This will be our usual building instruction page for the Pocket Plane we call
the E-plane.
The first set of pictures will follow along with the written instructions you received
with the kit plus we will add a few notes and comments to go with specific
pictures when needed.
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Here
is a side view of the hinge line in the elevator. Find
the hinge line by sliding the elevator into the fin and pick a rib that
will allow the elevator to move up and down without binding on the
pie-shaped clearance hole in the fin. After finding the
rib where you want the hinge, slice only the bottom
surface of the coro-plast. Then trim the flashing off so
the hinge will bend up and down without binding on
itself. Notice the cuts in the hinge, this makes the
hinge bend easier. I take an exacto knife and make
1/4" cuts every 1/4" or so. |
This is the tail section from a Pocket Plane P51 but the Eplane will be
set up similar fashion. |
The
tail pieces are glued together with GOOP. A small bead on the top of the
stabilizer at each side of the fin will do. Then block them so they will dry
straight and perpendicular. CA glue will work also but
will not be as crash resistant. |
| The fuselage is 2 inches wide and a constant
width. You could sand the sides aft of the wing to a nice looking taper or
leave it constant to the tail group. Either way it looks just fine and if
you leave it 2 inches wide to the tail you have an added benefit of
greater strength. The first thing to do is center the spinner you intend
to use on the nose of the fuselage and trace around it. This will
establish the final diameter of the nose during the fuselage shaping
process. I like to use a 1-1/2 Inch spinner; this finishes out to a very
nice and proportional looking nose. If you have a smaller spinner like
what comes with some folding props, you could mount the motor a bit above
center and make a functional chin air scoop just under the spinner. You
can be a little creative here and the fuselage doublers will bend to fit
the shape you make. |
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We will start the shaping
process on the top edges of the fuse. Use course sandpaper for rough
shaping and sand the sharp edges of the fuse from the tail group to the
nose. You will want a nice smooth and rounded fuse for the best look but
it will fly just great even if you leave the fuse square and chunky –
it’s up to you. As you sand, work towards a smooth transition from the
tail through the canopy area to the nose. After the shape is roughed in,
use fine sandpaper to smooth it out. Now you will taper the sides of the
nose so that it makes a smooth transition from the canopy to the round
spinner. Measure about 2 inches in front of the wing and sand so that the
side will gradually taper in to the spinner. Now work over the nose so
that the top of the fuse will transition to match the spinner diameter.
Turn the fuselage over and radius the bottom edges. I do not recommend
sanding a large radius into the bottom of the fuse, especially from the
back of the wing forward to about 2 inches in front of the wing. This is
the area that will carry the battery pack and the speed control so you
will not want to sand away all the supporting foam. Besides, keeping the
area under the wing a little more square will insure a sturdy place to
grasp for hand launching. Just as you did for the top, sand the bottom of
the nose until it matches the diameter of the spinner. Again, sand
gradually from about the 2 inch mark forward. Take fine sand paper and
smooth the whole fuselage. This will help the tape stick.
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| You should now have a
fuselage that will have a flowing look from the tail to the nose and end
in a round diameter that will match your spinner. Cut the fuselage
doublers from the coroplast sheet and note that the nose has motor vents
partially punched out. Cut these out for electric power as they will help
cool the motor, speed control and batteries. Also note that one doubler
has a door partially cut into it under the wing. This is the battery
access hatch. There are several places along the top edge of the hatch
that are not punched through so cut these loose. We do not cut the vents
or the battery hatch clean because some of you will power this with a gas
engine and they will not be necessary. The battery hatch works like this:
notice that the die-cut line is cut like a flap, you will cut a straight
line along one rib that will connect the bottom points of that flap, BE CAREFUL and only cut one side of the coroplast, just
like cutting the elevator - you will want to leave one side of the
coroplast to act as the hinge for the battery door. This doubler will go
to the side of the fuse that will allow the door to open out.
