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Building Tips and technical articles. => 1/2 A building. => Topic started by: kevin king on June 28, 2020, 12:16:23 PM
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Can anyone with an original Sig 1/2a Skyray tell me the type of pushrod was included? Was it that shiny light weight wire or steel pushrod? My concern is the guy I bought the reproduction kit included the heavier steel piano wire and I don't want it to be tail heavy. Thanks.
Kevin King
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I just looked at my new kit and it appears to be 1/16" push rod "z" bends on each end..Hope that this helps...
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If you want to be fancy, go to your LHS and get the smallest CF tube that'll let you stick 1/16" music wire into the end. Then cut the z-bends off of your pushrod, scuff them up thoroughly, and epoxy them into the ends of the CF tube about an inch deep. If you're paranoid about the CF tube splitting, wrap the ends with kevlar or CF.
If I didn't make it adjustable, I'd make sure I had it on the plane with the bellcrank and elevator held at neutral when I did this.
Like this -- fancy machined brass or aluminum end caps are heavier than wrapping (but prettier).
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I seriously wouldn't bother with a carbon tube on a Skyray. I have built more Skyray's than any other 1/2A I've ever owned. I never checked this directly, I always felt that they were tail heavy right out of the box. I always found them to be twitchy. The stock control horn is too small which could be a contributing factor to the twitchiness. It can work as long as you slow the controls down by using the inner most hole on your bellcrank. The end result is that the nose breaks off directly on the leading edge of the wing. I have made 1/64" ply doublers prior to the cheek blocks being glued on which does offer more longevity of the nose. After you CA or epoxy the nose back on in or around the 3-4 th time, the plane flies with a lot more control. The single screw that holds the elevator control horn can turn due to pivoting on the screw and will ultimately jam your control system. It's a poor design and due to no footprint area which can pull through the elevator. A Dubro small control horn is a good option due to being larger offering more adjustments and also a bigger area to seat.
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It ain't Heavy Stunt unless its got a carbon pushrod. Or, if you can't bring yourself to invest in carbon for the pushrod, at least go for the laminated carbon leafspring gear legs, right? Either should knock your appearance points up a couple and give all the wannabe 1/2A'ers something to drool over. Now, let's talk carbon veil for covering the wings and tail to avoid flexing in the wind.....
McDivot