I have been following the F3-RES posts for quite a while now and was very interested in getting and building one. I have recently discovered that I really enjoy building and I think a F3-RES glider will be a nice little project. I had been seeing posts about DJ Aerotech's upcoming model, the Chrysalis-Lite, and that they were going to come out to Woodcrafters and have one to demonstrate so I waited to get a good look at it. Once I saw it in flight there, I knew I had to have one!

I was lucky enough to get in on the first set of C-lite's Don & Joe sent out. I have had my kit for a couple of days now and I have just finished collecting all the radio gear I'll need to complete it. I will be following the instructions and building it as intended except for one minor deviation, I will be using Turnigy 1551A 5 g servos for all the surfaces instead of using 2 1551A's for the ruddervator and a Turnigy 1440A 4 g servo for the spoiler. I sourced a 1000 mah 2s lipo and if FedEx doesn't bump my shipment again, I'll have my HK micro 5V/1A BEC on Monday (Its funny my order from Hong Kong got here faster than the order I placed at the exact same time from the USA distributor... go figure!) I am going to shoot for an AUW 0f 14.4 oz which was what theirs weighed.

I look forward and welcome anyone else who is building one now or in the future to join in and post pictures or questions to the log.

I also hope Don and Joe pop in every once in a while to make sure I'm not screwing anything up and I also hope to read some of their input as to how the build is going.

So with that all sorted... LET's BEGIN!

I took some time while my radio gear was being shipped to me to clean up my work area, organize my projects, and finally sit down and read and re-read the manual so I would be prepared to start once everything got here.

This morning I finished up some other projects that were sitting in the way of me dedicating time to my C-Lite build so I didn't get a big start on the project today but, I did get a start.

The first thing I did was to take all the parts out of the box and organize them for easy access on my parts table. The kit is very well made and I believe it will go together beautifully.

Then I sat down to start the build. The first thing I did was find the two yellow push-rod tubes and the small triangle stock and then using the picture on the plans, after cleaning with alcohol, I glued the tubes to the stock as pictured. Per the directions, I used a metal straight edge protected by some wax paper as a stop, and thin CA to glue it all together. It was fiddly to do because I have big sausage fingers, but it wasn't hard, it just took a little time. I of course was excited to build so even though I've read the instructions twice, I made one end of the tubes and stock flush while having the other end have the tubes extend past the stock, even though it says you are supposed to have the tubes overhang the stock on BOTH ends. However, I don't think its a big deal to have done it this way but this is for you guys who haven't started, just be aware of that.

After that I took the boom, and again as per the directions, measured it up and cut it to length using my Dremel and cut off wheel. Just a quick safety share, before I did that, I put on proper eye protection and a dust mask. Anytime you are cutting carbon you should protect your eyes and lungs.

Once the boom was cut, I used some masking tape and as before, laying the boom on the plans I marked out where ruddervator and pod will be glued onto the boom and then sanded with 400 grit just until I took the shiny off of the areas ( again while wearing my mask and eye ware). I then wiped those area's down with some alcohol and moved to the next step which was gluing the tube/triangle stock inside the boom.

...and just like that, boom I was done with the first part of the build.

It was getting late so I didn't want to start another section but I did have a little time to pop out the balsa and plywood sections that will be laminated together. I laid them out in such a way to be sure I'm building a right and left side and then quit for the night.

I'll pick it up from there tomorrow.

Have a good night everyone!

Well done, sir. Please keep up the good work.

Yours, Greg

Originally Posted by Newman12

Please feel free to join in on the build log by posting your own pictures and comments of your build.

Good idea. I was just going to do a build thread myself, I'll tag along here. Hope I can keep up.

Haven't settled on servos and batteries yet. As an alternative to a LiPo I have a 2-cell LiFePo battery that is almost a perfect fit, requiring recessing the interior of the balsa immediately behind the nose-block. Moving it back slightly will help that, and I suspect the slightly additional weight will eliminate any need for additional weight in the nose for the CG. A flat AAA eneloop pack (2-cells wide by 2-cells tall, 1-cell thick) is another possibility...both options eliminate the need for a BEC, but of course a 2-cell LiPo will work too.

Starting with the pushrod tubes, the instructions call for gluing them up to triangular stock with CA. I used a balsa sheet to keep the tube(s) aligned and at a constant point, vertically, on the triangle stock. I tack-glued it every few inches with a small drop of thick CA spread with a toothpick, then finished with thin CA and a pipette.

Click to enlarge...


Next they call for cutting the carbon fiber tube to length (the kit uses a tapered CF tube for a tailboom). I've never worked with CF before, so this was a new experience. The instructions and many threads call for using a Dremel and a cut-off wheel. I opted to use a "diamond cutting wheel" instead of a regular abrasive wheel. The tool I used is a "Diamond Life" #31501 from Harbor Freight:

Click to enlarge...


