Wrinkled Covering?

[Hew Charles]

I just got my Great Planes Spirit 2M ARF in the mail today. I opened up the box and noticed that the covering has thousands of wrinkles. :confused: Should I send it back or will a heat gun fix it for good? There are lots of tiny wrinkles on the elevator. I could get a picture if it is necessary. If there are a few wrinkles (not a thousand) what will the effect be on flight performance?
I am also looking for advice about doing the hinges. Does anyone have some good tips or advice? I have heard the wing joiner is not strong enough. Any ideas for an upgrade? I would be happy to hear any other tips about making this thing as good as it gets?

Thanks,
Hew Charles

[sleep4]

Wrinkles - most ARF models arrive with wrinkles. They are easily removed with a iron or heat gun. Just take your time and they will come out. The Spirit is covered with Monocote which is good covering material. No need to send it back.

Hinges - The supplied CA hinges work very well. The instructions tell you the proper way to install them.

Wing Joiner - The sandwiched plywood alminum joiner is of adequate strength for this model. I epoxied mine in place to make a one piece wing which is probably stronger but more difficult to transport. I winch launched mine many times with no problem.

Other Mods - Two things I would do is replace the dowel pushrods with small diameter sleeved wire or cabon fiber pushrods and use Sullivan clevises to connect to the servo and flying surface control horns. I would also glue the tail feathers to the fuse instead of the supplied screw down method. A good article about some other mods to improve the Spirit, especially the comments about incidence and decalage:

http://www.charlesriverrc.org/articles/kitmods/dickwilliamson_gpspiritmods.htm

[Hew Charles]

Thanks for the good info! This is the first time I have put an ARF together and my first glider. I was inspired by the folks that showed up at the Alpine Soaring event last July.

What method did you use to change the incidence and decalage?

Thanks again,
Hugh

[ThermalBuster]

If you move the CG aft you may want to shim the back of the wing. Usually a popsicle stick laid across the fuse opening will lift the TE just enough to get the angles right for a more neutral CG.

Hope this helps.

[sleep4]

If you are going to glue on the stab, go ahead and mount the wing first and make sure it is set to level with an incidence meter, then test mount the stab and make sure you have less than 1 degree (probably around 1/2 degree) of positive decalage with the wing while the elevator is in the neutral position. Sand the stab bed if needed to the proper fit. Then glue it in place maintaining the correct angle. The other alternative is to adjust the wing angles as described above, but I feel it is easier to adjust the stab before gluing it on. You will enjoy the Spirit. It was my first sailplane and a joy to fly.

[Hew Charles]

What is an incidence meter? How do I measure?

I don't have heat gun so I won't be putting this thing together for a while. I do have a covering iron but had a disaster last time I tried to cover an airplane. Is it harder to do a good job with an iron? Even if I don't plan to spend thousands in the hobby would a heat gun be a good investment? I have 8 airplanes but only my Parkzone J3 is RTF.

Thanks,
Hugh

[sleep4]

This is a good incidence meter. I have 2 of them so I can look at the wing and stab at the same time. It's a must have in the shop. An iron should do the job on the wrinkles. A heat gun is a good thing to have however.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXET66&P=7

[Hew Charles]

Is there a way to measure that is cheaper? I am only 14 and have a limited budget. I also live really far away from any active flying clubs. I don't want to put a huge amount of money into this model while still making it a good performer. I have a feeling it's lifespan will be as short as 3 years. But then again maybe not.

Would it be a big performance sacrifice to put it together like the book says? I am thinking I might have to put some more time and money into this to make it fly the way it can be enjoyed most. I don't want to get frustrated by not being able to ride thermals but also don't want to ruin my model.

