Conference vmszoo::rc

    
    To kick things off I had intended to build a pair of my own design
    pattern ships but fell into a deal for a half build Aurora design
    by Phillips Aircraft.  This is a fiberglas fused copy of the japanize
    Aurora design.  When I traded dor the plane it had the wings and stabs
    covered and the LE/TE installed.  The previous owner had installed
    the firewall using the usual method of going off of the spinner ring
    to determine the angle of the firewall only to fing out it was molded
    incorrectly and had to much down thrust.
    
    I've been working on the plane for he past few days since test flying
    the Dragon Lady.  I've carved out the firewall leaving app. 1/4" glued
    to the fuse.  It acts like a former.  Using a rubber mount I had to
    move the firewall forward anyways so this worked out OK.  I ended up
    shimming the bottom of the snipper about 1/8" to get the down thrust to
    a manageable 2 degrees. 
    Last night I fit the belly pan making all of the necessary cut outs to
    fit the engine.  I also installed oall of the pins used to keep the
    pan in place.  I rough fit the 1/4 turn fastener to hold the pan down
    and will finish this tonight by installing a mounting block to secure
    the wire that is used with the 1/4 turn fastener.
    If I continue to work on a nightly basis I should have this all framed
    up before the second week of december.  I'm going to use a fellow 
    modelers paint room so I should get it finished early this winter and
    the be ably to move onto possibly the Flybaby or some other light
    scale project.
    
    
    Tom
    
    I really hope that people use this note tokeep in touch with other
    o what they are doing on a nightly basis.
    
    

    
    	I spent most of the nights building time fixing household items...
    I hadn't fix this past fall...  I did get into the shop to lay out
    the retract mounting blocks/pads.  One interesting Item when flying
    off grass with retracts it to imbed the LE of the retract pad deeper
    into the wing than the TE. When the retract is extended it will angle
    forward which will help the ground handling of the plane.  Helps to
    keep the plane from noseing over.
    	I also finished mounting the 1/4 turn fastener and glued the
    horizontal stab halves together.  This will get either paper/dope or
    fiberglas before I install it.  This will help the finishing process
    along.
    
    	I guess from the replies... no one is working on anything?
    
    
    
    Tom

    Having gotten out of here at 7:40pm last night, working is relative. I
    managed to get my Predator charged and put a towhook in it (now that
    the HLG events are over, I can get lazy). I'll get a chance to take
    advantage of today's nice weather before it disappears for the winter.
    Serious building will have to wait until Thanksgiving weekend.

    
    	I still have a Great Planes Cap21 on the shelf , just about ready
    	to cover. the wing half's need glued together and ailerons need
    	"sized to the wing" and it will be ready to cover. The fuselage
    	needs the four corners rounded on the cowling and front, then it's
    	ready to cover. I guess the big hangup is trying to figure what
    	kind of color pattern I want to do it in, rather than the Scale
    	white. It will be Monokoted, probably in a base white with some
    	type of color scheme and then ready for engine & radio. I have 
    	a new O.S. .46SF ABC ready and awaitin' install. 
    
    		Also, given the chance, I want to continue the work on 
    	my Top-Flite Corsair. The wing is about ready for sheeting, but
    	I decided to change the way the flap mechanics work, so a refit
    	is in the works. This should keep me busy for quite a while. And,
    	if, and only if I have any time left, I'll start on a .25 sized
    	B25 I've scratch kitted from a set of old Nick Ziroli plans. These
    	plans are on a floating schedule though, due to a new addition to 
    	the family.
    
    		I guess that covers my time for the next zillion years :^)
    
    
                   Carl

    
    Spent last night cutting out a retract location in one of the Auroras'
    wing panels.  Usually this is done before the sheeting process, but
    the previous owned had planned to use fixed trike gear so no
    provisions had been made.  I forgot how much fun it is retrofiting
    a sheeted wing for retracts.  Lucky thing he didn't glue the two
    wing panels together.  As seperate panels it does help the job
    along.  I should get to the other panel tonight and then onto
    cutting out and making the ailerons.
    
    Tom

    Well I guess , heres my 2 Bits ( 1/2 a nibble for you diode bitties)
    
    I had in the past been the pro builder , afraid to fly. Built a 
    Sophisticated Lady and a PT20 from Greatplanes. Saturdays weather 
    was nice and my 3Year old son says, "Dad , can we fly the planes
    today. (Dad) sure son lets go. So all was well , two flights went 
    fine using an .049 power pod on the S. L. .Sunday was different 
    , wind did the girl in . So we are almost finished the rebuild of
    the nose that the vertical landing broke, working on a scratch 
    built 34" ,two channel Flexible Flyer (.049 , thats is claimed durable)
    And if luck hold out , we are building a SS20 when we get up to speed.
    In the mean time , all the notes about the "Predator" looks like the
    next project.
    
    Bob in PHO  

    This past weekend I spent some time finishing up the installation of
    the retract unit to one of the two wing panels.  I epoxied the plat in
    place and added 1/4" dowls to help support this area. After hardening I
    went yo work filling in the plate area where the retract units ISN't.
    For those that have never installed a retract, you install a plate that 
    is larger than the retract unit.  Then you install the retract and fill
    in any of the plate area that is exposed until this blends into the
    wings' surface.  Most times when the plates are installed before
    sheeting you can simply glue in 1/4" stock to form a border anound the
    retract unit. The sheeting when applied covers and remaining exposed
    plate.  With the installation coming after the sheeting I ended up
    adding filler blocks/strips to cover the entire area.  I suppose it's a
    bit heavier this way but then again I had no other choise in the
    matter.  
    
    I still need to sheet the inner wall of the wheel well area. Most times
    this is left as foam and then simply painted but not being completely
    smooth I plan to sheet the area with balsa fo finish it off.
    
    
    Tom

    "progress or lack thereof".
    
    The perfect place to put the building saga of the Weston 570.
    You need only jump between here and 871, to be immediately
    convinced to take up cliff diving as a more rewarding hobby.
    
    Last night I glued the stabs to the fuselage at a 100 degree 
    included angle as per the instuctions, one of few places where
    he commits himself to hard and fast numbers.
    
    Built a jig out of cardboard, and it came out pretty well.
    The servo wires come out of the stab root and snake into the open
    end of the fuselage tube, which can then be plugged with a removable
    tapered piece, or so I assume, since there is no word in the
    instructions about any of this.
    
    The ply wing saddle piece has been installed inside the fuse. ditto
    the nose former that the motor bolts up to. This seems pretty
    secure, won't need any aft motor support. 
    
    With the stabs on I can now coat the fuselage with laminating epoxy
    to provide a paint base.
    
    In a poignant related issue, Bill W. received his Magic kit.
    One look in the box and he's reeling in shock. Offered me $100
    to build it for him. No way Jose. The money's not the object, but
    no way will I spend that kind of time now. The experience would
    be "nice", but a double dose of Weston kit building ? uh-uh.
    
    Terry

    Hey, this rainy weekend I acutally dusted off the Nieuport-11 parts and
    restarted the work on the wings!  I have delusions that I will have it
    done in time for the Nats (fat chance!)
    
    For those that don'r remember, this is a Proctor kit..  Tough kit!!  I
    have lowered my expectations on the quality of the finished product to
    something I believe is manageable..  Hopefully this will get me to
    finish it in a reasonable time.
    
    BTW - Does anyone have a PC with a scanner and optical character
    reader software??  I want to scan in the instruction manual and try 
    to annotate and break out individual steps (currently it is in running
    paragraph form)..
    
    Thanks,
    jeff
    

    I built an ACE Biplane this summer with an O.S. .28 motor, should be
    hot when I get around to flying it.  I'm half way through a FLYLINE 
    Great Lakes for my O.S. .20 four stroke.
    
    Since I have not flown much for nearly two years I got a Duraplane and
    assembled it (not much to build) and put ski's on it.  My son and I
    have been out flying it from an empty field the past couple of
    weekends.  Lives up to its name, great fun from the snow too.
    
    To make matters more interesting I am about to try and teach myself to
    fly Mode II (throttle and rudder on the left stick/rudder and aileron 
    on the right)  I learned mode I flying gliders from a hi start.  
    
    I'm seriously thinking about building a 1 to 1 scale Fly Baby and I
    think teaching myself Mode II will serve me well in a full size.  I
    took a break from RC to get my pilots license, have about 300 hours
    now.
    
    Will

    
    Will,
    	The flybaby has always had a special place in my heart.  Good 
    luck with the project.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    	Last night I got around to working on the second retract
    installation in the other wing panel.  To start I had to make a
    template up from the first panel to make sure I got the second retract
    installed at the correct angle.  This done and the location all layed
    out I proceeded to remove the balsa and foam from the wheelwell,strut
    location and mounting area.  Once cleaned out and verified with the
    template exposy secured the mounting plate to the foam.  I then added
    the 1/4" dowl supports and screwed the retract unit in place. 
    
    	I left it there to watch the monday night football game.  Should
    have continued to work as the game wasn't worth watching...
    
    
    
    Tom 

    The right wing outbd. panel was removed from the bag last night.
    Again, the paint transference is very good, but on this larger piece
    slight imperfections in the inner mylar surface, foreign objects in/on
    the paint, etc. are more noticeable.
    The separate piece of glass cloth along the l.e. is not the final
    answer to handling the mating problem of the upper and lower covering.
    
    I'm not sure this can be completely resolved given the conditions of
    no separate l.e. edge on the core, and using two pieces of mylar
    in the bagging. I'll have to do the same on the left panel to avoid
    an imbalance, but for the center section I'm going to inset
    a 3/32" dowel in the l.e. of the core. This will give a hard surface 
    for the cloth to overlap and can be sanded flush and smooth after
    bagging. I can live with the slight weight penalty.
    
    On the fuselage front, the entire piece was coated with laminating
    epoxy, brushed on with white tinting paste added to give a base color.
    After a few days to cure this will be sanded lightly and given a few
    light color coats.
    
    One observation: Kevlar works great as an inner layer for fuselage
    layups, wing skin laminate, etc. 
    It is *!#%$^*&, when used as an outer layer as Weston does on the
    fuselage. Don't even think about sanding any seams or surface
    imperfections. Simply coat the Kevlar with epoxy, paint, and let it
    go at that.
    
