A fix for an ages old problem.

The great Kleenex problem has been  solved. Ever since it's inception tissues have been falling inside the box when the stack gets low. After  hundreds of years of trying I finally found the solution. (See pictures below or wherever the comp. puts them.)

Test will take a while.

I got the fly line Tues. afternoon. It is made like a tube. The plan was to insert a needle through several inches of the tube and pull the spectra through. Using the fly line encased Spectra I was going to tie it to a thimble with the fly line cushioning the Spectra from itself thereby improving it's knot strength and being able to use a simple knot. I found the process on "Paul's fishing kites" web site. He used 80 KG dacron fly line and 37KG Spectra and got over 90% line strength using the fly line protected Spectra and a granny knot. I Tried using 40 pound Spectra and 20 pound test fly line. It's so small that the needle barely fit through. I'll try some bigger fly line in the future.

Problem solved.

UPDATE; the line didn't get here as advertised on Amazon. Maybe today.

 I'm in the middle of experimenting with fishing line as a replacement for control line cables.  The trouble with the Spectra fishing line is tying on the thimbles and getting equal length lines. Spectra needs a special slip knot and getting it to slip the same twice is very hard to do. What is needed is a handle that uses an adjustable cable to hook the lines to then you can move the cable to even up the lines. The only trouble with that is the cable is fixed in place and isn't adjustable for line spacing which is a valuable trimming tool.
  Yesterday, 1-26, an idea popped into my head and I grabbed one of the hard point handles I have and drilled out the spacing adjustment holes to accept a 4-40 eye bolt. I found a short piece of .027 cable and threaded that through the eye bolts and through the holes in the handle. After wrapping loops in the cable ends it's ready to fly. All the other cable handles I've seen have at least 1/16 inch cable running through them. That stuff is too stiff and creates a springy feel. The .027 is used for leadouts and will pull snug to the handle eliminating the springy ness of the larger cable.
  I'm expecting a delivery of fly fishing line today and that is supposed to make tying the Spectra much simpler. At least that's the plan.

And yet another experiment.

  I believe I've found a better way to tie Spectra line and maybe get some accuracy in line length when tying it to thimbles. Anyway I ordered some fly fishing line and it should be here Monday the 27th. I can begin experiments then. It's claimed that  a 90% strength knot can be had consistently using a Granny knot. We shall see.

Woopsie.

  As the picture clearly shows I forgot to cover the stab. on the legacy. I'll get it tomorrow.

Another experiment.

I finished covering the Bearcat and started looking at the Legacy. Between looking at the plane and the roll of white Monokote I thought of another way to lay the covering on the wing and stab. There have times that the plane was worth re covering and removing the covering from under the fillets can get messy. So I installed a strip of covering about an inch wide next to the fuselage joint but with enough of a gap so that the epoxy fillet will cover the Monokote edges and still glue the wing in solidly. Then I installed the covering keeping a bit away from where the fillet will end. That way if the plane gets to be old and is worth re covering I can remove it and have the strip intact for re use. But now I'm stuck with the same color but I generally use white as a base color anyway.
 I started with a partial roll of white and didn't think there was enough to cover the wings stab and other parts and there wasn't. There was even less than I figured but I did get the wing covered and fillets installed. The hobby shop in Groton has a roll for $19.95 and we go to Groton a lot and the cost of gas to go to Hog Heaven along with the time for the special trip even though I need a pilot figure then again I can get cheaper gasoline in MA, I hear a road trip coming. I live 35 miles from three hobby shops.
 Well that didn't go well. I had a dental cleaning appointment for 0900 tomorrow and with the snow coming I changed it to today at 1100. The dental office is a mile from the Groton hobby shop with the $19.95 Monokote. I was headed that way on my way out so I stopped and bought  the only roll of white they had. I did get the rest of the Legacy covered.  The Ford engine blue I bought at NAPA is very close to Monokote insignia blue when applied over a dark primer coat. I tested it on the cowl. Things are on hold as it's getting way to cold even for me to paint.

