Maiden flight

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Fuselage, part 1

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Still waiting for my covering iron and heat gun to arrive in the mail. Holiday shipping has really gone wrong this year. I decided to start building the fuselage instead of sitting around and waiting. I reviewed the plans to mark up all the changes I needed to make in order to convert the plane to electric power. The changes will accommodate a 3S/2,200mAh or smaller battery, a 30A ESC instead of the small fuel tank, and replace the original servos with new 9[gr] servos. My overall weight estimates of the electronics and power system came out to be slightly in favor of the electric setup: 310 [gr] vs. 360 [gr] of the original, without fuel. The main changes included: a larger fire-wall to increase the front opening width for a battery, moved the second rib back 20 [mm], and fashioned it into a rectangle with an opening made out of ply wood. Glued together with bottom longerons: Next, completed bottom sheeting after gluing the fire wall in place with appropriate down and right thrust:
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Wing, part 3

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The last step before final sanding and covering was to fit the wing with ailerons. The ailerons run the entire length of the wing, and have a width of approximately 12% (1/8) of the wing cord. The ailerons are fitted with two nylon hinges, and are actuated by a steel rod. Next step is a thorough sanding of all surfaces, then covering the wing with Monokote. The ailerons will remain in natural balsa, sealed with Dope or Sanding Sealer.
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Wing, part 1

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Before setting out to build this plane I decided to make some changes and adapt it to the 4-channel plane I want. It is going to be equipped with an electric motor rather than a glow-plug 0.049 engine, and I have some modifications planned for the fuselage. The wings will be equipped with ailerons to make it a true 4-channel model. The original kit had an optional add-on aerobatic aileron-wing with a semi-symmetric profile and no dihedral. The wing I decided to build will have a ~3 degree dihedral and wing-length ailerons. To accommodate the ailerons I made some minor changes to the trailing edge seen in the picture, and printed a rib template from PLA on my 3D printer. The trailing edge spar I used is actually 1/4"x3/8" and not a 1/4"x 3/4" as in the picture. I cut each rib using the template, which was my first mistake. It takes too long, and if you're not careful to check each one they may not match. A better method would be to "sandwich" rough-cut ...
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