FlyWheel

Got my new Miss Stik Sr. kit in the mail today (Two new birds in as many days, I don't know if my heart can handle this! ). Based on what I learned from the - um - "prototype", here's what I plan to do different this time...

1. Drop the thrust angle, from what I've read this is most likely the cause of the abrupt nose-up under power.
2. Larger wheels to hopefully better handle the rough grass on our landing strip.
3. Substitute the heavy steel landing struts with carbon fiber tubes to offset the heavier wheels.

Everything else seemed to work great, so I see no need to change anything else at this point.

FlyWheel

Managed to splice together the new and improved landing struts today, total weight of the assembly is 6 grams (0.214 oz). a generous saving over the steel rod supplied with the kit, which weighs in at 14 grams (0.5 oz.) That's almost the entire weight of one of the three inch wheels! This plane is going to look a bit goofy with those huge "spoked" wheels, but if they can handle the grass at our field, I'll live with it!

Also got the stock pieces seperated into two bundles. One for the harder, denser sticks which I will use for structural pieces, and the other bundle of softer, lighter pieces for things that don't need as much strength. The two bundles were almost perfectly matched 50% for each size (I wonder if AeroCraft does that on purpose?).

Lastly, before the sauna like conditions drove me back inside my air conditioned house, I changed the tires on my road bike, (unrelated, I know). How you Easterners ever managed to survive before the invention of freon I will never know!

texasclouds

wha, no pictures???

subscribed!

FlyWheel

What? You want to see a picture of a couple of bundles of raw wood?Wouldn't you prefer something that looks something a little more like a plane?

It cooled off enough around 8PM for me to go outside without suffering a heat stroke, so I glued together the tail feathers.

Managed to throw together the horizontal stabilizer, elevator, vertical and rudder in one two hour session! And never had to consult the directions once. This bird is even easier after you've done it once.

You may notice I'm taking a slightly different tack this time, I stopped at the paint department at my "neighborhood" Wal-Mart and picked up some 2 mil clear plastic sheet. A 9'x12' sheet cut into quarters lets me cover the entire plan all at once, and no worries about tears. I'm using the plans from the old plane, and saving the new ones in their pristine condition*. This will also allow me to consult them at any stage as I know there is at least one part of construction where important info gets covered by the actual build.

Next on the list is the main wing.

*So much of this plane is raw stock available at any hobby shop I can probably build another from scratch as well, the few laser cut ply parts are also shown in scale on the plans!

gramps2361

That's why I have learned to save my plans so I can cut another one if I want to. First plane I made I wrecked the plans with the the CA glue now I use parchment paper and the ca doesn't go through and stick to the plans to. How is the plastic working are you using CA or wood glue?

Sounds like you will have a lot lighter plane learning from the first what it is all about learn as we go.

FlyWheel

I use regular alphatic glue (TiteBond II). CA is fine for field repairs and quick fixes, but I don't like working with it for prelonged periods. It tends to get everywhere I don't want it to and after a while my fingertips start to resemble those of an Egyptian mummy.

The "alf" dries flexible, it just peels right off; It doesn't fossilize my fingertips and I can work at my leisure knowing my work isn't going to freeze into [usually the wrong] place in 15 seconds. Also it gives a stronger, more flexible bond. So it takes a little longer. I like building, I find it relaxing. Why rush it?

gramps2361

LOL ya I hate the mummy fingers too.
I use the tite bond for 80% of the work now. I use CA and titebond at the same time on larger pieces. I apply the tite bond to a part and then I drop of CA to hold it in place then I can keep moving on a build. Works good doing this as the CA holds the pice in place while the tite bond sets.

FlyWheel

Tonight I unpinned the tail feathers, sanded the edges to shape and the sides smooth. Or at least even. Also beveled the edges where the stabs and control surfaces meet. I then put them aside and started building the main wing center section.

Once again I used my "press and bend" technique rather that the "cracking" called for on the top ribs. I do this by cutting the balsa stick to length and marking where it will cross over the wing spar. I then take the back side of my exacto blade and press down on the underside of the balsa "rib" at this spot. This causes the balsa to bend rather than break, leaving a smoother surface where it crosses over the spar.


Here is the completed wing center section:

Well, almost complete, I still have to put on the lower spar caps, and I think it also gets some spar webs. My digital camera decided it would focus on what I wanted to photograph, so you get to see some clear images today

The two pieces pinned down behind the wing section are the spar assemblies for the polyhedral wing tips, which I will have to sand down to shape before building the wingtip sections. Hopefully tomorrow, if I'm feeling OK (I have a dentist appointment at noon )

FlyWheel

Wow, only 3 days?

I got the wing center unpinned and the spar covers onto the bottom and put it aside so I could start on the wing tips. After sanding the spar assemblies to shape, I started cutting and gluing. The tips I did a bit different than the center section, as I laid the bottom spar covers onto the plan and built them in along with the wing tips, instead of building the tips first, then pulling the assembled tips off the plans and gluing them on after.

It took me three hours, but both are built.


I still have to shape/sand the three components, then I have to glue them all together. Or I could start on the fuse halves, and then shape/sand everything at one time.

