Workshop

1/1/12

There remianed just a few small things to be done. The wheels were mounted with locktite and wheel retainers and the rudder hinges were glued in place.

The final problem was that some of the solder joints on the struts did not hold and so I set the plane together and applied JB weld to the joints and set the plane aside for 48 hours

 

12/27 and 28

The two sessions were dedicated to completing the covering and assembly of the plane. It began with The rest of the surfaces and then the fuse. I covered the top and both sides with one sheet of Ultracote and that makes a nice seamless job for this classic plane. It takes time and patience to cover without seams but it is really not that hard to do. After the fuse was trimmed and securely shrunk to shape, it was time to move on to the bottom of the fuse and the details of the balance of the covering

The bottom covering was done and trimmed up.

The cockpit was cut and lined with a rubber gasket. This looks real and prevents the edge of the covering from showing.

The cabanes were put on place and aligned.

Next the tail surfaces were covered and put on the plane. The red stripe on the fuse was applied and the lower wing was mounted to the fuse.

 

The wheel assembly was put on the plane and the tail wheel bracket was installed on the plane.

The round insignia was placed on the fuse and it was starting to look pretty good....

The upper wing was bolted on at the main fuse area. The wing struts were not put on as yet.

The cowl was bolted on and the gun was mounted to the fuse.

 

 

12/26/11

The elves must have been busy yesterday as today the cowl was in the same shape as before.

Today's idea for the mounting of the radial engine was to use the plastic cowl that came with the kit and use it to hold the radial in place and make it so that the assembly could be removed.

I cut the plastic cowl so that it would slide inside the metal cowl and used it to trap the radial engine in position centered on the shaft of the motor. This required lots of adjustments and once centered I used CA to glue the plastic ring to the radial engine. I then cut out the white area between the cylinder heads to improve the appearance from the front

Once it was securely glued I mounted the cowl and radial back on the plane and centered everything on the motor shaft. Things looked good so the next step was to establish holes in the metal cowl that were in line with the mounting holes so the scale appearance would be in tact. The holes were drilled in the metal cowl and blocks were glued inside the plastic ring to correspond with the mounting holes.

I again assembled the front of the plane and centered the radial on the motor shaft. One at a time I shot screws through the metal cowl and into the ring that was holding the radial in place. After much adjusting the assembly was in place and looked very nice.

I took the entire thing apart again and cleaned up the radial and the white ring. I primed the assembly and painted it flat black.

 

The machine gun mount was made from two dowels that were cut to the proper length and before they were glued to the gun, I primed and painted them white so that they will not show after the gun is in position.

 

Next I made an assembly for the switches that will be needed for the equipment. The assembly was then mounted to the bottom of the fuse just behind the wing saddle. The plate was adjusted and sanded to get ready to cover the area.

With all the fuse items complete, I sanded and shaped the fuse and prepared to cover. I began with the bottom side of the stab and put on the checker material to match the bottom of the lower wing.

Next I covered the rudder and the top of the stab

 

12/24/11

The session began with the inspection of the cowl mounting work done yesterday and everything looked very good.

I measured the center of the motor shaft to the cowl inside ring and found the motor was 1/4" low on the firewall. I removed the cowl and the motor to check the calculations on the firewall and all of those were correct. While the location of the motor should have been correct, it was not and so the motor needed to be moved.

I began the process by removing the blind nuts in the firewall and drilling out the holes to accept a larger hard wood plug. I glued the plugs into the holes so that they were flush with the surface of the firewall and allowed the plugs to dry.

I redrilled the motor and mounted it with the cowl to check the center. Everything looked good

 

The next step is the radial and I fit it to the cowl to check that it could be done. I remounted the cowl with the radial inside and centered it up. The looks were very nice and so it remained to figure out how to mount it inside the cowl.

My first three ideas failed to work and so I left it to Santa to geterdone.

 

 

12/23/11

Continuing on the fuse the nyrods were glued in place and trimmed to length. The nyrod running to the throttle was drilled and glued in place.

The servo compartment was under the cockpit so there was a need for a floor in the cockpit and that was constructed from balsa to save weight. The receiver and other gear will likely be installed in this area as well.

Next I made blocks that matched the curve of the front of the firewall and glued them in place for cowl retainer blocks.