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You are now at the
point of figuring out how you will mount the motor. There are many
different ways but we have an aluminum motor mount that works great. Part
no. Emm. It has two tabs that can be bent around the doublers and taped or
screwed to them. In this instruction set, I will outline how we install
the motor using our Emm mount and if you have a favorite way, by all means
go ahead and use it. The first step is to drill out the nose for the
motor. I use a 1-1/4” spade bit or hole saw. Be careful that the bit
doesn’t jump out and drill your hand! You can drill the hole back to
about an inch from the battery hatch. Then set up the motor with the
aluminum motor mount. I use just a dab of GOOP on the mount between it and
the motor and a tiny bit on the screws before screwing the mount onto the
motor. This seems to keep the motor tight and the screws from loosening
up. Set up your speed controller, then check that it all works and that
the motor is turning the correct direction. With the motor unit
operational and ready to go in, lets put on the doublers. Note: I
always recommend using a 10 to 15-amp fuse in one lead from the speed
control to the motor. A 10 amp auto mini-fuse works well with 6volt motors
but you may need a 15 amp fuse for high performance motors. Hook it up so
that it can be pulled out from the fuselage through the vent scoop in the
nose for replacement should it blow.
The fuselage doublers
offer support and protection for the nose and its contents. They will be
glued onto the fuse with 77-spray glue. How you cut the battery hatch will
determine which one goes on the right or left side so lay them out
accordingly and score along the ribs on the inside surface of each doubler
so that they will conform better to the rounded nose of the fuse. A blunt
object such as a table knife or screwdriver works well. I like a window
screen installation roller tool.
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| They work great! Spray the doublers and
the fuse with 77 spray glue and stick them on each side making sure
to exactly match up the wing saddle cut outs with the wing slots in the
foam. Notice that the doublers are a little longer than the foam
nose. That’s OK; we do that to cover a possible gap between the nose of
the plane and the spinner. It can be trimmed as needed. If you let the
spray glue dry properly, it should hold the doubler to the curve of the
fuselage. Notice that the doublers help define the canopy line.
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Here, I just used a fill piece on the top of the nose. If you were to
use a Norvel 061 or similar power, I would for sure do the same to the
bottom of the nose also
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If you use our Slickmount, cut the nose off so the back of the spinner
is where you want it to be in relation to the fuse doublers. Then staple
through the doublers into the edge of the firewall just like our Pocket
P51 plane. In fact, you could set this plane up very much like the little P51
instructions outline. Use the link to get there.
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Now, take
a piece of the leftover coroplast material and cut a filler to cover the
gap between the doublers over the top of the nose from the front of the
canopy to the spinner. You can do the same for the bottom of the nose or
not, it doesn’t matter.
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| Use strips of strapping tape around the nose to
cinch the coroplast down tight to the foam. This is the secret to the
incredible strength of our foam planes. The combination of ribbed
corrugated plastic glued to supporting foam and filament-strapping tape
wrapped around the nose combine their individual strengths to form a nose
section that resists buckling and crushing.
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Place the tape strips side by
side from the canopy to the spinner on top, and from the spinner back
several inches on the bottom. The balance of the bottom doublers can be
taped with a length-wise strip by sticking half the tape width to the
doubler and pulling the other half tight, sticking it to the foam. You may
want to use a piece of strapping tape to hold the top, rear points of the
doublers to the foam at the back of the canopy, also.
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Now is a good time to
cut the canopy free from the fuselage. The doublers pretty much define the
shape of the canopy, so use a sharp knife to cut around the perimeter of
the canopy. You will need to add-lib a little at the rear of the canopy,
but you are safe if you simply cut across from one point to the other. Set
the canopy aside for now because later we will sand it out a little to clear the
servos and radio, then tape it up.