FlyWheel

Weather was great today, so after watching Le Tour, I went out to build me an areoplane.

Unpinned the wing tips and started shaping both them and the wing center section. Then I glued on the balsa wedges that would set the wingtip angles, and while they dried I set up my Dremel with the snake attachment and an abrasive disk. When it had cured I both to cut the wedges to the shape of the wing and the slots the brace would go through. Filed the slots out and sanded the components with 150 to take out the gouges left by the 60 grit I had used to shape them, figuring it would be easier to do so now than wait until the whole thing became to unwieldly.

The tips of both wings are supposed to be set 4" above the table when the wing is sitting flat, and it just so happens the boxes both my Miss' came in are 3 5/8" from bottom to top, so I set them approximatly the right distance apart and mixed up some epoxy. With 5 minutes to work I epoxied the braces to the spar of the wing center, pinned it down to the board, squeezed some glue onto the edges of the wing tips, some epoxy onto their spars, slid them both on and moved things around until everything was sitting and clamped just right.

Well now the entire building table is filled with curing wing, and it's 5 O'clock so I figured I'd call it a day and let everything cure up completely. Then I went to go feed the chickens, and found that one of the eggs had hatched, so I had to go get some starter mash too.

Here's hoping it's a hen!

texasclouds

Looks like you're on track with a nice wing.

We had one of our roosters for dinner. I need to find a laying hen to replace him.

FlyWheel

My rooster is a gamecock my roommate got from a friend, the Dam would either be one of my Rhode Islands or the half breed from last year. Either blend would lay "USDA" small eggs. I really need a bigger cock...

I got the wing unpinned, any excess balsa sanded down and the whole thing "spackled". Then I set it aside and started on the fuselage. This part of the build took a while last time, and this time was no different. I took the piece of ply that sets the firewall angle and ground a slightly steeper angle on it, so the motor will have a little more down thrust. I'm also going to make up or find some spacers so I can tweak it (probably use washers). The mounting set up I used last time will facilitate this quite nicely.

The two spars that taper back from the top rear of the cabin to the spine I altered a bit as well, instead of joining at the spine, which creates a triangular flat area, I mounted them down the ribs a bit in the frame. I'm thinking this will create a smoother transition from square cabin to angular boom (fuselage). If it doesn't work, no big deal, I'll just put them back at the top.

Believe it or not, this one half of the fuselage took almost four hours to fabricate! Tomorrow I'll start on the bottom half, and hopefully I'll have enough time to join the two halves. (Sorry about the focus, my high tech digital imaging device has decided it wants to be myopic again.)

texasclouds

This looks like a fun build!

If I ever get my hands on a Cox .049 I would slap it on this plane! Fly her up till she runs out of fuel, then glide around.

FlyWheel

Careful Texas, I wouldn't want to see you gittin lynched!

I haven't been able to get out to the shop much cause of the heat, it was 8:30 PM before I could do anything tonight without dripping sweat all over everything. But I got the underside built tonight.


Next up is assembly and more shaping sanding (There is always more shaping and sanding ).

FlyWheel

Finished off the fuselage bottom by adding the final side spars, "butt crack" and my custom CF landing struts:


When all was dried enough I sanded down the triangular pieces ("Butt crack") and added the tail skid in between tham. Then the two halves went together, got lined up and clamped.

It looks like the hapless victim of a car wreck right now, what with all the clamps. However, once this has set, and the final shaping is complete I start final "smooth" sanding initial covering and assembly!

FlyWheel

Tonite I got the interior decking glued in, and the "hood" cut and shaped. I cut the moulding flash off the cowling and made the hole for the motor shaft and the vent in the "chin". The cowling is clear plastic in this kit, I'm tempted to leave it this way. Then again, I've also been tempted to cover the whole plane in transparent clear and get a Wonder Woman action figure for a "pilot" too

But all the woodwork is done. Now I have to get the electroncs in and cover the wings/fins. I also have to take the prop back to the HS because they gave me the wrong one. I needed a slow fly and they got me a regular electric.

FlyWheel

RTL fasteners is officially on probation AFAIC. I ordered three different sizes of flathead machine screws and some matching blind nuts (A.K.A."T" nuts). I got three packages of machine screws, each with the right size, but when I tried threading them into the nuts some didnt want to go. That's when I noticed some of them had a different pitch thread. So I went through the entire batch and found that about 40-50% of each of the three sizes had the wrong thread pitch! Since I may someday need them anyway, I put the different threaded ones in seperate compartments and went back to building.

First I cut two pieces from the .375" X .250" hardwood stock I had picked up at the HS and using one of the AXi motor mounts as a template I drilled out the holes, then widened them slightly for the blind nuts. Attaching the motor temporarily to find the right position, I mixed some epoxy and stuck the mounting pieces to the firewall.


While it cured, I cut the CF tubes for the control rods to length, made a bridge at the rear of the cabin, carved out some notches in it and the fuse to hold the tubes and epoxied them in place.


Then I soldered all the connectors on the ESC and the motor. Using a couple of screws to hold the motor onto the firewall I plugged everything up, got my TX, turned it on and attached a battery. After the motor sang it's little tune I gently bumped the throttle up a click or two. The Axi 2212/34 started turning, and in the right direction to boot. Stopping the motor I tried the servos and they worked as well.

