OK sports fans, time to install wing joiners... I have my aluminum tubing plugged at both ends, without the joiner inside, and have them sanded with 80 grit for teeth in the epoxy, I'll shim the joint 1/16" apart so I can saw the tube in between the ribs. I have mine set at 2" under the next-to-the-last rib, which seems to match the dihedral angle on the ends of the laser-cut spar-box webs. I mix enough epoxy to get the tubes permanently fixed inside the boxes, so they won't move when I saw through them. I use 30-minute epoxy thickened with milled fiberglass.

Here are a few pics... Enjoy!

This just in... Glider noises are being heard loudly emminating from the garage of Jack Womack... aka... Darth Windbag...

"I love the smell of balsa dust in the morning."

The push rods have been completed, and the aft fuselage is closed. One joiner box is partially completed and the other will be brought to that point this evening.

When the second joiner tube is fixed in place, and the panels sawn apart, the vacant areas will be filled with a mixture of epoxy, balsa dust, and milled fiberglass, and the aft ply webs will be taped on while the whole mess cures. I like to do this in that order so I can mix one large batch of the box filler at once. In the past, I have used epoxy and microbaloons, but that isn't as strong as this mixture, and I've had failures...

I'll add a pic or two when that happens. The spoiler system and completing the wing center section will be the next push.

The wing is closed, the tips are on, and the spoiler tubing is in place. They exit the wing just aft of the spar and the cables will pass through a bushing in the leading edge bulkhead in the fuselage... Nothing extra special in any of the techniques, but I'll post a few pics of the results.

You may notice that my spoilers are only 2 bays long... That's the way I wanted them, and I hop Mark won't mind that minor change...

About those plywood sandwich ribs in the poly joint... They weren't on the plan set that I have, and I thought they were a bit overkill, so I cut 2 of them to add a little strength to the fixed end of the indexing dowell in the tip panels.

I have a little more to do in the way of adding gussets. The kit comes with some plywood ones but again, not on the plans, so I'll make my own.

I bought Monokote today... and the color scheme is decided... It will be green and cream, with chrome accents... like....

My idea with making the spoilers optional and only laser marking the cutouts is so that folks can do just what Jack is doing. Let the builder do it their own way but with some help. Since this is meant to be a beginner design I wanted to add some guidance.

Extra ply ribs...This is because the parts Jack got and the plans are different versions. In the earlier version like the parts sent I had a ply sandwich with some largish ply gussets to strengthen the poly joint. On the two I have built the covering tended to pull the ribs inward to the center of the panel and cause a bow at the joint. The last version which the plans came from will have balsa sheeting over the bay on either side of the poly joint. This will be simpler, lighter, stronger and fewer parts laser cut.

For servos ....I designed it for HS-85's or what I used in mine the Airtronics 94814. Same size as the Hitec but digital and one of my favorite servos for regular sailplanes. I also used an Airtronics 6 channel FHSS-1 receiver and a Hyperion 850 mah LiFe battery. A 4 cell 2/3A flat pack will fit well also.

The tip design is one I have been using for years and first thought of on my Zephyr II HLG design. Light, Strong, nice looking. I like curved tips.

So far this build is very encouraging. Jack and I have had minimal communications about the build. I thought it best to let him have at it and see if any confusion or snags came up. So far things look good and gives me good thoughts about getting this thing in the box. I'll wait for some flight reports to make sure things like the decalage is good and that it flys well. The two prototypes I built flew like a larger plane and won one of our club 2 meter contests. It met it's demise in that contest as I pushed a launch a bit to hard but it proved it is a great flier. I'm not really concerned about the spar as it is supposed to be a beginner plane and not winch proof. A winch proof version is in the works.

Mark Miller

In my kit, the plans show the sheeting schedule as Mark describes, but the ribs I got were not correct for that. So, I went with what I had. I'll be writing up my suggested changes for Mark soon, but he's the designer/manufacturer.... It's up to him to do as he sees fit... Pics tonight...

Looking really, really awesome so far gents. Jobs very well done as usual.

Originally Posted by Lacquerhead

Looking really, really awesome so far gents. Jobs very well done as usual.

Indeed! She's a beaut!

Thanks for the kind words...

Here are some pics of my preliminary canopy shaping, and the wing gussets. I used 1/16 sheet at the spar and 1/8 sheet at the trailing edge. I believe these will prevent any distortion of the ribs from the covering. Note that the grain direction is biased to add strength to the joints. I threw in a tip photo to show the preliminary shaping... Enjoy! I hope to be posting flight reports within a couple of weeks...

Brilliant!

Originally Posted by Lacquerhead

Looking really, really awesome so far gents. Jobs very well done as usual.

Originally Posted by FrogChief

Indeed! She's a beaut!

You two freaked me out with your avatars. Almost gave myself whiplash doing a double take! LOL

Kinda like Frick and Frack... uuhhhh.... which one's Frack?

will be interesting to see how the two bay spoilers work out. seem a bit short.
ross