Another build

There is always a stage in any build where I go astray and need to make a correction.

I already new that I would have to make a change as the plan showed the fitting of a 11/4" spinner. For some reason, these are not readily available in the UK while everyone stocks 11/2" spinners.

So I remade the nose rings and went about shaping the front end to the spinner. It looked really neat but ...............the intructions required offset for the engine by simply inserting washers under the front mounts.

I had done this but hadn't realised that when I tightened the engine down - those washers crushed through the ply doublers and so I had no offset!

Oh dear, how sad, well never mind! However, when I solved this with another couple of washers the crankshaft was now 1/4" off centre.

This had all been epoxied and would have been a mare to remove. So out came the grinder, more balsa and ply together with isopon filler.

Clouds of dust later

Man, that looks really nice!

Ian,

They make offset wedges at varying degrees that have a larger footprint than a couple of washers. I imagine with your skills you could easily make something.

Ron

Thanks Kim.

That is a good idea Ron and I think I would take it further and remove the ply from around the mounting lugs before fitting the taper.

It has now been assembled for a dry fit.








Not sure about the undercarriage - it looks flimsy





It also seems large for 1/2A - I am glad I opted for the 1cc diesel.




Now cogitating covering.

The reason it’s so big is because it’s a full on stunt ship. Most 1/2A designs that stunt really well are on the larger side. That’s not true in all cases though.

Your engine choice is probably and excellent one. You want it to fly slower than usual and have lot’s of torque. That Diesel should fit the bill.

What engine did it call for in the plans?

Cribbs74 wrote:The reason it’s so big is because it’s a full on stunt ship. Most 1/2A designs that stunt really well are on the larger side. That’s not true in all cases though.

Your engine choice is probably and excellent one. You want it to fly slower than usual and have lot’s of torque. That Diesel should fit the bill.

What engine did it call for in the plans?

Brodak 049 but the pictures in the instructions showed a Norvel/AMA 061

Yeah, if it’s a Brodak kit it makes sense to push the Brodak .049.

Probably no mistake that they show the Norvel .061 in the pictures as it’s more suited to that.

That landing gear is a pretty common setup. For a CLPA plane it’s adequate for smooth controlled 3 point landings on concrete. I would imagine if you slammed it down in grass it would tear off.

I had a 5 metre roll of Oracover Easycote and so I thought I would try it on this model.

I can say that this covered the flaps, tailplane and fuselage with ease. I was very impressed with how easy it was - seams were barely visible.




However, when it came to the wing .................. not impressed at all!!

The Easycote needs a temperature of 100 - 120 deg C to activate the adhesive  and 150 deg C to shrink tight.

What is not mentioned is that the  adhesive is also the covering colour and it comes off easily. You cannot tack and reposition the material easily. The colour remains stuck to the balsa and the clear material left does not reattach.

I got the covering stuck down on the wing but had difficulty stretching it around the wing tips, When it came to tautening the finish it stuck to the ribs and as it shrank the colouring scraped off.




The tips ended up a mess and need recovering.

I cannot recommend Easycote for open bay wings.

Wowzers! I think I need one of these. That is one sweet build!

With lockdown, I switched to other projects - like tidying up and looking for those many bits and pieces that I had put in safe placs. Places so safe, I couldn't remember where they were.

This all started because I was about to make a tank for this and didn't have the right size tubing to hand. While looking for the tubing I came across sheets of tin that I use for tank building in three different boxes. I found various lengths and sizes of aluminium, brass and copper tubing in seven boxes. So I decided to have a sort out - this was the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, I am still at it along with being reminded of the many "little" jobs I haven't finished off and sidetracked all over the place.

Still, the PAW 100 is almost "run in" now for this plane. I have to say though that this was/is the most finicky PAW engine I have ever experienced. From the get go it was a difficult starter and was not happy with my typical Sport diesel mix. I had to mix a much blander concoction.

Unusually, for a traditional iron piston diesel - it was tight wuith a degree of pinching. It has now had 50 minutes running in but still not ready even though fully heat cycled. This is it on a 7x4 prop.

I had a few problems with the undercarriage. The undercarriage wire was too thin for the wheels I had selected.



So it was necessary to resort to tubing to fill the gap.

Similar problem with the supplied clip for the front undercarriage.

I also had to alter the position of the pushrod exit in the wing. I checked and double checked and had cut it out to plan but ...... back in with the knife.

roddie wrote:Hi Ian, Glad to know that you are well. That diesel sounded good to me! Best of luck when building the fuel tank.  

Hi Roddie,

Like most of us we are in lockdown but we are still allowed to take the doggies for a walk once a day maintaining social distancing. (the doggies ignore this and socialise freely with their friends!). Not allowed to fly though - it is not considered excercise by those who decide these things.

Most shops are closed (other than food) but I am still able to get non essential items (modelling!) by mail order - so that is situation normal.

That Engine Run Sounded Really Good. The Plane is looking good too.

Ya got to hate it when stuff don't fit that should , But You do have a good remedy for that i see I have to cut the push rod exit on most my builds . The Paw did sound good after getting her going one these days i will run a diesel and get that smell you always talk about . Glad to hear you guys are keeping it together during this Virus . I am lucky to have some land to get out on and roam