Originally Posted by benybee

what will cover the main wing?

The Main EPS wing will not be covered. It has a thick spruce spa providing rigidity. I will maiden without covering the main wing, but may cover with varnish and Brown/packing paper if it looks like it needs more twist strength.

Currently having trouble with wing joiners at the moment...

I may glue the wings on permanently.

wheels are on.

Tail has been stripped back down as i had some issues with the servo placement.

Motor is being delivered tomorrow - even though it was ordered weeks ago! fingers crossed maiden one eve next week!

R

And here is the power system.... I've never used a brushless motor even close to this size before!!

I'll be installing this tonight, I'll leave the unimportant things like 'attaching the wings' for another day!

Amazing thread, thanks so much for this! Seeing build logs like this has really inspired me to get into RC and scratchbuilding (well, a little, I prefer designing in 3D and sending it off to get made. I'm very lazy!)

Originally Posted by AeroRoo

Amazing thread, thanks so much for this! Seeing build logs like this has really inspired me to get into RC and scratchbuilding (well, a little, I prefer designing in 3D and sending it off to get made. I'm very lazy!)

sending it where?

Made a fair bit of progress yesterday, wing fasteners are in (couldn't use a pin through the CF tubes as people have suggested due to thickness. I will certainly use a pin and ticker tubes next time!)

Motor is Bolted on and ready for a test this evening. I think this will need to be run up outside due to its size!

Hot wire bow is made, just waiting for my transformer to cut the block of polystyrene. Fibreglass should be here tomorrow to cover polystyrene tail.

Going to spend a lot of time smoothing the wings tonight, They have been liberally covered with polyfilla 'onefill' super lightweight filler, for sanding. Then will cover with the Varnish brown paper method to get some twist strength as they twist quite a lot currently. A bit concerned the varnish wont stick to the polyfilla, but as long as there's a skin, i guess that doesn't matter...

The orange tail in pictures is useless, and will be replaced with the EPS, Fiberglass version for strength.

Looks like the prop is not in the good direction, or i'm i wrong??

Originally Posted by yomgui

Looks like the prop is not in the good direction, or i'm i wrong??

Yeah, I just chucked it on for show... I will turn it around for maiden, haven't started the motor yet, soldering deans connectors onto chunky wires is time consuming work!!

Cheers

The wing is almost ready to be covered in paper and varnish - Filling with Polyfilla onefill has helped smooth out the surface quite a lot.

I will be using fiberglass for the first time to fiberglass the tail.. Here is my shopping list...

Glassfibre Cloth 25g sq Mtr x 2
Glassfibre Cloth 135g sq x 2
SP 106 Multi Purpose Epoxy - Slow-1kg pack
Mixing Kit
100mm Nylon Resin roller + frame

TOTAL: £40 !!

Anyone know anything about fiberglassing... care to share any tips?!

Rich

That looks like a lot of work and weight for a foam airplane. Maybe a conventional balsa, basswood, plywood airframe would be stronger and lighter and just as easy to build.

I have been thinking of designing and building a twin motor UAV this winter and I an thinking that wood is the way for a 800 sq” airplane.


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Wow. Pretty rare to see the foam filled like that before glassing to be honest - If you wanted a really smooth surface it would have been easier to veneer with obechi before glassing. You could have even glassed the foam and put the obechi on with it still "wet", providing the strength and easy "finishable" surface of the veneer on the outside.

The filler I think has just added a lot of weight, and may not give a particularly stable base for the glass fibre.

Hmmm, that is not what I wanted to hear! Basically the reason for fibreglassing is because I want to add some strength in the wings. I am not that good at using wood and making built up wings. and thought foam and fibreglassing would be a easier way to make lightweight wings.

I plan on using this technique for the cathedral tail. And using brown paper to cover the main wings, and centre wing section.

how do people normally make wings and fibreglass them? Is it just the filler I should leave out?

Fiberglass will work but it does not have a very good strength to weight ratio. It may come out a little heavy but it should work ok.

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I had planned on sticking the ESC to the external face of the rear firewall, the same piece of wood the motor mount is screwed onto. However the Wires from the esc to the motor are quite stiff and It is not possible to bend them into shape so the ESC fits on the rear board. Therefore I propose putting the esc just inside the fuselage at the rear, this will also help in keeping it dry in the rain.

The ESC is rated at 100Amps, and The motor peak amps is 55amps, with a max efficiancy of 35a, therefore I don't intend on any long bursts of more than 55amps.

With this in mind, would it be okay to mount the ESC inside the rear firewall?

I would like to shorten these wires, however I am not confident in my soldering ability to be able to shorten them and not fry the ESC in the process.

pictures attached for reference...