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Author Topic: Scratch building a Shark 15  (Read 18065 times)

Offline Juan Valentin

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Scratch building a Shark 15
« on: January 15, 2017, 09:21:18 PM »
                 
                           I have read about the Shark .15 and after seeing Badbill`s nicely done job I decided to scratch build one for my Veco .19. I got a hold of a set of plans and went to a local copy shop to make a copy to cut for doing the parts. At this time I`m making a kit  of all the parts to assemble later. I don`t have very light wood,what I have is 6.5 pound per sq.ft. I will try to make as light as I can using glue sparingly and doing a lot of sanding. I`m using plywood templates to  draw  and sand the ribs to shape. here are some photos.
                                                                                                                                                          Juan

Offline wwwarbird

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2017, 10:08:11 PM »

 Nice!  y1
Narrowly averting disaster since 1964! 

Wayne Willey
Albert Lea, MN U.S.A. IC C/L Aircraft Modeler, Ex AMA member

Offline badbill

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2017, 04:27:22 AM »
Your kit looks great!
Bill Davenport
AMA 28141
If some is good, and more is better, then too much is just right!

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2017, 12:42:49 PM »
Your kit looks good.  I too use ply for wing rib templates.  I make a root and tip template and stack sand the ribs.   The I cut the spar notches.  Remember you can remove a loot of wood in those ribs.
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2017, 01:00:42 PM »
   I will keep that in mind john,thanks. Today I`m working on getting the wing ribs done. I used 1/8 Plywood for the templates so they would be durable. I screwed them together using some small machine screws. I took one template with the machine screws sticking out of the bottom about 1/16 inch and that`s how I used them to draw the outline on the balsa,the benefit is that the template is not going to move while you are scribing the outline on the balsa plus I will be using the dimples as a guide to drill holes when I bolt the templates with the balsa sandwiched in between for sanding them to the correct outline. I draw the ribs on the balsa but when cutting I cut outside the line by 1/16 to 1/8 inch just in case when I sandwich everything together I`ll have balsa to sand instead of having to make another rib. Here are some pics, will post more as I go along.
                                                                                                                                                                                           Juan

Offline Larry Renger

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2017, 06:50:57 PM »
If you are drilling holes to sand the ribs anyway, you already have the holes you need to use carbon rod for a jig. Support the rods horizontally and parallel and you WILL get a straight wing. I make at least 4 supports that go equally spaced in the wing structure. When the wing is finished, pull the rods out and the supports fall out of the structure. In your case, you would need notches for the spars (the notches can be way ovesize).
Think S.M.A.L.L. y'all and, it's all good, CL, FF and RC!

DesignMan
 BTW, Dracula Sucks!  A closed mouth gathers no feet!

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2017, 08:47:18 PM »
Hello Larry
                     I do have a wing jig with aluminum rods of 1/4 and 5/16 inch. I haven`t made up my mind about how I`m going to fix the wing on the jig yet but the rod is one of the best.  Today I did some sanding on the ribs and cut the spars slot but need to finish with a 3/16 inch sanding form,I can`t cut them too well with my Dremel/Craftsman scroll saw. I cut two pieces of 1/4 by 3/16 x 36 for the wing spars and marked the position of the ribs to make the rib slots. I have seen somewhere the use of two pieces of hacksaw blades to make a tool to cut the slots and that`s what I did. I stuck them together with 1/32 great planes foam tape part number GPMQ4442. then I ground the sides of the blades flat. You need the teeth on the blades to face foward because you will be dragging the saw backwards to make the slots. I stuck the spar pieces together with scotch double sided tape in 3 places to keep them aligned while marking and cutting. I used it a piece of 3/16 aluminum to stop the saw at 1/16 inch depth an another to help me keep the saw square. Made the 17 slots no problem. I marked the spars to make sure I don`t swap ends.
                                                                                                                                                                             Juan