Another shortcut.

I started to cover the Bearcat's wing yesterday. I used to make several cuts in order to get the covering to match up at the fuselage. I've  spent close to an hour doing that on all the other planes. On the Bearcat I did my usual thing with the sheet and then as I was starting to measure and trim I simply pushed the covering up to the fuselage so the gap was closed and with a pen marked along the joint. A perfect match on the first try. I still have to cut it with the soldering iron so I can add the fillets which will overlap the covering edge a bit and after painting the overlap is gone. I also cover the wing with one piece which eliminates the seam at the leading edge.
  I'm happy with the fiberglassing job on the fuselages. Min Wax polycrylic to stick it down and fill the weave. Dupli-Color has a better filler paint than the one Sparky likes. It's called Filler Primer, high build formula. It sands as easy as the other one. I use the Filler Sealer as the coat before painting. Used in conjunction with the thinned body putty speeds up the job a lot.

More paint testing.

I  tried the thinned body putty on some balsa wheel pants today. I sanded the first coat off and applied a second thinner coat. Painting it on is a more manageable and thinner making it easier to sand off. I am just about ready to start covering the Bearcat and Legacy. I've been testing the Lustre-kote blue paint and then went to NAPA and found dark blue Ford engine enamel. I bought a dark primer that will darken the blue a bit more and it looks like a pretty good match for Monokote insignia blue.
  It was a good day to fly but the electrician was here. He's almost done getting the wiring up to code. Not an easy job.

Another experiment.

Over the years I've progressed from slopping red lead body filler on the planes to using a credit card to scrape on a thin coat to thinning the body putty with acetone and scraping a thin coat on with a credit card to finally thinning the putty with acetone even more and applying it with a paint brush. I don't get the line of putty that sneaks past the edges of the card this way and I can apply a thinner coat of putty which means less sanding. So far so good.
  I flew the first plane to get ready in the school class this morning. I had to find how to hook everything up and we got it right on the second try. The plane zipped up at a sharp angle at first but I managed to make it look easy for the builder and the on lookers. I let the student fly it after I got it trimmed out and the power set low enough. I managed to miss the goal posts and flood lights on the football field and landed it with out any damage. After flight inspection showed that the wing wasn't seated and the leading edge was raised causing the sharp climb and the rudder clevis wasn't closed and locked. Both items were corrected.

Learning has taken place.

  One of the students in the building class got a radio system for Christmas. I helped him install two of the normal size servos yesterday and hook up the push rods. Today we had to charge one of the batteries with an unfamiliar charger and get the speed controller wired in. The directions came in handy but one of last years students got it up and charging for us. On the first try to get everything working the beeps were not standard. I looked over the wiring and found the speed controller was plugged into the receiver wrong. Once that was fixed all operated as it should. The throttle was reversed but I knew how to fix that. It's the first that's ready to fly.
  I bought some spot putty a few years ago and it's not as good as the old red lead spot putty. Yesterday I tried thinning it with acetone and it worked. I tried lacquer thinner a while ago with out success. I poured some on the rudders and scrapped it off using a credit card. After sanding it filled the grain nicely. I tried it on a glass covered piece with good results also. I'm in the middle of testing it on one of the fuselages. It's a lot easier to apply thinned in this instance. It goes on so thin it dries very quick.

And yet another thing not to do.

I installed the straw on the ball link properly and removed the push rod. I inserted the wing into the fuselage and all was good. Then I re installed the push rod and thought it was into the ball link but it was threaded between the straw and ball link giving me a false reading. The straw was hard to pull off and that should have raised a red flag but I couldn't possibly made that kind of error. A good yank and the straw and push rod came out of the wing. Along with the red flag. I had access to the wing top and bored a 3/4 inch hole over the ball link and got the push rod installed properly.
  I had bought one package of fiberglass cloth for the Bearcat and what was left just covered the Legacy fuselage.
 The school class really got going on the motors and controls yesterday. We set one of the girls with the soldering iron and she was installing the connectors onto the motors. Still need the speed controllers soldered up. There is a renewed interest in the planes as the so so students have perked up a lot. I would like to take full credit for the turnaround but I will.

