Want some Alaskan Leg?

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 03:57 AM

How about a LEG One Design racer?

I'll try to get this thing built before the winter, but I've kinda got a history....

Same deal as before, I don't much feel like talking to a wall, so by all means, pipe up and chime in. I'll be learning a few new things as we go, so if you have advice or an idea, spit it out and we'll see if it works.

Kind of a side note, I'm REAL impressed with the quality of the LEG kits, that's why I took closeups of the hardware. All the fiddly bits required to finish the plane are included, dihedral angle has already been pre-set before it gets to you, just a well thought out kit, lots of pre-fab.

Well enough of that, let's see what this thing looks like...

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 04:05 AM

I have no set pattern to how I build foamies, I generally build the part that sounds the "funnest". I wanted to see how this thing was going to look, so I started by knocking off the edges with a snap blade.

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 04:18 AM

Photos are courtesy of Devon, one of many neighbor kids who think that planes are 'tight'. Yes, I can say that with a straight face.

After the edges are knocked down, I did the general shaping with 40-grit-3M-sticky-sided-automotive-sand paper that was slapped onto a chunk of foam. Thanks to TFLG for that tip......that was totally tight.

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 04:32 AM

Well, the fuse stopped being fun, so we moved onto the wing. Started out by finding the wing pieces. Remember 'back in the day" when your spar joiner was a 6" piece of hardwood jammed in front of the spars? Man, that still cracks me up. The LEG "joiner" is almost three feet long, the dihedral is pre-set with the spars cut and glued for you. The main spars have the scarf joint pre-cut so even I can't screw this one up.....can I?

I used epoxy to glue the main spar together and then to glue the joiner to the main spar. I like epoxy because it's strong and fast and I can make a lot of progress quickly.

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 04:39 AM

Next I prepped the cores and the beds by scrubbing all of the goobers off with some scrap EPP.

Why did I include pictures of this? 'Cause Devon took like three hundred pictures of this step. Why the interest in this step? No telling.....kids are frickin wierd.

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 04:50 AM

Alright, we've got a spar channel cut out for one spar, but now we have two spars glued together. Here's what we do; lay the main spar down in the pre-cut slot with the joiner IN FRONT of the main spar. Then just trace around it with a pen.

Sorry for the crappy pix, but this works great. Extend your snap blade knife until it reaches the bottom of your spar slot.....that's how deep you want to cut for your joiner. After cutting down the line you just made, lay your knife flat in the spar slot and cut out the excess foam. Hopefully pictures speak a thousand words. Thanks to Jack for that tip, it works like a champ.

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 05:02 AM

Looks like I kinda got into a groove here and didn't take many pictures. I put wax paper on the wing beds, drizzled lots of WBPU glue all over the spar, (and my floor) then laid the spar in the spar slot and made a sandwich with the wing beds and weighted the whole mess down. After that, Leah came out to the shop, made the kids go home and respectfully and subserviently requested that I watch a movie with her.

......okay.......she made me....

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 05:11 AM

While the credits were rolling, I blew Leah a quick kiss on my dash out to the shop and started in on the tail group. It's a pretty simple affair, 3/8" sheet balsa. I drew a centerline on the stab and the elevator, marked out where I would put my CA hinges and slotted both parts with a hinge cutting tool. (purchased on my recent trip to the PSS Mecca!)

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 05:16 AM

Same deal here, I took some sandpaper and knocked the edges off of the stabs. Apparently I got into a groove and my pictures are a tad sporadic. Oh well, here's what I got. Make sure you have plenty of throw at this stage. You don't need massive ammounts, but be sure that after you cover the tail group, you'll still be able to move the elevator

mothflyer · Jul 21, 2004, 07:59 AM

hey jeff
looking great!!
i should get my one d when i go visit jack, i can't wait.

later
tim

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 04:17 PM

Hey Tim, it's turning into a pretty quick build. Now if I can convince my boss to let me stay home and finish it.

Next I got going on the pre-cut trailing edge material. Marked which was which, drew a centerline and then cut a 'V' notch in the wood with an exacto. After that I hogged out the rest of the channel with my dremel.

