Here I am again. I have not been posting build threads to RC Groups for some time. I guess I better get busy. It's kind of a lonely 'build' when not posting a build thread along with it. So I'm back.

Although there is currently a build thread here on the Sunspot by Adamtc. It is closed. So by starting another, it will open the build/model to questions or comments (welcomed). And besides, I enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas,... good or misguided.

I bought the partial kit from Belair models in the UK. http://www.belairkits.com . I bought my strip and sheet wood from National Balsa http://www.nationalbalsa.com . I'm in the USA, north of Seattle Washington. On with it!

This is a little catch up. I started out building the fuselage. My second love.... are sticks. Nothing special here. I added diagonals to the sides, considered top and bottom, but no decision yet. It feels pretty rigid as is probably will leave it as shown.

I added a hand hold area of 1/8" balsa just under the wing location. It as a big airplane. I do not want to poke a hole in it trying to launch it.

1/4 sq balsa longeron at top fwd fuselage frame >must< be split with a razor blade then bent and glued. Trying to make that bend is basically impossible without doing so. You might be able to see the slice I made in the pic. Even at that, I wet it with water as I bent it. Btw, I'm trying to use Titebond III Ultimate white glue lately on anything I can let sit for awhile. Non-stressed joints do not need overnight dry >about< 4 hours is fine. But don't play with it too much till morning.

The blue tape marks on the fuselage will be wing location (maybe). I've got it marked with the wing located 3" aft of whats shown on plan. With the long tail moment I figured I'll need a good amount of nose weight (maybe)..... even with the motor and battery up front. As I was building the tail, it seemed pretty heavy way back there. Now that I have it all sanded it feels a lot lighter. So we'll see. Btw, it will still keep with the origional since notes in the original instructions say you might have to "move the wing aft a little, but not too much". 3" isn't much with a fuselage 69" long. But, we'll see wing location will be determined as late as possible in the build.

Oh yeah, I didn't mention this will be electric assist. I have an AXI 2826/12 I have pulled out of another less flown model. That should be way way way overkill. But It didn't cost me anything. Same with the esc. I robbed it from another model.

keep the tail light

Rudder/Fin: I changed alot here. Added the rudder (not shown on plans). It took me two tries to figure out how big I wanted it. I cut out the 1/4 x 3/8 vertical spar, added diagonals, beveled rudder LE for Ultracoat/Monokote/Chinacoat hinge. Ignore the filler here and there. Slot at bottom is for removable stab.. Held on with rubber bands (? Hmmm!).

OH, I changed the spar shape. It was curved, But that's not going to work with covering hinges. So I made it a straight taper top to bottom. That will hinge nicely. Rib are therefore >slightly< thinner, that's OK. Diagonals are recessed so they will be lower than covering about 1/16"

Yep!

The stab./elev. was a little tough. Thin symmetrical ribs. Two center and 4 tip ribs were not in the kit (not a real problem, but...). In determining how wide I wanted the elevator drove me crazy. First try was too narrow. I recognized it right away (after it was built). I tore it apart tried again,... Nope still needed to be just a little wider. Third try I was happy. 2 1/2" wide on a stabilizer that has a 45 1/2" span. I think that's a record span for a stabilizer for me. It seemed especially heavy prior to sanding. This is what was starting to worry me. Maybe it was the size, maybe it was the excess balsa, I dunno, but it seems pretty light now that its sanded... especially for its size. I'm happy.

I extended the spar to stab centerline rather than making it 3 pice spar per plan. That made more sense to me. And I added a small doubler.

It will have Monokote/ Ultracoat/Chinacoat hinge as well.

I used a 1/4" dia hardwood dowel to connect elevators, 7 1/2" long

Center sheeting is not applied yet. I'll probably make it wider than shown on plan..... little to no room for rubber bands if I choose to go that route. I'd rather use nylon screws, but we'll see.

I have a couple gussets to add here and there still as well.

More tomorrow.

Be sure to tell Leon about what was missing from the kit

I'll mention it. But to be fair, the plans say to make your own tip ribs. But going to all the work to laser all other ribs in stab and wing, might as well do them all. As for the two center ribs, I didn't see them in the kit, but who knows I may have accidentally "lost" them. Wouldn't be the first time.

