Engineering my way into madness.

 

Ok so I need better eyes, the brightest light possible, smaller hands and longer arms and then I would be set.

The silent reward of good modifications means it was worth it if we never have a problem with it again.

 

 What I have done here is mount the horizontal stabs and elevators. I am keeping the stabs removable for any possible (hopefully not) future repairs. Two set screws bolt into each end of the stab main tube.

 

 

The kit calls for a single Kevlar rod between the two elevators. This would make it impossible to adjust each elevator independently and on a plane this size I feel this is very important. Also if we had two servos on the elevators if one failed we would still have the other. I cannot imagine building a plane this big without two servos on the elevator for any reason. 

 

What I did was cut the Kevlar tube in half and drill a hole for a pin that will sit in a slot in the elevator on the inside. I then epoxied it with a little micro balloons mixed in. On the inside of the fuse you can see the bushing mounted to the side to help guide the Kevlar tube. I drilled another hole into the tube to attach the heavy duty 4-40 ball joints too. This definitely takes a little time but the insurance can be priceless.

 

 

 

I have been procrastinating about doing the engine install but I had a day to myself with no interruptions and could take some time to lay this out and do all the funky measuring I need to do. There are three bolts that hold the engine on and they are not drilled out equal on the engine so finding center on the fire all, engine and marking holes with three different size standoffs for thrust while keeping the engine perfectly straight for the exhaust to line up is an engineering nightmare. I have read many build threads on this plane and almost all require plugging holes and re-drilling. I THINK I got it right. The engine clears by a ¼” all the way around the cowl so no room for error. 

 

It may look like I am really making progress but all I have done is mount up things the real work will start soon of hooking everything up and making it all function and that’s when it will really slow down. 

 

 

I am far enough into the plane to say I do like the kit and the workmanship. It’s well manufactured with quality material. The instructions are lacking but not anymore than most planes these days.

 

Thanks for reading.