    Terry

    OK, see if I have this right...
    
    The best solution would be to have the mylar make the radius around the
    leading edge, but it is too stiff, right??
    
    Question...  What does Mylar do under heat??  
    
    My thought is before you bag the fiberglass, do a vacuum molding
    of the mylar to the leading edge.  Let it cool.  Then do your standard
    layup using this piece of mylar.
    
    The big question is, does mylar become plyable at a temperature that 
    won't melt the foam core??  I dunno...  As an alternative, perhaps
    you will need to make a copy of the leading edge out of wood to do
    the form...
    
    jeff
     

    Don't know what the required temperature might be, but my gut
    feeling is that mylar molding temps. would be too high to safely
    use the foam core as the male mold.
    
    A wood mold might work but then there's the job of making an accurate
    airfoil surface.
    
    Using thinner mylar and higher bagging vacuum still looks like the 
    best chance at solving this in the fewest steps.
    I may go so far as to call Weston. There may be some absurdly simple
    answer. Then again, why does he mention using l.e. trim tape to hide
    the whole problem ?
    
    Terry

    
    	On the last plane I was flying (LA-1) I installed a fixed
    tailwheel.  This worked well but I found it limiting for the
    places I fly from.  So on the Aurora I'm presently building
    I'll be installing a stearable tailwheel.  Problem is that with
    most stearable tailwheels they tend to be to critical as the initial
    rollout starts.  Always in search of those elusive points..
    
    	 SO, I'm going to adopt a tailwheel I've seen used a few times
    with great success.  It's a home made unit..  Here's how.
    
    	To start a hardwood block is glued to the bottom/inside
    surface of the fuse app. 1" forward of the hinge line. From the
    bottom a 3/32nds hole is drilled parallel and straight to the thrust
    line. One side of the fuse (adjacent to the wood block) has a hole cut
    into it just large enough to accept a small wheel collar. A tailwheel 
    is fashioned out of 3/32nd wire.  A wheel collar has a hole drilled
    in it to accept a 3/32nd wire perperdicular to the through hole.
    The chrome plating is sanded off adjacent to the 3/32nds hole and a
    tiller wire app. 2 1/2" long is soldered into the hole.  In the rudder
    app. 1" behind the hinge line a plastic stem is glue.  This stem
    protrudes from the bottom of the rudder and has a 3/32nd"  hole drilled
    into it parallel to the bottom of the rudder.  
    
    ASSEMBLY.
    
    The tiller wire soldered to the wheel collar is slid into the plastic
    stem that protrudes from the rudder.  The wheelcollar lines up with the
    hole in the fuse/hardwood block.  The tailwheel wire is now slid
    through the wheel collar, throught the fuse/hardwood block so that 
    app. 1/4" protrudes inside the fuse.  A second wheel collar is slid
    over the tailwheel wire through the cut out in the fuse side.  Once 
    secured the wheel collar attached to the tiller wire is tightened
    down on the tailwheel wire.
    
    This set-up allows for excessive amounts of rudder throw while limiting
    the throw of the tailwheel. It's also maintanable and can be completely
    removed and installed in a matter of seconds at the field.  Really a
    positive when you're at a contest and you have a problem.
    
                   |<-hinge line
    		   |
    		   |		inside fuse
                   |
                   |            __||__ wheel collar
         rudder    |      ______|_||_|__
                   |     |        ||    |
    ---------------|--------------||--------------
            | |                 __|___
    	   =| |=================|  0 | wheel collar
                   tiller       --||--
                                  ||
                                 //
                                //
                               //
                              //
                             //
                            //
                        tailwheel
    
    
    						Tom
    
    
    P.S. one of the items I hope to accomplish during the LONG
    holiday weekend

    Spend some time last week working on the Aurora.  I finished making
    the ailerons and getting the wing glued together.  Then I spend two
    nights time installing hard points in the wing and drilling the fuse
    for the wing hold downs.  Found out that the fuse has a slight bend in
    it so I had to fudge the alignment.  I should get to installing the
    horizontal stab this week and then it's about one more weeks work
    to finish up before paint and monocote.  Items still needing to be done
    are;
    	install horizontal stab
    	finish installation of vertical stab.
    	sand fuse seam and fill with puddy
    	bevel rudder,elevators and ailerons 
    	finish sand LE of wing.
    	install servo box for retract servo.
    	install radio and controls
    	finish
    
    
    
    Tom

    Last night I got one side (the top) of the wing center section
    fiberglased.  I'm using the Zap "oderless" finishing resin again.
    I had it so I figured I'd use it.  Placement of the horizontal stab
    starts tomorrow.
    
    
    Tom

    The center section of the Weston 570 wing is finally bagged. The
    surface quality is the best of the three wing panels, as I gradually
    learned the best techniques.
    I used white lacquer, spray can, on top and flourescent orange Krylon
    on the bottom. The orange shows sub-surface imperfections, being
    semi-translucent. One oddity is that the flourescent Krylon colors
    are normally a matte, flat, finish but after being bagged it was
    glossy. Apparently the epoxy seeps into it or somehow interacts to
    create the glossy surface.
    
    Auto paste wax works better than liquid wax as a mylar release. Buffing
    the mylar surface VERY well is the key to a high quality surface, more
    so it would seem, than the quality of the paint job itself. After all,
    I painted the mylar outside on my carport, with all its attendent
    foreign objects blowing around.
    
    The leading edge problem was addressed on the center panel by trimming
    the core to a flat l.e. before bagging. This gave a flat smooth
    surface to trim back the excess cloth to, and a 3/8" X 3/16 strip
    of balsa will be glued on and shaped to a true airfoil l.e.
    Then the whole l.e. will be covered with a strip of chrome trim, making
    it unnecessary to finish the surface of the balsa.
    
    I'll probably go back and trim off the l.e. of the outbd. panels and
    use the same trick, as I'm not happy with the way the l.e. comes out
    when using only the core to define it, a la Weston's suggestion.
    
    Terry

    
    
    Spent about two hours on getting the stab tack glued into the fuse.
    I ended up needing to trim the cut outs the previous owner had cut.
    They were oriented corrctly on the marks molded into the fuse but these
    were off by about 1/16".  If I had to buy one of these kits from
    Phillips Aircraft ( they are presently out of business) I'd pass.
    I've had to make more that a few concessions during the building.
    Case in point is the fuse is straight from the TE to the spinner ring.
    From the TE to the rudder post it's bend off about 1/8". Luckly thing
    is my manuaver schedule has not knife edge flight so this trim issue
    shouldn't matter.
    
    
    Tom

    
    
    Over the weekend I finished installing the horizontal stab on the
    Aurora.  This was done using Sig Epoxylite.  It's kind of an
    epoxy, kind of a puddy, kind of a filler material.  Two part
    mix tha hardens in a few hours.  A real bitch to sand if you 
    use the wrong technique.  The best method I've found is to glop
    on the shuff and the use a stick to work it into a rough idea of
    what you want.  Then with a small cup of water and a handful
    of paper towls you attack the fillet your trying to make with
    your finger.  Wet the finger and use it to work the puddy, taking
    up the excess as you go along.  It works well and a finish
    which doesn't need sanding can be easily attained.
    
    This done the vertical got a does of filler to flare the sheeted foam
    stab into the fiberglas fuse.
    
    The plane should be ready for covering by the end of the week.
    
    
    Tom

    Thes last few nights I've spent in bed (after work) with a
    duzzy od a head cold.  But last night I forced myself to
    do a little on the Aurora.  The top center section is not
    fiberglased.  I used that Zap "odorless" finishing resin
    again.  When mixing it, it reminds me of "Safety-Poxy" in
    color and odor.  When you're close to it, it does have an
    odor.  If one was expecting nothing, like smelling water,
    then you would be disappointed.  This I should trim tonight,
    then onto the bottom.  A final sanding and the installation of
    a servo box fro the retract sevro and the wing is complete.
    The vertical stab got a bit more filler and will get a good
    sanding later in the week.  The only outstanding items will be
    the installation of exit tubes for the push/pull controls for
    the rudder and elevator, a small hole for adjusting the pump
    on the engine and beveling the control surfaces.  Then on to
    covering and paint.  I'm planning on Dark metalic blue and yellow 
    with some other accent color.
    
    
    Tom  

    
    
    	I was out with the flu yesterday so didn't get much accomplished.
    Late last night I trimmed the top center section fiberglas and
    installed the bottom center section fiberglas.  I'm using a different
    system (to me) for hard points in the wing.  In the past I've used
    the 1/4" fiberglas pushrod material and passed the wing bolt through
    it.  This time I've installed 3/4" dowls with 1/4" holes drilled
    in them.  On the top of the wing where the wing meets the fuse I
    sanded the dowls smooth with the wing.  This assures they won't
    hinder the wing to fuse fit.  It made fiberglassing easy.  On the
    bottom I left the hard points sticking out and at right angles so that
    the bolt heads have a flat surface to snug up against.  This made the
    bottom fiberglas a little interesting until I figured out how to
    determine where the holes in the fiberglas needed to be.  I ended up
    taping the fiberglas over the wing and using a pencil to rub the edge
    of the dowl.  This transfered where the glas needed to be cut and
    it worked great.
    
    
    

    I finally got a large chunk of time in the shop. One thing that I've
    always told people is to never throw any crash away on the day it
    happens. It always looks worse than it really is (except my half
    Gremlin stuck in the Merrimac tree 8^). Saturday I decided to pass
    judgement on my Panic which cartwheeled due to a novice walking onto
    the runway as I was coming downwind deadstick. I've been intending to
    build another Panic and have even got another set of cores but I
    haven't made any progress in months (gliders and Gremlins got in the
    way) Saturday I found that the fuselage was only in two pieces and one
    wing panel was cracked (but all four tips were pulled off due to the
    wings twisting) I managed to get the fuselage back together with 30
    minute epoxy and then decided to fiberglass it to hold it together
    (it's broken there several times which is why I became frustrated) I
    used a single layer of 6oz cloth and painted it yesterday and it looks
    almost as good as new. I also modified the tank to try the submerged
    pressure line and I hope to fly it next week.
    