Hold everything.

I saw a thread on a forum about the Legacy, probably not the 40 version. It showed the elevators and they were built up not solid like the plans I have show. I cut out a strip from the center of each half and put in ribs to lighten the weight a bit. Then I installed the straw on the ball link and removed the push rod in preparation to install the wing into the fuselage. I noticed that I hadn't cut the hinge slots in the wing so I removed it and re installed the push rod for safety's sake.While the wing was in I got a measurement for the long push rod and glued the "L" bend end into the carbon tube. The picture shows the tapered end on the bellcrank to flap pushrod.

How I do it again.

  I make the push rod with a metal clevis on the elevator end for adjustability. I remove the clevis from the horn with a screwdriver inserted up through a hole in the fuselage bottom and spread the clevis and remove it from the horn. Then it's a while trying to get the clevis turned on the rod enough to make the adjustment I want. I have an acsess hole under the stab and work through there. I made a tool that  makes the turning easier and faster. It's a piece of 1/8 aluminum tubing with a 1/16" cable running through it with a hook brazed on one end and a knob on the other. After getting the clevis off the control horn I insert the tool through another hole and hook onto the clevis pin and simply turn the knob which turns the clevis to the place I want it to go. Then with the screwdriver I re attach the clevis to the horn and I'm done.

Warm and rainy building weather.

 After school there wasn't anything else to do but build. I semi finished the top deck and the turtle deck on the Legacy. I finished the wing tips and made holes in the control horns that are the right size and the distance from the center as per the plans. I brazed one hole shut and re drilled it the size for the metal clevis .065. I ended up drilling .070 for some side to side movement just in case. The flaps are ready for installation now that the horn slides into brass tubes making the flaps removeable for installation after sliding the wing through the fuselage. I need to do the same to the elevators. I'll add some 1/32 ply over the horns for added strength.

Progress so far.

I got most of the wing built today as the temperature outside was building season. I managed to build the stab/elev., engine crutch, rudder/fin, and flaps while waiting for the rib set to come in.I'm happy with the fit of the wing in the fuselage cutout. It's the best fit I've ever had. I used a quarter to draw the leading edge radius on the wing tips and wondered how to get it the same all the way along the wing. I used a saw and marked the depth of the radius nose on the blade and cut 4 cuts in the leading edge s depth markers. I planed the nose down to the marked depth and then planed the radius and sanded it closer.

How I do it.

Picture sequence is bottom pic., top pic., 3rd one down, then down in order. I even got two the same.
.First get a drinking straw from McDonalds. It's larger in diameter than most others and slips over the clevis and ball link easily. I don't know what order the pictures will be in but there messed up now. The first pic. should be of the bellcrank to flap pushrod made from 4-40 threaded rod screwed into  the ball link and the metal clevis is attached to the other end. The next pic should be of the inside of the wing as the straw slides up to the ball link in preparation to slide over the ball link stub end. Then push the straw into the wing forcing the bellcrank to turn as far in as it will go. Next pic. shows the outside end of the straw with a mark at the pushrod cutout end so the straw will catch on the opening holding the bellcrank in the far in position jamming the bellcrank in position. Next pic should be of the cut off straw stuck in the pushrod opening. At this point you would be ready to install the wing for the final time. You would unscrew the pushrod from the ball link counting the turns so you can get it installed exactly as it was. Slide the wing through the opening in the fuselage being carefull not to poke the straw inside the wing. Once the wing is in position you are ready to re install the pushrod. The end that screws into the ball link should have a taper ground into it so it will find the threaded hole easier. Be carefull not to release the straw until the push rod is caught on the threads of the ball link. Turn the push rod in the same amount of turns as it came out and your done. I mark a stripe in the push rod and double nut the end and use a nut driver to install the push rod. The pic. of the long straw with the cut off mark has the number 19 at the bottom on the trailing edge of the wing, that's the number of turns of the push rod during installation. The thread pitch is .025 per turn so that is .475 of thread engagement.
  Doing it this way allows you to install the wing without cutting the doublers and weakening the fuselage. I've had a couple planes crack when I cut the bottom out and even glued in reinforcement. This works on profile planes with the reversed bellcrank.