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After the canopy is removed,
use some course sandpaper to smooth the cockpit out. You will want to sand
it out until you begin to see the top of the
wing. Then using a suitable tool, cut a passage way at the front of the
cockpit to join the motor/controller compartment. I used the same 1-1/4”
bit that I drilled the motor hole out with because it made the perfect
size hole for my Aveox A20 speed control and gave it plenty of room for
cooling. Just go easy and slow at the correct angle under the forward deck
until it connects with the motor hole. Your passage may not need to be
that large depending on the control used; in fact, you may only need a
half-inch hole to run plug wires to the BEC and battery.
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| With that done, open the
battery hatch and hog out the pocket for the battery pack. This plane is
designed for AE600mah 7 to 10 cell packs. You could use different size
packs but you are on your own for fitting them in the fuselage. Dig the
pocket out, nearly to the other side. This will ensure that you have
enough room for wires and plugs when you stuff the batteries into the
compartment. Brother Jim had a great idea for a door latch for the battery
compartment. He picks a doubler rib that lines up from the air vent to the
battery hatch and slides a piece of piano wire through it until it locks
into the same rib in the hatch. Make a little right angle bend in the end
for a handle and viola!, you have a sliding hatch lock that will keep your
battery pack in the plane where it should be.
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 This is how I did the motor
mount bending and fitting on this plane but (don't
do it this way, it's too difficult, just bend them around the nose and use
tape to fill the gap) you could trim the doublers
off flush with the foam, bend the tabs around the nose and tape as the
picture above. The reason this one is recessed is that I wanted the
spinner to fit as close to the fuselage as possible.
(go
ahead and recess the mount into the doublers, then use tape to cover the
notches, I'll have pictures soon)
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Now it is time to install
the motor/speed control. Since we are using our custom motor mount for
speed 400 motors, we will need to prepare the nose to accept it. The
doublers should have come out about 3/8 inch longer than the foam at the
nose, so cut a notch in the coroplast on each side of the nose so the tabs
on our motor mount will just fit and set flush with the foam fuselage. Note:
do not change the motor angle established by the foam. Make sure the
motor and mount are in the center of the nose and bend the motor mount
tabs back around each side of the fuse for a snug fit. Fit your prop and
spinner combination on the motor and trim the rest of the excess coroplast
away until you are happy with the spinner to fuse clearance. Put a dab of
GOOP or Epoxy on the tabs and wrap some strapping tape tightly around the
nose to cinch the mount tabs down to the coroplast. This will allow you to
remove the motor for servicing with out too much work.
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We are ready for
finish taping the fuse. This is where the colored tape comes in. Before
taping, spray the fuselage with 77-spray glue and let it dry thoroughly.
This will help the tape to stick tight to the foam. Run one strip of
strapping tape from the doubler down each side of the fuse to the tail,
this strengthens the tail section against cartwheeling damage. The colored
tape runs lengthwise, front to back. I like to start with the bottom then
the sides and finally the top. That way the sides will wrap around and
seal to the bottom and the top will wrap over the sides and seal. You can
do it however you want, just make sure to completely cover the foam and
overlap the successive tape strips by about ½ inch. Tape over any slots
or openings and slice them open after covering. Make sure the tape is
smooth and tight to the pad where the tail group sits on the fuse.
TIP: when trying
to tape a curved fuselage surface with packing tape it will tend to bunch
and pucker. Stick the tape along the flattest surface and slice the edge
that is hanging over about every ½", then starting at the back,
working forward, smooth each little flap of tape over the curved edge. The
little flaps will overlap each preceding flap and the curve will be much
smoother. If you have a Monokote iron, use it to take out wrinkles and
smooth compound curves. The iron will also help stick tape edges that seam
to be stubborn about sticking. After the fuselage is taped up, use a razor
blade to open the wing and tail slots and wrap the excess tape flaps into
the slots.
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At this point you
should have a fuselage that is completely taped up. Make sure the pad that
the tail sets on is taped smooth and flat. The tail group should be dry
and ready to install now. I use a coat of 77-spray glue on the part of the
tail that slips into the fuselage. You have to work fast so have the slot
in the fuse open and ready to receive the tail group. Then, quickly spray
a wet coat of 77glue on the parts of the tail that fit into the fuse.