So, everything's up to speed. I'll try and get up early enough tomorrow morning to get in some sanding before it gets too hot. Then it's on to covering!

rcers

Spectacular. Very nice build. I too have been getting the urge. Too few builders these days...

Lurk mode back on.

FlyWheel

Morning: Got all the electronics in place and the servo rods attached, to the servos at least before the heat and humidity drove me back indoors (I really have to get a fan for out here! ). Obviously I'll have to wait until I get the tail feathers glued in place before attaching the other ends.


Night: It wasn't until 9 O'clock before it cooled off enough for me to work without dripping sweat all over everything. All I could get was the Transparent Purple onto the horizontal, elevator and rudder. However when I tried to put the Pearl White onto the vertical Stab. I couldn't get it to shrink right to save my life! It adhered fine, but when I tried shrinking it I couldn't get out the wrinkles over the wood. If anything it got even more wrinkled! I tried twice, but the best I could manage was smooth areas framed by wrinkles. I had no problems with this covering last plane I used it on, and that was only a few months ago, I don't think it would go bad in that short a time. UltraCote is supposed to have one of the longest shelf lives of the various coverings. So I gave up and called it a night By now it was midnight, and they say when nothing seems to be going right the best thing to do is back off and wait a while anyway, right?


I'm going to make some balsa frames tomorrow and try it out again. If I cannot get it to work right I'll try the "Magic Violet" instead. It's a color change iridescent violet/white. If that doesn't work I may have to go transparent for the whole plane.

I wonder, maybe the high heat/humidity has something to do with it? The purple worked great.

FlyWheel

I made up a small frame with scrap .125"x.375" balsa, then covered one side with the Pearl White, and the other side with the Magic Violet. When I shrunk them both tightened up fine:


However when I tried the White on the rudder, it wrinkled all up where it covered the wood again! So I took it off, scraped the adhesive off the balsa for the third and last time and tried the M. Violet instead. It seemed to work, at least a lot better than the white. Why this is happening, and only on the actual plane I don't know.
Granted, it isn't the greatest covering job. But it's on par with what I have done before; In other words "acceptable" (meaning "it will fly" ).

I also got the purple on the main wing. It looks a little trashy because I didn't get to the LE "trim" yet. So obviously it isn't shrunk yet either. It looks like I may have to redraw the template for the turbulators curve again, it isn't in the box for the old MS.


Hopefully I can get the trim on tonight and everything will shrink right. it looks like I may have to order some more purple, I'm not sure what I have will be enough.
Edit: OK, got the MV on the main wing, it worked out OK. I'm definitely going to need some more purple though (or else do the fuse in transparent violet), What I have isn't going to make it.

FlyWheel

While waiting for the covering to come in, I decided to work on some "incidentals".

I took the Dremel tool to the "hood" and routed out a small pocket on the front and back edge, and epoxied in a couple of neodymium "super magnets". Then did the same to the sides of the formers and put a small washer into them. This is just an experiment, but if it works the hood will be removable giving me access to the ESC/motor connection. This will make servicing/replacement of either a lot easier if I need to.
I then cut some .125" x .125" balsa and made a diagonal frame on the cabin side for the edge of the side windows.


I also cut the windshield from the included acrylic sheet using the pattern on the print. And the side window panels, which are going to be glued to the underside of the main wing. Neo-magnets will hold them down against the side of the fuselage and keep the wing properly positioned, but will "break away" easily enough in the event of a crash allowing the wing to swivel. Hopefully this will help reduce damage to both the wing and the fuse.

Duco

Great job and a clean build style. Look forward to seeing her covered and ready to madian. Thanks for sharing this build.

PS: I to understand being too hot to work in the garage, I have just stopped until it cools down.
I am building a TF Elder and converting to electric. Thought this would make a great flyer in electric.
Now if only I could work on it?

road king 97

They were tearing down a older motel in my area and i knew the demo guys so i snagged a couple of the combo electrict heaters and air units for my work shop . I am nice and cool now in the summer when i go out to build and shut it down when iam not building. joe

FlyWheel

If my garage/hanger/shop were to be climate controlled I would never get to fly anything; I'd be spending all my time building!

FlyWheel

OK all you lurkers, I got the windshield and front side windows glued onto the cabin, and the side windows onto the underside of the wing (they will slide down over the cabin and hold the wing straight). I also got the cowling painted - silver, they didn't have any purple at the hobby shop that looked remotely like the color of the covering; the silver at least looks somewhat like the trim when it's viewed in a way that it shows a silvery shade.
(the blue is the protective film over the plastic)

I had to redo the tapers from the top rear of the cabin to the fuselage "spine". there was no way the covering was going to warp to the necessary shape with them halfway down the sides. Oh well, live and learn. At least the wood stick construction of this plane make corrections real easy.

I finally got everything covered, and I have to admit my covering skills have definitely improved. This time it actually looks good. Not expert, but good. I still have to put on the tail feathers, hook up the pushrods and line everything up, but she should be flying by the end of the week (or crashing ).