Reset mode.

 The settings don't do what they say. I changed to 'anyone can comment including anonymous' and it only let anonymous comment. So I think I put it back to where it was. 'Any registered user, I think.

About 5 inches of pure misery.

  As I feared the snow dropped a load over night. I had trouble pushing it into a snow blowable pile. The wind wouldn't cooperate either. Out of the north it kept the spray from going where I wanted it to. Most of it went into my face. I finally got the parking square cleared off and the drive way was better as the wind helped a lot. 50 minutes and it was done.
 With the arrival of the rib set I was all set to hit the Legacy building hard. I started by poking holes in the ribs for the jig rods. About a half hour. Then I noticed that I had a wing with a straight leading edge. Another half hour to put the holes in the right place. After that another half hour to set the jig up for the right rib spacing. I kept to the directions on building the wing. Except when it came to sheeting the leading edge before installing the controls. In a mock up condition I found that 4 of the end ribs have to be cut for the front line to move far enough rear ward to suit me. Yesterday I had cut the wing opening in the fuselage and doublers and glued them in place. Before attacking the wing I had glued the engine crutch into the fuselage sides. After tiring of the wing I glued the formers into the fuselage. They are only 1/16 balsa but there are verticle and angled formers. I hope the push rod fits through the slots.The plans call for an engine cowl. To simplify the whole thing I'm going to leave it open as a profile. It will have the same look but less problems building. With all the plywood doublers for strength I'm not going to cut the bottom out and slide the wing into the fuselage just as it sits. With the controls installed and sheeted over it requires a trip to McDonalds for supplies. I'll explain later.

While waiting for the snow to ease up.

  I've been looking at the past blogs and they all say " no comments". I went into the settings page and made a few changes which may or may not mess things up. I'll keep watch.

It's doing it again.

There was about a half inch of snow overnight and the forecast is for about 6 more inches tonight. I hate it when it snows at night and I can't keep up with it. The high winds will help blow the snow from the snow blower much further.
 The school was back in session this morning. I got the info on the class from the teacher and finished the text portion of my article. I forgot the camera so  next time out I'll take some and send that out.
 No matter what the weather brings I'm ready. The order from Brodak came in today and I have just about all I need to build the Legacy. I need to use the Adjusto-Jig again , that's a lot of holes, as I have 3/8 rods and the laser cut holes in the ribs are 5/16. The Bearcat was the same and that came out all right. I used tape to hold the lightening cutouts in place as the jig rod holes landed on a lot of them. It's good to have the instruction booklet. I marked the wing cutout on the fuselage sides and cut that out. Then I marked the doublers, 1/64 and 1/32 ply two on each side, and made those cut outs. I have the longer 1/64 doublers epoxied in and under a weight to cure. Just some sheet to cut for the leading and trailing edges and cap strips and the kit is complete.
  All this time and I didn't know that comments to the blog were numbered and listed. I'll have to be more watchful from now on. I'm glad that the comments were right as I haven't needed any extra weights.

I went, I flew, I froze my Bippy. Shoulda just bet it.

 There was five others already at the field when I arrived this morning. Low 20's for temps. A light wind that had a nasty bite to it chilled my hands quickly. I assembled the Eagle 63 and warmed the engine with hot water. I had put 2 ounces of fuel in last night. It started right up and I carried it to the runway. I flew with two others and had to fly around until I got a chance to land. I stayed for a short while and went home with the third first flight of the new year. One member had a new plane and got in a first first flight.
  I made a tour of the snow blowers filling tires and things. It's forecast to be very cold and snowy for a few days.
 We took the tree down and it went through the door easier than I expected. All back to normal now.