Good morning everyone... sure glad its friday around here... I might get a chance to do a little riding if the weather holds out...

Yes... Tom.... thats my 1982 Goldwing... another passion I have...although I don't ride it near enough, It will be with me until I get a newer one, of which I have a goal of getting one on my 50th birthday..about a year-and-a-half away...at that point I'll have to part with this baby I've had for 15yrs so far...its been a great bike...one of the best vehicles I've ever owned. If you've owned one you probably know what I'm talking about.

Here's a few pics of the rear turtle-deck. Sheeted with 1/16", wetted down for plyability, it went on like butter.

The peices are cut into wedge-shape sheets, the rear-stab areas are slightly trimmed for clearance. Then you apply chalk(I used grand-daughters sidewalk chalk)to the top spar. Take your sheet and lay it in as best you can, pressing the top area(where chalk is)down to leave that impression of chalk. That gives the cut-line for the sheet...albeit very light, it came out perfect. Wet it down again, and start from the top, and systematically apply glue working your way down, and wa-la...turtle deck.

Pic #1. The first half of the deck...

Pic #2. Same first half, different angle...

Pic #3. Roundage... rough idea of what's to come... The deck finishes and stiffens the fuse incredibly...

More to come... hopefully I've got alot more time this weekend..

Here's something Tom mentioned about adding some triangle stock at the mounting point on the vertical stab... which was a great suggestion, and this worked out pretty much like I anticipated...

Pic #1. The deck-sheeting also locks in the stabs, and adds some necessary triangulation to that area...

Pic #2. I threw down a touch of epoxy/micro-balloons for some micro-fillets, which is what I should have used on the wing/fuse joint.. but I just remembered the micro-balloons... so here it is..

Pic #3. I couldn't resist... dinner one night, just before throwing it on the BBQ... got some shish-ka-bob, shrimp-ka-bob, beef-ka-bob...and somethin-ka-bob....... that and some adult beverage... its California life..what can I say. Oh man was it tasty!!! All this building just makes me hungry.

Building and eating. Two of my favorite passtimes !!!

Originally Posted by TomCrump

Building and eating. Two of my favorite passtimes !!!

Fooor suuure Tom... I thought you'd like that!... I've had a bit more time the last few days to work on some of my "stuff"...so there's a bit more progress..
probably falls under the "finish-frame" category..

Pic #1. The CA hinges contained in the kit come in a sheet thats cut down, then you trim the corners.. I also centered pins on these, to be removed just before CA is applied(after covering). It gives me a way to center/guide the hinge during/after insertion, we've probably all done this, I think for a few minutes spent pinning, you know the hinge will be center-center when done.

Pic #2, 3, 4. Hinged, firewall doped, have one more light sanding, just for good measure, and to clean it up for Monokote.

I'm very pleased with it at this point. Everything fits well, the manual has been very helpful, especially sheeting the turtle deck. I did that exactly as it stated, and it worked out great.... I'm finally on a roll..!

I meant to post this for you earlier Tom.. you asked about the Wing... here's a quickie shot of her...

1982 GL1100 Aspencade

I'm trying not to let her know I've been looking for a much newer bike.. haha.

Keep her. I doubt that you'll find a better ride ! She's a beauty, for sure.

Mine was just an Interstate, but she had a nice stereo, some added chrome () and pulled a home made trailer all over the Midwest.

Originally Posted by TomCrump

Keep her. I doubt that you'll find a better ride ! She's a beauty, for sure.

Mine was just an Interstate, but she had a nice stereo, some added chrome () and pulled a home made trailer all over the Midwest.

You know how these bikes are... and it is a real nice ride! We've contemplated a newer one for years though... pretty much came up with my 50th birthday for a goal... and I'm thinking about keeping this one for running around town too... as its cheap all around to own and ride... although being carburated it gets right around 36mpg... where the new 1800's are getting over 40mpg I hear, and they've got ALOT of power... which back in my days of being under 200lbs wasn't an issue... but I'm just a tad bigger(I'm underestimating here) in my more mature years..,so I really can use the extra 60-70+hp(or more) the 1800 produces...haha.. as I think they're right around 140hp or more.

I only paid $2500 for it in 1996, and I might be able to still get alot of that back for it now, as I have seen a few for around that... I'll enjoy it regardless though, as I don't see a new Wing in the garage yet... haha.. either way I'll have one, as I won't let go of this one until a new one hits the garage floor.

Nice thing about the Wing's is there isn't alot that needs to be done to them unless you want too... I rarely, very rarely have to work on it. The only major components I've replaced in 15yrs is one starter a few years back, a fuel filter. Everything else is wear/tear stuff like tires, brake-pads, and regular service stuff like air-filters, plugs, oil..that stuff is replaced regularly..so it is a very cheap bike to maintain.. as are the new ones... but the dang price tag on a new one easily approaches $25,000... so I might hold out for a real nice used one... which can easily save $10,000 off the price of new... its all fun though, and something I enjoy pondering and chatting about.

You must have a weak right wrist. LOL Mine got 32 mpg, if I was lucky.