Before the glue starts to set, slide the tail into the slot of the fuse.
Make sure the fin is straight and true with the centerline of the fuse and
squish the sides of the fuse onto the fin. If you are not careful, it is
easy to give your plane a permanent right or left turn by bending the back
of the fuse one way or the other. The goal here is to assemble the tail
group and fuse while the spray glue is still wet to allow a little slippage so
they can be aligned properly---good luck, work fast! Apply a strip of
packing tape under the fuse to close up the tail slot, then run a small
bead of Goop on either side of the elevator to stick and seal the tail to
fuse joint. Block the fuse and tail so they will cure in good alignment.
You should now have a completed airframe ready for
radio gear and wing installation! |
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Wing
The
standard wing for the E-plane is a straight wing that has a symmetrical
airfoil. We have an optional wing that is tapered and that type of wing is
covered later in this text. The first thing to do is sand with fine paper
and dust off the wing panels thoroughly. Stick the two panels together
with 77-spray glue or 5 min Epoxy. If you want to change the wing tip
shape, do that now and sand them smooth. This plane will fly just fine
with a 32 inch wing also but the glide ratio isn’t so great but it goes
faster! So decide on wing length and tip shape before taping. After the
panels are joined and the wing is dusted off thoroughly, coat the wing
with 77-spray glue and let it dry. After it is dry, run three strips of
strapping tape from tip to tip at the thickest part of the airfoil. Let
the ends run about an inch long and wrap around the tip to the other
surface. These are the “wing spars” and are the main strength of the
wing. You should stretch them slightly as you stick them down. Notice that
the wing will tend to bow after one side is taped, this is normal and if
you stretch the other side the same amount the wing should flatten out. Note:
the hot wire cutting process will tend to relieve stresses in the foam and
some wings will have a bow in them. Don’t worry too much as you can
stretch the tape to correct wings that bend up or down, just pull a little
harder on the convex side. Building the wing on a flat table will help the
wing straighten out also.
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| After the spar strips are
on, tape the center of the wing with colored 2” tape running from front
to back. Start with one strip centered over the wing joint, then apply 4
more strips from the center out both directions and overlap each
successive strip by half the width of the tape. Do the same top and
bottom. |
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Prepare the Ailerons
After applying the
strapping tape to the wings and centers are taped, it is time to prepare
the ailerons. The kit includes corrugated plastic stock for the ailerons
that you will cut from extra material on the sheet with the doublers and
tail sections. The ailerons should be cut about 1/2inch wide.
Trim the outboard ends of the ailerons to blend with the wing tip
curvature and the inboard should clear the fuse by about ¼”.
These will be encapsulated in tape before they are attached to the wing. Thin ailerons can be covered easily
with one strip of tape.
Tip: when covering the
ends of thin parts, trim one side off at the edge and wrap the other over
it---just like when using iron-on covering.
After covering the ailerons, lay the aileron upside down on the wing, it
helps to hold them in position with a little piece of masking tape. Run a strip of tape along the back of the wing and the
aileron, smoothing the tape down on both surfaces, then open it up, lay
the aileron flat and apply a strip of tape along the top of the hinge
line.
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| Turn the wing upside down
and use a blunt object (window screen tool works perfectly) to press the
top and bottom tapes together to complete the hinge. Do this to both
ailerons and after they are attached; stretch the regular 2" packing
tape across the wing from tip to tip. Again, remember our taping
convention; always tape from back to front so that a tape edge is never
into the wind. |
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Finish taping the wings by
laying tape from tip to tip and overlapping about 1/4inch. Let the tape
run long about 1 inch and wrap the end over to the opposite surface. Tip:
when taping wing tips, let the tape hang over the end and cut slits in it.
