Hi Nick

Just discovered this thread... Very nice work.

Thanks for taking the time to post with lots of pictures.

Started my build about a month and a half ago and just completed the engine box. Using a DLE 20RA Have a ways to go yet.

Watching with interest.

Ray

Originally Posted by schmidtsk

Hi Nick

Just discovered this thread... Very nice work.

Thanks for taking the time to post with lots of pictures.

Started my build about a month and a half ago and just completed the engine box. Using a DLE 20RA Have a ways to go yet.

Watching with interest.

Ray

Thanks Ray!!

In one month I had all the major parts framed, but not finished. I spent most of the summer flying other planes and maintaining them. So now it’s back to the shop to finish this plane up. There have been challenging parts for me no doubt. I’m getting close to covering and painting which excites me. Still lots of fitting and sanding left though

Hinged the rudder with robart 308 hinges (not in the plans) and finished sanding it.

Finished sanding the ailerons and flaps using the plans.
Used a PVC pipe with some sticky sandpaper to it, masked off to only sand the tri-stock on the wing thus fitting the flap LE contour a bit better. (Not in the plans) but I liked the idea.

Figured out how to fix my debacle of the elevator joiner. I received one that wasn’t quite up to par to say the least. Looks like it was tack welded by a new high school student in shop class who got careless with the grinder.
Ended up cutting a slot in the aft side, adding a piece of music wire as a doubler, then silver soldered them together. Cleaned up and painted for corrosion resistance.

Good to see you're back at it. Looks like it's coming along well.

Thanks! Was able to find some time and power through my little roadblocks. Next up is going to be hinging the wing surfaces, and elevator joiner holes. After that I can work on my Rudder control linkage debacle.

Got to get some tinker time in today!

Worked on hinging the flaps and ailerons with my robart pins (not stock). I ended up with some gaps that required some shims to get to look right. My plans were a little bit off with the laser cut parts and needed some extra time to get the control surface end gaps to all look the same (well closer anyhow).

Decided I wanted to use LED lights (nav, strobe, landing) from a system I designed years ago. I’ve been toying with the idea of using a PCB software to make a circuit board... we’ll see. I’ve made a rats nest version, and a drawn/etched board. But still quite bulky. This could be a fun new venture. But until then I’ll be cutting out the lights and putting the wires in.

Started stringing some wires for the LED system. NAV, Beacon, Landing Lights, Strobes. I’ve never had any luck with digital switches/relays. If anyone has a lead one let me know. It’ll have to be 12v rated.

I used some old ribbon cable that was given to me and took off what I needed. Super glued the wires to the fuselage and to the wings. You can tell this was an afterthought, so instead of integrating them though the ribs/formers, I went around them.

As for the landing lights I made a square hole for the led to fit in approx 18” outboard of the root rib.

The tail nav, I used a piece of tubing to fit inside the tailcone, just below where the balsa lays.

Skipped over this part! I drilled and fitted the elevator joiner and opened up a couple areas for clearance.

I like the idea of using ribbon cable. Makes the installation look tidier. Are looking for a switch that you can set up on a channel?

Originally Posted by Prowler901

I like the idea of using ribbon cable. Makes the installation look tidier. Are looking for a switch that you can set up on a channel?

Exactly. I've tried converting an old servo years ago, with no success. I ended up using a couple micro servos and micro switched on a cam setup. That when using a three position switch I could go from nav lights always on, strobes on (second position), landing lights on (third position).

I've been looking at this little kit in which I may be able to reverse engineer and integrate into my own system.
https://hansenhobbies.com/products/rcelkits/erskit/

I was planning on using these for the wing light connectors, and probably the wing servos as well as well:
https://hansenhobbies.com/products/c...ors/200mm_1x6/

I have a switch from hobby king that can be plugged in to a RX channel. The leads on the switch can be wired between a power supply and a load.

I like those plug connections.

Originally Posted by Prowler901

I have a switch from hobby king that can be plugged in to a RX channel. The leads on the switch can be wired between a power supply and a load.

I like those plug connections.

I remember looking at those as well. They were always out of stock... come to think of it, I may have actually purchased one a few years ago, but it came with the wires pulled out of the motherboard and I didn't really look into it too much after that. Terrible QC, but hey... you get what you pay for! lol!

Hanson Hobbies is a great resource. They've always been very quick and friendly.

Some assembly required. But, they look good.