Except for dropping a pushrod size, what else can be done to provide independent adjustment of each bracing wire with an eye toward lightest weight?

CF components with threaded inserts; such as hollow rods, aluminum would be another route to explore.

Good day,

I cut-out the covering for the aileron servo ports and ironed the over-laps in place; the trim iron was great for this. I centered the servos and cut-away the excess servo arms. Threaded the servo leads thru the lead housing, attached extensions (6”) and secured them with some plastic safety clips (unclegeorge). While testing the aileron servos one of my new Futaba extensions (6”) failed; threw-it out and installed a new one
I used Hitec HS-425BBs with the exception of the rudder and elevator, I put in Futaba 9202s, got these used for a good price and work well on my Hobbico Superstar 40.

Thanks for looking…

Michael

Good evening,

Cut the threaded rods to size for the ailerons, soldered the links and polished them, as I did with the tail supports. I cut some fuel tubing to secure the clevises in place, after centering the servos and screwing the arms in place.

This being my first build; I’m surprised to learn that I’m using inner plastic tubing as part of the rudder & elevator push-rod set-up. Is this common practice with kits; seems secure enough, I guessing that it’s all about keeping the weight down

I cut-out the covering for the push rod slots for the rudder and elevator, measured the plastic rods and cut-to-size. I’ve noted that the movement is stiff; my fault , but I won’t go into the details, LOL! I’ll have to bore-open the exit ports a little to get a nice free-moving rudder and elevator.

I do like the idea of using the threaded cable supplied with the kit for the throttle, over the rigid steel rod that I used in the Hobbico Superstar 40 (ARF). I soldered the brass coupler much like the bullet connectors; once I put the engine in place I’ll set-up the servo end.

Thanks for looking, try and have a good weekend…

Michael

Originally Posted by The Violets

This being my first build; I’m surprised to learn that I’m using inner plastic tubing as part of the rudder & elevator push-rod set-up. Is this common practice with kits; seems secure enough, I guessing that it’s all about keeping the weight down

I use solid wire for push rods. The plastic causes too much trim change from temperature changes.

Mikec

Mikec

Thanks for the advice, I'll pick up some rods at the LHS.

Michael

Good evening,

I used the Sullivan S860 tailwheel bracket with their 1¼’’ tail wheel (drilling out the hub to fit over the axle). I trimmed away the L/E of the bracket to accommodate the tail rod supports.
I used a wheel collar for now, but asking what the most common practice is used; I could not find any examples on the net? A pin vise was used to insert the steering spring to the rudder, then I cleaned-up the bracket and tail wheel.
Started gluing the wheel pants, used a drum sander to shape-out the openings and I cut-out the slots. I understand covering can be a difficult; so I guess I’ll go with painting them. Went on to screw-in the main landing gear but seen my covering came-up a little short , so I had to add a little more before setting the gear in place.

Appreciate your comments on the tail wheel collar?

Thanks for looking...

Michael

Great thread! I just picked up one of these over the weekend. I believe it was an ARF, but I haven't dug in deep enough to say for sure. It has been sitting in an attic for a while. There is some minor damage in front of the verticle stab, but nothing that I can't fix.

May I say sir that reading this thread I am impressed with your attention to detail. The only thing I am dissappointed about is, I was hoping that when I reached the end of the thread, I would get to see a pic of the finished product. But I see you are not done with it yet. I have subscribed to your thread and will be watching for you to finish it. All of the tips you got in this thread will also help as I tear mine apart and go throught it to make sure it's airworthy.

Mine has the J hooks and I really came here looking for how that worked. I have never seen a wing that was held together with a rubber band before. I only assumed that was how it worked since there was a rotted piece of rubber band hanging from one of the hooks when I got it.

Once again NICE JOB!

Thanks "Midnite_rider" for your support, glad you’re enjoying my first build but it isn’t over yet, still working on the model and some more posting to come. I’m re-doing the canopy after finding some RC-560 glue and some neat “FourMost” canopy trims from a LHS (a great find and a pleasant surprise) . Working on those wheel pants, detailing, r/x battery & switch, placement of my Nav lights controller and R/X under the hatch, engine break-in, and once I get it on the CG machine I’ll set the engine in place. Still snow on the ground up here but the weather is starting to warm-up!
Yours could be a kit build, I think the ARF version only came out recently but not sure on it.
As for the J-Hooks, I too did a lot of searches prior to the built and decide to go with wing nuts (see my past post #34), but using a couple of rubber bands should not prove a problem, many continue to use them. Others use a wire zip tie in the fuse and through both J-Hooks, another alternative is properly sized O-Rings for a nice tight fit. “SeamusG” sent me a nice pic on how he uses a zip tie (see post #16). I would just be sure to add a little extra epoxy on those J-Hooks.
Hope this helps…

Michael

Something wrong with the image posting very small.

You're right loNslo, but it's from a 3rd party post (#16) in this thread; tried to enlarge it the best I could but losing resolution.

Michael

Good afternoon,

I lined-up the pants to mark the drill holes for the mounting plates, but noted one of the slots on the pants was a little too high. I used some masking tape as backing and filled the top portion of the slot with epoxy and let it dry over-night. Sanded the excess epoxy, re-shaped the slot and made my drill marks. I used thick CA for the mounting plates and let it dry over night with the screws in place. Test-fitted the pants; sanded down the seams and surface area with 220 grit paper and they’re ready for priming & painting.

Thanks for looking…

Michael

Good morning,

I installed the receiver switch in the pre-cut slot; the toggle switch is almost flush with the cover-plate, so no accidental no/off incidents. The R/X battery was wrapped in 1/4” foam, ends were sealed-up with a little CA and it was secured with a battery strap.

I’m figuring the R/X (Optima-7) can be placed on-top of the battery pack using Velcro? I would like to install a second small platform between the fuel tank and wing-nut inserts to secure the controller for the NAV lights; also with Velcro?

What do you think; and any suggestions

Thanks for looking…

Michael

Good evening,

I tried out two methods using trim-sheets for the alphanumeric decal cut-outs. The first, I removed the trim sheet (purple) backing and tried-out the Windex on glass, with the template taped-over the set-up. I applied the cut-outs individually on the aileron using the Windex and wiped dry.
The second method was simply keeping the backing on the trim-sheet (black), applied a little “77” glue on the back of the template and started cutting. I used transfer paper to line-up the decal and then peeling off the backing off before the application.

The SIG “Somethin’ Extra” decal lettering was individually cut-out, backing removed and applied with Windex for easy positioning.

Thanks for looking…

Michael

Good afternoon,

LOL, I just had to give it another shot, since I got a hold of some Pacer 560 canopy glue and found-out about “FourMost” canopy trimming. The new canopy took about three weeks for delivery to one of the LHS.
It didn’t take much effort to remove the old canopy even with the trim tape applied; so I’m guessing it wouldn’t hold-up during flight.
Started by dying the new canopy (see Post #116), removed the old covering, lightly sanded the hatch and re-covered. Cut-out the canopy, gave the edges a light sanding and test-fitted the “FourMost” trim; using Pacer 560 applied it to the outer edges of the canopy, glued the trim in place and wiped the excess away.

THEN DISASTER STRUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next day, I opened a new bottle of CA and applied a fine tip to the spout and with a gentle squeeze out pops a glob of glue in mid-air and hits the canopy square on! Like I was watching it in slow motion, panic set-in and I grabbed the wrong rag to try and blot-it-out but the rag was soaked in "Un-Cure"!

What are the risks of flying canopy-free, LOL?

Thanks for looking…

Michael