Ok folks! I'm ready now to start building up the Windfree kit that I've had on the shelf for almost 25 years now. This will be a slow build due to some of the mods I'll be doing on the basic kit. The main mods will be the substitution of carbon for the spar material and the addition of full span flapperons for camber/roll control. I will also be making some minor changes to how the plane goes together. Just little things like splice location changes, additional shear webs and changing the balsa web material for ply. When finished, these wings will be bullet proof.

We're getting a break from the cold here starting tomorrow so I'll be getting the building area ready to go and materials laid out. I'm also going to make a detailed list of what changes were made and how I did them as I go. This way anyone that wishes to make the same changes to a Windfree or one of Ray Hayes' WF-XL will have a guide to follow. There will be plenty of pictures to go along with the text.

Due to the modifications I'll be doing I won't be working at my usual "Warp Speed", but hope to have the plane finished up within a month. This is provided that I don't get called back to work during this time.

So... Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen... More to come!!!

Jeff

I'll get the popcorn and beverage out. This'll be fun!

If it's going to be so much fun Sean... How about coming up and giving me a hand getting the shop cleaned up for the build tomorrow? I'm sure your boss won't mind. We can do it in the "Balsa Brewery" style. AKA... Toss a match! I've still got to get room cleared out so I can set up the new table saw. I've got to have some way to cut those balsa logs into usable stock.

Jeff

Jeff, I need bullet proof wings, you want some extra work this year?

Sounds good, it'll be worth watching the thread to learn some stuff.
I found this old pic on the net, she sure is pirdy!

I'm also doing a build log on the Hodges Hobby forum for the Hodge Hounds that I'm trying to wean off the glow juice. I used that exact same picture there so they could see what the finished plane will look like. The girl was just to get their attention. Works every time with those guys!

Jeff

I'd love nothing better than to come up and help do the Balsa Brewery style house cleaning. Can I bring the Oly with me? I'll clean while you sand.

Ok... The building board is cleaned off and ready to go. The rest of the shop looks like a bomb went off in there, but cleaning the rest can wait till the weather is a bit warmer. So tomorrow I will start with the wings and will report on progress before I call it a night.

Jeff

Weather has warmed up so now I can work without freezing anything near and dear to my heart off in the shop. I got the leading and trailing edge stock spliced up tonight but not much else got done. Spent the majority of the day cleaning out the garage/shop so I can get the new table saw setup. you can almost walk across it now without taking you life in your hands. I've got some very thin kerf blades for the saw that will allow me to cut my own balsa sheeting from bulk stock much cheaper than I can buy it. Plus I've got items on the "honey-do" list that I'll be needing the saw to be able to finish up. So tomorrow I'll be doing more work on the cleaning and will try to get the bottom spar laid in and the ribs glued up.

Jeff

This is a very civilized way to wake up in the morning, cup of coffee and a couple of good build threads on RCGroups! Inspires one to go up into the attic shop and make some progress. Later, on a break, brew and snacks to check up on progress while waiting for some glue to dry. This looks like it will be fun.

In the immortal words of Emerson, Lake and Palmer.... Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, We're so glad you could attend. Step inside, step inside! (Karn Evil #9 second impression)

Jeff

Ok I'm taking a chow break and thought I'd give a quick report on the days progress so far. The carbon spar material I ordered turns out to be a little too small. So to fix the problem I'm laminating it with some 1/16 balsa to bring it up to the right size. I've gotten the bottom spars (front and sub) laminated and in and the ribs in place out to #12 which is where the bottom spar ends. After I eat I'll go ahead and get the rest of the ribs placed and will take it from there.

(1st Gripe)
I have to admit that the building instructions that came with the kit are "clear as mud". They could use a re-write to say the least. The building order so far does not seem to be very well thought out and the instructions are very vague. It's a good thing that I've done a lot of building during my years in this hobby and can pretty much figure a building order out from the plans. It's easy to see that who ever wrote the instructions was NOT a technical writer in the least bit.

Jeff

Edit: I'll take a picture of the progress at the end of the building day. That may be around 2 in the morning so don't hold your breath waiting! One drawback to working nights for so long is that I'm closer to OZ time than that here in the States. J

Originally Posted by atmosteve

Jeff, I need bullet proof wings, you want some extra work this year?

Sounds good, it'll be worth watching the thread to learn some stuff.
I found this old pic on the net, she sure is pirdy!

Thought she looked familiar .... there is more where she came from here:

http://www.skybench.com/index.html?h....com/home.html

Ray
Sky Bench
http://www.skybench.com

Originally Posted by Ray Hayes

Thought she looked familiar .... there is more where she came from here:

http://www.skybench.com/index.html?h....com/home.html

Ray
Sky Bench
http://www.skybench.com

Here is the page link:

http://www.skybench.com/nostalgia/nindex.html

Sigh, those pics were taken in the days when I was very young and getting distracted from my flying by these new, strange and attractive creatures that sometimes appeared at the flying fields- other older flyers daughters!
It was hard to stay involved with flying in your teens, there's so many distractions at that age.

ahem... mean while back to the build...

Well the old digital camera gave up the ghost so no pics until I can get the film camera out and do full roll and have it processed. The batteries on the digital are not holding a charge. Even fresh off the charger there's not enough juice to take even a single pic.

The right wing is coming along nicely. All the front shears are installed on front and rear spars and the trailing edge stiffeners are in on bays 3-6. The shears came out pretty sweet thanks to forming them with the bench sander. It sure makes things easy! Have to let it dry over night and then do a little preforming on the leading edge for the sheeting.

I've got to make a run to the LHS tomorrow for some things, but should have quite a bit more done by the end of the evening tomorrow. I sure hope work doesn't call me back before I get most of this build done. If they do then progress on the build will slow to a crawl. (and no Steve... That's NOT a pub Crawl! )

Jeff