    I flew my Rude B*tch last thursday and I wasn't very happy with the
    performance. I took the incedence meter to it yesterday and found 2
    degrees of negative incidence near the tips of the center section. This
    was probably introduced when I put the washout in the tip panels. I
    never would have noticed it without the meter and couldn't see it even
    though the meter told me it was there. Maybe tomorrow will show some
    improvement in the flying characteristics.

    
    
    	Spent a good few hours friday fabricating the parts for a pair
    of skiis for my Dragon Lady.  The bottoms were boiled and then placed
    into the forms to form the curved buckets of the skiis.  Friday night 
    I assembled the center keel onto the bottom and added the landing gear
    reenforcements.  Sat I installed the skiis onto the fiberglas gear and
    installed the shock mounting system.  A little spray of clear
    urethane(sp) and a coat of wax and they were ready.  They are now
    installed on the Dragon Lady fuse awaiting some snow fall.  
    	Woke this morning to snow.  Possible 1-3 inches.  That should be
    enough to take an early day tomorrow and try them out.
    
    
    
    
    
    						Tom 

    I finally got around to doing the first work on the Omega.
    Cut out the four hatch panels for the wing servoes. Square indentations
    are molded into the bottom skins during layup. The cutouts are made
    keeping a small lip around the edges to support the black anodized
    aluminum hatch plates.
    
    A 3 X 3" piece of CF cloth was epoxied to the inside surface of the
    top wing skin where the servoes will mount. Spruce blocks with
    blind nuts are then epoxied at each end of the servo and 6-32
    machine screws secure the servo through the side-mount ears of the
    94141s.
    
    There's 40-50 hours of work to get these things ready to fly, although
    they seem complete out of the box, to the casual observer.
    
    Terry

    I know someone who hasn't spent EVERY night in the shop...
    
    Date: Sat, 28 Dec 91 14:40:42 -0500
    From: zendia::apache::friedrichs (We get our Deduction!  28-Dec-1991
    1432)
    Subject: Victoria Lynn Friedrichs
    
    
    Hi!!
    
    I am proud to announce that Vicky was born (quite unexpectadly) at
    5:56am, 28-Dec-1991 (she was scheduled for 2-Jan).
    
    She weighed in at 7lb 10oz, 19.5".
    
    Mom and daughter are doing great, although we are all a bit tired from
    a pretty sleepless night.  They should be home on about the 1st!
    
    Finally!!  A project completed ahead of schedule (without any
    functionality removed!).
    
    Cheers,
    jeff
    

    Congrats Jeff. Can't wait for the maiden flight......
    
    Steve

    Congradulations Jeff and Mrs's Jeff..  I guess Jeff was burning the
    Midnight oil about nine months ago.  In a manor of speaking:-)
    
    
    						Tom

    Arbitrarily assigning a chord dimension of 8", we arrive at a wing
    loading of 112.96 oz/sq. ft.
    That's one speedy little slope ship that Jeff has there !
    
    But congrats anyway, and if this is your first you have yet to work
    out the method for delivering the max amount of formula in the minimum
    amount of time. Very useful knowledge at 2 A.M.
    My daughter survived my experimentation, and after 20 years harbors
    only slight resentment. ;^).
    
    Terry

    Thanks for the congrats!!!  We'll have her out at the field in no time!
    
    cheers,
    jeff
    

    Wow. A day in the workshop in the middle of the week!
    
    I'm finishing up partial projects while waiting for my Alcyone to come
    in. I managed to run a tank through my Panic to get it all sorted out
    and I also worked on a 1/2A Ace GLH II that was mostly finished. I got
    the wing glued in and the decking and hatches done and just need to
    install the radio and cover to be finished. I like this size plane
    because it gives me something to fly at small sites without a lot of
    support equipment. Last new thing sitting around is a .20 sized Sig
    Aero Bipe that I won at a funfly 10 years ago. I've got one of the
    wings covered and just need to finish the linkage and close up the
    fuselage bottom to have this one done also. I should have plenty to fly
    in the coming year.

>       Last new thing sitting around is a .20 sized Sig
>    Aero Bipe that I won at a funfly 10 years ago.
>                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^


  And they give *ME* a bad time about slow building!!!   8^)



              Jim

    Yeah but...
    
    It wasn't my ONLY project for that length of time 8^)

    After 6+ hours of fiddling, the servo mount blocks and blind nuts are
    finally installed in the Omega wings. Had to switch to 4-40 nuts
    for space reasons. The servos have been trial fitted including
    the output arms. A cut down "+" style arm fits entirely within the
    wing with the pushrod running out through the t.e. spar.
    
    The rudder and elev. pushrod housings, dual mini-nyrods, a very small
    one running inside a larger one, are installed by Fisher and he
    includes the metric equivalent of the .032" steel pushrods that runs
    inside the small nyrod. Unfortunately, these are only one meter
    long and must be spliced with an extra ~8" of wire to be long
    enough to use. The splice is done with a small brass tube with the wire
    soldered in each end. The brass tube is the same o.d. as the small
    nyrod and runs inside the outer nyrod nicely.
    
    Thank goodness Phil and Tom have been through all this before, so
    I knew what bits and pieces to buy without having to reinvent a
    splicing system.
    
    Next I need to wire up the servo harness for the wing servos and
    find some male/female connectors for the wing/fuse interface.
    The old square pin Molex connectors work well for this, but since
    Teletypes are fading away, these connectors are becoming surprisingly
    rare. Smaller gold plated types will work ok, although the pins
    are a little more delicate.
    
    Terry
    

    Nice slow weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't get much done on planes but
    I did get my "in the car" charger built. I started yesterday morning (I
    had bought all the parts a few weeks back) and didn't finish until
    about 6:30 last night.
    
    I now have a 6 channel charger that will run off 12 volts. Each channel
    has two settings. They all have a 12.5ma trickle setting, the other
    settings are two 56ma, two 114ma, one 250ma and one 500ma channel. All
    the jacks can be set up for either Tx or Rx connectors and the power
    input can be from either the cigarette lighter or my starter battery.
    This gives me enough field flexibility that I can stay all day and come
    home when I'm tired, not out of battery.

    Got some nice 4 pin mini-Molex style plugs from Soaring Specialties
    so went ahead and wired up the harness for the wing servos, installed
    it in the wings and epoxyed the plugs in the wing roots. A prelim.
    radio check shows everything working okay but the servo arms need to be
    repositioned closer to neutral before programming.
    
    Next, the ail. and flap horns will be made from three laminated pieces
    of 1/16" circuit bd. material, with a tab on the center piece to drill
    out to receive the pushrod. 
    
    The horns are long skinny triangles which are epoxied in the hollow
    flaps and ailerons, with the tab protruding from the l.e., which
    fits inside the hollow t.e. of the wing.
    
    Terry

    Terry,
    
    This is a problem that I've been wrestling with the last few days. Wing
    servo harnesses. I've been looking at the 1 meter aileron extensions
    that Futaba has and using "external charging recepticals" to hold the
    end in the fuselage side of the wing root with the cable trailing off
    into the core. Your message makes me ask:
    
    Do people use these standard extensions for their wing servos?
    
    What do you do with the extra length (especially at the servo end) so
    that the servo can be swapped out it damaged?
    
    Is every installation custom?
    
    I'll need to make these decisions for the Alcyone wings and would like
    to figure it out before being committed to one method or another. These
    will be my first embedded servo wings.

    Yes, each installation is custom, but there are standard things to do.
    
    It's simplest if you retain the stock wiring and plug on the servo.
    Therefore you need the outbd. end of the extension wiring to end
    at the servo cavity so that the plug is accessible for servo removal.
    The extra wire length on the servo side can be coiled up and stuffed
    in any handy spot, such as a small extension of the cavity.
    
    If the extension wiring can be slid back and forth inside the core (not
    likely if you have cut the preferred minimum size channels) then the
    wire from the servo can be extended in the wing toward the root,
    leaving enough slack to allow pulling the plug back out to the cavity.
    
    On the Omega I made up a ~16" harness from 22 gauge wire and attached
    a ~18" piece of Airtronics ext. cable to the far end with an Airtronics
    female plug. The female plug is PFM'ed to the underside of the
    lip of the aileron servo hatch (hollow wing). 
    
    Another 18" Airtronics ext. runs from the flap hatch to the wing root.
    The distance is short enough to not require an additional 22 gauge ext.
    
    At the wing root use a connector with long enough and strong enough
    pins to withstand the sort of use they'll be getting. IMHO, charging
    jack plugs don't meet the requirements, which is why I used the longer
    molex style pins. A 4 pin plug is ok because you'll be doubling
    up the power and gnd. pins to each servo and the two remaining pins
    are for the separate control signal to each servo.
    
    Use ferrite beads about half way out on the harness within the wings
    and more beads on the wire inside the fuselage, just as it comes off
    the plug. BTW, the female plug should be in the fuselage. The male pins
    will extend out from the root ~1/2"- 3/4" if you are using the
    mini-molex style. This means that there will always be contact no
    matter how much root joint flex there is.
    
    The harness inside the fuselage can be stock extensions. One
    handy thing about the Airtronics extensions is the the 24" size
    is cut 14"/10", the short male end running inside to the rcvr. and the
    longer piece running out in the wing. No extra connectors need be
    bought but a set of four 24" extensions still run you $28 !
    
    Any way you go, there is a fair amount of soldering and shrink tube
    work.
    
    Hit me with more questions as needed.
    
    Terry
    

    A few additonal considerations:
    
    The ferrite beads should be placed around the 22 gauge wire, or
    whatever wire you're using for extensions, rather than around
    the stock radio mfg. wiring. This avoids breaking into the mfg. wiring.
    
    There should be at least one bead around the signal wire and one around
    the power wire.  
    
    This technique has resulted in a rock solid operation and jitter free
    servos in the Legend, whereas the Algebra without ferrite beads is
    prone to aileron servo jitter until the plane gets a few feet away
    from the xmtr. on launch.
    
    Try to find some beads with holes through them that will simply slip
    over the wire, not the in-line ACE type that require breaking and
    resoldering the wire.
    