I also mounted the Dremel in a vice, which seemed to work really well:

Click to enlarge...


Several inches of the boom need to be trimmed off, so there's plenty of material to practice on. I wrapped the cut-area on the tube with masking tape and made a couple of test cuts. These diamond wheels cut through the thin CF tube like butter without making too much carbon dust. The final cut was very clean. Even so, I left enough material to leave room for error - finishing it with a couple of passes with a Permagrit sanding block.

Click to enlarge...

Regarding fitting the battery in the nose, you want to have it as far forward as possible, right up against F1. On some batteries like the 1000 MAH 2S you might need to carve away the inside bottom corners of the nose longerons from F1 to an inch or two aft to clear the corners of the battery. Don't take out any more than necessary to clear the battery, but it will not cause any problems strength wise. The structural contributions of the nose longerons are mostly around the middle of the nose compartment.

Welcome to the build log Vuturetec! I am happy to have a co-builder.

Well as expected, because of the quality of the kit, I have gotten a lot done today. I did have a couple of breaks and I intend to keep working but here's some pictures of what I have done so far. Sorry I don't have many of them but for those that have the kit, Don & Joe have got great pictures already in the manual so you wont need mine.

Don or Joe, I have an observation about the F1 slot and the nose block slot When you took the pictures for the manual the F1 former did not have the laser cut slot in it. I installed the former as directed on the plans with the slot closer to the bottom than the top. I have just assembled the nose block. Its cavity, made by the lamination of the 2 half moon and middle crescent pieces which are all the same thickness, I noticed doesn't exactly match the slot in the former. It's not a big deal because you can still put weight up there if you need to I just thought I'd let you know in the slight case you weren't aware of it, or maybe that's the way its designed. Hopefully, it's not because I have my F1 former installed upside down YIKES! (Edit... after looking at my install my F1 former has to be installed correctly because the longeron slots are at the top)

Alright guys, I just wanted to give you a progress report and now i'm headed back down to the workshop to finish up the hatch installation etc to finish the pod and boom assembly section.

I'll try to post more pictures later tonight.

John

Hey John, just subscribed to this build log..received mine a few days ago. Have to finish up my DJ Aerotech 1.5m Electric Pod and Boom first, then onto the C-Lite.

Love Don and Joe's offerings...the instructions are great and so it the quality of the cutting and kit!

Don

PS=> Tomorrow we have an F3 RES Fun Fly at our club field (Portland Area Soaring Society, just south of Portland). We will have 4 high-starts setup. We are also going to have two F3 RES contests this year, one at the end of July and the other mid-September. I may miss both due to vacation time previously scheduled. However, the club seems all in on this new class. There are at least 12 members with planes already and about 18-20 will be participating by Fall. Will spread the word about the C-Lite.

That's excellent Don!! it'll be like old times with us building a plane together in a log so I hope you can get the 1.5m done quick and join in.

How's the e-OLY II flying?

I actually have the 1.5m reg e-fuse and I just got the e-Pod& Boom at the same time I got the C--Lite. I yet to start the 1.5m builds because I wanted to get this one done first.

John

Well its dinner time so I'll post another update. I have the hatch all cut and fit including the magnets that came with the kit. If you follow the instructions it goes together very nicely.

I opted to follow the instruction manual and use a piece of wing trailing edge stock as the piece of wood that attaches to my hatch and slides up underneath the glued on hatch block. I say this because the blueprint plans just show a piece of 1/16 x 1/4 piece of basswood as that piece. I think its builders choice.

All that I have to do to finish my pod and boom is remove all of the extra balsa dust stuck to it that's obscuring the final shape and I'll be off to the next step which is the outer wing panels I think. Once I get done with the sanding I think that's where I'll wrap it up for the day. Don't know if I'll start the wing panels tomorrow or not.

John

Nice work there John.

The build seems to be going quickly. Keep posting pictures. While the manual is excellent, being able to zoom in or just see a larger image is a real bonus.

I really like the use of magnets and printed fixtures. What is your building surface?

a proper F3-RES build log requires the assemblies to be setting on a digital scale for the photos....

Originally Posted by bgreet

I really like the use of magnets and printed fixtures. What is your building surface?

It's an old elevator door. It's heavy and straight and about 8 feet long. One of my power planes old presidents was in the business of elevator repair & refurbishment and they were just going to throw the thing out. So he grabbed it for me and even delivered and helped me carry it in. Didn't charge me anything for it, it was a pretty sweet deal.

John

Originally Posted by ZAGNUT

a proper F3-RES build log requires the assemblies to be setting on a digital scale for the photos....

I'll see if I can manage one of those. I'd hate to be improper! LOL

John