A word about the kit as a whole, excellent lasering. The balsa is very, very, very good quality. Lots of excess scrap balsa that I saved and used for various needs, for example shimming of the stabilizer sym. airfoil during construction.... comes in very handy. Plans: Included is both L & R wing panels, one is mirror image so lettering is a mirrored as well. No biggy. The one thing I'd suggest is to check the straightness of primary lines,... L.E., T.E., Spars, fuselage centerlines, etc. Some can be a little crooked due to copying. Criticizing plans is something I find hard to do. I once drew up plans for a quarter scale Fournier RF-4 long ago that was kitted. Drawing plans is a thankless job, and I think easily under appreciated sometimes. It's a huge task. Hours and hours can be spent, drawing, checking, double checking for errors and >still< there is always something you may have missed or should /could have done differently or better. There is almost nothing more enjoyable than unrolling plans for a new model, and just "enjoying them". Thanks to Belaire for a really nice partial kit. In these days of ARFs, I'm so glad people like Leon are producing these kits still. I'm having a ball building it.

Sub-Fin: I had to add a cross piece at the top. If for nothing else to aid in covering. I didn't care for the three point attachment. Now it'll be bonded to the fuselage full length.

You gotta know I like I like change things when I see a reason to,... good or questionable. Its in my blood as a model builder. 8-)

Alright we are caught up to the present. I have the wing plans laid out. I cut up the plans. I hate to do that,.. but,...they are just too large to deal with.

RIBS, RIBS, RIBS! Holy smokes there's lots of ribs. I ordered the wing joiner tube option so there are some duplicate ribs if you want to do the stock plywood tongue joiner method. The ribs are beautiful, and well done. Now I have to figure out where they all go. FUN!! I've separated them with blue tape to help keep them in some kind of order.

Another builder said he had to cut his own TE because the standard stocks didn't work. Have a friend with a table saw?

Yeah, I noticed that. Wing, .... the stab T.E. was just fine. My plan is to scribe a line on the front edge of the T.E. where I want it to be (careful keep in mind which is up, which is down). Then turn it over so bottom is facing up on my workbench. Then plane the bottom down to that line with my 'razor' plane (Master Airscrew]. Then sand smooth. My reasoning is if I get sloppy and goof, my unhandy work will be on the bottom where it won't be visable. So you retain that nice machine cut facing up. I'll do it before building the wing panel and just shim up the L.E. of the T.E. But yeah, it's a pain. I sold my saw and I doubt my ability to cut that accurately anyway.

I'm going to build a 2 piece wing as I've seen done elsewhere with this model.

So I'm splitting the center section in half (on the drawing), but adding each half to the L & R main (flat) panels, then building the tips on each wing half. Fine. So I'm using a long aluminum straight edge (a must have for builders) to line up L.E. and T.E., making sure everything is perfectly straight. I noticed the RH joint at the L.E. was a little "off". OK, no problem, I'll fudge it. I'm not that critical. Then, just by chance, I measured from centerline to a particular rib half way out on the RH. panel. Then measured same to the LH panel rib. They were not the same. OK, I screwed up someplace. After checking many times I realized I did not screw up. The plan had slipped during the copy process. It starts with the center section panel being off by 3/4""right half longer than left. Ooh. By the end of the RH flat panel it was 7/8" longer. At the tip of the right wing its 1" longer. So be aware. I checked and double checked before I posted. Then I noticed the wavy gussets on the right side of the center section (arrows). You can see where the plan slipped during copying. So just be aware. It pays to check lines.

I know it may sound picky, but when you notice something is not correct, you have to fix it. I thought I'd pass along the information. Had I built it per plan, I probably never would have noticed it either on the ground or in the air. These old drawings are just that old, copied, recopied, stuff happens. Just be aware. Double check primary measurements, and lines.

He sells a joiner tube for it

GREAT choice in models, for a good rainy season project! I love these big giant British sailplane designs. Looks like you are doing everything right, as always (I'm a big fan of No Step builds), including scrutinizing the original plans for straight-and-true. I've learned to do that, too, over the years. Never trust a plan without a cross-check (unless it's CAD, and even they have their mistakes).

Will be following along on this one! Go, Fred!