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2017, 12:09:25 PM »
I put a mark across the top of the ribs so one doesn't get turned over.  I also number the ribs as I take them off the stack.
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2017, 05:42:24 PM »
Hello John
                    I usually draw divergent lines on the side that goes up with a magic marker since they will have capstrips but in this one I didn`t mark the top because I didn`t want the lines showing thru the covering. I used your suggestion numbered and placed a small arrow pointing up the 5 center ribs I wrote center to know which ones I was going to slice 1/16 inch from top and bottom for 1/16 inch balsa center covering. I have dry assembled the wing to make sure it is square with my building board and placed some weights to keep it flat. I did not use my wing building jig because I forgot to make the 1/4 holes for the rods before sanding to shape. I checked my board which is made out of 3/4 inch cedar plywood to make sure I had no warps. I have 2 inch angle aluminum bolted to the undersides to keep it straight. I also installed leadouts on the 3 inch perfect bellcrank I`m using. Here are some pics of my progress.

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2017, 09:48:48 PM »
Well, the plane I'm working on, I did the stack of ribs between ply templates.  Cut the notches while still bolted together and made my spars plus leading edge.  Using CA and masking tape I got tip ribs in place, I put the center ribs in place.  Used a couple of squared pieces of balsa at the tip rib and center rib outside of bell crank area.  Got leading edge taped on and CA'd to tip and center ribs.  Checked with my little machinest square and did spot gluing with ca as I put ribs in place.  Had my trailing edge sheets ready with the bottom sheet long enough to tape to % foot aluminum angle I have.   Clamped the angle in my vice and started spot gluing ribs to trailing edge.  Ohn there were pieces of tape in several places to make sure the trailing stayed straight.  Laid top trailing edge in place with a straight aluminum strip I have.  Be fore this I put pieces of balsa between the ribs to give trailing edge some rigidity.  Once all was clamped, taped and triple sighted I did the final gluing with the Elmers.  The wing is straighter than some I did on a jig.  Also very stiff and still have leading edge sheeting plus cap strips to go.  Working on the flaps and will be using pinned hinges on this for a change.  The hinge lines will be sealed when I cover the wing and stab.  More pics later as I work slowly on planes.

Flaps are just taped to trailing edge right now.
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #10 on: January 24, 2017, 04:32:22 PM »

           I did some more work on the wing. I glued all the ribs to the spars, leading edge and trailing edge. Installed bellcrank with leadouts and had to sand the holes on the ribs to be able to use the adjustable leadouts thru their adjustment range that I have installed. I used a square piece of plywood 1/16 x 1/2 x 2.25 with a 1/8 inch slot that I inset on the rib. After gluing the ply I used 1/64 ply to laminate both sides of the rib to make sure it won`t break. the leadouts come out 1/8 inch below the rib longitudinal centerline. I will be installing the wing tip ribs to sand the tips. I`m going to join the flaps and elevator with 1/16 inch piano wire. here some pics.
                                                                                                                                                       juan

Offline wwwarbird

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2017, 08:57:31 PM »

 Very nice work. I like the design idea for the leadout guide/rib reinforcement, good chance I'll steal that one sometime.  ;D
Narrowly averting disaster since 1964! 

Wayne Willey
Albert Lea, MN U.S.A. IC C/L Aircraft Modeler, Ex AMA member

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2017, 10:38:20 PM »

      I`m glad you like it, I thought about having to add more wood to that tip to have the slot centered and then I would have to do the same on the other tip for both to look the same. I looked at the plans and the leadouts are below the tip 1/8 inch anyway so that inspired me to try inset the ply on the rib maybe we could get away with one lamination of 1/64 ply on the inside with this size of model. I placed al the tip ribs but still need to sand it.
                                                                                                                                    Juan

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #13 on: January 25, 2017, 01:39:08 PM »

