The application of 3M should always be light in this case, and if you hold the can at a reasonable distance the solvent would probably evaporate before it hits the fiber glass, by the time you are done applying the glass to the wing, and finish mixing the epoxy any solvent is long gone.

Jose

Jack & Jeb,

At this stage of the game has any thought been given to the location of the antenna? I tried several antenna variations and found that a .010 guitar string glued to the trailing edge of my Apogee 400 wing worked best. This was not my idea, I picked it up on this thread and it works quite well. The reason I mention it now is that with a stick built wing the antenna could easily be located inside the wing and be brought out to a small connector thus getting it completely away from the carbon fiber pod.

When building my Apogee 400 I had no idea where to locate the holes in the 303 servo control arms so I arbitrairly located them half way between the two existing holes. This worked out perfect for the rudder and gave me 45deg. deflection at 100%EP. However, it was far too much throw for the elevator. I relocated the servo hole as close to the shaft as I could get it and tried again. It's much better, but I still have to reduce the EP to arround 50%. When I get time this winter I am going to make a longer control horn for the elevator.

This thread is fantastic!!!! What an education!!

John Dellicker

John,

Good questions, but we have some work to do yet in order to answer them.

Antenna location is always difficult to recommend because of differing sensitivites among receivers (and frequencies) to the presence of carbon, and to the proximity of power and control wiring and servos within the plane. I plan to show everyone what I do with my antenna, and I plan to discuss some alternatives. I just have not gotten to that point yet for this early prototype.

I have roughed in the servo installations as I built the pod. My first servo arms will have the pushrod located about 6 mm from the center of the screw. We know that there will be changes, one of which will be longer control horns at the control surfaces, so the location of that control arm hole may well change too.

Sorry to be so vague, but I will certainly share what we learn as we go.

Jack Stephens

Unfortunately ECM can’t suggest any modifications of equipment other than what the manufacturer recommends but Jack can

Jack, here is a diagram showing assembly and placement of the file I sent you, 0.4 mm ply should work fine.

Jose

P.S. That elevator hinge line is not the correct one.

I am getting ready to install the wing with two carbon pins up front, and a nylon screw at the back. In preparation for that, I had to be sure that the wing saddle is properly fitted to the wing. This prototype is all hand cut, so there are more opportunities for alignment errors than you would expect with a laser cut kit.

I set up the jig you see below to check the alignment. The triangles verify that the pod is square and the building squares check for equal dihedral. There was a little sanding required on the wing saddle, but nothing significant.

Jack Stephens

subscribing to this build. Looks like a fun fly!

Jose,

Is there any news on the pricing yet?

Mark

I have never seen a thread get so many views so fast...

Sorry for the slowdown. Real life is interfering with my hobby again.

Mounting the wing only involves two steps. Installing the carbon fiber pins in the leading edge of the wing, and drilling the wing for the wing bolt.

I had to drill holes in the plywood bulkhead, but yours will already be laser cut. The carbon pins that I used are .060" dia. The pins are cut to length and the ends rounded slightly with sandpaper to help prevent the carbon fiber from peeling during use.

With the wing centered and aligned with the pod, mark the leading edge of the wing through the two bulkhead holes, and then drill the wing to receive the pins. Drill the holes in the wing slightly oversize, since we will be using epoxy to glue in the pins.

Using a blunted toothpick, poke as much epoxy as possible into the wing holes and then insert the pins. Wipe as much epoxy as possible off the wing and the pins, and then insert the wing with pins into the bulkhead holes. Hold the wing in place using weights or clamps until the epoxy has set. Make sure that the wing is fully seated on the wing saddle.

Note that during this process you have to prevent the pins from being glued into the bulkhead holes. I coat the outer half of the pins with Chapstick, and I rub a little Chapstick around and into the bulkhead holes. I also gently remove the wing as soon as the epoxy is hard, but not completely cured.

Measure the distance from the wing bulkhead to the wing nut block and transfer this distance to the top of the wing. Drill a hole through the wing, being careful to keep your drill centered and vertical. I always start with an undersized drill to allow for any slight corrections that may be needed. Our wing bolt is a 6-32 x 1 nylon.

Mount the wing and check for alignment. I taped a string to the end of the boom and measured to each wing tip. You can enlarge the wing bolt hole slightly to make any needed adjustments. With reasonable care, the Apogee Sport builds straight. My wingtip measurements were off by less than 1/16".

Jack Stephens

Originally Posted by Jack Stephens

My wingtip measurements were off by less than 1/16"...

Jack Stephens

Somehow...I'm not surprised . Great looking plane Jack.

Endless Sloper,

OK, you caught me. I was bragging a little.

I have really enjoyed building this model.

Jack Stephens

Mark,

I am sorry not yet, I appreciate your patience but still a bit too early in the process, this is only the first prototype; I already made modifications for the next version which will be laser cut... lets hope Jack doesn't come back with too many changes

Jack, it's looking good, nice work!

Jose

Originally Posted by mdelzer

Jose,

Is there any news on the pricing yet?

Mark

Hey Jack, just so you know, I think you're doing a fabulous job on this plane. I'm in total envy of your building skill and attention to detail.

Oh yeah, and when you hook your first thermal with this bird, I'm hoping you speck it out and the winds aloft carry it 72 miles to the northwest. Hmm...wonder where that would put it? Can you say free shipping? That would be funny!

Really though, every time I view your posts and pictures, I find myself thinking "Man, somehow I gotta talk Jack into building one of these for me...wonder how much he'd charge?"

You've got us all on the edge of our seat, Jack. Keep it up!

Andy

Andy,

That is the nicest complement you could pay, and I appreciate it. The fact is, I build so slowly that I barely have time to build for myself.

Thanks for the thought.

Jack Stephens

I apologize for holding up the train. I thought I would have more control over my time after retirement, but it seems that just the opposite has been true.

There has been a lot of behind-the-scenes progress on the Apogee Sport, thanks to Jose. I have been working on small issues like the choice of covering material, and sanding the major parts in preparation for covering. The covering material is ordered and will be here Monday. We have decided to use Coverite Microlite for this prototype.

The main issue has been my building time, and that will hopefully be resolved by this weekend. I will be out of town tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday.

The remaining work to be done on the prototype Apogee Sport is as follows:

Make a small fairing to blend the pod into the top of the wing.
Glass the pod.
Cover wing and tail surfaces.
Mount the tail surfaces on the boom.
Hinge control surfaces.
Install equipment and pushrods.

With just a little luck, I should be able to finish all of that next week.

Jack Stephens