    Terry

    Maybe this should be moved somewhere else but I'll continue here and
    let a moderator decide.
    
    Ok, I think I'm convinced about the connectors and, in asking at the
    hobby shop, I was told about the same thing. I've got 1 meter Futaba
    extensions and Dean's connectors. The 1 meter length should give me
    enough left over to split it with the Dean's connectors and go from
    servo to Rx without a splice.
    
    I understand the purpose of the ferrite beads but where can I get them?
    If I go with the manufacturer's wire from end to end, how do I do the
    in wing beads? I'd rather avoid the in wing splice to avoid solder
    joint vibration fatigue/failure.

    If you go with the mfgs. wire end to end, then you'll have to peel
    apart the wires for 1"-2", just behind the plugs and slip ,the
    ferrite beads on. Do it at both ends.
    
    An electronic supply house should have beads, and sometimes a LARGE
    Radio Shack, but usually not.
    
    These are commonly used on video out connectors on BNC jacks, on
     workstation mother boards, and the like.
    
    Terry

I started working on one of my Christmas presents the other night. My mom had 
given me a Great Planes Decathalon 40 for Christmas. I was going to hold off 
from starting it until I had a little more free time but then I started 
thinking. My mom's in her seventies and probably will live to a hundred but 
there are no guarantees she will. It would mean a lot to me to have her see 
me fly the plane so I decided to do without a little more sleep for a while 
and started in on construction.

The kit itself is pretty nice. I got the Dynaflight Mustang kit at the same 
time and there's no comparision. The plans come rolled on two big sheets. 
Looking thru the construction manual, I've noticed a lot of care put into
helping you avoid little gotcha's while building. The wood in the kit is pretty
good although a couple of pieces feel awfully heavy.

I started on the rudder the other night and have it together. Tonight I'll do 
the fin and hopefully the horizontal stab Friday night. That leaves the 
weekend for doing the sanding and starting on the wing.

    
    Last couple of nights I've been puttering, putting a radio and engine
    into the Phaeton II bipe I bought at the auction.  At present the radio
    installation is complete minus a throttle pushrod.  I have the engine
    (ASP61) out of another project and will install it tonight before my
    club meeting or after (if I have the time).  I needed a muffler as this
    engine was originally in a crash that sheared off the stock bolt on
    muffler and chipped the exhaust port casting.  I opted for a Davis
    Diesel muffler and it should be delivered by UPS today.  I the temps
    are in the forty's and the snow they're predicting doesn't happen, 
    hopefully it will fly sunday.  Once it's in the air it will allow me to
    remove the engine from the Dragon Lady and fit it to the Flybaby. This
    done I can do the front deck work I need to get done and then return
    the engine to the Lady.
    
    
    Tom

    
    
    Of late I've been building a Seamaster 40 hoping to make the
    Brimfield meet.  This was started last year this time when I
    was out with the flu.  I ressorected the project from the attic
    and in the last week have been puttering getting it ready.
    To dat I have the fuse 90% complete only needing only to finish
    the area where the wing dowls fit into the fuse.  This waits
    for the completion of the wing.  the wing is about 75% complete.
    One wing panel is finished with the other needing center section 
    sheeting and then I'll join the two panels and fiberglas the center
    section.  Once this is done I can mount the wing and finish the fuse.
    
    I opted to build a new vertical and horizontal stab.  The kitted
    material was 1/4" sheet for the vertical and 3/8" sheet for the
    horizontal.  The material was about as hard as you can get.  Terrible
    for any purpose let alone stabs.  I ended up making these built up
    from 1/8 x 1/2" sticks with skins of 1/8" sheet stock.  This done I
    installed 1/2 tri stock to the base and mounted this to the fuse rear
    deck.  This was then carved and sanded and some filler added to
    smoothly flair the vertical stab into the fuse.
    
    My next concern is finish.  The bottom of the boat/fuse will be
    fiberglased but the sides and top have lightening hole cut into the
    ply.  These need to be covered but I'm wondering about water tightness.
    I was thinking of;
    
      	Covering the top and sides with iron on fabric and then
    fiberglasing the bottom and painting he entire fuse.
    
    				Or
    
    	Covering the fuse with iron on and then glassing the entire fuse
    over the covering.
    
    
    
    What do you guys think would be water tight?
    
    Tom
    

    Last night I got back into the shop after a slight stall and finished
    up the second wing panel for the Seamaster 40.  It was a pain in the
    *ss sheeting the center section.  The wing si designed with a series of
    Turbulator spars and sheeting only at the center section. This ends up
    meaning that you sheet between the spars. A real pain measuring,
    cutting, fitting and installing.  After this and sanding the sheeting
    smooth I reworked the plywood wing tip ( curious how light ply always
    seems to bow after being diecut).  I then installed the filler blocks
    at the LE & TE and carved and sanded these into shape. The last duty of
    the night was epoxying the two panel together.
    
    I should get the wing installed on the fuse and the fuse finished up
    this weekend.  Brimfield is 9 weeks away.  My club building contest
    is 8 weeks away.  I hope to paint the ship is white,black and orange.
    Copying the pictures on the box.  if time permits I plan to draw some
    panel lines and hatch details then add a few light coats of clear.
    
    For finishing, (after talking to a few modelers who fly off water)
    I'm going to iron on some fabric covering over the lightening holes
    and then glass the entire fuse with .6 oz cloth.  The wing, rudder,
    elevator and ailerons will get fabric.  To lighten up the tail I'm
    going to drill some 1" holes in the rudder and possibly the elevator.
    
    Tom

    
    Last night I installed two hardpoints adjacent to the elevator hinge
    line.  the design of the "T" tail on the seamaster has some inherent
    flexing.  So I plan to install two stabalizing ridsfrom these
    hardpoints to the fuse.  They are angled forward to minimize the
    flexing in the "T" tail. Presently I have one installed and need
    another piece of wire to the second strut.
    
    I also ordered a new Royal 46 LS engine.   It's an ABC long stroke.
    Anyone have any scoop on this engine?  I looked one over and it seemed
    to have goog quality. We'll see.
    
    Tom

    I also ordered a 25' roll of the new 21st century fabric covering. 
    This will be used as the base for the Flybaby and the Seamaster.
    The seamaster fuse will get a coat of balsarite and then covering on
    the stabs, top and sides of the fuse.  The bottom will then be glassed.
    I then plan to float the fuse in water to determine where the water
    line will most likely be and then mask off this area and give the
    fabric a coating or two of epoxy to fill the weave.  Then the entire
    plane will get painted.
    
    Tom

    
    
    Last night I was able to fiberglas the center section and then proceed
    with mounting the wing to the fuse.  This went slick and I should be
    able to install the fuse blocks adjacent to where the wing dowls stick
    into the fuse to finish off the cabin area.  I didn't get to the hobby
    shop yesterday to pick up the two 2/56 wires I need to the horizontal
    struts but will definately be in the area tonight.  I'll stop then.
    My shipment of the Royal engine and the 25' roll of the 21st century
    covering should be delivered UPS today.  I'll give a report on how the
    fabric covering works in a later note.  I choose white covering and
    even though this material is prepainted, I'll be priming and painting
    the fuse white.  i plan on priming the fuse and then using automotive
    spot puddy to blend in the seams of the covering.  In particular, the
    seams at the joint of the vertical stab and the fuse.
    
    Has anyone ever used ink to create the idea of panel lines?  I was
    thinking of doing this to add "something" to the plane.  I've seen the
    results on a couple of planes and it kind of looks neat.  Comments?
    
    
    Tom

    
    Last night I installed the balsa top cabin blocks adjacent to the
    former that holds the wing dowls.  This done they were carved to 
    shape and sanded smooth.  I missed the UPS driver so I should have my
    new Royal 46 tonight (Left check).  They didn't ship me my covering.
    RATSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS,  I hate it when you order something
    and specifically ask if they have it and then they short ship you your
    order minus some item(s).  Have to rethink the strategy and look for
    another source of the covering.  I want the 25' roll because my needs
    for the Flybaby.  With the std 6' rolls I'd have to much waist.
    
    Anyways...  I then installed the engine pylon and fitted the glas
    rear pod and cowl.  I need to pick up a 12 oz fuel tank for the 46.
    
    
    Tom

    Last night I installed my new Royal 46 onto the Seamaster's engine
    pylon and fit the cowl and tank pod.  The pod still needs quite a
    bit of work in that it was two pieces that didn't fit together
    all that well.  The center seam needs bondo and some heavy sanding.
    The fuse is complete and now ready for finist.  
    
    Has anyone ever used .06 OZ cloth over a small section of monocote?
    I may use Koverall doped to the fuse with a fiberglas covering on the
    bottom and partially up the fuse side.  Trying to tie down how to
    finish the fuse and deal with the lightening holes from the kit fuse
    sides.
    
    I should start covering the wing,ailerons,elevator and rudder this
    week.
    
    Tom

    
    Last night was a busy night.  Not in the shop as my covering order has
    yet to arrive but rather on the phone.  I must have talked to 12
    different calledrs if I talked to one.  All in the name of setting up
    two meetings his friday and saturday to discuss the up coming NAT's
    at Westover.  Thankfully, everythings set for the two meetinga and my
    covering order should be delivered today.  I hope to start the covering
    of the Seamaster tonight.  Must remember to paint the fuse with
    Balsarite tonight when I get home from work.
    
    Tom

    
    
    I talked to Mr Casey this afternoon and he's doing well.  I couldn't
    pull myself to razzing Al about flying an ARF.  It will ahve to wait.
    I called asking him about his Yellow Pearl.  Remember his Junkmeister?
    
    One of the calls last night ended up as a deal for a new Pica
    Junkmeister kit.  One of the flyers in my club works at a local
    shop and a new comer to RC came in with the Pica kit asking if he could
    return it for something more appropriate.  He'd redieved the kit as a
    present and wanted a trainer instead.  Anyways I ended up getting the
    kit for store cost 102.95, the newcomer got a royal Trainer and a new
    OS 40fp and the store owner got a satisfied customer.  Looking back on the
    deal everyone got a good deal and what they wanted.
    