I began by positioning the cowl and drilling a clearance hole for the 4-40 button head bolts that will hold the cowl in place. I removed the cowl and set a blind nut in the block at the top position. I then bolted the first bolt in position in the cowl and inspected the fit to the fuse. I adjusted the back of the cowl to fit the firewall and reattached the first bolt. When everything fit, I set a second bolt using the same procedure as the first. With many cycles through the process, all the bolts were put in place and the cowl fit properly on the firewall.

This is a slow process that will give the best fit and appearance.

 

12/22/11

With the struts done, the fuse was next on the list. The servos for the elevator and the rudder were mounted in the equipment compartment so that they could drive nyrods to the rear of the plane. On the same assembly, I mounted the throttle servo that will also be connected to nyrod up to the motor.

The rails were bolted to the mounting system so that the servos can be removed for service. The servos were positioned so that the rods could be run to the front and back of the plane.

The nyrods were then mounted to run from the servos to the control horns in the tail.

The rods must be braced to prevent loose controls and so braces were made to make sure the rods will function properly

12/21/11

All the wrapping was done on the struts and the landing gears and black paint was put on the assemblies.

The landing gear assembly was not scale as designed so it was converted to scale by adding a rod between the wheels. This will also serve to make the landing gear stronger and ensure the wheels will not spread apart in the event of a hard landing.

All the struts were then painted

12/20/11

The rigging was next to work on. There are 4 strut assemblies between the wings and another for the landing gear system. I started by checking and re soldering all the joints in the rigging. It is key that they all be sound.

I then added the wrapping on each end of the wooden parts of the rigging. This is a scale detail that is important in the appearance and in the structure of the struts. This takes lots of time to do and I got nearly all of it done in one day.

12/18/11

The rest of the upper wing was covered and inspected. There were many openings that needed to be made in the covering for the attachment to the fuse as well as the rigging for the upper wing and the ailerons. All of that was done and it came out well.

 

12/16 and 17/11

The lower wing needed some finishing work. I ran a string for the aileron wires and cut holes in the upper surface for them to pass through to the receiver. The final shape was sanded into the surfaces and then it was sanded to 300 grit.

After a full inspection, the bottom of the wing was covered in the checker material

As before, the top of the wing was done with the center section first.

12/15/11

The final trimming and location of the mounting holes was done and the bottom of the wing was complete.

I heated up the irons and covered the top of the wing. Started with the center section.

Then a tip section being very careful to finish all the edges.

The aileron hinges were transferred from the aileron to the wing and glued in place with thin CA. The hinges were coated with Vaseline in the hinge area to make them stay free of glue.

The ailerons were then covered starting on the bottom and then doing the top surface.

I mounted the control horn on the bottom of the aileron and this will take the rod from the lower aileron for control.

The ailerons were hinged in place and glued on.

The insignias were then placed on the wing per the pattern plane shown at the top of this article. The colorful marking made the wing look very nice.

 

12/14/11

The session began with the inspection of the air frame and correction of some small problems.

The upper wing was then inspected and sanded into final shape. It was then sanded to 300 grit and a final fill done on places that needed work.

After final sanding, the covering could begin. As with any wing, I started with the small inside corners in the aileron bays, the center section trailing edge and the center of the wing where there is a hole for the pilot to see up. All of these areas were covered before the larger areas could be done.

The bottom of the wing was then covered and since there is dihedral, I used one piece to cover the entire under side. One roll of Untracote was just long enough to do the job.

As has been covered many times before, I started by ironing to the tips and pulling the covering as tight as I could. With the covering pulled tip to tip, I then iron down the leading edge and the trailing edge and complete all the edges rolled over and sealed. The heat gun then stretches the covering and the side is done.

12/05 and 06/11

The sessions began with disassembly of the plane. The finishing touches need to be done and so there were several things that needed to be done.

I made farring blocks for the wing joint on the lower wing. These are just to make covering look right on the finished fuse.

 

The motor mount was next and I found the center of the firewall and made marks where the motor mount holes belonged and drilled them, out.

The motor was mounted with 1/4 - 20 bolts and blind nuts and the position checked to be sure the motor was in the middle.

After the motor was in place, I used the ABS cowl to make a pattern for the cuts the alum cowl will need. I completed the cuts and duplicated the cuts on the alum cowl.

 

Next you see the machine gun kit provided by the owner. I constructed the gun and painted it per the instructions.

 

It came out very well and will look fine on the top of the fuse.