           Today I worked on the wing tips,I had glued all the tip ribs and started sanding the ribs to shape. I made a balsa wood box on the leadouts tip to have balsa to attach the covering. Using ble masking tape I protected the ribs from the sanding pad and proceeded to shape them. here are pics.
                                                                                                                                                                                        Juan

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2017, 06:48:25 PM »
     I have been working on the planes controls. I decided to make my own offset control horns I bought 3/32 piano wire at my local hobby shop and I had to make a wire bender to make the bends at the distance I wanted. Since I was going to silver solder my horns and as everybody knows it supposed to be a bad idea but since I don`t have the equipment to braze the horn to the wire  I just used an idea I had. I made a bushing with a flange that would grab the wire with four times the area of the horn in the horizontal plane and would have more area in the vertical plane to resist the torque applied. I made a jig and I soldered the horns. Now I`m ready to start Hinging the elevators and flaps to next start working on the fuse. here are some pics.
                                                                                                                                                                               Juan

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #15 on: January 28, 2017, 09:36:30 PM »
Looking very good .

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #16 on: February 01, 2017, 01:58:05 PM »
           Thanks Matt, I`m working on the elevators and flaps. I had to drill the holes for the control horns for the Elevators/flaps and I decided to make a jig like the one I seen in one of Al Rabe`s thread. He made his out of plywood and I made mine out of 1/8 balsa and a piece of brass tubing. Is really hard to drill a straight 3/32 hole in 1/8 balsa and the jig worked like a charm. I then made the hinge slots and to do it I made a small tool with a #11 blade glued to  1/16 balsa so about 3/8 of the blade would stick out the I glued another piece of 1/16 to sandwich the blade. I  practiced on a piece of scrap balsa to make sure I was making the slot in the middle of the edge,I had to sand one side of the 1/16 balsa to get the blade centered. I placed both the elevators and tool flat on my working board and did some shallow passes until all the tool blade was in. I deepened the slot as necessary with my xacto. they came out nice but needed some enlargement to be able to fit my plastic hinges. I took a piece of 1/64 plywood and using scotch double sided tape I stuck a piece of 400 grit sand paper only on one side. With that I sanded the slot to get the hinge to slide in to avoid having a bump where the hinge is on the elevator/flaps. The advantage of having the sandpaper on one side is that it slides in easier plus if you have to move the slot to center it in the surface it will only sand one side. Here are pics.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Juan
« Last Edit: February 01, 2017, 03:46:20 PM by Juan Valentin »

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #17 on: February 06, 2017, 02:59:25 PM »

          Today I sanded the leading edge of the wing. Is a job that you have to be patient and careful. I placed masking tape across the wing behind the leading edge to protect the ribs from my sanding. I didn`t want my sanding form to hit the ribs and having to do repairs. I wanted a very round leading edge to that purpose I made a sanding form from some pieces of plywood and triangular piece of balsa that I shaped to a round form using a 1/2 inch aluminum rod wrapped in sandpaper. Once I had the form that I wanted I stuck 80 grit sandpaper with double sided tape to the form. To help feather the sanding I used several layers of masking tape on both sides of the piece of sandpaper. I when I would drag my finger from the sandpaper to the masking tape and felt a ridge I would stop adding layers of masking tape. After the 80 grit I used some finer grit to smooth the leading edge.  Here are some pics.

Offline Avaiojet

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #18 on: February 06, 2017, 06:19:06 PM »
Juan,