Jeff Charlot · Jul 21, 2004, 04:25 PM

After the channel was cut, I made sure that the torque rods would fit flush, marked where the throw would be needed and hogged out the appropriate area with my dremel again. Handy little tool. Looked good to me, so I mixed a little bit of epoxy, laid it in the channel and installed the torque rods with some tape to hold it secure.

I made double sure that I didn't get any glue in the torque tubes! Man, I've made that mistake more than once.

Dunqun · Jul 21, 2004, 06:19 PM

Hey Jeff, looking good! I have no substantive comment, I just didn't want you thinking you were talking to a wall.

Duncan

zagiace · Jul 21, 2004, 07:10 PM

gotta love build threads...
Looks great!

nwoods · Jul 21, 2004, 07:15 PM

Loving it Jeff. If it turns out good, I'll send you my kit for the "Here's all the things I'd do differentely if I ever had to do it again" thread...

:-)

Nathan Woods

Jul 21, 2004, 03:57 AM	#1
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	Want some Alaskan Leg? How about a LEG One Design racer? I'll try to get this thing built before the winter, but I've kinda got a history.... Same deal as before, I don't much feel like talking to a wall, so by all means, pipe up and chime in. I'll be learning a few new things as we go, so if you have advice or an idea, spit it out and we'll see if it works. Kind of a side note, I'm REAL impressed with the quality of the LEG kits, that's why I took closeups of the hardware. All the fiddly bits required to finish the plane are included, dihedral angle has already been pre-set before it gets to you, just a well thought out kit, lots of pre-fab. Well enough of that, let's see what this thing looks like... Attached Thumbnails 60.8 KB · Views: 710 61.7 KB · Views: 651 61.6 KB · Views: 650

Jul 21, 2004, 04:05 AM	#2
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	I have no set pattern to how I build foamies, I generally build the part that sounds the "funnest". I wanted to see how this thing was going to look, so I started by knocking off the edges with a snap blade. Attached Thumbnails 60.4 KB · Views: 662 60.6 KB · Views: 645 59.3 KB · Views: 639

Jul 21, 2004, 04:18 AM	#3
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	Photos are courtesy of Devon, one of many neighbor kids who think that planes are 'tight'. Yes, I can say that with a straight face. After the edges are knocked down, I did the general shaping with 40-grit-3M-sticky-sided-automotive-sand paper that was slapped onto a chunk of foam. Thanks to TFLG for that tip......that was totally tight. Attached Thumbnails 60.9 KB · Views: 657 59.6 KB · Views: 638 60.9 KB · Views: 626 59.1 KB · Views: 623 61.1 KB · Views: 653

Jul 21, 2004, 04:32 AM	#4
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	Well, the fuse stopped being fun, so we moved onto the wing. Started out by finding the wing pieces. Remember 'back in the day" when your spar joiner was a 6" piece of hardwood jammed in front of the spars? Man, that still cracks me up. The LEG "joiner" is almost three feet long, the dihedral is pre-set with the spars cut and glued for you. The main spars have the scarf joint pre-cut so even I can't screw this one up.....can I? I used epoxy to glue the main spar together and then to glue the joiner to the main spar. I like epoxy because it's strong and fast and I can make a lot of progress quickly. Attached Thumbnails 55.6 KB · Views: 613 57.9 KB · Views: 639 60.4 KB · Views: 615 60.0 KB · Views: 623

Jul 21, 2004, 04:39 AM	#5
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	Next I prepped the cores and the beds by scrubbing all of the goobers off with some scrap EPP. Why did I include pictures of this? 'Cause Devon took like three hundred pictures of this step. Why the interest in this step? No telling.....kids are frickin wierd. Attached Thumbnails 61.1 KB · Views: 613 58.6 KB · Views: 620