12/02/11

The session began with an inspection of the airframe and correction of a few small things.

the kit came with some hinges that are plastic with a brass pin and they looked fine for the plane. I began hinging with the elevator. I beveled the leading edge and slotted the stab and elevator so that the hinges would work. I added some hard wood for the control horn on the elevator.

 

 

 

12/01/11

I started the session be checking the wings to be sure everything was correct. I then set up to solder each of the joints in the N struts. This process takes time and must be done with care to avoid a nasty surprise later on.

After all the joints were done, I began to fit the spruce wood to the N struts. This is an appearance thing and each part was fit to the strut and then glued in place with tape to hold it while it dries

 

next was the landing gear using the same process as above. All of these parts can be removed later for sanding and paint. This operation is to get the fit right.

The last area was the cabanes on the fuse. They were done and allowed to dry before disassembly and paint.

While the plane was still assembled, I set the stab and the rudder fin. They were checked for alignment and then glued in place.

 

11/30/11

The fuse was lined up on the wing by checking the tramble. This is done with a string in the tail section (on the center line) and stretched to the wing tips. I adjusted the location to be correct and checked the spacing of the two wings at the tips to be sure everything was straight. I then marked the four mounting holes in the cabanes.

The holes were drilled in the ply plates and blind nuts were installed to hold the upper wing on the cabanes. The wing was then bolted in position and all the dimensions rechecked.

The tips were next to be secured and that began with the installation of some scrap pieces between the tips to hold the wings with proper spacing. This secured the wings while the N braces were made and fitted

Next I cut 4 of the 1/8 rods and drilled out the keepers to take the wire. On the lower wing ( the one on top right now) I bolted the keepers in place and drilled the wire holes through the ply plate. The four rods were put in place and positioned with a large square to be sure they were all straight.

The wire location was marked on the upper wing plates ( the one now on the bottom) and the holes were drilled for the wire.

I then assembled the clip and a solder stud on each end of the rods on both sides of the wing and made sure the X braces were lined up and the wings were set.

 

11/29/11

The upper wing was then put back on the board and the rest of the construction work was done. This completed the rough build and the wing was then ready to be shaped and mounted on the fuse.

The upper wing was blocked up on the workbench and lined up on a straight line to the leading edge. I checked that the tips were parallel to the workbench and then set the inverted fuse up on the wing.

11/13/11

The fuse was then removed from the lower wing and the upper wing was returned to the building board for completion. Ply pads were put in the under side of the wing for mounting to the cabans.

11/8/11

Work continued on the upper wing and checks were run on the fuse and lower wing. Everything looks straight and clean and the plan is progressing very well.

 

 

11/7/11

The lower wing was bolted in place and checked to be sure it was straight. The landing gear parts were bolted to the plane using retainer straps screwed to the hard wood rails. The joints in the wire were then wrapped with copper wire and soldered. The plane was then put on its feet and the landing gear was checked to be sure it was straight on the table. The tail skid was then added to the fuse and then removed to be mounted after covering.

Next the cabanes were located and the four wires were checked for size and shape. The hard wood mounts were located and the wires put in place. I cut two hard wood strips and drilled holes for the cabane wires. You can see below that the wood strips were put in position on the wires and the wood strips were then glued to the workbench to hold the position.

With the position fixed, the check was made to be sure the leading edge of the wing was parallel to the work bench. I then fabricated 4 wires to form an X to support the cabanes. These wires were put in position and soldered.

The wood strip was removed and the wires were checked to be sure they were straight. All looked good so the work continued.

The clips were then soldered to the wires and set flat to the datum line. These four clips will be mounted to the ply blocks on the bottom of the upper wing so it is key that they be straight and flat.

11/6/11

The center section was then placed over the plans and the left and right wings were put in position. The dihedral was checked and the tramble was checked to be sure the leading edges were straight. After the wing was lined up, the center braces were glued in place.

while the upper wing was setting up, the lower wing was sanded to shape and the rest of the sing mounting plates were added. The lower wing was then ready for mounting on the plane and then the final process of hinges, equipment and then prep for covering.

 

 

11/4/11

The work on the upper wing continued. The left wing was completed including the tips and the leading edge. The wing came out very well including the aileron.

 

The right wing was taken apart from the center section and then completed much like the left wing. It did not have a warp in it so the work was easier and it was completed in fine style.

The two halves were then set up with the center section of the wing and the parts were examined for fit. The tops were blocked up the prescribed amount and adjustments were made to the joints.

