Hello everyone,

I've made a little more progress on the Raven. I have the spoiler servos test fit in the spoiler bays. I'm not going to glue them in place until after I have made and tested all my wiring harnesses. Ray has been gracious enough to let me use his soldering helper. That way I should be able to solder all the connections without burning my own fingers. Thanks Ray. I should be getting it tomorrow.

I did some fine tuning on the wing rods and I now have a very nice fit between the wings and the fuselage. I keep telling myself that I am getting close to finishing but each time I say that I find some additional things that need doing. It may not seem like it but I am indeed making progress.

I have included a few new pictures of where the build is at. Spoilers are fitting very nicely and should be a cinch getting those setup. Provided the soldering goes reasonable well I should be able to start covering the main wing soon. At least then it will look more finished. Setting up wiring and linkages always have little to show for the amount of time they take.

Wayne

Looking good Wayne. Keep going, Summer is only a few months away.

Bob in Seattle

Now that the holidays are over I can start to get back into my regular routine and I can get back to the build. My friend Ray graciously allowed me to use a little device he had which holds stuff while you solder. After I used it once I wondered what planet I have been on all this time as it is a great little thing. I do not know what it is called but it certainly made soldering much, much easier and my solder connections are cleaner too. A big thank you to Ray. FWIW Ray is currently building a 2 meter Chrysalis. I can't wait to see it fly this spring.... summer.... fall.... no pressure Ray.

So where am I? Well I have made up nice little wiring harnesses to go from the receiver to the Deans connectors mounted in the fuselage sides. Cutting the Deans connectors into the fuselage was a lesson in patience. The fuselage is entirely plywood in that area. A sharp knife and some custom sanding sticks made it doable.

Up next is gluing the Deans connectors into the fuselage. Once those dry I can set the corresponding Deans connector in the wing root. Then it will be time to get the spoiler linkages set and the spoiler servos glued in place. After that it will be onto running the rudder cables and then to covering the wing and tail, balance and throw. Oh my, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Wayne

Hello everyone,

The wiring is in, the connectors are epoxied into the fuselage and I have fiddled with the two wing joiners to get a nice even fit to the main wings to the fuselage. I ended up having to go back and revisit the spoiler servos as I discovered the arms to be too short to get a good spoiler deployment. Not a big deal but I needed to remove them to really do what needed to be done. They were not glued in yet so it was easy.

I have been learning my new (used) radio and setting it up is of course different from my previous radio so some of my time lately has been spent reading the manual. I know, I know, say what you want about real men don't read manuals...... It has been fun getting to know it.

I have moved onto major wing covering. I started to cover the wing in the same gold/black/white configuration I posted a while back but after getting the inner wing panels done I didn't like it so I stripped it all off and came up with a new design more to my liking. Having gold on the entire sheeted area was just too much. I like the new design better but you will have to wait and see what it is.

Here is a little picture to tide you over. Thanks for sticking with me through all this. It has been a longer journey than planned but the end is in sight. I have really enjoyed the build so far and am looking forward to the Raven's first flight.

Wayne

Well I have been slowly cutting and attaching covering. Not really too much to tell other than I am not 100% in love with the gold arch on the wing. I'm thinking maybe gold pinstripes around the white areas of the wing instead. We'll see how it goes. I do like the way the translucent area of the wing came out and it looks awesome from the bottom when light is hitting it.

Wayne

Hi Wayne,
I'm voting for the pin stripes. The arch looks out of place somehow.
Here is a note for you. I couldn't throw mine hard enough to make it fly for basic throw tests. I had to go to 1/2 power for 2 seconds and cut it off.
Bob in Seattle

Hello everyone,

The last piece of covering was put on the Raven this past weekend. I will work on getting a fully assembled, covered picture posted. I have also finished the elevator control rod hookup. Next up is the rudder connection. I hope to work on the pull pull rudder setup this week. I also ordered some 1/8th inch wide stripping tape in both chrome and metallic finishes. I am abandoning the wide gold arc on the wing and am going towards a pin stripe finish for the wing. We will see how it looks and if I find it acceptable I will post some pictures.

I think I still have some time to finish the Raven before Spring gets here because we just go 8 inches of new snow last night. It's safe to say I will have at least a few weeks before I see grass again. Here is a quick video of the tail and the elevator movement. Yes the Raven is finally alive.

Wayne

Raven Tail motion (0 min 16 sec)

It looks so cool.I can't wait to see it fly.

Here are the pictures I promised. Not quite ready to maiden but it will be before the snow melts. Will begin getting the rudder connected and other little things like a hatch hold down and a battery switch. It still needs a tow hook installed but I am waiting to see where it balances at.

Wayne

Now "THAT" is one really, really, really, cool looking plane!

Adios - Paul

Paul, thank you for the kind words. It has been quite a project. Both Bob and Scottie finished their Ravens many months ago, I guess I am bringing up the rear. I still have a gull wing to make but I will most likely fly the poly wing this season and work on the gull wing later this year. The gull wing will have ailerons and flaps.

I will have maiden flight pictures posted when I get to it. Like I said earlier, there is still some work to be done but all the major stuff is finished.

Wayne

There are going to be a lot of envious people at the flying field when you fly it. Bring a photographer with you. I can hardly wait.

Bob in Seattle

Thanks Bob, that means a lot coming from you as your planes always look so nice. As hard as it was to do, I cut into the pristine wing covering to make room for the spoilers. Maybe it is just me but it always feels wrong to plunge a knife into freshly applied covering. I glued down the servo after confirming the spoiler would deploy correctly. I used some Shoe Goop for this as it has strong adhesion but still makes for a removable servo in the case of a failure. I am going to tweak the fit a little but overall it looks pretty good. I actually went so far as to shape the upper portion of the spoiler to match the wing airfoil in that portion of the wing. You can see it in the second picture. It took a little work but hopefully will make for better air flow over the wing when they are closed. It might be wasted effort but in my mind it will make a difference and make the plane fly better. You all know how that goes right, I think it is true therefor it is true. If nothing else I will chalk it up to attention to detail. On to the other wing now.

Wayne

hi there from Toledo

That is a beauty, Wayne! Good job.

ciao -rjf

ps: Are you going to bring it to the Toledo Expo in April? -r

Hi Ray, it's not likely that I will make it to the Toledo show. Even if I could make it I think I would be a little out of my league there. Your Houston Hawk entry from last year looked great, it's too bad they put you in the category that they did. I never did hear how well you like the way it flys?

I have been looking high and low for pinstripe tape that can handle the tight radius of the wingtip. I bought some really fine looking 1/8th inch chrome gold stuff last week only to discover it puckers on tight curves. I went out to a couple of sign shops today and might have found something that will do the trick. I should have some time this weekend to test it out. I will report back what I learn.

Wayne