We have similarities in our building and tools. ;D

Looking really good.  H^^

Charles
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Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #19 on: February 08, 2017, 11:22:49 AM »
      Thank you Charles I like scratch building very much.  I started again on the Little shark fuselage. I made sure that the wing would slide on the fuse to it`s proper position before I glue the nose doublers. I shaped the doublers to an approximate shape since I will be sanding them once glued to get them to flow into the spinners shape. I made the motor mounts long enough to get to the leading edge of the wing. I Tapered and routed the mount to reduce weight. I glued the mounts in without removing the engine area balsa to keep the motor mounts straight. I didn`t put any glue in that area. I have drilled two holes on the doublers aligned with the centerline to help with the shaping of the doublers and  I will be using those holes to stick some toothpicks to keep everything aligned when using epoxy to glue them since when you place weights to make sure you have a good bond the doublers would try to slide out of position. I shaped the back edges of the doublers before gluing makes life easier. Still have to place some hardwood in the area where the landing gear is bolted to the fuse that way I don`t compress the balsa in a way that it will deform it.
                                            I went ahead and used 1/4 hardwood dowel cut to be flush with the balsa wood. I drilled a 1/8 inch hole and glued them with thin CA after that I screwed one of the doublers and using the dowel holes as a guide I drilled the holes for the landing gear. I added the other doubler and drilled from the other side that way all the holes aligned. I still want to do some work on the doublers so I`m not epoxying them yet Here are some pics.
                                                                                                                                                                  Juan
« Last Edit: February 08, 2017, 02:58:12 PM by Juan Valentin »

Offline wwwarbird

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #20 on: February 08, 2017, 06:27:03 PM »

 Great idea for a L/E sanding tool.  y1
Narrowly averting disaster since 1964! 

Wayne Willey
Albert Lea, MN U.S.A. IC C/L Aircraft Modeler, Ex AMA member

Offline Brett Buck

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #21 on: February 08, 2017, 09:47:46 PM »
                 
                           I have read about the Shark .15 and after seeing Badbill`s nicely done job I decided to scratch build one for my Veco .19. I got a hold of a set of plans and went to a local copy shop to make a copy to cut for doing the parts. At this time I`m making a kit  of all the parts to assemble later. I don`t have very light wood,what I have is 6.5 pound per sq.ft. I will try to make as light as I can using glue sparingly and doing a lot of sanding. I`m using plywood templates to  draw  and sand the ribs to shape. here are some photos.
                                                                                                                                                          Juan

   6.5 lb wood is fine and no special effort needs to be made. It's a lot lighter than the average Jetco kit wood, I assure you!

     Brett

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #22 on: February 09, 2017, 10:57:09 AM »

  Hello Brett
                      Thanks for letting me know,I was a little worried since I have never built a .19 powered model.  I worked on the little plane some more. I had to mill a recess on one of the doublers to make sure my engine would fit,I milled 3/32  and now the engine fits nicely. I went ahead and glued the doublers using 30 minute epoxy and kept them aligned with a pair of toothpicks. After getting everything glued and making sure everything was aligned I cut the toothpicks flush with the surface. I placed a piece of plywood  on top and on top of that a couple of plastic bottles filled with water and some pieces of metal to apply pressure and get a good bond. After it dries I will be drilling engine mount holes making sure engine is at zero degrees with the centerline I drew on the fuse. Here are pics.
                                                                                                                                                                               Juan

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #23 on: February 09, 2017, 04:58:14 PM »

           I like to read the instructions on the plans to learn the way the designer thought it should go. In reading I found a tip for when heavy engines are used and it mentions the Veco .19. It says that you should move the engine back 1/2 inch to improve balance. I weighted a bushing engine which I thought they were refering to and it weighted 5.39 ounces but my engine is a Ball bearing engine and weights 6.43 ounces which is an ounce more. I decided that instead of moving the engine back I would move the wing forward  5/8 inch in hopes of avoiding a very nose heavy condition. I hope it works out. I worked on installing the engine and I should have made the slot longer the engine is all the way to the back and I have about a 1/16 inch gap to the back spinner.  I drilled the screw holes and installed 4-40 blind nuts. Now I will be working on the canopy and rudder. I still need to make the landing gear and a gas tank. some pics.
                                                                                                                                                                    juan

