the wing so that it cleared the structure. The control horn was added and the aileron was put aside awaiting the shrouds on the wing that will cover the joint.

After the construction and fitting of the second aileron, it was time to begin the flaps. YOu can see above that the layout and rough build is the same as the ailerons

After shaping and fitting, the flap was on the wing and aligned to the location of the servo.

next I made the wiring for the ailerons. I do not like plugs inside the structure as it is asking for problems in the long run. I extended the wire to the two servos so they would reach the center of the wing and have room to plug into the fuse wiring. I soldered the joints and made a plug so that the left servo would plug into the line from the right side. This will allow the wire to be installed after the wing is painted and will only have one plug in the middle of the circuit. The two aileron servos will have only one plug to the receiver.

I built the hatches for the flaps and ordered a reverse for the circuit so that the flaps will work together. As with the ailerons, there will be just one line run to the radio as we have lots of things to make the receiver do.

The ailerons and flaps for the other side of the wing were then built. I went through the same process as the other side and hinged the surfaces to the wing.

Below you can see the bottom of the wing with the servos in place and the flaps and ailerons hinged to the wing. There is still a lot of wing building to do, but we are making progress.

The shot below is of the top of the wing and you can see the ailerons and the flaps in the up position. The trailing edge of the center section is to be done as well as the trailing edge of the wing tips outside the ailerons.

Next was the installation of the landing lights. There were two styles of landing lights used and we will be doing the later version which as the lights in the leading edge of the wing. I started by cutting down the diameter of the lights as shown below.

I then built a lithe compartment and painted it white to increase the brightness of the light later on.

You can see below that the light is mounted in the box and it will shine through a hole and lenses in the leading edge. The holes will be cut after the leading edge is in place.

Right next to the landing lights will be the guns. I started by mounting a block behind the 3/32 interior leading edge. The guns will screw into the block and that will allow them to be removed for transportation.

Next the leading edge was put on the interior leading edge. The plans call for joints at the change in dihedral and that is sure not a good idea for the structure. Instead, I did one joint in the center and used medium hard 1/2" leading edge stock cut from 4" wide sheets. One sheet did both sides and will greatly increase the strength of the wing at the joints and will be a strength member just ahead of the landing gear mounts. The shot below shows the process of gluing the leading edge in place.

I then cut the excess material away and the top of the leading edge was roughed in. You can now get a look at the shape of the wing and we will soon be able to plank the rest of the top and and add the tips. After all the mechanical issues are worked out, I will plank the bottom of the wing and we will be set to mate it to the fuse and the glass it.