Here's an update on some recent progress.
The fuselage is coming along nicely. I covered the port side and then installed the bellcrank and leadouts, rough cutting the holes for the leadouts. These holes will get styrene doublers and an extra layer of Solartex covering to reinforce them, similar to the way real aircraft are done, then trimmed out to look nice. Also the four wires which actuate the elevators have been installed and the whole control system finally permanently mounted in the fuselage. The wires are tied off until the stab can be mounted.
Next was to cover the turtledeck and the starboard fuselage side. This a pretty easy covering job, but suddenly it is starting to look a lot more finished. I think that is the way all this works, you develop lots of little assemblies, then all of a sudden you get a reward as the project takes shape.
Today's task is to hook up all the switches and wiring and provide the plug-in for the flying lines electrical leads, the safety plug and the encoder on-off switch. I have to make a quick trip to Radio Shack for a panel mount phone jack for the flying line leads, but otherwise everything is handy.
Following the wiring, I have to trim out the three cowlings and paint them. At that point the cockpit cowls can be permanently installed and a number of other prepared pieces will be added.
I also started building the stab and elevators. The kit includes some bent reed pieces for the outlines, but following a suggestion from John Cole on RCScalebuilder, I made these out of aluminum tubing. To do this a piece of 1/8 OD tube was slipped inside a piece of 5/32 OD tubing to double the wall thickness. I then cut a 1/4 plywood outline to bend the tube around. There is some springback, but the jig sets the basic shape and location of the bends which are then gently hand worked into a match to the plans. Since the picture was taken, the stab has been about 80% completed.
Regards to all,
John W