VECO THUNDERBIRD II (MORE, MORE CONTINUED)

[Phil Coopy]

I,ve gotten started on the VECO THUNDERBIRD II that I stole from Bill Hodges (sorry Bill) at the Southeastern Model Show in Perry, GA.   Been fun to do a VECO kit again after many years especially reacquainting myself with the old style plans.  I'm gonna use a McCoy 35 in it but have made provisions to change that out if necessary. The VECTOR 40 that I was working on is still hanging in the shop waiting for covering and paint,  I fugured it would be easier to do both at the same time. Actually painting my house has gotten in the way of both projects.

Phil

[Leo Mehl]

Lookin good phil. I take it that the wing will be last part of this build. when you get don painting you can start painting. Now I am confusing myself I think! Keep up good work.

[Steve Helmick]

Vinyl siding frees up a lot of painting enthusiasm. T-Bird II's are very cool.  Steve

[Phil Coopy]

Got a little further on the T-Bird II this week.  I made a mistake on the rib assembly and had to redo it. In the process I was worried that I might have injured the integrity of the spar so I glued on some thin carbon fiber ribbons just be safe.  Boy does that stiffen up the wing! I installed a weight box rather than just arbitrarily adding 1/2 ounce of weight as the instructions say.

Back to painting the house.

Phil

[Bill Hodges]

Phil:

You be sure and do a really good job on my airplane.  Seems like I was a day late and a dollar short.

Wish we could have gotten in some flying while I was in Winter Haven earlier this week, but some family commitments came up that I could not put aside and there was a little matter of the wind blowing a gale every day I was there.  See if you can do something about that the next time I come down.  I will give you a heads up so you will have time to get in touch with Mother Nature and make the necessary arrangements.

I am planning on coming down the week of Sun N Fun.  Maybe we can get together then.

Good luck with the T-bird.

Bill Hodges

[Phil Coopy]

Starting to look like a T-Bird II now.  I put three KLETT hinges on each flap...hope that's enough to do the trick (jump right in here).

Bill, sorry we couldn't get together for some flying but as you said, the wind has been a killer all week and now comes the rain....oh well.

Phil

[Bill Little]

That's looking great, Phil.   The Thunderbird is one of my all time favorites, for sure!  And that relatively thick airfoil makes weight a little less critical.

[john e. holliday]

That is starting to look real good.  DOC Holliday

[Phil Coopy]

Well it all fits together......and I'm at 37.8oz with all the linkage, engine, tank, and hardware installed. Now I got two planes to finish, this one and my Vector 40.

Phil

[Phil Coopy]

Finally after getting the house painting done and the septic field failing...I've been able to get back to work on the Thinderbird II.  As you can see I have opted for an adjustable rudder because I have never flown one and want to make it friendly to me.  Apologies to the silk an' dope folks,....... I went  for $Kote on the wing and stab because that's what I am best at (right now).  I will however be using silkspan and dope on the fuse. Hope I can continue for awhile before something else comes up.

Phil

[john e. holliday]

That is looking better each time you post new pictures.  Nothing like a good Monokote job.  I was going to Monokote the "Cardinette", but, have so many planes to fly I opted to do Poly-Span and dope.  DOC Holliday

[Leester]

Looks really good Phil. And thanks for the close ups of the nose, be sure and take more when it's finished.