Thanks, Don, that is kind of what I was thinking when I initially spec'd an HS85.

Redline?
this should have a lower wing loading than the Flair; a "high speed pass" would probably get a yawn

Before sheeting the bottom, I am going to cut off the canopy base while I can still get my hands inside the fuselage. Other stuff can be done after the bottom sheeting is finished.

Cut away the canopy base as best you can—I did OK on the sides, but had problems locating and cutting between F6 and F6A. It was ugly, so no picture! I used a very thin flexible flush cutting saw, to be shown in a later post, for this operation.
After sanding all the mating surfaces so they were flat and clean, I lined the canopy base on the sides and back with 1/32"/.8mm ply for a tight seam; just about the thickness of the material taken off by cutting and sanding. The side rails were not flat, so I placed the canopy base on a flat surface while the glued dry on the ply; gaps were filled in later. The front of the fuselage cutout was faced with 1/32" ply, voids were filled, and some minor work was done on the back edge of the cutout.

The front edge of the canopy base was too uneven for a ply liner, so it was potted to the fuselage using epoxy & microballoons.

NOTE: As mentioned and illustrated earlier (post #47) the sailplane I am modeling has a different canopy setup—typical frame only, without upper fuselage attached. If the stock canopy will not fit the scale configuration, then I will just fit it as is. I am still toying with the idea of showing both types of canopies.

Nice work, clean ,simple and precise.
Keep it up
-Ron-

A little aside here on some of the hand tools that work for me. Of course also include the lowly Xacto knife and #11 blade, fine tooth Xacto or dovetail-type saw, straight edges and rulers up to 48", razor plane and/or block plane, and more.

Anyway, this is my theory: if you don't need a new tool as you are working on a new project, then something is seriously wrong!

First photo:
Great Planes Easy Touch Bar Sanders, 5-1/2" to 33". Just got the longer ones for Christmas. Long sanders for getting all the fuselage formers aligned and sanding the infill; the longest ones for final rib and sheeting touchup on the wings. I buy automotive PSA sandpaper in rolls, with 120 and 220 grit on the medium and fine bars respectively.

Remember I told you to use only one spot of glue on each main former leg when attaching it to the jig strips? It didn't take more than a little nudge with a sharp chisel to break each leg loose from the jig strips so the fuselage can be turned over for the bottom sheeting.

Both my wife and I were teachers, and have a favorite elementary/middle school joke that is appropriate here.

You have many options on how to hold the fuselage while planking/sheeting the bottom.
Andy and Shane used a foam holder, which could be one made for modeling or cut from a cheap foam cooler.

I decided I wanted something with the sturdiness I had when sheeting the top of the fuselage, so I came up with the following. You may notice that this looks a little like the sliding battery tray.

Scott
Where did you get your clamps? locally?

Irwin Quick Clip Micro clamps can be purchased at most home stores. I looked around the Internet and got them for about $4 each. Purchased from Amazon partner MHS, Inc.. Need to email them for reduced shipping (read the small print).

Scott

There are several things that need to be done before starting the planking/sheeting of the fuselage bottom:
Wheel well doubler (if not already done)
Infill for better gluing
A little more lead?

The bottom nose planking is done same as the top, but only extends to F9. This is to help distribute hard-landing stresses; same as not ending wing spar doublers at the same place. The planking is a bit easier here as the canopy opening is not in the way.

Caption for first photo:
Lower nose sheeting about half done. Again, hard balsa is being used; some soaking may be helpful. Clamping the planks in place is now getting really interesting. For easier planking you can use soft balsa; then pins, tape, etc. can be used. For me, heavier wood in front of the CG is OK, and the nose needs the strength. It will take as long as it takes.

Looking good.....

Looking great! I'm really enjoying this build!

Cheers,
Brian

As mentioned earlier, there are balsa doublers for F20 so that existing lengths of balsa can be used to sheet the rear bottom of the fuselage. If you want to use most of the length of a 48" sheet, as I did, you can take the sheeting back to F26 and make up your own doubler.

The rudder pull-pull cables will be taken care of later through the stab opening and the remaining unsheeted bottom tail area.

I haven't mentioned this before, but the balsa WILL shrink when dry, and may change shape. Final fitting is done when dry.

Also, before continuing, it is recommended that the wiring for a stab-mounted servo (if used) be put in now. It is harder later (yea, first-hand knowledge).

The scale wheel size is 60mm or about 2.5". I used a Sullivan Skylite. The axle is 5/32".
The radius of the wheel well was smoothed out to 3" using a sanding drum; the depth was bare minimum after all was done.

I thought the wheel well area was a bit weak, especially the liteply sides. There is going to be some stress on a small wheel and single axle from an 8-10 pound sailplane when the landing is hard. So I will be using 1/8" birch ply to beef up this area.

Scott,

I agree with your fix to beef up the axle plates. Lite-ply may hold up forever if your landings are always straight down runway centerline, but most of us have the occasional cross-up landing (usually after an aborted launch!), and it's the side jolts that need the attention. You want to think about the load path, all the way from the axle to the bulkheads, so that the first failure point will not be wood, but the tire rolling off the wheel hub. That's when you know you got it right. Good work!