Originally Posted by Rishelman

Just searched some old posts here, think I got a handle on it. Going to put the horns in dry, see how much sticks out. If I need to trim for the correct servo horn/control horn ratio, I will.
Rishelman

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...6#post23450940
See the image of my rudder. Fitted them fully flush to the other sides skin, which had the gusset just proud of the surface on the right side.
I had to fill the hole in the horn they provided with epoxy and re-drill, as the push rod was loose in the size drilled as it came...

I re recorded a tutorial about glassing the top sky wing, it turned out much nicer here

Carbon Fiber patch tutorial for model airplane (0 min 0 sec)

What do you think?

well, I was excited to have my first DLG ready to maiden this Saturday. Doesn't look like that's gonna happen. Went out to the shop to install throwing peg and set CG, last two things I needed to do before test flight and trimming. However, I had yet to bolt the wings on since I epoxied the boom to fuse. Bad news. My tails are crooked in comparison to the wing. Seriously bummed out. I have built a few planes, some from kits, some ARFs, nothing like this has ever happened. I measured and lined that stuff up as many different ways as I could think of before glueing, still managed to screw it up. I was so jazzed too, so happy it had turned out so well (until this, obviously). Everyone kept saying what an easy, straight-forward build this was. I agonized over detail after detail. Sanding the pedastal for the stab just right, fitting the rudder true, setting up the linkage, etc, etc. There are a LOT of variables in the building of this kit. And, although I thought I had gone to enough length to insure those variables were spot on, I am still left with a 9.7oz paperweight, about $350 poorer, and no DLG to fly. Well, not one that will fly straight anyway.
Sorry, had to vent. Maybe next year.
Rishelman

Originally Posted by Rishelman

well, I was excited to have my first DLG ready to maiden this Saturday. Doesn't look like that's gonna happen. Went out to the shop to install throwing peg and set CG, last two things I needed to do before test flight and trimming. However, I had yet to bolt the wings on since I epoxied the boom to fuse. Bad news. My tails are crooked in comparison to the wing. Seriously bummed out. I have built a few planes, some from kits, some ARFs, nothing like this has ever happened. I measured and lined that stuff up as many different ways as I could think of before glueing, still managed to screw it up. I was so jazzed too, so happy it had turned out so well (until this, obviously). Everyone kept saying what an easy, straight-forward build this was. I agonized over detail after detail. Sanding the pedastal for the stab just right, fitting the rudder true, setting up the linkage, etc, etc. There are a LOT of variables in the building of this kit. And, although I thought I had gone to enough length to insure those variables were spot on, I am still left with a 9.7oz paperweight, about $350 poorer, and no DLG to fly. Well, not one that will fly straight anyway.
Sorry, had to vent. Maybe next year.
Rishelman

Sorry!! Do you have a picture? Mine is slightly off, but it still flies fine. You can probably still fly it though unless is horrible (like 15 degrees off)

You can shim the wing to line up with the tail feathers . It will fly just fine that way,

If it is a paperweight, might as well try to fly it and see if you can trim enough for it to be a plane that flies...how about cutting the rudder off, sanding the carbon fiber, cut the elevetar stab thing off and stick it again, or (I don't know if this is possible) use heat to unstick the boom and rotate it...

You aren't seriously thinking of throwing it out, or are you?

Probably won't throw it out. But I'm gonna have to wait to fix it now, too frustrated, and the wind is really out of my sails. Best options are buying new pod and boom and try to cut my foam tails free, but can't afford right now. Or, find some way to hack off the boom and get it back on straight. Any option means a whole lot more screwing around with something that was basically done. And it will always be a hack job, and heavy, from day one. Just gonna have to calm down and think it through.

Originally Posted by Rishelman

... calm down and think it through.

good move to walk away for a bit....
been there, done that, it will work out ok in the long run.

try to figure out where along the boom the problem is -
- is the boom horizontally straight relative the wing span(measure from tail end of boom to each wing tip)
- is the boom rotated CW or CCW so rudder/elev not verticle/horizontal at the back
- is rudder vs. elevator *only* not exactly 90', not a big deal at all..

