My Fancherized Twister build; 3 days til Huntersville

Nice video Rusty. Iv'e really enjoyed watching your build of this airplane, Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

Yes, that was great! Nice and straight and square! I was impressed when you measured up from the glass to the spar and got equal readings near both wing-tips.. and when you measured up to the T/E afterward.. I was really impressed! Nice wing-build man! I've yet to have a laser-cut kit with the rib assembly-tabs. That's gotta' help a lot.

The triangle alignment-jig is a nice tool. I was thinking about a way to fix the two span-wise jig pieces dead-square to the spar. Do you suppose that two pairs of small thin balsa tabs could be tacked (thin CA) vertically to the front of the spar and sticking up; the thickness of the jig-stock for it to butt-up against would work? The tabs would be sanded level afterward. Maybe spar-tabs would allow alignment to the fuse; just by using a square? Think of it as being similar in function to the temporary rib assembly-tabs. Of course; this method would only work on a flat-sided (profile) fuse.

Hey, thanks Roddie. I had no clue how to use them until I saw those pictures the other night, so it went pretty well considering. Walter emailed me after seeing it on SH and asked if he could use it as a tutorial on his website, so I told him I'd be honored to put it out there.

Your ideas... I'm not sure I see exactly what you're saying, but I thought about it. You could make a long 1/8" slot in the long sticks for a sliding plate & wingnut that could be tightened against the outside edge of the spar while snugged against the fuselage bracing spacers, rather than pins. That would still work on many planes, and the pinholes would remain for planes that didn't have that type of spar configuration. I may have a 1/8" side cutting bit(don't know proper term) that I could slot it and add a 90 deg. clamping plate.
Rusty

Actually.. I watched your vid again.. and rethought my idea (same principle). The two jig pieces that run along the spar to the fuse; you chose to tack and tape in place, using the spars edge as a reference.. correct? Why can't the holes be utilized for locating these pieces with pins toward each end; up-against the backside of the spar? Hold in-place snug by tacking through the line of holes forward the spar and into two ribs. This would perfectly align the hole-grid to the spar on both sides.

Here's a drawing..

..... I thought that those spacer-pieces had a hole-grid for more of their length.. instead of just at the ends..  



I should know better; not to interfere in these things... and keep my opinions to myself.

Okay, I'll stop writing now Lol. I started and walked away to mask the plane for gluing about the time I started writing my reply.

My flag ain't all the way up the pole today. I'll need an inspiration before I mix epoxy. I'm a little anxious about this part, never having done it before. I'm getting some tips on Stunthangar too.
Rusty

Rusty.. I have huge faith in you! You'll get it right.. I'm sure. If I could add just one little bit of advice...
(I can't help myself..) you mentioned jigging-up to your B & D workmate to flow the epoxy into your wing-joint. Can you possibly devise a fixture to hold the model at a 45 degree roll-axis for this? I think it would help to keep the epoxy centered for best penetration to the joint with minimal chance of it over-flowing too far up on the fuse.. or too far out on the sheeting. Maybe two applications would be better than one? After the first; you can re-check for square.. adjust if needed and apply a second application. Might be as simple as cutting two v-blocks from a piece of pine trim-board and fastening to the edge of your workbench to hold the fuse at that angle. You said in the wing-alignment vid; that you were tacking-in wedges to pre-establish the joint. I would think that should hold it well enough to proceed.

The gluing went well. I got most of it on camera until the memory maxed. I forgot to delete yesterday's files. I got the important parts but not the funniest, I turned into a comedian about 2/3rds of the way through, talking about the Amboy Dukes playing in the background. I will have to add a tad more to a couple of places tomorrow, but it would likely be strong enough even if I didn't. That 2" wide fuse offers a lot of contact area. I'll continue tomorrow.
Rusty

Edit: I just checked and the glue set perfectly. I got a minor smear in two places on the fuse, and wiped it up with alcohol last night, so I'll clean it up with sandpaper and spot prime that and whatever I can find that's not perfect. Then it's time to paint. Still have to silkspan the flaps and stab, but that's pretty quick.

Damn it man I had to hunt this down to watch the video I was going to the other day but..... I enjoyed the on seen action it take some balls to do a video and monitor what your doing , and you did a really good job of it . The plane is shaping up nicely it should be a one heck of a flyer when done and I am sure will look good doing it . Thanks Rusty !! Eric

Thanks Eric, glad you liked my movie. I like it too. It's a smash hit, 200 views right now on YouTube.
I've gone to extraordinary lengths to make it a clean build. The kit was so nice I felt not only that I owed it to the maker to build it as well as possible, but I wanted to see what I'm actually capable of. I think I've kept the weight within specs too, but I still have a bunch of ounces of paint still in the cans.

Sooner or later I was bound to botch something, and it happened when I glued the wing. I was getting the last cleanup done before covering, and noticed the flap coupler is not straight. It's higher on one side. I should have taped it to the TE so it would be flush with the centerline. I'll use my big Weller soldering gun to heat the epoxy holding it's brass hinge tube and try easing it into position. In the picture below, it looks like the tube sticks out farther on the right, but that's just an illusion from the camera angle.
I need to add a couple of retainers to take some of the load. I think I have a couple of brass ones I made for the Yak and never used. I'll cut a slot for them to press into the TE with a little epoxy.


