Per the recommendation of Atmosteve, I will be attempting to create my first build log.

This will be for the 2M Electric Lil Bird from Skybench.

I have completed several Guillows balsa models of varying difficulty, so I'm not a complete newbie to building balsa, but this will be the first balsa aircraft I've built to (hopefully) fly.

I will greatly appreciate any tips, hints, oopses, or any other comments as I go along.

The pacing of the build will depend on how much time I have and how motivated I am on any given day.

Here goes nothing.

As you can see i've got the inner wing panel plan laid out on foamboard and covered with wax paper.

I've got all of my supplies including:

clamps
thin med and thick ca w/ accelerator and debonder
pins
break off type and xacto type knives
rubbing alcohol
files and tweezers
bb's and bags for weights
sanding films
epoxy, wood, and white glues
rulers
hot glue gun
combination square
sanding block (and various grits not shown)

Missing anything?

trailing edge stock pinned down. wing ribs 3 thru 6 used to locate front bottom sheeting. sheeting pinned down.

bottom spar located using ribs as a guide. the spar had to be sanded a bit on the sides to fit the notches in the ribs. to glue the spar, i made marks on the bottom sheeting so i knew where to put my glue bead, then i lifted the ribs and the spar as one assembly (my ribs are pinned to the trailing edge) and supported the spar with my xacto and a pen. i ran a bead of glue between my marks on the bottom sheeting down the length of the spar and set the spar down. after verifying my ribs were straight, i set the shotbags on the spar to hold it down while the glue dries.

ribs and center sheeting glued. the center sheeting needed trimmed to width. I used wood glue to glue the center sheeting to the trailing edge and forward sheeting so hopefully it wont stick to the wax paper as much. notice how the black part of the combination square fits nicely between the ribs. keeps the ribs at a 90 degree angle.

the top trailing edge is on. man, i hated beveling the bottom trailing edge more than i can remember hating anything in recent memory. is there an easy way to do that?

the vertical balsa blocks are in. odd thing, I build the ribs spaced out per the plans but one of the blocks had to be shortened and the ones between rib 2 and 3 and 3 and 4 weren't long enough. oh well, I wedged some of the scrap from the bottom center sheeting in there. i hope that isn't the thing that causes this bird to reduce itself back to kit form.

Hey John... Welcome aboard... So far you are doing a great job! As you build, keep in mind to trial fit sub-assemblies & parts. This way you will know if parts were cut too short or don't fit properly.

Another word of advice, and this is just my opinion, do not use CA anywhere on the main wing spar. The last built up wing I built I used 30 minute epoxy, being very careful not to use too much. I was happy I did. Years ago I built an Aquila Grande and used CA on the spar. Big mistake! Cracked like a pretzel.
Since you are using electric power to get your plane aloft, you can even carpenter glue (yellow) on the spar.

Best of luck!
Kurt

Use wax paper between plans and wood. It will protect plans for future use (rebuild after crash or building new bird).

Good luck with your build

Oops, looking on the photos closer, and I think you're using the wax paper already. Sorry

Are you building the one or two piece wing?

Lou

Originally Posted by kzimmerm

Hey John... Welcome aboard... So far you are doing a great job!

Thanks, it's a learning experience for sure. I already see some things I'll do differently
on my next build. If this one flies, I may just order another wing kit and re-do it.

As you build, keep in mind to trial fit sub-assemblies & parts. This way you will know if
parts were cut too short or don't fit properly.

I made the mistake of thinking everything would fit exactly to plan as was the case with the
guillows models I had built before. I think my main problem right now stems from doing the
rib spacing per plan. The vertical balsa fill pieces weren't right and it doesn't look like
the front center dihedral brace is going to make it all the way to rib #4. Like I said though
I'll be pleased if this one flies. Lots of stuff to do differently on the next project.

Another word of advice, and this is just my opinion, do not use CA anywhere on the main
wing spar. The last built up wing I built I used 30 minute epoxy, being very careful not
to use too much. I was happy I did. Years ago I built an Aquila Grande and used CA on the
spar. Big mistake! Cracked like a pretzel.
Since you are using electric power to get your plane aloft, you can even carpenter glue
(yellow) on the spar.

Per the plans, I glued the lower spar to the bottom sheeting with CA, the vertical fill to lower spar
wasn't specified so I used CA (woops?), I used wood glue for the top spar to vertical fill, and
I'll be using epoxy for the dihedral brace to the spar. I won't use CA next time per your
recommendation.

Originally Posted by pazi

Use wax paper between plans and wood. It will protect plans for future use (rebuild after crash or building new bird).

Good luck with your build

Oops, looking on the photos closer, and I think you're using the wax paper already. Sorry

Yep, wax paper is being used. I think I'm going to build another wing with what I've learned from
this one so I'll need the plans in good shape.

Originally Posted by Lou_p

Are you building the one or two piece wing?

Lou

I'm building the one piece. I looked at the instructions for the two piece and my reaction was
something like "...nope".

I switched to Press N' Seal instesd of plastic wrap or wax paper. You can stick it down on the plans and it stays put. It also doesn't lift up making it difficult to read the plans. Used it on my last 2 builds. Good stuff.

As for the CA for holding sheeting to the spar. .. No big deal there. I wouldn't use it on the main structure of the spar. You are good.
Your doing a great job.
Kurt

And- it looks like you've got plenty of BBs to shoot that thing down with in case it gets unruly

Seriously, I love balsa builds. Have a good time and don't over think it too much.

Rick

Originally Posted by kzimmerm

I switched to Press N' Seal instesd of plastic wrap or wax paper.
You can stick it down on the plans and it stays put. It also doesn't lift up making it
difficult to read the plans. Used it on my last 2 builds. Good stuff.

Good idea! I actually took a high res picture of the plans and printed it out before I started in case I needed
to reference something that got covered.

Originally Posted by 2400RDR

And- it looks like you've got plenty of BBs to shoot that thing down with in case it gets unruly

Seriously, I love balsa builds. Have a good time and don't over think it too much.

Rick

I actually don't have a BB gun ha! Lead shot was seriously expensive (the bbs weren't cheap either) and
I have no idea where to find lead bars.

I'm just worried my airfoil will be slightly off and blah blah crash snap etc.

I really would like to know what I should be using to bevel the trailing edge. the sanding block is definitely not
the best solution. It works, but it isn't accurate or uniform by any means.

Should see some progress tonight or the next two nights depending on my energy level.

Hi You couldn't have made a better choice than the L.Bird... Your gonna love how it flies. Build per plan but trial fit as mentioned early... the paper moves due to the weather etc... the laser cut parts are cut exactly.. just ensure that both halves are the same....

Wylie