Tail Work

Brrrr......It's too cold in the garage to do much. I glued the blocks on the rear and then shaped them to match the rest of the fuse. The tail is just in place to see if it fits. I am still trying to decide about the motor placement. I have noticed that the fuse has a twist in it. I don't really know what is up, but I'm not crazy about being outside when it is so cold. Oh well, I guess that is what makes building so interesting.

Give me some skin, man!

Here is the progress this afternoon. I have sheeted the turtle deck but decided to wait on the front portion until I decide what to do with the engine mounting. My choices:

1. Mount the engine upside down with the tank in place and hope for the best.

2. Leave the tank in place and mount the engine sideways (probably what I'll do).

3. Try to move the tank lower and mount the engine upside down.

If I mount the engine sideways, I might be able to use swap the position of the pushrods, but that will be another day.

MLK Day update

No school today!! Here are a couple of pics I took this morning. It now resembles a plane! I now am waiting to hear from GP about engine placement/tank height before I sheet the front but I might try to sheet the turtle deck this afternoon. I am also trying to decide where to mount the E-Z fueler.

Progress continues (slowly)

I finally got back into working on the plane. Here you can see the extra push rod tube I added to route the antenna wire to the rear of the plane. I also added a piece of light ply behind former F1 for added support after someone on the Internet told me that that is a weak point. The plane has the tank installed and the upper formers in place. I will get out there tomorrow and take some pics before trying to sheet the top.

The Fuse is forming

Progress has slowed a bit. Work started back up and time is limited. Miles has started helping me and that too makes it a bit slower. That's OK, it is neat to have him in the garage. Here are pics of the progress after my latest screw-ups. I broke a push rod tube but was able to find a brass tube that would slide right over the cracked portion and sure it up. I am pretty sure that it will work fine. I also glued some strips on the wrong side of the fuse. Oh well, the good thing about wood is that you can hack it off and glue new. I also have a pilot! Bee guy looks ready to fly, doesn't he?

Brrr...It's cold!

Tonight I installed the wing dowels and assembled the fuse sides. Yes that is the kitchen table. It was below freezing and the epoxy would never set. Wax paper will keep me out of trouble with my wife.

The two become one

Both wings are finally done and now I am ready to join them. The epoxy was too cold in the garage, so I will bring it in and let it warm up, then join the wing tonight. This is the last night of my vacation so the build will slow down a bit.