Thanks so much for all you help,
Hugh

[Phoebusflyer]

Hey, Hew, even if you fly it with the wrinkles in the covering, it will still fly!!! Build it or modify it as best you can according to what others are telling you without spending big bucks to buy things us old guys can afford! Incidence is important, but not deadly unless it's really off. Build or assemble as close as you can according to the book or the guys who have flown one before. Do the best you can and then go out and fly your plane!! You will get the pleasure of seeing your plane fly and you will learn how to handle it, adjust it and THERMAL it!! Put the cg as close as you can according to the instructions received and then, fly the sucker!! You will learn more by doing, than listening to the others on this thread. Once you fly it, then pay closer attention to those who have gone before! Do not let money decide how much fun something is or isn't! Remember, it's just a model, and it will fly even with wrinkles, too far forward cg and all that kind of stuff. Pay attention to what the instructions say, fly as best you can and above all else, ENJOY flying and learning about your new plane!
Have a great time,
Allen

[Hew Charles]

This is all great advice! Thanks to everyone ever so much! I am cleaning off my work area and gathering the necessary suplies to get this thing together. I will do the best I can to set it up so it will perform as it should. I am sure it will turn out much better than it would have without all the great advice. I can't wait to try out soaring! I will post any other questions I might come up with. Thanks agian!

Hugh

[kentuckyglider]

Hey, Hew, even if you fly it with the wrinkles in the covering, it will still fly!!! Build it or modify it as best you can according to what others are telling you without spending big bucks to buy things us old guys can afford! Incidence is important, but not deadly unless it's really off. Build or assemble as close as you can according to the book or the guys who have flown one before. Do the best you can and then go out and fly your plane!! You will get the pleasure of seeing your plane fly and you will learn how to handle it, adjust it and THERMAL it!! Put the cg as close as you can according to the instructions received and then, fly the sucker!! You will learn more by doing, than listening to the others on this thread. Once you fly it, then pay closer attention to those who have gone before! Do not let money decide how much fun something is or isn't! Remember, it's just a model, and it will fly even with wrinkles, too far forward cg and all that kind of stuff. Pay attention to what the instructions say, fly as best you can and above all else, ENJOY flying and learning about your new plane!
Have a great time,
Allen

That's the best advice for a newbie on a budget I've heard on RCG yet!
Bravo! :) :) :)

KG

[sleep4]

ditto

[Hew Charles]

I have spent the entire day working on this glider. I got most of the wrinkles out of the fuse, all of them out of the elevator, and about 40% out of the wing. The wing could use some more work but I decided to stop so I would not cause more wrinkles. It looks much better. I started to install the radio gear but stopped because the flight battery hasn't arrived in the mail yet. I started working on the spoilers but need to get something to use as a pull string. I got the empenage installed but still need to do the hinges. I made a slight modification to the tail to neutralize the CG change. I will make a slight change to the wing later down the road. I should have it done by tomorrow evening. I ordered a hi-start from Dynaflite but it is back ordered. I would post pictures but I don't have the cable to my sisters camera. I will update the build tomorrow.

Thanks,
Hugh

[kentuckyglider]

I ordered a hi-start from Dynaflite but it is back ordered. I would post pictures but I don't have the cable to my sisters camera.

:eek: Dynaflite?
:eek: Sister's camera?

The Dynaflite hi-start will not hold up, my rubber was snapping within a year of extremely light use. A lot of people (including me) go with the Dynaflite stuff at first because of the price, but in the long run you'd be happier with a better quality hi-start. I went with NSP, but there's a few other companies recommended on this thread.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=675608

As for the camera, I don't know about your sister, but I had to sell my soul and slave for years to obtain use of it...

Just kidding. :D

Glad to hear your plane is turning out well. Good luck!

KG

[bobby legue]

Cancel your Dynaflite order and go with Aerofoam. Mine is three years old and still looks and launches like brand new. It was absolutely the best hi-start Ive ever owned.
Bob

[Hew Charles]

Thanks for the warning. I will look into that immediately. I don't like to spend gobs of money but this is a definite exception.

My plane is coming together ok. I have made some huge mistakes but I think it will fly. (hope so) I am having a bit of trouble hooking up the spoilers but otherwise she is ready to go. Thanks to everyone for the help.

Hugh