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #24 on: February 09, 2017, 08:33:44 PM »
You can close the gap with scraps of balsa or ply.   You are doing a terrific job on this plane. H^^
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #25 on: February 10, 2017, 06:39:22 PM »
Hello John
                 Thanks, I`m trying to help others by posting a lot of pictures and writing in detail. I know there are a lot of guy`s in these Forum with a lot of knowledge in building and flying. I have been helped when I have posted questions with good information. Your words and the words of others that have posted are an incentive to continue with my build of the little Shark 15. I had been wanting to build one for a long time.
                                                                                                                                                            Juan

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #26 on: February 10, 2017, 09:26:33 PM »
You know this makes me think of building another one as the one I built from a kit many years ago I did not get to fly.  Took it to the hobby shop to show it off and a gentleman that was there offered enough money for it that I couldn't refuse.  I vaguely remember he paid me more than double what the kit and engine cost me initially. H^^
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #27 on: February 11, 2017, 11:14:02 AM »

                     I`m shaping the cabin and Dorsal assembly. As the plans show there are three pieces of 1/8 balsa that are glued together but if you do it that way shaping the aft end is going to be real hard. I just made three side pieces and spot glued them together to be able to do the shaping. I made a sanding form to do the round portion of the top of the cabin and turtle deck. Using 1/4 inch balsa I cut three pieces and made like an X ,the small portion of the x is the grip area to be able to hold and maneuver the sanding form. I started sanding the top and when I got it round I tilted the form to round the sides some more. I placed two pieces of 1/32 balsa at the edges of the sandpaper as a stop to avoid going too far and sanding a crease on the balsa. After sanding I popped the pieces apart removed the center one and used the rounded sides. They are going to be glued to the center dorsal section.  here are the pics.
                                                                                                                                                                                    Juan

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #28 on: February 11, 2017, 11:29:43 AM »

       A few more pics of the aft end of the turtle deck which in my opinion is very hard to shape if you glue them to the center section.
                                                                                          Juan

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #29 on: February 12, 2017, 02:50:47 PM »
Brilliant. H^^
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #30 on: February 12, 2017, 05:52:45 PM »
 
       Thanks john I appreciate your remark you are too kind. I went flying today with The Puerto Rico Prop Busters and after returning from the flying field I decided to make the landing gear for the Shark.15. There is only a side view on the plans so I decided to draw my own and make it using the wire bender that I have. I used 3/32 piano wire like in the plans. I made my landing gear in one piece but The plan was to cut it in the middle and use a brass bushing to tie them together that way I can remove it in case I bend it on a bad landing also makes painting the fuse a little easier for me. Here are some pics the plane with the landing gear temporarily on. Everything  is coming together well. After today I will be taking a break from building the plane.
                                                                                                                                                     Juan
« Last Edit: February 16, 2017, 06:36:26 PM by Juan Valentin »

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #31 on: February 15, 2017, 10:47:32 PM »
              Today I did a little work on the Shark.15,I decided to install a wire tailskid and include a loop in case I need to use a stooge to hold the plane. I took a piece of  3/16 x 1 1/4 hardwood dowel and drilled with a 1/16 inch bit. I then formed a loop on a piece of 1/16 x 6 inch piano wire. I made sure I could push the wire thru the rod easily and I feed 30 minutes epoxy thru the dowel hole. I applied epoxy to the rod after hitting it with 150 grit sandpaper. I pushed the rod thru the hole in the dowel and ended with a 3 1/8 long tailskid.  I had cut a small groove on the dowel and I bent the end of the wire at 90 degrees and fitted it to the groove, I cut the excess wire with my dremel flush with the dowel. using the hardwood dowel to hold the wire gives it more grip to the balsa fuse.I drilled a hole in the tail of the plane at an angle and enlarged to 3/16 of an inch about 1 3/8 deep. After the epoxy dried I tested the fit. I didn`t glue it yet because I still need to shape the bottom of the fuse to a round section. here are some pics.
                                                                                                                                                               Juan