Then wrap each of the tabs around the curve and stick them down working
from back to front. Use a Monokote iron to smooth them down if you want. |
Installing the wing
You
should have a covered fuselage and a finished wing, either straight or
tapered. Slip the wing into the fuselage, center it and make sure it is
square with the fuselage. Run a bead of GOOP along the wing to fuse joint
and let it set. GOOP tends to sag so make a small bead or it will creep
and sag.
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Radio gear
The
control throws should be set to 3/16inch up or down on the ailerons and
1/4inch up or down on the elevator.
The
first step is to hook your servos to the receiver and center them with the
controls in neutral and the trim levers in the center of their slides. You
may have to do this periodically because they always get bumped during the
installation. After centering everything, install the aileron servo since
it’s position is determined by the wing and control wire slots.
It
will be cut in a pocket just behind the spar strapping tape so that the
centerline of the servo shank is about
3-1/2” from the back edge of the aileron (if at all possible,
try not to cut the spar tape as this can greatly weaken the wing. The
servo in this position might cut into the back tape edge just a little. If
you are concerned about it, add another strip of spar tape at about one
third from the leading edge).
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| To get this measurement, you will probably have
to install the servo so that the main bulk of the servo is toward the rear
of the plane. This plane will require micro servos and the FMA 80 works
fine for Speed 400 or use the FMA 100 for gas powered planes. Trace around
the servo and cut a pocket down through the fuse and through the wing.
This servo should sit with the mounting tabs on the top wing surface.
Always cut servo pockets very snug. Temporarily install the servo and
servo arms. You will need to cut or sand out some clearance for the servo
arms to swing. After the servo position is established and cut in, make
wires to hook up the control horns for the ailerons and install the
control horns. |
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If you installed the servo as directed, we punched slots in approximately
the right area to allow control wires to exit the fuselage. You may need
to enlarge the slots a bit for your specific installation and after the
push wires are installed and working smoothly, simply cover the hole with
a small strip of packing tape leaving a small slit for the wire to work.
We use Z bends to connect the servos and horns with a kink in the wire for
length adjustment. Tight Z bends are hard to do unless you use the method
outlined in our drawings. So study that carefully and you will be able to
make great Z bends every time.
The balance point for this plane is 2
inches from the leading edge for the straight wing. Not sure yet about the tapered wing but it
should be about the same. The motor is
already installed so set the prop and spinner on the shaft and put the
battery in the pocket. We want to install the rest of the radio gear to
maintain our balance point. A good way to do this is to set the plane up
on suitable points at a balance mark on the bottom of the wing. Place the
elevator servo and receiver in the cockpit and move them around to find
the balance. If your plane is nose heavy, move the elevator servo back on
the fuse and cut it into the side. If it is tail heavy, keep the elevator
servo as close to the aileron servo as possible and move the speed control
and receiver as far forward as possible. If all else fails, use lead, but
always set the plane at the recommended balance point to start.
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After
you get flying and comfortable with the plane, you can experiment with the
balance point. If you built the plane according to our instructions and
used similar equipment, you should be able to put all the gear under the
canopy and it will balance fine. In our examples, the elevator servo fit
nicely behind the aileron servo. Cut and sand out the foam so it can mount
deep enough into the fuse that it will clear the canopy when it is set on
the plane. You will have to cut foam away to clear the servo arm motion.
Cut a snug pocket for the servo to drop into and temporarily set in place
with the servo arm. Decide which side you will want the control horn on
the elevator and install it close to the fin. I set the servo low enough
in the cockpit so that a 1/4inch hole can be bored from the servo arm
through the back of the fuse a couple inches and exit in line with the
elevator horn. Make a control wire to connect the elevator servo to the
control horn. Again, make a kink in it for length adjustment. Double check
the servo arm movement for unobstructed motion and glue the servos in with
silicon glue. Tip: put a layer of masking tape on the servo body and it
will help cleaning the silicone off the servo. Coat the edge of the servo
pockets with a dab of silicone and slide the servo in tight. Silicone seal
will stick the servos securely but still allow removal.