Here's your last chance to see its bones. Next time it'll be covered with Jet White Monokote.

Rusty,

I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms.

I am an ardent follower of this thread and I am still waiting for you to post the video of you epoxying the wing to the fuselage.

ian1954 wrote:Rusty,

I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms.

I am an ardent follower of this thread and I am still waiting for you to post the video of you epoxying the wing to the fuselage.

Ah shoot, I forgot I had it. I'll rough it out his evening. Sorry to keep you in suspense, but it is fairly pedestrian.
I did straighten the flap coupler last night. It took about one minute.
Rusty

Okay, Ian here it is. Not quite as pro as part one because I forgot to clear the camera's memory. As a result the video is a patchwork of what I managed to salvage, but it'll do. I hope these help someone do a better job of building, even though I was learning this method on the fly.

If I had it to do over again, knowing how quickly I can get the jig in place, I would have glued first and jigged second. However I do believe this way resulted in a cleaner finished product.

https://youtu.be/TZldHVxz0MI

Good looking seal there rusty Thank You for taking the time to do the Video. I have a question though , if you run the glue all the way through form one side getting one heck of a good joint then when you do the other side (in board side)how are you to get the same results ? I would think there will be less wood property to glue to and with my experience glue to set glue don't work well > Eric

Epoxy to epoxy works very well IF the first layer is still "green" as in just solid, but not fully hardened. There is typically no prep needed in this state. As epoxy cures a byproduct called "blush" is pushed out of the solid. This is a waxy residue that is easily removed with ammonia and water... with some elbow grease.

Phil

pkrankow wrote:Epoxy to epoxy works very well IF the first layer is still "green" as in just solid, but not fully hardened.  There is typically no prep needed in this state.  As epoxy cures a byproduct called "blush" is pushed out of the solid.  This is a waxy residue that is easily removed with ammonia and water... with some elbow grease.

Phil

Thanks Phil I did not know that , never heard of (blush) but maybe that's were I had had problems with this application before . Eric

Eric I applied glue to the inboard side. It flowed through when I heated it and stopped when it hit the electrical tape. After it set, when I pulled the black tape off, the glue looked just like in the picture:


There were a couple of gaps in the wide part of the OB side that I had to fill, but they were only about 3/8" deep, behind the LE. Most profiles aren't that wide and would not need additional glue. I was pretty surprised when I pulled off the e-tape and saw the glue bead, almost like a fillet.


Extra: Ah crap! I just got a copyright infringement message from Youtube. My video is blocked in some countries and on some mobile devices, due to the music I am playing in the background.

WOW that did come out really good with just a little filling , I may have missed you saying that but Thanks for clearing it up for me . I will try and remember the method so I can try it on some larger planes >> if I ever get there Eric OH yea that sucks about the Music infagment I was liken it !

Rusty, thanks for posting the video along with the tip on using electrical tape.

This is yet another topic on the forum that I enjoy following and gleaning information from the narratives, videos and comments.

Got a lot done in the past seven days. Now I'll start thinking about decals. I'm open for suggestions. I wish I had some silver Monokote so I could make silver flames shaped like the Refried Bean.

Inboard wingtip is Navy Blue


Outboard is Missile Red


I put my cutting mat to good use. Now I get to see if it really heals. And how long it takes.
So now the flaps, stab and elevator need to be silkspanned. I'll paint them before installing, and try my best to get good coverage without making it too tail heavy.
Rusty

Looks good Rusty, not long now.

Something I wish Ted would have designed into the re-do is wing tips. Not sure if it would help it fly any better, it would just look good.

Ron

Cribbs74 wrote:Looks good Rusty, not long now.

Something I wish Ted would have designed into the re-do is wing tips. Not sure if it would help it fly any better, it would just look good.

Ron

Yeah, I'm kinda with you on that wingtip thing. I always liked swept and sleek over blunt and blocky. Like you, I have no idea if there are any flyability implications.

I need to get into contest mode now, meaning an engine overhaul on the Oriental(the likely backup), plumbing the new Cardinal tank, and ordering up good practice flying weather. I hope I can turn my game up a click and learn to fly a better pattern in 4 weeks. So the Twister might have to share time with those, because I don't want to be exhausted from last minute prep like I was in October.

Rusty... on SH there (have to search for them use quotes) many threads about wing tip shapes, what helps and what is not worth doing

My take was the roundish versions that taper back to the TE helped "spill"  air off the wing and keep it out of the stab/elevator slip stream

I really think this is just the top 20 National expert guys seeking to designing the MOST stable possible air-frame and wing design

Phil Cartier has thoughts too as relates to combat wing tips

One example I thought I read about was about the "spill plates" on the wing tips like you see on the Stunt Rocket that are designed to help keep laminar air flow on the wing flown in a circle.... as I recall this started a great debate and I can't find it so maybe it was not on SH ( only site I searched)

I think on some planes the squared off like on yours looks pretty cool---- like in your well done photos of some plane in level flight... I can see and appreciate the wing shape better in those photos as opposed to a typical wing tip profile

Came back to edit in this link

http://stunthanger.com/smf/stunt-design/swept-back-wing-tips/

I used "wing tip shape" for the search

Take a close look at the second post photos