    So I have another one for the building board.  Should be able to get
    the seamaster covered this week and proceed with the finish.  That will
    clear up the buolding board for the Bipe.
    
    
    Tom

    
    Over the weekend I started covering the Seamaster with the 21st Century
    fabric I'd ordered.  I then spent yesterday removing the covering.
    
    I'm very disappionted with the qualities of the fabric.  It seems to
    not want to sitch to itself.  Edges will curl up rather than stick down
    and once stick you cannot unstick it and expect it to restick in a
    different position.
    
    I'm going to which to a plastic film and hole I get no leaks.
    
    
    Tom

    Tom, sounds like you got a bad pack of 21st Century covering.  I'm
    using this covering (in white) and it's the best thing since S__.  Did
    you check the temp, it really goes on with very low heat and using the
    blow gun, it tightens up great.
    
    Send it back and get another roll, I'm sure you will like it once you
    get a good roll.
    
    Regards,
    
    Ollie

    I haven't used it, but I've heard nothing but good about 21st Century
    covering.
    
    Charlie
    

    It's been a long time since any entries have been entered in this
    topic, so i guess I'll ablige.  The Cap21 from reply .4 was finally
    finished this winter in a red, white and platinum color scheme and it
    turned out pretty nice.  I added a stake to the front of the fin in
    hopes of adding a little stability to the planes low speed snap-stall
    characteristics, so it's not quite scale.  The cowling was put off
    until this June, when I finished procrastinating and got down to
    glassing and painting.  The Cap is now entirely complete(whew! it feels
    good to say that) and will probably fly in the next month or so, that
    is if I ever get time to visit the field.  They closed the flying field
    down the road and replaced it with a soccer field.  Darn!  Now I have
    to drive @ 45min to get to the next closest field.
    
    	On the lighter side, I finally got started on the Corsair again. 
    The wing still needs flaps and sheeted and fitted and doors made for
    the retracts and, and, ... , so I left it on the rack to help rid
    myself of the getting nowhere blues.  Instead, I started on the
    fuselage about a month ago, and since then have framed up the bottom
    half, sheeted the bottom half, framed the top formers and runners in, 
    built the cockpit, installed a retractable tailwheel, molded fiberglass
    doors for the tailwheel and cut the opening and installed the air 
    cylinder and linkage.  Also, I beefed-up the firewall and figured out
    how to steer the thing using kevlar thread.  This last week, I built
    the stab, elevator, fin, and finished the rudder last night. The plate
    I built that the tailwheel assy mounts to has not been glued in yet
    since I need to drill holes for the elevator and rudder control rods. 
    There are formers in front and behind the plate, so had to leave it
    loose.  I had to string my steering, but needed to drill holes in the
    plate first, which meant I had to build the fins to line up the control
    rods to drill the holes to glue the plate to the former and... 
    
    	Well, it's back to work, but I will try to keep the file up to date
    on my progress.  The wife works tonight, so it's off to the workshop to
    BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL!!!
    
    
    Carl    

    Well, last night I had a chance to work in the shop again and wound up
    working on the tail section.  The holes for the sullivan rods were
    drilled in the tailwheel plate and cut to length.  Then, I removed the
    tailwheel assy and worked on the doors.  Took the fiberglass door form
    I made and split it in half, making a door for each side.  After that I
    framed the opening in the fuse with 1/16" by 1/8" basswood sticks,
    hoping this would give a nice surface for drilling hinge holes.  It
    also helps keep the door opening nice and stiff, as the balsa had a
    tendenancy to curl/ding when working in this area.  I don't think the
    added weight will make much difference since very little wood was used.
    
    	After the door opening was done and sanded flush, I cut four 1/4"
    thick by 3/8" square blocks out of balsa to glue in the fuse, which
    would give the 1/2A Robart hinges something to bite into.  Then,
    in order to prevent binding of the doors as they open, I cut 1/8" wide
    slots in the fuselage where the hinges would be located and made them
    about a quarter inch deep.  This ofsets the hinge pivot point and
    prevents binding of the doors when they open.  The hinge holes were 
    drilled in the blocks made earlier and the hinges were pushed flush 
    into the 1/8" wide slots.  I allowed for the thickness of the doors, 
    as far as how deep into the fuse the hinge holes were drilled.  The 
    hinges were installed in the holes and I tack glued the doors on for 
    final fitting. some adjustment had to be made for a slight binding 
    problem, so I sanded a bevel on the outside edge of each door inward, 
    which now allows them to easily clear the basswood frame. 
    
    	After final fitting was complete, I glued the tailwheel plate in
    for good and ran the outer shells for the control rods and kevlar
    thread.  The doors work pretty well and really look good when the
    tailwheel assy is in the "down" position.  This is my first attempt at
    building a "as close to scale airplane", so mistakes/problems I'm sure
    will continue to arise.  The notes file, however has been a great help
    in the building process.  I've taken approximate dimensions for door
    openings, etc... from books, but they are not exact, thus the necessity
    for the semi-scale statement.  
    	Wrapping up the night, I glued the rod sleeves in and re-connected
    the air piston for the tailwheel.  I also glued in door stops so they
    would close flush without overtravel.  Tonight I want to install the 
    servos for rudder and elevator control, support the nyrods down the 
    fuse, and string the kevlar thread for steering.  I don't know if I 
    should finish/glass the portion of the fuse where the doors are; 
    if I did, I could glue the hinges in and work on the "closing system"  
    While the turtle was not sheeted.  This would sure make working alot
    easier.  My only fear would be hanger rash after the finishing glass 
    was applied.  Any ideas or tips out there on the closing system and
    glassing idea from the notesfile "Scale" buffs would be greatly 
    appreciated.
    	Well, thats it for now and we're really looking forward to getting
    back to it tonight.
    
    	Carl
        

    Well, it was another busy weekend in the workshop.  I wound up
    stringing the thread for the tailwheel steering and supported the
    nyrods for the elevator and rudder.  I then built balsa supports for
    the nyrods and glued the rod shells to them permanently.  Next, the 
    servos for the elevator and rudder were installed, the control rods 
    were run and connectors were installed for the tail section.  Also, 
    clevises were used to connect the rods to the elevator servo and the 
    steering/rudder "wing". 
    	Next item on the agenda was the air system.  I used scrap pieces of
    red nyrod for the tailwheel air piston.  Two rods were run from the
    piston to the opening in the fuse for the wing.  Then, i ran the air
    hose through the rods, connected them to the piston, and put quick
    disconnects and restrictors at the other end near the wing opening. 
    Now it was time to pull the infamous "wing" from the storage rack and
    work on the air system.  I installed restrictors on the main gear
    lines and put "T" connectors in the lines so the other end of the quick
    disconnects for the tailwheel could be run from the actuator.  Then I
    installed another quick disconnect for the air tank and hooked up the
    entire assembly.  The system was charged and tested for leaks which,
    for now, seem non-existent.  Now it was time for fine tuning of the
    system.  Restrictors were adjusted for up and down travel on all three
    set of landing gear.
    	With this done, it was time to glue the firewall on.  The original
    plans used heavy hardwood spars for firewall support/engine mounts.  I
    didn't like this arangement, so I cut shortened the hardwood blocks so
    that they came flush with the front of the firewall and had about a
    1/8" overhang on the next plywood former.  This will allow me to
    install and position the engine mount of my choosing and still utilize
    the strenth of the hardwood blocks for firewall support.  
    	Thats was about it for now.  Tonight I hope to connect the rudder
    servo to the "Wing" assy, fit a fuel tank and sheet the front of the
    fuselage, top and bottom.  I may even get a chance to install the
    throttle servo and work on the tail section mechanics.  Well, it's off
    to the ol' grind for now.
    
    
    	Carl  

    Last night was a pretty busy night at home, doing all those honey-do's
    on the list.  However I did get a little work done.  I put together a
    12 oz. Sullivan fuel tank and did a pressure test on it.  Now comes the
    fun part.  Guess what won't fit in the fuselage unless some of the
    top section of the second former is carved away?  Well, we'll have to
    work on the fuel cell installation tonight and fit it in the fuse.  I
    also adjusted the wire tension springs for the tailwheel.  With a
    pull-pull steering system, I'm not sure if it was really necessary, but
    it was there and needed tension added.  
    	Tonight, I will try to find the assembly manual that came with the
    kit.  I packed it away some time ago and have a few questions regarding 
    mounting of the tail feathers on this bird.  I've been working on the
    fuse solely from the plans due to lack of enthusiasm toward finding the
    manual and, so far, have not had any problems.  Nevertheless, I'm sure 
    it's just a matter of time before I get bit.  One mistake I did notice
    was that It looks like the tailwheel gear doors are a little to wide
    when comparing it to the documentation/books, but since this is my
    first attempt at building in this area and a re-do would take alot of
    carving and cutting and drilling and regluing, it will stay just like
    it is.
    	That's it for now. maybe tonight I'll get a little more time and a
    little more done.
    
    
    Carl
    
    
       

    Last night I had a chance to work on the fuel system.  The tank I
    assembled the day before still had full pressure, so it checked out
    good.  I wrapped it in foam and fit it inside the fuselage.  What a
    tight fit; it looks like there was just enough room alotted for a tank
    this size.  Afterwards, I decided to install the throttle servo and
    linkage.  I installed the servo in the middle of the fuse, which
    shouold allow positioning of the cable to either side, depending on the
    engine and mounting position.  The linkage, on the other hand, was
    another story.  There is about a 1/2" difference in height between the
    servo horn and the rudder/steering wing.  I had originally decided to
    use a ball link to allow for play and free up the system from binding. 
    Unfortunately, all the ball links that dubro make are for 4-40 rods and
    won't fit on a 2/56.  I wound up going with the old stand-by; a "Z"
    bend with a snapper-keeper for the wing and a clevis at the servo horn. 
    This is the way 99.9% of my planes are run and the connectors have yet
    to give.
    	The problem I'm running into now is I need an engine.  I can't
    sheet the fuse front until blind nuts for the engine mount are
    installed, so, it's off to the hobby shop with that bonus money we
    recieved.  I have decided on the Saito FA91S four stroke.  There was a
    writeup in last months RCM on this engine.  It has more horespower than
    the O.S. 91 Surpass, 1.7+hp, and is lighter than their 71 Surpass, 18
    oz. as compared to the O.S. at 24 oz.  I have a friend in Minnesota
    that scratch builds his own design of a .60 sized stick, has sold
    hundreds of them, and is now using this as the engine of choice.  I
    called him up last night before I dumped money on an engine and got his
    views on it's performance.  Being that I'm an ol' O.S. fan, it took
    alot of convincing!  He also mentioned that it pulls his 6lb stick
    vertical and out of sight right off the runway.  In addition, the
    ratings on props that were used for testing by the RCM boys showed
    300-400 rpm better performance over O.S. when run on laaaarrrger props,
    all the way to 15x6.  Thats some serious torque!  It sounds like the
    engine should have no problem turning a multi-bladed prop.  He also
    mentioned that the engine has the same footprint as a .65 size, another
    benifit.  I'm hoping to run it upright , for that reason alone.  It
    will be less troublesome than an inverted arangement.
    	Well, enough babbling for now, tonight my woonderful wife gets
    paid, and she's giving, YES, giving me the difference I need for the
    engine.  You guys jealous, or what?!  
    