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #32 on: February 16, 2017, 09:39:47 AM »
That is one way of doing it and it looks neat. H^^
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #33 on: February 16, 2017, 06:52:31 PM »

    Hello John
                      In the old days I used to drill straight up and make a groove at the bottom of the fuselage to install my tailskids and sometimes ended with a swiveling skid now use a dowel and drill at an angle and have better results. I had also used a piece of cloth to hold the skid to the balsa but with time the wire would wiggle in the soft balsa and I got oil ito the wood. I have never used a stooge but had to drive 200 miles to go flying with my buddies. Now I`m going to try flying close to home and I might get somebody interested in C/L once they see me flying. There is an R/C field close by but it doesn`t have an area where I could fly a big plane.
                                                                                                                                                         Juan

Offline wwwarbird

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #34 on: February 16, 2017, 09:06:01 PM »

 We are watching the world's nicest Shark .15 come together here, very nice work Juan.  y1
Narrowly averting disaster since 1964! 

Wayne Willey
Albert Lea, MN U.S.A. IC C/L Aircraft Modeler, Ex AMA member

Offline Brett Buck

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #35 on: February 16, 2017, 11:06:05 PM »
  Hello Brett
                      Thanks for letting me know,I was a little worried since I have never built a .19 powered model. 

   You are quite welcome. I have built maybe a half dozen Shark 15s, the first from the Jetco kit, and the rest scratch built (to varying but generally low degrees of quality) from the plans. Mine had either the OS 20 or 25 baffle-piston engine from the mid-70's. Several of them were finished with, of all things, Perky Blue exterior oil house paint over 1 coat of AeroGloss clear. We had one can of clear dope in the house and getting more involved an extensive, insurmountable, 20-mile trip to the hooby shop. Surprisingly, the house paint was more-or-less fuel proof and not terribly heavy.

   Even with the infamous Jetco wood (heavy, and I still have a scar on the top of my finger from getting cut with 5 stitches trying to shave the doublers to fit the wing cutout with a retractable exacto knife) they flew generally pretty well, and the last one, when I had become a decent sport flier, pretty good. I have another one about half-built in my storage unit, now that I have all the parts to repair my OS25S after looking since 1979.

      Brett

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #36 on: February 17, 2017, 04:41:01 PM »

   Thanks for the input Warbird and Brett.  I did some sanding today of the bottom of the fuse and the left side of the tail following details from the plans. This plane uses the fin straight with the rudder and all of that is offset to the outside of the circle. A lot of you guys already know this but for the few that don`t I took pictures that shows what I`m talking about. I still have not glued the cabin and fin which makes it easier to look at the assembly. I used two pieces of toothpicks glued to the fuse to hold the cabin in place. I noticed that when you align the rudder with the outside corner off rear of the fuse the fin and rudder would tilt to the outside of the circle and not be vertical like it should be.  So when gluing the top section you will have to shim  the top of the rudder to keep it parallel to the fuse. In my case a piece of 1/16 balsa will do. I hope I`m not boring you with so many details.
                                                                                                                                                                                                            Juan

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #37 on: February 20, 2017, 08:20:11 PM »

     I worked some more on the little Shark. I checked my controls for the amount of travel suggested in the plans by Lew Mcfarland and had to notch my left flap to avoid contact with the Pushrod. I haven`t glued the wing or the tail that gives me the option of replacing the control horns if needed. I made some simple gauges to check flap and elevator travel. I had to screw in the ball link in the flap to get equal travel. The plans state that I should have 25 degrees of up and down. The elevators should have a travel of 35 degrees up and down. I made the flap horn long enough that with the bellcrank at its end I get the travel needed. I usually use 45 degrees of flap and elevators and I hope I have enough travel. Still need to do the gas tank and make some 3 degrees aluminum pads to off set the engine. here are some pics.
                                                                                                                             Juan

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #38 on: February 23, 2017, 06:54:57 PM »

               I was getting ready to star gluing parts on the little plane and realized that without the subfin/tailskid it just didn`t look right. I decided to add one using 1/16 ply insted of 1/8 ply like in the plan. I cut some slots in the fuse for the tabs I made in the subfin and went ahead using 30 min epoxy. Used blue masking tape in case I had an epoxy run. After applying glue I used Q tips to remove the excess epoxy. Now the profile looks right.