I busted a boom off at the back of the pod, put the pod into a solid fixture with wings on and wing tips level to table, stuck a 2" long wood plug into boom break area with *very* slow set (45min)epoxy, then adjusted boom left/right horizontally to equal measure of tail-tip relative to each wing tip , next double checked and adjusted the boom tail-tip up/down = level with wing's bottom, and lastly made sure to adjust the elevator to be level to wingspan(if wing on table is level then elevator tips can be made level too by equal measurement of elevator tips from table surface).
Basically made all three axis's on the boom as straight and level and equal to each other as possible.
After epoxy set, finished up by wrapping the wounded area with single layer of thin CF tow (tiny/thin kevlar fishing line/thread is ok too).
js

Its not that difficult to cut off the tail feathers and reattach them. Don't ask me how I know.

A boom twist can be fixed by slowly heating the boom with a hairdryer and then twisting it back. Do it a bit at a time and don't concentrate the heat and it should be good. It will only work when it is twisted in respect of the wing. If your vertical and horizontal are not square you should remove one and redo it.

I built the tails on the boom first, they turned out good as far as I can tell; 90* to each other, incidence of stab seems right, etc. Then I bolted the wing on the fuse, and glued the boom on so I could get the right relationship to wing/tail. The gremlins came while the epoxy was drying and twisted the boom, I guess. If I can literally heat the epoxy joint and twist it back, maybe it's not that big of a deal. I assumed I would have to do some fairly major surgery, which, I am capable of, just not looking forward to or happy about. I am used to getting at least some time on a new plane before that has to happen.
Rishelman

Originally Posted by Rishelman

If I can literally heat the epoxy joint and twist it back, maybe it's not that big of a deal. I assumed I would have to do some fairly major surgery, which, I am capable of, just not looking forward to or happy about. I am used to getting at least some time on a new plane before that has to happen.
Rishelman

I've reheated epoxy before to do this some sort of thing. It was on the spars of a slope soarer not a boom though. I used a incandescent lamp to warm the joint up to about 80C, and it goes soft again for a while, then it eventually (say a couple of hours) hardens up again even while hot. The resulting heat cured epoxy is as hard as hell...
If the carbon boom does not soften before the epoxy then I think it may work for you during that soft period.
Martin

Originally Posted by ecenshu

A boom twist can be fixed by slowly heating the boom with a hairdryer and then twisting it back. Do it a bit at a time and don't concentrate the heat and it should be good. It will only work when it is twisted in respect of the wing. If your vertical and horizontal are not square you should remove one and redo it.

I did just this. I heated the boom to pod joint and twisted the joint straight. Some thin CA and it was done

Guess I'll give it a go. Thanks guys.

Rishelman

well Gents, might have pulled it off. On the advise given here, just heated, and twist. Used my industrial heat gun (gotta be really careful-especially with Monocote) and tried to evenly heat the area where fuse and boom come together. I had made a line on the boom to match the seam on the pod. Once it was as warm as I wanted to risk getting it, I slowly applied counter-clockwise pressure. Watching my line the whole time, it didn't seem to budge. So, a little more heat, until the paint on the pod started to bubble JUUUST a LIIITTTLE bit. Again tried to twist. Nothing. Then, I glanced down at my tails...."WHOOOAH!" They were nearly at a 45* angle, like an "X" in relationship to wing. "What the....". Looked back at my line, still perfectly lined up with pod join seam. I could be way off here, but the only way I could figure this would be the case is if the boom itself twisted. Whatever, I just heated it back up and twisted over and over till it was all square. Hopefully it is still structurally sound. If the weather cooperates, I'll find out this weekend.
Thanks for the tip, didn't work the way I thought it would, but oh well, seemed to work.

Rishelman