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You should be ready to finish hooking up the
receiver. Route the wires so they do not interfere with servo arm movement
and put a piece of tape over them to hold in place. If needed you can tape
the receiver down also. |
| . Now, set the canopy on and
sand it out to clear the receiver and servos and cover the canopy top with
tape. It will want to wrinkle if you sanded it round but use the tip above
for covering rounded shapes to get a smooth covering. I like to paint the
canopy silver for contrast and a neat look. In fact you can paint the
whole plane, just sand the tape surface with fine sandpaper to help the
paint stick. I use Krylon and it seems to stick OK. It may
chip off a bit, but it is easy to touch up. After the canopy is done, you
can use 1/4inch wide automotive pinstripe tape to seal the seam between
the fuse and canopy with the added benefit of sticking the canopy on
rather nicely. You could glue it on or use some other tricky method. If
everything works correctly, you shouldn’t have to get into the cockpit
until some sort of maintenance.
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This plane looks fast sitting on the bench, so if you want a
slick looking little park flier that handles well and builds quick--this
is it! |
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Slickmount and Gas
Power
(set
up similar to the Pocket Plane P51)
Here
are some of the first pictures of our Norvel .074 powered E-plane. The
.061 engine would be more than enough power to go ballistic but since we
just received the new engine from Ed of Norvel, we decided to see what it
was capable of on such a light and small plane. I will have finished
pictures and flight rundown as soon as possible. This will help get you
going if you want to gas up the electric version a bit.
If
you are using the Slickmount, follow the instructions below on how to make
the firewall and drill the hole
for the Slickmount.
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Setup your particular engine the way you will want it
mounted. In this case I used the Slickmount and the Norvel .074 for the
power in this one. Since we will use a 1/4
inch thick firewall and the Slickmount, a portion of the nose has to be
cut off for the engine compartment. Set the engine up and measure the
distance from the back of the spinner to the firewall and mark the fuse so
the spinner will clear the front of the fuse doublers. In this case I had
to cut off 2 - 3/8 inch. Make the mark exactly parallel with the nose of
the fuse. |
Cut the nose off the fuse and make the firewall match the distance of the foam from top to bottom.
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You will have to decide on
the firewall shape and location for the engine. This firewall was about
1-1/2" wide and tall enough to cover the fuse after it was cut off.
The slickmount hole location looked good at 1-1/8" from the bottom. Later on you
will see that this measurement allowed a P51 Mustang type chin scoop under
the spinner. I could of lowered the motor another 3/8 inch and eliminated
the scoop but it looked kind of cool this way. |
| Since the fuse is cut from 2 inch thick foam, I make the
firewall narrower than the fuse and sand the fuse sides in to match it.
This will slim the nose of the plane down and make a much nicer looking
fuselage. In this case the firewall is about 1-1/2 inch wide.
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Glue
the firewall pattern on the wood then cut the firewall out and drill the
1’1/4inch hole for the slickmount. Glue the firewall on the nose with 77
spray or Epoxy and carefully drill out the foam with your 1-1/4 inch bit.
Try to drill right through the center of the fuse, perpendicular to the
plane of the firewall and just deep enough for the Slickmount tank. Tip:
lay the fuse down on its side and cover the other side with a block of
wood so you won’t break through and drill your hand! I have used #4
sheet metal screws to mount the Slickmount to the firewall and it works
just fine. The best way, though, is to drill the holes at the four corners and
install 4-40 T-nuts (blind nuts). If you have the T-nuts with the big flange you may
have to cut a flat in them to clear the tank. If your screws tend to strip
out you can run a bead of silicone in the hole before you re-install the
Slickmount. This will hold it together and is not too difficult to remove.