 

11/3/11

The first thing was to plank the center section of the lower wing as that now needs to be on the fuse to set the landing gear system. I planked and filled the wing and wet it aside to dry

The upper wing is partially framed and some errors were made that needed to be evaluated. I found there was a warp in the wing and the dihedral joints were set at the wrong angle. After examination of the wing, I cut the dihedral joints apart and set the wings back on the plans to be completed before resetting them on the center section.

The left wing was pinned onto the plans and weighted to remove the warp. I put weight on the structure and then sprayed it with water to dampen the wood spars. I then began building the missing ribs and trailing edge. By completing the build of the wing panel with it pinned down, I can make it straight again. below you see the method for making the spar straight and re-gluing it.

 

Above you can see the ribs are in and the aileron is being framed. The dihedral brace was re glued to the spars once the spars were put in the proper position. The wing is looking much better now and the building continued with the lower trailing edge being installed.

 

 

11/2/11

The session began with the inspection of the work done so far. I sanded and filled the fuse and improved the joints on the lower wing. The stab and elevators were next to be framed and they went on the board in much the same way as the other surfaces did. I replaced nearly all of the wood that came with the kit as it was the wrong density.

After they dried I sanded and shaped the stab and elevator. I then placed it on the fuse and squared it with the nose of the fuse as shown

I then glued a block at the leading edge of the stab to use as a saddle later on.

I then built the rear spars that connect the ply deck with the stab area. This was built from 1/4 square with a support in the center. I finished with some other trim blocks and the top of the fuse was done for right now.

 

 

 

11/1/11

The session began by continuing with the fuse construction. The side structure was put on the front as shown below. The rest of the side parts were then assembled.

The top structure was sanded to be sure the top planking would go on well. The 1/32 ply sheet for the top was then cut to fit with the cockpit hole and side lines. After fitting it to the plane, it was progressively glued in place one side at a time. When complete it was covered with tape to hold the edges in place and allowed to dry for several hours.

The rudder was next to be constructed and it was pinned to the plans and stick built. This structure was done with white glue as just as the fuse was because it will need to be sanded. The structure was allowed to dry.

The front of the fuse is round and so I planked the sides with thin ply to give it lots of strength. This was done to both sides and they were set aside to dry.

The vertical stab was then framed with the same methods as the other surfaces and set aside to dry.

 

 

10/31/11

The crutch was pinned to the plans. This is an easy way to locate the fuse sides.

The fuse sides were set up over the plans and the sides were glued to the crutch with care to keep them straight. The firewall was glued to the sides and the crutch to square the front of the fuse.

The formers were glued in place with great care to make the structure square and straight. The rear section was then pulled together and glued along with the spacers on the top and bottom longerons. I added the wing mount block and the tail wheel plate to add strength to the structure.

The fuse was then in the rough form and I set it aside and set up the lower wing over the plans. This wing was partially built by bugs and it had some problems.The shot below shows that the dihedral was not the same on the two sides of the center section.

 

The center section was cut loose from the right wing and the dihedral was set to the proper dimension. The leading edge and several of the parts were then replaced and some other improvements were made to get the wing ready for the next step.

The lower wing was then set on the bottom of the fuse and the distance from the board to the tips was checked. The saddle was adjusted to make the wing set level on the fuse.

The dowels were then drilled into the wing and the former in the fuse. This locked the leading edge of the wing in position on the fuse. The tramble was checked with a string from the tail to the tip to be sure the wing was on straight. When this was right, the wing bolts were drilled and taped into the wing mounting block and the wing was in position.

The forward gear block was put in place and the bottom section was planked.

The fuse was then rolled over and the top section was built with formers and stringers as seen below. The hard blocks are for the supports to the upper wing.

 

10/30/11

This plane was begun by the customer and I will complete it for him. He started with the wings and I will begin with the fuse. I opened the box and did an inventory of the contents. All parts were there and the quality of the wood was very good.

I began with the layout of the plans and set up for the build.

The first step was to stick build one side of the fuse. I replaced the short sticks with long ones from my inventory to prevent splicing the top rails.

I then glued the doublers on the inside of the fuse and removed the structure from the board. The other side was then assembled in the same way as the first. The doubler on the second side was placed so that it was on the inside of the other side from the first one I made. This prevents making two right sides for the fuse ---- been there.

The two sides were then sanded flat and the excess length trimmed so that they were both the same size.