Offline Brett Buck

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #39 on: February 23, 2017, 07:20:11 PM »
     I worked some more on the little Shark. I checked my controls for the amount of travel suggested in the plans by Lew Mcfarland and had to notch my left flap to avoid contact with the Pushrod. I haven`t glued the wing or the tail that gives me the option of replacing the control horns if needed. I made some simple gauges to check flap and elevator travel. I had to screw in the ball link in the flap to get equal travel. The plans state that I should have 25 degrees of up and down. The elevators should have a travel of 35 degrees up and down. I made the flap horn long enough that with the bellcrank at its end I get the travel needed. I usually use 45 degrees of flap and elevators and I hope I have enough travel. Still need to do the gas tank and make some 3 degrees aluminum pads to off set the engine. here are some pics.
                                                                                                                             Juan

   You could get the pushrod to clear by putting the ball link on the other side of the horn.

      Brett

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #40 on: March 08, 2017, 09:24:39 PM »
 Hello Brett
                             You are right, I could place the rod on the inside and will try it once I have the wing and tail glued. I have not done much lately because I had to deal with other things but I worked on the gas tank. My source for tin for my gas tanks is an Auto refinishing store. I just buy a brand new gallon can,I got this one for a dollar and proceeded to cut the top and bottom with a pair of aircraft metal scissors. I the cut by the weld line and get enough material for a few tanks. The tin is .010 inch thick. I have a small hand brake I made and that`s what I use for the bends. The first tank I made was 1/16 inch too long so I scrapped it and used the same tubing for the next one. You can make the tank using measurement from the one depicted in the plans. Since I moved the wings foward I had to do with a shorter with the same width but taller. I make the body and inset the tank ends because I can use less solder that way and it comes out lighter. I drill 1/16 inch holes where I place the tubing then increase the size of the hole with an awl to get a friction fit. The tank is uniflow I haven`t measured capacity. I`m holding the tank to the fuse with 2  2-56 servo screws. I drilled two holes and placed pieces of hardwood dowels epoxied in place to screw the tank in place. Here are some pics.
                                                                                                                                                              Juan

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #41 on: March 08, 2017, 09:36:15 PM »
 A few more pics of the tank. I bend the uniflow feed line towards the fuse so I can route the fuel line and filter away from the exhaust stack like in my Richard`s Sterling F-94A.
                                                       Juan

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #42 on: May 06, 2017, 08:07:19 PM »

                  I have been trying to get back to my shark.15 build but I had various problems and the latest the death of a dear friend has not allowed for me to do much. I was going to glue the stationary portions of the flaps to the wing but needed to make sure they were straight at 0 degrees.  I placed my Robart incidence meter at the middle of the wing to make sure the wing was  0 degrees at the root. Since my eyesight is not the best I bought a plastic Stanley Torpedo level pn. 42-291 and cut it to remove the bubble levels then I glued a piece of  1/4 inch 1/64 plywood to bubble levels to prevent them from rolling of the flaps. I went to check my flaps and I was surprised that they were not aligned. I made my flap control horn in a bender and tried to get everything as straight. The flaps are 1/8 inch and the wire for the flap horn 3/32 so I can`t make the flap holes a little bigger. I will try making another flap horn as I don`t think I can tweak the one I have. After I get that done I will get back to the stationary flaps.  Here are some pics.
                                                                                                                                                                           Juan
                                                                                           

Offline wwwarbird

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #43 on: October 12, 2017, 08:47:37 PM »
 
 Juan,

 Did the Shark ever get finished?
Narrowly averting disaster since 1964! 

