I worked on the battery hatch today. I cut a section from the front block for the hatch and a small section for the forward block, squared the cuts, and marked a center line on the bottom. Next I cut two lengths of 3/32" by 3/32" strips to fit between the fuselage sides, and glued them centered on the bottom. This will keep the hatch from moving side to side. I test fit the hatch and glued the front block to the fuselage leaving a small gap for clearance, then I cut a small tab from scrap light ply and glued it centered at the front bottom of the hatch extending out 1/4". The next step was to drill a magnet size hole (used a tubing drill) in a scrap piece of 1/16" balsa, trimmed it to size, set it and the magnet on the bottom tab, set the hatch on, and from the bottom put a couple drops of Thin C A on it. After i removed the hatch I finished gluing the tab with Thin C A and used epoxy to glue in the magnet (same technique as the other magnet). Note: make sure you have the correct side of the magnet facing out otherwise they will repel each other. Tomorrow is national sanding day. John

Now comes the hard work

Not much to show for the time I spent, just sanded the battery hatch to shape. Every little bit helps. John

And it looks great!

Tailskid, thanks for the support. John

Yep; starting to all come together!

Tom.

I did the cheeks today. The reason I did cheeks instead of a cowl was for access to the motor and for cooling. I couldn't go larger than 1/4" balsa, so I cut some off of a 3" sheet, cut them to a rough shape, and used thick C A to glue them on to the firewall. Then I sanded to shape. Because the grain was wrong, I used some 1.5 MM Carbon fiber strips epoxyed to the cheeks and a small piece of triangle stock to add strength. Next step is to do the bottom sheeting. John

Today I did the bottom sheeting. The directions said to use 3/32" balsa, but I had a piece of 1/16" so I used it. Started at the aft wing saddle (with the wing installed) and just cut the pieces and glued them on cross grain back to about 1 3/4" from the end, and sanded the edges smooth with the sides. I found a piece of 3/32" light ply, cut and sanded a piece for the remaining 1 3/4". I guess I am ready for the finish sanding, steaming, and filling. John

I started my sanding today. Pretty boring for the next few days until I start covering. I mixed some water in a tub of Hobby Lite (Balsa Lite) until the material was the consistency of peanut butter, and am filling in the areas that need it. Before I started, I dressed it up with wings and feathers and posed it for a picture. John

I thought I would post some progress I've made. The fuselage is ready to take covering, and am working on the tail feathers. Because of how the horizontal and vertical stabilizers go on I am going to attach them before I do any covering. My helper says that the fuselage is OK. John

John you have a neat little plane there, gonna be nice when done. Do you know if a 60 size is available of that plane in kit form,?, looks like something that would be fun to bash and gas up,

Keep up the good work, Leroy

Leroy, no they don't make a 60 size, but this one has a 52" wingspan. I recently did a Florio Flyer 40 from Great Flyer R C http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1739335 . They are a classic stick kit from the 70 s and 80 s and boy do they fly great http://greatflyerrc.com/ . They have a 60 size kit. John

Thanks John, that is a nice plane also. I really like the one you are building now because it looks like something I could bash if it was bigger. I'm just finishing up a big time bash of the Tiger 60 with a 20cc engine, it was so much fun to bash it I'm looking for another one that would be a fun bash build also.

I up and got old so I look for the easier ones to build or bash (hate the sound of bash) and I like gas. Anyway have fun with your's when ya get it done.

I'll hang around for the finish, Leroy

Thanks for the support Leroy. I worked on the horizontal Stab and elevators today. I marked and cut the hinge slots in the stab and elevators, test fit with the CA hinges I would be using, beveled the leading and trailing edges of the elevators, and beveled the leading edge of the Stab. I used the same technique with the stab as I did with the wing (fuselage square on it's nose, measured equal distance to the L E stab, and marked the stab against the fuselage). I installed the wing and made sure the stabilizer was in line with the both vertically and horizontally, and glued the stab to the fuselage using 6 Minuit epoxy. John

Leroy; if you would like a .60 size order the plans from BSUA and have them enlarged, and take a look at mine at the link I provided, this was the original one.