Except for the normal stuff, mine was maintenance free, too.

My first big bike was a goldwing and i also choped a honda 750 on a amen soft tail frame .I always owned a 54 pan head but when it was not feeling like it wanted to start i would have to kick it for a hour , so i rode my goldwing. I sold every thing and bought a harley road king in 97 and still own her today . Your plane is ready for covering ,thats what i have been up to for the last week . She looks light and mean . joe

Dgrant hows this plane comming along???? Have you got the covering on yet??? Just found this thread tonight and read it from the start, must say I have enjoyed every bit..... I got my hands on one of these Dazzler planes about three weeks ago somebody had thrown it out!!!! never been flown had a few bits missing and some rips in the covering but overall condition was great.

Had to cut the wing apart because the joint was'nt very good and the tips of the wings were pointing down, to which I understand should be level or at least mine is now :-).
Make a radio cover & lid for the bottom of under carriage and a servo tray for the servo's, then glue the wing in, rear wing and rudder which was a bit of a pain because we noticed the rear of the fuselage had a twist in it, aligning the wings was a nightmare.

Flown it three times now and it's great...... only been flying rc planes a few months with a trainer so was really nervous but it's fantastic.

Hope you get it finished soon and have a safe maiden flight.

Paul

Hello Paul, and everyone else following(even the crickets out there..)... I'm still here... life just called me for the last few weeks, and have only had time to check in and read a bit on our RCGroups...

I was able to leave off just right on the Dazzler, so when I pick it up again, I'm on the covering... so Paul.. to answer your question.. its just ready to cover... of which I'll be taking some pics along the way also, status quo as previous... and Paul... I'm very glad you found and enjoyed the read.. Thank you for your interest... I hope this thread helps you where you might need it.. ITs actually my first documentation I've done in open forum. I've been reading some for years... I can only hope the info I'm putting down here is as good as what I've recieved from other build threads and builders.. (Thanks to Tom and EJWash, and several more that I follow!!)...

So... enough of that.. and I have some info to share... not in front of me at the moment.. but I'll post it back.. as I have the finished weight of the airframe(no covering/no engine/no hardware).. but its pretty interesting.. so I'll be back with that info..

I'm hoping to start on some covering in a short time too... can't say exactly when as I still have some family obligations to take care of.. (Ya gotta love your family.. I do for sure..) ..plus.. I'm not usually known for "fast".. haha.. as I'm sure alot of us in the hobby might be like that... I haven't always been like that... but I've found it actually works for me.. some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about... So.. I'll be back with a few pics soon... thanks for following.

PS... Paul.. glad you got yours in the air... it looks like it would be a very mild flier with throttle control/management.. and a really wild ride when full throttle is used... What size engine are you using??

I've been flying the sim with it.. and am thoroughly impressed... its right up the alley that I was going for.... simple, fun, very aerobatic, a borderline 3D++ plane, cheap to build, cheap to fly, and something that will turn a few heads.. I'm stoked on flying this bad boy.. !!!

A couple of pics when I got this, hope you don't mind...

1) I just placed all parts together to take a pic for a mate.
2) where the missing radio cover would of been.
3) some additional strenght with fast glass resin where the fuel tank sits
fitted a 6oz tank which is way too small, going to get a bigger one this week.
4) bit more additional strenght for the wing to fuselage (read on the net about a few that had snapped the front end off after a hard landing) I'm sure mine will get a hard time...... ***thinking ahead here :-)***
5) The finished item
6) couple of stripes to cover up some damage

had a couple of teething problems on it's maiden flight, one of the ailerons came off :-0 hinges snapped. Must of had some internal damage to the rear wing that went unnoticed because that was broke when we got this plane back on the ground. All in all still look forward to flying this plane

engine is an OS 50

Paul

Hey Paul.. Very cool fix-up on the Dazzler. With a .50 it should go like a rocket. I've got a few vids saved in my YouTube with Dazzlers.. and they're quite the little hot-rods with bigger engines.

I've got to plan for my fuel-tank set-up too.. I just haven't had a chance to look at my fuel-tank inventory and figure out which one works... as the plans call for a 6oz.tank, that just seems small to me... with a reasonable .46 high-performance engine, I'm hoping I can find an 8oz tank that fits... its pretty tight in there.

I almost just bought the ARF version just to get it in the air, as a club member is also flying a Dazzler, and its always better with two... but I'm glad I've started this one.... I thought I'd have a block of time to complete it by now... but oh well.... it'll get there..
Thanks for the pics...

Hey, any progress lately?

cheers!

I'm hoping to get back to it very soon. I got it to the covering stage, so that will be the next phase.

There was a bunch of honeydoos to be done(I actually built another storage shed in my backyard), and summer travel(gots to keep momma happy too) happened, and we did end up getting a new motorcycle...and she loooves to ride.. so we've done a bit of traveling...

I didn't mean to drop the ball, as always our intentions of completions on these don't always match our siginificant others plans, and... well.. life happens..

But thanks for the wake up call, as this project does need to proceed to completion... at this point I'm looking at the middle of the week or so to get on it again...

Thanks for reading... C-you soon.