Jul 21, 2004, 04:50 AM	#6
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	Alright, we've got a spar channel cut out for one spar, but now we have two spars glued together. Here's what we do; lay the main spar down in the pre-cut slot with the joiner IN FRONT of the main spar. Then just trace around it with a pen. Sorry for the crappy pix, but this works great. Extend your snap blade knife until it reaches the bottom of your spar slot.....that's how deep you want to cut for your joiner. After cutting down the line you just made, lay your knife flat in the spar slot and cut out the excess foam. Hopefully pictures speak a thousand words. Thanks to Jack for that tip, it works like a champ. Attached Thumbnails 58.5 KB · Views: 643 56.3 KB · Views: 624 60.2 KB · Views: 602 61.9 KB · Views: 606 60.0 KB · Views: 591

Jul 21, 2004, 05:02 AM	#7
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	Looks like I kinda got into a groove here and didn't take many pictures. I put wax paper on the wing beds, drizzled lots of WBPU glue all over the spar, (and my floor) then laid the spar in the spar slot and made a sandwich with the wing beds and weighted the whole mess down. After that, Leah came out to the shop, made the kids go home and respectfully and subserviently requested that I watch a movie with her. ......okay.......she made me.... Attached Thumbnails 59.9 KB · Views: 634 58.7 KB · Views: 628

Jul 21, 2004, 05:11 AM	#8
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	While the credits were rolling, I blew Leah a quick kiss on my dash out to the shop and started in on the tail group. It's a pretty simple affair, 3/8" sheet balsa. I drew a centerline on the stab and the elevator, marked out where I would put my CA hinges and slotted both parts with a hinge cutting tool. (purchased on my recent trip to the PSS Mecca!) Attached Thumbnails 61.4 KB · Views: 596 61.1 KB · Views: 585 58.4 KB · Views: 599

Jul 21, 2004, 05:16 AM	#9
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	Same deal here, I took some sandpaper and knocked the edges off of the stabs. Apparently I got into a groove and my pictures are a tad sporadic. Oh well, here's what I got. Make sure you have plenty of throw at this stage. You don't need massive ammounts, but be sure that after you cover the tail group, you'll still be able to move the elevator Attached Thumbnails 59.6 KB · Views: 669 60.8 KB · Views: 611 61.0 KB · Views: 590

Jul 21, 2004, 07:59 AM	#10
mothflyer Timmay!!!!!!.....:P Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Newberg Or. Posts: 770	hey jeff looking great!! i should get my one d when i go visit jack, i can't wait. later tim

Jul 21, 2004, 04:17 PM	#11
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	Hey Tim, it's turning into a pretty quick build. Now if I can convince my boss to let me stay home and finish it. Next I got going on the pre-cut trailing edge material. Marked which was which, drew a centerline and then cut a 'V' notch in the wood with an exacto. After that I hogged out the rest of the channel with my dremel. Attached Thumbnails 62.4 KB · Views: 503 60.8 KB · Views: 504 60.0 KB · Views: 512

Jul 21, 2004, 04:25 PM	#12
Jeff Charlot Insert custom witicism Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Seal Beach Posts: 3,523	After the channel was cut, I made sure that the torque rods would fit flush, marked where the throw would be needed and hogged out the appropriate area with my dremel again. Handy little tool. Looked good to me, so I mixed a little bit of epoxy, laid it in the channel and installed the torque rods with some tape to hold it secure. I made double sure that I didn't get any glue in the torque tubes! Man, I've made that mistake more than once. Attached Thumbnails 61.9 KB · Views: 502 60.8 KB · Views: 494 61.1 KB · Views: 547

Jul 21, 2004, 06:19 PM	#13
Dunqun think rational thought Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Castro Valley, Bay Area, CA Posts: 1,559	Hey Jeff, looking good! I have no substantive comment, I just didn't want you thinking you were talking to a wall. Duncan

Jul 21, 2004, 07:10 PM	#14
zagiace mmm... wings.... Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Pedro, CA Posts: 282	gotta love build threads... Looks great!

Jul 21, 2004, 07:15 PM	#15
nwoods Slope Racing Fanatic! Join Date: May 2003 Location: SoCal Posts: 2,536	Loving it Jeff. If it turns out good, I'll send you my kit for the "Here's all the things I'd do differentely if I ever had to do it again" thread... :-) Nathan Woods

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