I got some more done on the Vixen tonight. I was looking at the airframe yesterday and I decided to build a small scaled down pusher jet to check the C.G and try to get an idea of the flight characteristics. I threw it together out of DS foam and some electronics I had sitting around. I paid close attention to the shape of the Vixen except I increased the sweep to 60 degree from 50. I flew it this afternoon and it flew great. So back to the main build. I know that there will be significant differences in the aircraft, but it satisfied my curiousity about the design.

I took your guys advise and decided no rudders. I have the vertical stabs built and also made some changes to the underside of the fuse. to accomodate and hide the wiring.

thats lookin like its gonna be a bullet! nice very nice

Joe

Maybe it will be gettin that 6s? Haha. I really want it to "fly on rails" . I have some concerns about using the 3/8th's aileron material that I have because the TE at the hinge point is 1/2" thick. My concern is having that "step" from TE to elevon. Its only 1/16th's top and bottom and I can taper it to match. I just am not sure what type of air disturbance that would cause? (if any) maybe I am over thinking it.. I am going to look one more time and see it I can find any 1/2" material that might work ,I could always cut my own out of 1/2" balsa, but that would be a pain. Any thoughts on that?

make them out of foam then skin them with balsa sheet.

Joe

lookin good Lt

Thanks guys! I thought about doing what sloperjoe suggested with the foam and slins. Even know I could not find pre cut airleron material in 1/2" I did find a piece of balsa at the LHC 1/2"x6"x36" so I decided when all else fails build your own. I decided since I was going to shape my own elevons out of this block of balsa I might as well try the "hidden hinge" or "slotted hinge" system with Robart pins. I have never done them before and always wanted to try. I increased the elevons to 1 3/4" instead of 1 1/2". After about 4 hours in the shop last night here is what I came out with.

LT, great looking job!! Really nice. w

did this in cad. PS YOU you got CG yet

Originally Posted by Lt599

Thanks guys! I thought about doing what sloperjoe suggested with the foam and slins. Even know I could not find pre cut airleron material in 1/2" I did find a piece of balsa at the LHC 1/2"x6"x36" so I decided when all else fails build your own. I decided since I was going to shape my own elevons out of this block of balsa I might as well try the "hidden hinge" or "slotted hinge" system with Robart pins. I have never done them before and always wanted to try. I increased the elevons to 1 3/4" instead of 1 1/2". After about 4 hours in the shop last night here is what I came out with.

grease or AfterRun oil on the hinge pin prior to gluing will stop it sticking,

Originally Posted by space 1

did this in cad. PS YOU you got CG yet

Thats cool! I have done some preliminary measurements with the delta calc. But I have not got the exact CG yet. I have one in the ballpark.

Originally Posted by medlockaj

grease or AfterRun oil on the hinge pin prior to gluing will stop it sticking,

Thanks for the info.

I spent the last couple of days doing finish work. I wanted to try both SS1000 and a product I found called MagiKote. So I used the SS1000 on the fuse. and wings and the Magikote on the vertical stabs, vents, hatch/canopy area and the nacelle. The LS1000 I brushed on with foam brush. It was very hard to keep an even coat. I applied 2 coats and sanded..alot! Next time I will borrow a pack from work and spray it. The Magicote is not as hard as the SS1000 but it is easier to apply. It seals, fills and sands out great. It is also about half the weight. I did a new product thread in scratch built foamies on it.(dont know if its new or not? but new to me)

Looks great LT! W

Well I had an interesting thing happen. I used the SS1000 on the fuse and wings. I used the Magikote on the vertical stabs and of course just primer on the elevons. I painted my first color (white) I used the Krylon fusion. The vertical stabs dried within minutes and so did the elevons. The area that I used the SS1000 and then primed it has taken 6 days to completely dry! I have no idea what happened. Both the SS1000 and the primer where dry enough before paint that I was able to do the final sanding. Some kind of weird reaction I guess. Anyway thankfully it cured I thought for awhile that I may have ruined my build. I will be finishing the paint over the next couple of days.