    Running low on Midnight oil!
    
    	Carl

    Yes, we're still working on the beast, but have been to busy to update. 
    Last Thursday I purchased the Saito FA91S and, boy, is this thing
    small.  I compared it to my OS FS61 and it's about a half inch shorter! 
    Pretty impressive, and so was the writeup it got in RCM.  Can't wait to
    see it run.  I spent most of Thursday drooling, then I went over the
    manual, yes, manual that the hobby shop owner loaned me for the newer
    version of the Corsair.  I made a copy and looked hard over the section
    about flaps, then realized that these must be of an awsome size.  Sure
    enough, when I returned his manual, we looked in the kit and the flaps
    were huge!  They were made of balsa stock and measured out at 13/16"
    thick at the leading edge!  Looks like we'll be making our own, since I
    have never seen aileron stock this thick.  I really liked the way they
    did the flaps though, so this will be the method I use.
    	This weekend, I sheeted both sides of the wing saddle on the 
    fuselage and sanded them flush to the side of the fuse.  Then I marked a
    center line on the the firewall; kinda looks like crosshairs. 
    Afterwards, I made another vertical line @ 3/16" to the left of the
    centerline.  This allows for 2 degrees of right thrust while keeping
    the shaft of the engine at the center of the cowl where it exits.  I
    put alignment marks on the engine mount, centered everything, and
    drilled the mounting holes through the firewall while keeping the bit
    at a slight(@ two degree) angle.  Using a piece of 1/8" ply, I made a
    thrust plate and drilled holes through it.  The plate, mount and engine
    were assembled and everything was checked for alignment and binding. 
    The blind nuts were installed and mounting bolts were cut to the
    correct length.  
    	The last thing I did was drill a hole for the throttle cable.  I'll
    hook up the linkage tonight and glaze the firewall, making it fuel
    proof.  Also, I will glue the blind nuts in and run the fuel lines. 
    	that's it for now. Still running low on oil.
    
    Carl

    It was epoxy night last night.  I glued the hardwood blocks in for
    firewall support, then glued the blind nuts in for the engine mount. 
    Then I glued the thrust plate to the firewall and clamped it in place
    with the engine mount.  After this set, I removed the engine mount,
    filled the mounting holes and throttle cable hole with wax to prevent 
    epoxy from draining down into the blind nuts, and fuel-proofed the
    firewall by glazing it with epoxy.  Everything was left to set
    overnight.  With any luck, I will get a chance to open up the mounting
    holes and throttle hole tonight and run the throttle linkage. I had to
    remove the fuel tank in order to finish the epoxy job, so I will also
    re-install it and run the fuel and vent line tonight.
    
    
    Carl

    Well, we accomplished a little more on the Corsair.  Last night I
    cleaned out the wax that I put in the engine mount holes and ran a
    drill through to keep the holes round.  Then, I installed the outer
    control rod for the throttle and built a support for it about half 
    way down.  After this, I hooked up the inner throttle cable to the 
    servo, then installed the engine mount and engine.  the last step I 
    did for the throttle was to connect it to the engine and adjust it.  
    	Now it was fuel tank time.  I received the foam padding I put an
    order in for, and went to town installing and padding the tank.  Then,
    I drilled two holes in the firewall for the fuel lines.  The last step
    I did was to cut a couple of 1" long pieces of fuel tubing, insert them
    in the holes and epoxy the holes on both sides of the fuselage.  The
    glue should be set by tonight and all I will have to do is stretch the
    1" fuel lines to remove them from the epoxied holes, then insert the main
    fuel lines.  Using epoxy for these exits allows for a nice, fuel-proof 
    fit when the fuel lines are run through, a method I've used on almost
    all my aircraft. 
	Oh yeah, just one little note about last night; it was FREEEZZING!
    The only reason I didn't continue to work longer was my hands went
    numb, and I have a heater for the garage!  Oh well, maybe I can get
    some work done tonight before the blizzard sets in.  8-)
    
    Carl

    We were on vacation yesterday and had some time to work on the bird
    again.  I removed the engine, since the alignment work for the fuel
    lines had been completed.  Then, I worked on the horizontal stab saddle
    and got it aligned and glued in.  Then I worked on sheeting.  I
    finished sheeting the bottom half of the fuselage from the wing saddle
    to the firewall.  Next, I sheeted the top of the fuse from the firewall
    to the front of the cockpit.  After this, I sheeted the top half of the
    fuse (the turtle deck area) on the right side, then cut the piece for
    the left side and glued the bottom edge down.  These panels took alot
    of fitting since there were both horizontal and vertical curves
    involved.  The next step will be to glue the left panel to the upper
    formers and sand the top  of these two panels flush with the formers.
    	I also installed two 1/16" ply plates for the rudder rod.  It
    travels through these and has a wheel collar on the top and bottom to
    act as bearings for pivoting.  In addition, I finished the tailwheel
    door springing/closing system.  I wound up spending most of the time
    fitting side panels and the horizontal stab base.  It was critical to
    myself that the area of the stab was square and aligned as close to
    perfect as possible; this effort took more time than I thought.
    	Well, it's off to work I go with hopes the day will pass by quickly
    so I may return to the workshop to burn that ole' oil!
    
    
    Carl

    Last night I had a chance to finish the sheeting on the side of the
    turtle deck.  Then I sanded the top of this area flush with the top of
    the formers.  After this, I drilled the hole for the bottom area of
    the rudder control rod and checked it for fit.  I also glued the last
    piece of the cockpit dashboard sheeting in, and sanded the back of the
    cockpit sheeting flush with the former. In addition, I shaped one side
    of the sheeting for the cockpit from the dash to the former (rear of
    the cockpit). 
    	We'll see if I can get back out there again tonight. 
    
    CUL,
    	Carl

    Yesterday I decided to fit the canopy to the fuse.  I needed to see if
    it would fit the turtle deck ok before I glued the top section of the
    deck on.  The plans call for two pieces of 1/8 inch balsa, laminated
    together and the glued to the top of the deck.  This did not seem thick
    enough to get a nice top curve, so I needed the canopy cut out to see
    if 3/8 inch balsa sheet would work.  I cut the canopy out of it's form
    and sanded all edges.  Then I layed it on top of the fuse and, low and
    behold, it appears that 3/8 inch thick balsa will work great and give a
    more naturally rounded top for the turtledeck.  That's what I'll be
    using.  In addition, I glued the last two spots of sheeting on the tail
    end of the fuse sides.
    
    That's about it for now,
    
    Carl

    IT was a busy weekend in the workshop.  I cut the top piece of the
    turtle deck out of 3/8 inch balsa (this is the way it is done with the
    new "gold edition" kit; I figured they fixed their old mistakes) and
    cut a slot for the vertical fin.  I must admit this was trial and error
    and the first piece I made was a flop, too wide on the fin curve at the
    front.  The fin has spars that extend below it's bottom, so just laying
    the fin on the top piece, drawing a pattern and cutting it out to a
    fine front taper wasn't easy.  I had to guess draw; the first piece
    didn't make the grade, however it did give me a good pattern to go by.
    	After preparing the top piece and checking the fit, I glued it in. 
    Now came the fun part, shaping!  I started with 80 grade sandpaper and
    worked my way to 280 grade, and rounded the entire top deck.  The
    canopy fit well and the top looks even and well rounded.  Next, I
    finished the side walls of the cockpit and sanded the dashboard,
    sidewalls and rear wall.
    	The neighbor next door came over and I was helping him out more
    than working on my plane.  He got a Pica Focke Wolfe 190 as a birthday
    present several months ago and has been busy building the wing section
    in my workshop.  He doesn't have anywhere at home to work, so I invited
    him over to work since I had two workbenches.   He has the wing built,
    rhom airs installed and the bottom sheeted.  We were working on the
    retract doors, which was the ole' "Make it up as you go" routine.  One
    retract is finished with doors installed, so he can work ont the other
    side from that and free me up a little more to work on my Corsair.  It
    has been fun though, working on two planes at once, but I wouldn't
    reccomend it for the weak-hearted.
    	I finally found the wing mounting blocks, or rather block, for the
    fuselage.  The hardwood block was one piece and had to be cut in two!;
    no wonder I couldn't find it in my pile of wood.  I cut the blocks,
    epoxied them in the rear section of the fuse and glued some 3/8 inch
    triangle stock underneath them for added strength.  I also installed a
    1/4 inch piece of ply in the front part of the fuse for the wing dowel
    to plug into.  Last but not least, the air tank for the retracts was
    installed, with padding and supports, into the fuselage.
    	Tonight I need to glue the very rear former in, then put the fuse on
    the shelf and start to work on the wing. OOhh BOY! $%$#^/
    
    Til' then, 
    
    Carl 
                                                                        

    Here's the wrap-up from last night.  I spent a little time checking the
    epoxied wing mounts and everything looks good and strong.  I'll be
    using a 5/16 inch wood dowel like the new kit uses, rather than the 1/4
    inch dowel that the plans call for.  The rear former was glued in flush
    with the rear of the fuselage and the fuse was put on the shelf.
    	Now came the real work.  I removed, with some work due to steel
    rods having a little rust, yes rust on them, the 1/8 inch steel rods
    and universal joints from the wing that were originally supposed to be
    for the flaps.  Then, I cut away all of the ply supports for these rods
    from the ribs and cut out the balsa triangle supports that were added
    to these ply pieces.  This took some time and allowed me just enough 
    time to fillet the rear of the ribs where the ply was removed.  I'm
    glad to say that none of the ribs were damaged in the cutting process. 
    one of the last items on the agenda for the evening was the removal of
    the original flap servo, which only took a few minutes.
    	There is one more job left to finish.  I have to move the runs of
    air tubing that were installed for the retracts.  The tubing was run
    through some scrap pieces of red sullivan outer pushrod tube to ease in
    the removal/replacement/maintenance of the air tubing, if ever
    necessary.  However, it was run about one inch from the rear of the
    wing, right in the way of where the new flap servos need to be
    installed.  Well, nobody ever said it was going to be easy.  After the
    move of the air tubes, the wing should be prepped and ready to start on
    the "new" flap system; oh boy!  It's starting to look like an easier
    job than first anticipated, since the removal of the old flap control
    system went so well.
    