Wayne Willey
Albert Lea, MN U.S.A. IC C/L Aircraft Modeler, Ex AMA member

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #44 on: November 01, 2017, 06:45:19 PM »
Hello Warbird
                       I haven`t worked on it lately. We were without power until a few days due to Hurricane Maria. It didn`t damage my house or the houses of other family members. We were well prepared but the storm really desolated the area around where we live . There used to be a lot of wild birds flying around and even the bees were having a tough time with no flowers. We are recovering from it slowly but thank god we made it thru. I had some water come into the house thru the front door it was like being hit with a giant pressure washer wind speed was about 175 mph.. My car and bikes were well protected in my garage and I keep most of my hobby stuff in plastic boxes. I spent a lot of nights with only the light of a solar light and a couple of flaslights. We had stored food,water and gasoline the only thing I forgot was to get cash,plastic cards don`t work  and initially everywhere we went we needed to pay in cash, luckily my sister loaned me some money until the banks started to open.
             The Control line flying field got hit bad,we had a trailer where we kept our tractor mower and the hurricane flipped it about a 100 yards from where it was. we need to do clean up and get a crane to move the trailer back. I`m waiting on the club president to give the word to go and help with clean up. We are having trouble with cell phone communications and have no internet. I come to the local Burger King to use their WiFi and get the news and visit stunt hangar.We were lucky but others lost all they had.We have to thank the federal goverment, Fema, The US Army Corps of engineers,Navy,Air Force and the Army are doing a great job We really appreciate the help.
                                                                                                                                                        Juan

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #45 on: November 02, 2017, 03:45:01 PM »

       I have brain fade I just realized that my last entry on the thread for the shark 15 was in May 6 from that time on I worked on finishing other projects. I finished my profile P-51D mustang , A flight box and a replica Eveready 1.5 volt battery. I need to get back to the shark.
                                                                                                                                      Juan

Offline wwwarbird

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #46 on: November 02, 2017, 06:57:21 PM »

 All the storm damage sounds like quite an ordeal Juan, hopefully things get back to normal soon. Hope to see some finished pics of the Shark soon.

 I like the vintage Bardahl racer scheme on the Mustang too, great choice. Was that one a kit-bash project or...?
Narrowly averting disaster since 1964! 

Wayne Willey
Albert Lea, MN U.S.A. IC C/L Aircraft Modeler, Ex AMA member

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #47 on: November 03, 2017, 01:28:58 PM »
Hello Warbird
                          The plane is a scratchbuild and the second I have made the previous one was a good flying plane. I haven`t been able to do more than 6 flights on this one still need to find the right prop,made a new gas tank to see if it helps with the run.
                                                                                                                                                                 Juan

Offline Larry Renger

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #48 on: January 04, 2018, 04:48:24 PM »
It looks like you press form your tank ends. Can you please show and tell more on this? H^^
Think S.M.A.L.L. y'all and, it's all good, CL, FF and RC!

DesignMan
 BTW, Dracula Sucks!  A closed mouth gathers no feet!

Offline Juan Valentin

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Re: Scratch building a Shark 15
« Reply #49 on: January 10, 2018, 10:57:49 AM »
It looks like you press form your tank ends. Can you please show and tell more on this? H^^

 Hello Larry
                         I don`t press the ends it would be too much work making the dies for one or two tanks of the same size. I use a small tool I made to do the bends on the ends of the tanks. I usually bend the sides and back before bending the area that goes in the wedge that way I can place the part on the tank and scribe the bend lines from inside the tank. The little tool is made of aluminum with a couple of screws to clamp firmly the tin. Here are some pics. I `m adding some pics of the tank I made for my Sterling F94 Starfire. I wanted it to look like the one on the Sterling plan.
                                                                                                                                                                                 juan

 P.S.  Sent you a PM larry.


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