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Notice the staples and also notice how the side conform to the fuse. I
tapered the fuse in a nice gradual arc from about the front of the wing
slot to the edge of the firewall then used a Monokote iron to soften the
coroplast and help it conform to the curves. |
Stick the fuse
doublers to the sides of the plane. They will be glued on with 77 spray
glue. Match up the sides with the wing saddle and nose. Be sure they are
the same on each side before you stick them. After the doublers are on,
use a staple gun to slam some staples through the doublers into the edge
of the firewall. If you don’t have a staple gun, pound several ½ wire
nails into each side (be careful not to poke them through the tank!)
through the doublers and into the edge of the firewall. This is one of our
little secrets to the incredible strength of these foam planes.
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Notice how the strapping tape is used to pull the sides together and
strengthen the nose.
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Use
strapping tape and wrap strips of strapping tape around the nose, edge to
edge, from the firewall to the front of the canopy and from the firewall
to the wing saddle under the nose. That just kind of cinches everything
down tight and if you sand the fuse round, the doublers will bend to
conform to the shape of the nose. The doublers will be left long and
trimmed to the back edge of the spinner to form the engine compartment.
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 Tape up the firewall and engine
compartment thoroughly
This plane will be done in black tape with hot pink trim and silver
canopy
 Look closely and you will notice
the scoop. After all the setup was done, the bottom of the scoop was
filled with scrap coroplast and taped over.
 The radio gear is in place and
is basically the same as the electric powered version. Clockwise from the
upper right corner is a black switch (barely visible) and a gray S80 servo
for the throttle, below that is the Tetra receiver, straight back is the
aileron servo S100, behind that an S80 elevator servo, and right above
that is the battery (yellow) drilled into the back deck of the fuse. A
110mah battery was used. This arrangement seemed to balance the plane very
well.
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When taping the doublers at the engine compartment, the side tapes can be
left long enough to wrap around the profile of the doublers and folded
around to the inside of the engine compartment all the way to the
firewall. When covering the fuselage, to be sure the firewall is sealed, I
run the end of the bottom tape up and over the top of the firewall and the
top tape down and over the bottom of the firewall. That way the top or
bottom tape can seal the side tapes to the firewall. Make some slices at
the hole for the Slickmount and push the flaps into the hole. If you are
running a Norvel, you will need to cut the doublers to clear the muffler
and allow access to the needle valve. A needle valve extension might be
handy. Also you will need to start planning the throttle linkage if you
need one. One neat way is to pick a doubler rib that you can run a pushrod
through from the canopy area to the engine compartment. Trim some of the
material away so that the rod can break away from the inside of the
doubler at the carb and will slide freely. Force a larger wire through it
to open the rib up a little. You may have to bend the wire around to get
it to link up with the carb and servo. If you do it right you will need
only to make a right angle bend into the hole in the throttle arm. To
remove the motor, simply bend the doubler away from the engine to unhook
the pushrod from the throttle. Another good way is to use braided steel
flex cable and clevis to connect the Throttle servo. If you want
simplicity, block the throttle wide open and forget the throttle servo but
just remember, once you let ‘er go – your committed!
The plane is just about finished here and all that is left is to hook
up the throttle and control surfaces. Here a long drill bit is used to
make a hole for the throttle linkage. If you don't have a long drill, use
a regular drill to cut through the firewall and piece of heavy wire or a
1/4 piece of brass tubing to cut a tunnel through the foam to the exit
point at the servo. 1/32" wire worked well to hook the S80 servo to
the throttle arm. A Z bend is used at the servo arm and the springy-ness
of the wire holds a right angle bend in the throttle arm on the carb. To
unhook the engine for removal, gently bend the fuse doubler away from the
engine and pull the wire from the throttle.
This plane is quite fast with
061 power but with the 074 pictured here, performance should be
incredible. Be quick on the sticks
and set the control throws to a minimum to begin. I like 3/16inch up or
down on the ailerons and the elevator. Adjust to your flying abilities --
good luck!
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