    No more oil, running on fumes!
    
    Carl
                                               

    What a busy week it's been!  This is the first chance I've had to
    update my progress on the Corsair.  This weekend I only had Saturday to
    do any work on the plane.  The good news was that the air tubing
    doesn't have to be moved for the flap servos.  The bad news was the
    fact that I was stuck at a point where I had to do the job I despise so
    much, sanding!  I sanded all the ribs and made them as even as
    possible.  then it came time for the hard part.  I sanded and blended
    the leading and trailing edges into smooth, transitioned curves.  This
    took most of the day because I had to make sure all the nooks and 
    crannies were completed.   
    	Next on the agenda was the retract system.  I wanted to check it
    one more time before I covered it up with lumber.  Sure enough, there
    was a problem.  The Robart retracts used ring shaped brass bushings
    that slid over the plastic mechanics and rotated inside the frame.  The
    bushings had worked their way loose and the plastic mechanics were
    riding inside the hole in the side plates of the frame.  I was
    concerned the metal frame would start cutting a gouge in the plastic,
    so I repaired the bushings by reseating them and gluing them in place.  
    	The next problem I encountered was that one of the air cylinders
    was a little stiff.  This was to be expected since the air system was
    installed over five years ago.  I injected a little refrig oil in and 
    it freed up and worked fine; well, almost.  The retracts were binding
    up because when they were installed, the travel length of the air 
    cylinders were never limited to the shorter travel needed to operate 
    the retracts.  the retracts were set up so the air cylinder was fully 
    retracted when the retracts were up, but in the down position, the 
    cylinders overtravelled and slightly bowed the retracts actuator arm.  
    This was not acceptable, so I adjusted the cylinders so that they 
    were fully extended at down time and were still trying to pull up 
    during retract time, but would not go any further due to stops in the 
    wing.  Sounds like the overtravel problem was solved?  Almost!  
    	What happened next(this is sounding like a nightmare from Elm St.) 
    was absolutely unreal!  The retracts traveled down great and locked in
    place.  I flipped the switch and they went up just fine, or at least 
    I thought so at the time.  I flipped the switch one more time to lower
    the gear and, all of a sudden, the right gears actuator horn was bent
    into the ribs and jammed and the retract made it about half way down!
    dam*&(%#!  Well out of frustration, I put the wing on the shelf and 
    started to think of a way to clean up the mess!!  To be continued....
    
    					(don't yo hate when someone does
    					 that right at the juicy part?!)
    
    Carl
    

    Well, here goes the update.  Couldn't keep you waiting that long! 
    After a few days of contemplation regarding the retracting problem, I
    had come up with several alternatives.  I could rip out the entire air
    cylinder system and re-route it using extender arms for the actuator at
    the retract end, but it meant the ouside ribs would have to support the
    stress of the cylinders movement.  Or I could trash the Robart 102's in
    lieu of their new 165's which were designed for the new gold edition
    Corsair. This meant shelling out another ninety bucks; forget that! 
    More important purchases were up and coming, such as a new receiver,
    battery pack, fuel pump, servo leads, glue, finishing resin,etc...
    To help eleviate the pain, I received a phone call from the hobby shop
    owner that a plane I had in his shop had sold.  Great!  I flew to the
    shop and picked up the list of supplies I needed excluding the
    retracts.  I did, however, take a good look at them and the new Robarts
    are indeed nice.  Carring all my goodies home, I now had renewed
    enthusiasm in the plane and last night, I took the wing inside to get a
    fresh start, and stay warm.  The wife was playing with here Sega, (and
    this is how you do it guy's!), that I bought here as a suprise birthday
    gift with some of the leftover plane sale money!  One other tip, tell
    her up front that you still may need to make a few major purchases to
    complete your current building project WHILE she is gloating over the
    gift.  They have a memory that never forgets, which, in this case, is a
    plus for you.  She'll agree to almost anything at this point, so keep
    the tape recorders rolling!  
    	Anyway, back to the problem.  I fitted and filled a spare air tank
    in order to help me troubleshoot the problem I was having.  I had
    decided to keep the current configuration and make it work, which
    turned out to be a good move.  The right air cylinder was moving
    forward ok and moving rearward fine but during the next "gear down" run
    I caught the problem.  What was happening was the ball clevis I had
    attached to the air cylinder would work fine while the gear went down
    for the first time, but when the gear came up, the threaded rod that
    screws into both the cylinder rod and clevis was backing out of the
    clevis about 1/4 inch.  The next time the gear went down, the clevis
    adjustment was too far forward and was jamming the actuator arm into
    the ribs.  Whew!  Something I can fix.  I noticed that the all threaded
    rod was a little thinner than usual, so I trashed it and cut one from
    thicker rod stock using a 2-56 die.  This rod worked like a dream and
    screwed snugly into the ball clevis.  I snapped the clevis on the ball
    joint attached to the retracts actuator arm and flipped the switch! 
    The retracts didn't move!!! I tried down, up, down,  nothing.  Oh
    great, another problem.  
    	What happened was the air hose had warmed up and expanded a little
    in diameter when I brought the wing into the warm house.  Normally not
    a problem, but I put 1/8 inch wheel collars over the hose and used this
    to adjust for retract speed, an old method tried by many but, and I'm
    only guessing, mastered by few.  when the wing came in the house, the
    restricted air flow became no air flow!  Of course, I didn't realize
    this was the problem until I checked the air tank to make sure it was
    holding air, which blew a hose off that was under pressure, sending
    freon and air all over the place and lifting the wife off her chair
    about two feet.  Rule number 23765: NEVER work in the house and remove
    a pressurized air hose while the kids are sleeping! 
    	I backed out all the wheel collar set screws, after reconnecting
    and charging the system,  and the retracts worked fine but fast.  In
    order to prevent the clevis from ever being pulled out again by a air
    cylinder shaft under pressure, I installed a travel limiting wheel 
    collar on each cylinder shaft that will stop travel just at the tire 
    seats itself in the wing.  I played with the restrictor collars, but
    finally gave up on them.  Tonight I will install those Robart air
    restrictors I originally had in the plane that work just fine. 
    	That's it for now, another good time last night with alot of
    problems and headache left behind.  Tonite I may even begin sheeting
    the wing. OOHHHH boy!
    
    Carl

    It was a great night last night.  The temperature was in the seventies
    with a strong breeze that helped keep the workshop comfortable.  The
    retract system was working well, but I still needed to install air
    restrictors in the lines.  After examining the lines, I came to the
    conclusion that the Robart air hose that came in the air support kit
    was too soft.  At one point I could simply pull off the line with
    little effort from one of the cylinders.  Not good.  Also, I did not
    like the way the hose was temperature sensitive in so far as the way it
    expanded when warm.  I decided to replace all the air lines with some
    leftover Rhom air line I had purchased for the tailwheel cylinder.
    	I removed all the lines one at a time and installed the new Rhom
    hose.  Since I had the opportunity, I left a little additional hose at
    each connector. This was done just in case I ever had to remove a hose;
    I could trim the end that was expanded (from being installed on the
    fitting) and start with a fresh new piece.  The "T" connectors were
    re-installed for the tailwheel and quick disconnects were placed at the
    ends of two short pieces of line; these connect to the tailwheel air
    system inside the fuselage.  The quick disconnects are the one of the
    nicer ideas Robart had; the are quarter-turn disconnects that seem to
    seal well.
    	During the installation of the new air hose I incorporated the
    Robart air restrictors, which are simply a brass female to female 
    fitting with a normal sized hole at one end and a pin hole at the
    other.  One little note; there are no instructions on how to install
    the restrictors, however, the retracts appeared to work better when the
    pin holes were on the cylinder side.  
    	After everything was connected, I charged the system and ran a
    final test on the retracts.  The right retract was not coming down all
    the way, so I removed the restrictor and checked to see if it was
    blocked in any way.  I ran a #80 drill bit through the hole, which at
    the time felt like it removed a burr.  To insure the pin hole was not 
    going to be a problem, I went to a #76 bit and enlarged it.  The
    restrictor was re-installed and I tried it again. This time everything
    worked fine except the right retract was coming down faster than the
    left.  It was surprising how sensitive the restrictor's pin hole size
    was.  I installed a new restrictor from another pack, also purchased a
    long time ago, and the system worked well; gear traveled up and down
    and locked in place each time.  It looks like the burr I felt while
    cleaning out the pin hole was the problem.
    	I called it a very successful evening and planned what would be
    done tonight.  I would like to ever-so-slightly notch the cylinder
    shafts to insure the wheel collars I installed as travel stops won't
    come loose.  I plan to build an access door to cover the air lines 
    in the wing.  This will prevent the lines from tangling up with any of
    the servo mechanics in the fuse and keep the system looking neat and
    clean.  Then, it will be time to examine everything one more time
    before I begin sheeting the wing.
    
