Hanno Prettner Magic - Part 4

A bit more progress. I haven't had much time this week/weekend, so not much to report
First - the wheel wells. Take 2 - and this is what they look like now..



Not quite as circular as I would like but at least there is a reasonable gap now...

The TE extension in the centre of the wing and at the joint between the flaps/ailerons and wing tips have now been added. They have been faced with 1/32 ply. The extension at the root has been built from 1/16 ply inlaid into the false TE. This gives a good strong surface, this carries the wing mounting bolts.


You can see where I have inlaid ply in between the upper and lower sheets to support the TE. The core is solid balsa.. It feels very strong.

I have added the ply end caps to the wing tips. These were fairly straightforward but I have used 1/32 ply instead of 1/16. I think it will be OK, I am trying to save weight now, this wing is starting to feel very heavy.

The last couple of evening have been spent filling dings and generally sanding now the wing surface to get it ready for glassing.

This was followed by a general vacuum round to get rid of as much dust as possible

The servos and U/C were removed, the electrics covered and the 60g cloth has been put down on the upper wing surfaces.



This was much more difficult than I imagined, the temperature in the workshop is the wrong side of cool and the Zpoxy was a bit on the thick side despite warming it gently for half an hour before mixing..

I'll leave it for 48 hours to really harden then I'll do the under surface of the wing. One decision I need to make is whether I should add a wing joining tape down the centreline. I am still a bit worried whether it will be strong enough

I carefully fitted the ailerons. I am using the Kevlar cloth as the hinge material so the ailerons are laminated.

The aileron ends are capped with 1/32 ply to keep nice sharp edges.
Then I came to fit the flaps. I cut slots for the torque rods and laminated them with ply.


So far so good. These were slotted to accept the Kevlar cloth, the rods epoxied into place then capped with ply/balsa. They were not going to fall off.

All I had to do was finish off sanding/carving to shape in situ and I broke one of the blooming things.
I was also checking the fit of the wing with the flap servo fitted - and it wouldn't. The torque arms were binding against the elevator servo (which I had anticipated) but even worse, the wing wouldn't fit with the flap servo in place.



Basically, the flap servo was locked against the rudder servo...

What I had done was transposed the position of the flap servo in the wing. Not a huge problem but my patience was diminishing and my temper rising so it was a good time to put it aside to have a think.

Now fast forward 5 or 6 weeks..

The flap has been repaired...


The battery and flap servo has been swapped round


The elevator push rods have been lowered



And everything how fits (although it is very tight for space).
The last 3 evenings have been spent fitting the wing fairings and carving and sanding to shape. A bit frustrating, the plan says refer to the cross section for the shape of the fairing - but there is no cross section..



But - they look OK. Still need a bit more work to complete though. I have also fitted the wing bolt mounting plate.

Once done, it will be time to fit the rudder and the top of the fin and then glass the fuselage..

The fin tip has been added - it looks lovely..

I have glassed the fuselage and fin (using epoxy resin and 60g cloth). Just waiting for it to cure for a couple of days before I start sanding it down. One irritating area is still a bit sticky, left it leaning against the heater in the shed - hopefully that will sort it. When sanded smooth, I'll add a couple of coats of water based varnish to make sure that it is properly sealed then a final rub down with very fine wet and dry and then we are ready for paint.

Just a couple of shots..

This was the fus last night after the first sanding down exercise. I added a coat of Antique pine water based varnish. Looks quite nice
This evening I have spent an hour with the wet and dry.
The dark areas are where the varnish sits in pits



and


Its actually nowhere near as bad as it looks. Using the fingertip test you can't actually feel the pits although shining a light down the fus will show them up. However, I think that it is ready for high build primer. Halfords here I come.....

A light coat on the fus and the underside of the wing. I am really very happy - there is not much more reworking to do and only a couple of spots that will need a little filler.

No close- ups just a bit of "White Magic".


and


Up at 06:30 this morning when I remembered that I hadn't built the short fairing that sits under the wing leading edge.

This evening is the first time that the model has been fully assembled. Still lots to do though but I am getting there.


And


here are a couple of Paint in progress photos:



Masked up Fus



Top deck/tunnel.



And the wing. Contrasting colour scheme underneath. (The blue is the same shade by the way - just different lighting)

Got most of the colour finished yesterday - so a quick assembly seems in order.



and




and underneath



I have to admit - and I will say this many times - it looks a lot better as a photo than in real life.

I have fitted the rudder last night and covered it this morning - usual for me - black/silver chequerboard.

I also reweighed it last night - assembled airframe with 3 fus servos and 1 flight battery - 2.76kg. It seems a lot heavier than that though. Still needs the engine and retracts and wing servos and 2nd flight battery fitting though.

Not gently rubbing it down with 1200 grit wet and dry - wet - to remove any new high points and flatten it ready for proofing.

Added cooling air outlets on the top deck/tunnel. These are cut from light alloy - actually an anodised 450 sized helicopter boom. The drawing only shows 2 - i have put five on.



Control linkages for the elevators and rudder - not sure where that run came from, but it wasn't there when I investigated later



The elevator snakes are now terminated about half way down the fuselage with a dowel from the Y junction back to the elevator servo. No play present.
.
I mentioned that I was going to try Rustins 2 pack.. Well, I tested it on a test piece, I tested it on a small area of wing and I tested it on a small area of fuselage. All OK.
So, I carefully brushed on 2 coats of this plastic coating and it set beautifully.

