x3heimmr

OK here's a little more progress. This is the Horizontal Stab after sheeting and a little sanding on the leading edge. You can see one of the Elevators started behind the stab.

x3heimmr

Here are two pics of one of the elevators. There will be four hinges per elevator. There is also a piece of 1/4" ply glued in for a hard point for a control horn.

x3heimmr

The Vertical Fin after sheeting.

x3heimmr

This is a piece of 12" x 48" 1/8" light ply. Most of the wing ribs that get cut out for the retracts are doubled on both sides with this ply. The rib furthest to the outside of the wing gets doubled with 1/4" birch ply. There is also a pic of the scroll saw I am using. $39 plus tax from Harbor Freight.

prop wash

x3,your pics are really great and very helpful.I'm getting ready to start on mine but I want to get as much info before I get started.I have aGSTF arf that I am re-building and a Cap232 that I have to fix part of the wing[kissed a tree after the engine died].So I am printing all your pics. Is there a manual that is supposed to come with the kit?? Tom

x3heimmr

There is no manual except for three or four pages of instructions. There are no pictures in the instructions. Most of what you need to know is on the plans.

prop wash

Thanks x3 for your help.My wings are already built and only partially covered.where did you get the prints for your lite ply ribs for the retracts?Tom

x3heimmr

I have been asked not to post the information about where I got the overlays for the rib cutouts. They are from the person who was the last to manufacture the Annco Retracts. However, anyone who wants the contact information can send me a PM and I can give the contact information out that way. That is how the person who sent me the overlays wants it handled.
Thanks

prop wash

x3 thats OK I understand.Do you have any more pics?? Tom

prop wash

By the way x3,where is Boonville,IN.Ilive in Griffith In.Thats in the NW corner.I belong to the Griffith Barnstormers and the Midwest Sunndowners.Come fly with us this coming July for our Warbird Day.Tom

x3heimmr

Boonville is at the very Southwestern tip of Indiana. And, just to be clear - I can give you the name and phone number of the guy who can send the overlays - I just cannot post his information on the net - so contact me if you want his name and number.
Thanks

prop wash

Thanks x3,I'll do just that.Tom

prop wash

X3,I just recieved a copy of the overlays.I will have to make some adjustments for my Century Jets but I don't see much trouble,but I can see this kit is going to take a long time.The person who started this kit made some mistakes so I have some cutting to do.Please continue to give us more pics.Tom

x3heimmr

Don't worry, more pcs to come. I have been busy cutting out the doublers per the overlays for the Annco retracts and gluing them to the ribs that came in the kit. I have the right wing ribs and top and bottom spars CA'd together. I'll post some pics later this week.

x3heimmr

I have started on the right wing half. The first thing to do was cut out all of the doublers and then cut out the ribs that came in the kit to match the cutouts in the doublers for the retracts and wheels. All of the doublers then were glued to the ribs. Next the two bottom spars were pinned in place over the plans. The ribs were then pinned into place over the plans and bottom spars. Once I was sure the ribs were correct, I glued in the two top spars. After the top spars were dry, I pulled up the bottom spars and glued them to the ribs. Make sure the spars fit into the slots in the ribs before attempting any of this assembly!

x3heimmr

Here, you can see the doublers and cutouts for the gear and wheels. W3, W4, W5 are doubled on one side with 1/8� balsa. W6 is doubled on one side with 1/8� lite ply. W7, W8 are doubled on two sides with 1/8� lite ply. W9 is doubled on one side with ¼� birch ply. Here you can also see some of the wire ties that I used to hold up the bottom spars in place while I glued them.

x3heimmr

Note that W1 is not perpendicular to the plan. It sits on an angle to form the dihedral once the two wing halves are joined. There is an angle guide provided on the plans. I cut two angle guides out and glued them to W1 and then pinned them down to hold W1 at the proper angle while it was glued.

x3heimmr

Before starting the assembly, I drilled 1� diameter holes through all of the ribs out to the aileron servo. After the assembly was glued together, I rolled up a 36� into a tube. The tube goes in the wing and will serve as a guide for the servo extensions and air lines to the retracts.

prop wash

x3,these are great.My wings were already built but only partially covered,so I have a lot of cutting to do to get the new ribs to fit properly for the retracts.I'm going to start on the tail feathers and go over these drawings for a while so to make sure no serius mistakes were made.The dihedral braces were broken off in the wing so I have tomake some adjustments here.Thanks a lot for your pics.Tom

prop wash

X3,I notice that your horiz stab ribs are glued to the center of the trailing edge.In the plans it shows they are glued to the top leading edge and trailing edge.Did you do this for a reason or does it matter?? Tom

prop wash

X3,don't let this thread go.Your help is really "helpful".Tom

x3heimmr

Prop Wash - Don't worry, this thread will go on until I am done - I have been working in getting the retract installed in the right wing. It is in now. I just have the mounting plate tacked in place with CA. It took me several hours to get the retract lined up just right so the wheel will be retrected completely in the wing and also be lined up straight when the gear is down. Be ready to spend a lot of time on this. I have the left wing half framed and will be installing the retract plate in it hopefully this week. Once that is done, I am going to clamp the two wing halves together and double check the wheel alignment again. I want to do all of this before I reinforce the mounts with tri stock and epoxy and sheet the wing halves. Pictures of all this to come later this week.
As far as the horizontal stab rib placement - I followed the printed instructions. The stab is much thicker at the center that at the tips. So, I drew a centerline on each rib at the aft end and matched it with a centerline on the trailing edge. Don't forget to plan for servo pockets and servo extensions and control horn mount placement on the elevator halves. I'll check the plans to make sure I didn't goof up on the horizontal stab rib placement..
Thanks

x3heimmr

OK, here are some pics of the gear installation. The first pic shows the gear plate in place after a lot of cutting and shimming. Second pic shows a trimmed away portion of the front bottom spar. I reinforced the back side of it after I was done trimming. I had to do this to get the angle of the gear right so that the wheels are aligned straight when the gear is down so the plane will track straight on the ground. The third, fourth and fifth pics show a yard stick held against the side of the wheel. What I did was to line up the ribs over the plan. The ribs are parallel to the fuse center line. The wheels also have to be parallel to the fuse center line. I used a square to project two points from the yard stick to the plan. Then I connected the two points with a line. This line has to be parallel to the ribs. The sixth pic shows the yard stick connecting the two points. After about 10 tries, I got the line parallel to the ribs. The last pics just show the two wing halves sitting on the table at the proper dihedral. That’s all for now until I get the left gear plate mounted.

prop wash

Thanks X3,the pics are great.Who ever started this kit broke one of the dihedral braces off in the wing,so I have to do some cutting or whatever to fix it.Not serious but just a pain.Tom

x3heimmr

Hey Tom,
Look at the spars as they go from the left wing to the right wing. They do not make a straight line. In other words, my spars do not make a right angle with the fuse center line when looking down at the top of the wing. Are we just supposed to bend the dihedral braces to match the angle? I was also thinking of making an extra dihedral brace for each set of spars out of 1/8" ply - so there would be a total of four braces on my wing. Is that overkill?
Thanks