    Til' then,
    
    Carl
                                    

    Last night was a cold one, so not much time was spend in the workshop.
    I did get a chance to go over the entire retract system, checking for
    tight lines and no binding.  Then I charged the system and ran my final
    acceptance test.  The retracts went up and down beautifully and finally
    slowed down after about 30 up/downs, which meant there should be plenty
    of charge in my larger Robart tank to run the system.  Afterwards, it
    was time to notch the cylinder shafts in order to help tightly seat the
    travel limiting wheel collars I had been using.  This was done and
    everything was checked out one more time.  
    	I built a hatch for the rear of the wing where the air lines reside
    and will install it tonight.  The last thing I did was I located the
    stack of balsa that will be used for wing sheeting and seperated the
    good from the not so good.  Most of the sheets were of the same
    consistancy, fairly flexable and soft, while only two were very stiff.  
    IT looks like it's sheeting night tonight, barring any unforseen
    mysteries that may crop up.
    
    Carl

    It was a good weekend for honeydoo's that I had backed up, so we played
    catch up in order to give us some time in the workshop.  After the
    chores were through, I made a bee-line for the shop to continue work on
    the Corsair and guess what I found?  The R/C builders dwarf must have
    visited me the night before and felt sorry for me working on a scale
    bird, so he refueled the ole' lamp and were ready to go again.  
    	I finished building the hatch for the air lines and glued the
    supports in for it.  I then drilled four holes and screwed the hatch
    in, which now covers the air valve and all the hose comming from the
    retracts.  A small slot was cut on one side so the two tailwheel lines
    and the air tank line could exit.  No longer is their any fear of air
    lines getting tangled in the fuselage linkage.
    	Next, I worked on wing sheeting.  Four three inch pieces of 3/32"
    balsa were glued together length-wise and sanded at the seams.  Then, I
    glued the "Big" sheet to the left outside wing panel bottom and trimmed 
    the edges, leaving about 1/8" on all three sides for sanding.  
    Afterwards, I started making another large sheet, but had to call it
    quits for the night.  I should be back in the shop tonight, so I'll
    pick it up where I left off.  You really don't get an idea of how "big"
    the wing surface is until it's sheeted.  Just doing one tip panel makes
    it look huge; there's going to be alot of lumber on this wing.
    
    Carl

    I had a chance to work in the shop last night.  The second bottom wing
    panel was constructed and all seams were sanded flush.  Then I glued
    the panel on and applied fillet glue to the inside of the panel.  The
    next step was to cut out exit slots for the aileron pushrods.  I got
    one slot cut out and will finish the other one tonight.  This was a 
    more difficult task then originally anticipated, since the horns for
    the ailerons were already mounted.  When I built the wing and ailerons
    several years ago, I wanted to mount the horns without hardware
    sticking out of the top of the ailerons.  I build ply supports 
    inside the ailerons during construction and installed 2/56 blind nuts 
    in the supports so that the horn could be mounted from the bottom with 
    bolts.  Because the horns were pre-mounted, it took a bit of guess 
    work regarding where the slots were to be cut.  
    	We will give it another go tonight.  It took me almost two hours
    last night to do the work that got done, but things should move a
    little faster tonight.
    
    Lamp's burnin' brighter than ever,
    
    Carl

    This weekend was a busy one again, seeing how we actually got about
    four inches of snow Saturday.  I spent most of the day outside with my
    two and a half year old daughter, playing in our first snow for the
    season and building a snowman.
    	I did, however, get a chance to work a little on the plane.  The
    second slot for the other Aileron pushrod was cut and I started working
    on the top sheeting.  A trip to the hobby shop was in order, since I
    had used up some of the sheeting that was for this bird on other
    projects.  When I got home, I started on the top sheets and made both
    sheets at once.  One thing I did do was change the sandpaper on my
    sanding "T".  This made sanding the seams a breeze; a few swipes with
    fresh paper and the sheet was ready to be sized to the wing and glued.
    	After this, I glued the sheeting on each top side of the outer wing
    panels.  During the gluing process, I applied some hanger rash to one 
    of the lower panels.  I forgot about aileron pushrods sticking out of
    the bottom panels and, while I was holding the first top sheet in place
    while the glue dried, I wound up pushing the rod into the bottom balsa
    sheeting.  Fortunately, it left only a small dimple that could easily
    be filled, however, this was not going to happen to the other panel
    that had yet to be glued.  I cut a couple of balsa spacers out of
    leading edge stock and tac glued them between the aileron pushrods and
    the lower sheeting.  This prevented the same thing from happening to
    the other side, which was glued on next.
    	Afterwards, it was time to sand.  I first trimmed all the excess
    balsa from the edges with a razor, getting as close as I could without
    taking to much off.  Then the leading and trailing edges were sanded
    flush.  I still need to round the leading edge, which should not take
    very long.  I also sanded the tips of the wing flush with the end rib. 
    When I finish with the leading edge, I can start on the curved wing
    center on the bottom.  The instructions call for starting on the top,
    however, I need to build/glass gear doors and fit them while I still
    have access to the landing area through the top of the wing, so I'll
    start on the bottom.  Will keep you updated; we're starting to get to
    the good part, gear doors.
    
    Carl	
    

    Well, the Corsair is coming along pretty well.  Thursday I built the
    mounts for the left flap servo, but ran out of 3/8" hardwood rail to
    finish the other side.  I also ran out of threaded pushrod, so Friday I
    made a trip to the hobby shop and picked up a stick of hardwood and two
    twelve inch pieces of threaded rod.  Saturday, I installed the other
    flap servo rails and screwed both servos into thier mounts.  Then I
    cut oval slots through the ribs in order to run the servo wires into
    the wing center area.  I connected the "Y" connector for the servos and
    began working on the pushrods.
    	Both rods were cut to length according to plans that call for the
    clevises to be centered over the trailing edge when the servos are
    centered.  I connected the servos to a receiver in order to center
    them, then mounted the horns.  The rods were installed with a "Z" bend 
    at the servo end and a clevis installed at the flap end.  
    	Sunday, I started the wing sheeting on the bottom right side.  The
    rear end of the wing, from the middle of the center spar to the 
    trailing edge, was done first.  I wet down the balsa to make the curve,
    which worked out pretty well.  I was fighting a pushrod for the flaps
    which wanted to position itself across the ribs rather than stay in the
    bay.  I lost.  After the sheeting was done on the rear side, I noticed
    a small bulge in the balsa.  Sure enough, the rod was caught between
    the sheeting and ribs.  I don't mind admitting these goofs; hopefully
    someone besides myself will benifit from these mistakes.  The problem
    was solved and sheeting continued (I also made a mental note to TAPE
    down the other pushrod before sheeting the wing).
    	The front part was sheeted next in strips of balsa for 1 1/2" down
    to 3/4" wide.  After this was completed, I sanded all the seams flush
    with eachother and trimmed the inside edge flush with rib number two. 
    Also, leading and trailing edges were sanded flush.  Now it's time to 
    start on the other side, which should go well since all the bugs (and 
    pushrod problems) are worked out. Til' next time.
    
    
    Carl

    Two nights ago I worked on the other side of the wing.  This time I
    built two support ribs, removed the tire from the landing gear, and tac
    glued them in around the wheel well.  I did this because , when I
    sheeted the first side, the area around the wheel well turned out a
    little flat instead of well curved.  In order to prevent this from
    happening again, I decided to use support ribs that could be removed
    after the sheeting was glued on.  This worked well and the curve came
    out nice and even.  By the was, it just so happened that the peak of
    the curve was around the wheel area, hence my concern.
    	Last night I finished the section from the center spar to the
    leading edge and sanded both edges flush.  Then, I started on the
    center section. I finished the center sheeting from the center spar to
    the trailing edge and will finish the rest of it tonight.  Next, it
    will be time to sand all seams and sheeting to a nice, flowing curve. 
    
    
    Carl

    It was another busy night in the shop last night.  Wednesday, I
    finished the bottom center section, sanding leading and trailing edges
    and all seams.  Last night, I glued a piece of balsa in the wheel well
    area of the wing side that came out a little flat.  Then, I shaped 
    both sides of the wing bottom to an even curve.  I worked with 80 grit
    sandpaper and worked my way down to 320.  Everything looks good and
    tonight I will monokote the area around the wheel so I can glass some
    landing gear doors.  Who knows, I may even have time to lay some glass
    cloth for the doors themselves.
    
    Carl

    I had a chance to do a little work in the shop Friday night, but
    couldn't get out their the rest of the weekend.  The wing was sanded
    and ready for monokote so  I used some old yellow monokote and covered
    both undersides of the wing around the landing gear and retract servo
    area.  I decided to do the retract servo area because there was no
    other access to the servos once the wing was fully covered and I wanted
    some kind of access in case of servo failure. So I thought, since I was 
    going to glass the gear doors, why not build some access hatches. 
    Better safe than sorry, meaning I'd hate to have to cut into a finished
    wing to fix a problem.
    	I used some heavier glass cloth, 6 oz. Sig, and cut out the pattern
    for each side.  Then I tack glued the cloth, brushed on epoxy when it
    was tacked in place and pressed the epoxy in with TP.  It really
    conformed to the compound curve of the Corsair wing and came out nice. 
    Only one side was done and I checked on it the next day after it cured
    overnight.  It really looked good but appears too thin; I think it still 
    needs another layer of cloth.  I'm going to try to get out there tonight 
    to start the other side and put a second coat over the first form.
    
    
    	Carl

    Last night I spent about 1/2 hour in the shop, just enough time to
    glass the doors for the other side of the wing.  If I have the time 
    tonight, I would like to get a second sheet of glass on both sides, 
    then finish with a layer of ultra light .56 cloth so the heavier 
    weave from the base cloth won't show.  The .56 cloth should give me a
    nice outside finish.
    
    Later, 
    
    Carl

    This weekend I had a chance to work on glassing the doors again.  I cut
    two more pieces of 6 oz cloth, mixed up more finishing epoxy and
    glassed the cloth over the first layer.  It came out well; it just
    needs some very light sanding, then it will be ready for the final
    layer.  The top cloth that I will use is .56 oz.  It is very light and
    should give a smooth surface, without weaves showing, to sand.  
    
    
    	Carl