No problems at all.. The top of the wing looked a bit patchy so I applied a 3rd coat thinned 50% with the supplied thinners.

The result - crazy paving on the yellow and the red .

Gutted. The blue and white seemed to be OK so I masked off and sanded the red and yellow down - several times - because every time I reapplied paint it crazed again.

What made it worse was that plastic coating on the top of the wing started to peel off..
So, a couple of evenings spent removing the film off the top surface with a scalpel and a bit of 1200 grit wet and dry

Eventually, I managed to get the red and yellow back on again without it crazing (too) badly and this time fuel proofed it with Spectra spray gloss - which smells like polyurethane varnish.. However, it went on OK but the wing is now looking a little worse for wear..

Still - onwards and upwards as they say. (However with this build it seems to have been mainly downwards)..



I followed Martin Mc's suggestion about using 6g piano wire for the main legs - which put a real strain on my wire bender.



Finally, it looks like this..



and it weighs this much..


in kilograms

Hanno Prettner Magic - Part 3

A bit of progress in the past few days. The Magic is taking precedence now - mainly because I am using my large Building board and there isn't as much space available.


The retracts have been added - and as a bonus, here is a little video coz I know you all like them.. I have added 1/16" soft balsa infill around the retract mount to give the sheeting something to stick to.

 

Quite pleased with that the retracts and wheels are fully retracted and out of the draught when retracted.

 

 

The hinge for the flap. I actually made a small mistake with the hinge line, it should be 3mm higher - I have located it centrally. I may cut them out and redo them, I'll weigh it up.

 

The angled wing tip was a bit more tricky than I thought it would be. Getting all the spars cut to length and at the right angle was a bit difficult. When I got round to doing the other tip last night it was much easier - lessons learned and all that... There will also be a 1/16" ply facing which will go on after the wing has been sheeted.

 

 

Although not shown on the plan, I have added 1/16" balsa webbing down the length of the wing. This adds a lot of strength and my flying is definitely not as good as Hanno's so I think I will need all the strength I can get.

 

The false LE and TE have been sanded to the correct profile, this wing is now ready to be joined to the other half when completed then sheet covered.

 

 

Repeat for the other wing - but with far less textual information. Just remember to make one of each side..

Anyway *some* progress - not much though..

Aileron mounting rails. I wanted to mount the servos from underneath (like I did on the flea fli) - However, the depth of the servo is 3mm too much - never mind. The balsa sheet bracing is in place because there isn't much wood under the bearer.



Working on the wing. The Other wing half has been skeletally completed.
Time to join the two halves
I am adamant that this wing will be straight so that when I set the dihederal, I propped both wing tips up using these little jigs under the last rib. This will ensure that both wings will be identical (warp wise)



Joining up the centre section was fairly easy. As both panels were propped up it was simply a case of sanging the LE, TE and spars so that everything touched where it should. Building on the plan ensured that I had the correct LE sweepback



All clamped up while the glue dries...
Now. the plan shows that the panels are joined using 10mm balsa across the centre bays only. I am decidedly unhappy about that and elected for a tapered 1/4" spruce spar across the 4 centre bays - top and bottom. To compensate for the dihederal, the upper brace is inlaid by an additional 1.5 mm at the centre and the lower has the extremities tapered. This looks much more rugged, but I would welcome advice on whether it will be strong enough..



Another shot.



This shows the amount of tapering required on the lower brace - more than the upper brace because the wing is tapered.



And after it has been planed and sanded to shape.



Adding the lower skins. Cut as per the plan using 3/32" balsa sheet - not especially good quality although it looked OK when I did the cutting. The U/C holes are a bit on the small side. I'll open them up after the upper sheeting has been done.



Note the holes for the Servos. I am putting Tower Pro MG996 servos in for the ailerons.
I have got a bit further than this, the other panel has also been sheeted (lower surface) and the servo mount for the flap servo has been added.




I have followed BEB's lead and brought the five servos to a HD15 pin D socket and plug. I have to admit that I am not really happy with this and may move to a similar solution that Martin McIntosh used on his P51. The only reason I am unhappy is that the wires were too big for the solder buckets so I am not getting maximum strength from the joint. I don't think they will fail though..



The socket is mounted on a liteply plate and is deliberately placed at the fuselage side so that there is space for the plug to fit alongside the fuel tank.



A switch has been fitted for the retract power - a NiMh 4 cell battery which will be located in the wing root. This is sat next to the Flap servo



With the servos fitted and wired (and TESTED!) I have laid up the sheet for the upper skins. I am using slightly harder wood than I used underneath.



Adding the skin. I have used PVA to glue the skin down. The multitude of weights scattered around help ensure good adhesive contact. Just how many objects can you get on a wing before it gets totally crushed.



With the skins in place and trimmed back, the LE is glued in, stripped from 3/8" balsa sheet



Slot cut out for the battery and lots of elastic bands pulling the LE in place.



Upper view of the wing, LE has now been trimmed and sanded and the wing is almost ready for glassing.



Lower view. The wheel bays have now been sheeted, but my circular wheel orifices are definitely not circular. Its amazing how a mm or so of deviation is so obvious when it is meant to be circular. The wheels are a very close fit, less than 1mm in places - other places its a bit more...



Finally for now, the upper centre section. I'll use velcro to keep the battery in place and a bit of filler is needed but apart from that I think it looks quite neat. Note - you wont get a close up of the wheel bays...

Next job is apply the ply wing tip caps and the bits of TE that are not flaps and ailerons, then glass it.