Take Some Free Advice And Save Big

I'm very fortunate to belong to a flying club with  great facilities. We have two black topped runways as well as a Pitts areas for setting up your airplanes. Because of the close proximity to town our flying field attracts a great many onlookers. Many of these onlookers are new to the hobby or are thinking of getting into the hobby. I'm often asked what's the best way to get started. My response is always the same. Start by acquiring a Rc plane simulator and practice every day if possible. This is the best way to hone the skills needed for safe and successful flying. It's also much cheaper to hit the reset button on the simulator than it is to bag up the remains of you airplane. Remember; each pilot has a responsibility to the other pilots to make certain they are able to operate the aircraft in a safe manner. Something that's all to often over-looked.
Those of us who have been in the hobby for a while have seen this before. Someone new to the hobby comes to the field for the first time. They are nervous and unsure of themselves. They have a new plane set up and ready to fly. But lack the confidence needed to maiden their aircraft. Typically they turn to someone at the field for assistance to maiden the plane for them. They may also set up a buddy box for the first few flights. While this may be the smarter choice it may still prove to be the demise of their airplane. Time and time again I've seen experienced pilots take the controls of a plane they know little or nothing about. Taxi out and attempt a take off . The aircraft does something unexpected and ends up in the ground. The pilot operating the plane might make some comment regarding the set-up or such and hand the controller to the owner with their regrets. The thing is, if there is a chance at all that the plane is going to crash. And by the way this is true for absolutely every flight. It might as well be the owner at the controls rather than someone without a vested interest in the safe completion of the maiden flight. I have heard it said that the average life expectancy of an RC plane is about four (4) flights. Not great odds if you think about it. The problem with someone else maidening the aircraft is what you don't learn. As is often said "we learn more from our mistakes than from our successes". Nothing could be more true in the Rc plane hobby. Now this is not to say that having an experienced pilot operate your new toy is a bad thing. The point I'm making is that some time should be set aside for a thorough inspection and systems check by the pilot who will be operating the aircraft. If the pilot selected doesn't ask a lot of questions prior to trying to fly the plane. Find another pilot. Don't worry about hurting their feelings by selecting someone else. They obviously aren't worried about hurting your feelings when the plane crashes. I know many reading this who have been in this hobby for some time would like to believe that this doesn't happen. I'm here to say that sadly it happens all to often. I have witnessed this almost every time an experienced pilot offers to do a maiden flight for someone new. Take this advise or don't. It's only worth what you paid for it. PLUS OR MINUS THE COST OF YOUR AIRPLANE. Enough said.
The biggest advantage in starting with a simulator will become obvious. You have the opportunity to find the style of airplane the suites you best without having to spend a lot of money buying different planes till you find the one you like. Most simulators available today have a great variety of aircraft to choose from. I recommend flying all the planes in the simulator. Although you may not like every one you try, it really gives you a feel for how different airframes handle and will sharpen your skills immensely. Once you can successfully take off and land any airplane in the simulator you are ready to fly the real thing. No kidding. think about it. Most seasoned pilots only fly a few different airframes a year and may not have the skill to fly your plane. You on the other hand have now flown many different airplanes and your skill lever may be higher than that of other pilots.
Hear are some words to live by in this hobby and you may have heard it said before:
"Take offs are optional, landings are mandatory."
The more you practice in the simulator the more confident you will become. Confidence is the key to flying your plane successfully. Practice controlling each airplane in the simulator untill your take offs are smooth and easy. Practice landings untill you can approach from any direction and still stick your landing on the runway. Practice short take offs and landings untill nothing surprises you.
You are now ready to fly the real thing.
One thing further:
Once you have the skills and courage to take to the sky. It's not a bad idea to have a wing man standing by to help keep you from getting rattled during your first few take offs and landing. This would be someone who could talk with you before, during and after the fight.
Hears how this might help.
I was at the field many months back. I noticed that one of our new members was having some difficulty setting up his landing approach. I stopped what I was doing and went out to ask if  he was ok. As I approached it became obvious he was in trouble. His was sweating and his hands were shaking. I asked him if I might be able to help. He replied that he was having difficulty landing and asked if I could get his plane down for him. I said that it would be no problem but first suggested that he show me what was going on with his approach. He said he would and proceeded to make a final approach. As he made his down wind run I notice that he was coming in high and fast. I suggest that he reduce his speed and let the plane lose some altitude. Witch he did. As he made his turn I suggested again that he reduce his speed further and let the plane continue to drop. Again he complied. I notice he was cutting his turn to sharp so I recommended a wider turn on the approach. Again he complied. This guy was good at following directions. He just needed to settle down a little. As the plane approached the threshold I suggested he throttle all the was back and just do a gentle low pass. As he complied the airplane settle to a nice gentle glide slope and touched down very smooth. My point is this; sometimes a voice in your ear is better than the one in your head. Having a buddy talk you through what you already know can be very helpful. And you will learn a great deal more by doing than having it done for you.
The moral to all of this is simple: Get a good simulator, practice and enjoy this wonderful hobby. Avoid replacing broken airplanes.
Hope this is helpful. 

The J 3 Cub is a great flying aircraft. I always enjoy watching the guys at the field fly their Cubs. Eventually got A Cub of my own. This model of the J 3 Cub was built from an old Sig Kit I purchased on e-bay a many years back.  J 3 Cub's are traditionally finished with "Cub Yellow"covering. You may see the Military finish as well. Olive Green with varying accent colors and stripes. I used a little creative license on my choice of finish covering. Like most of my planes, I like them to be distinctive. A quick note on my philosophy regarding finishes of airplanes:

You can follow the path others have taken or...you can choose a path others my follow.

Remember someone has to be the first. There's no wrong way to go. Just have some fun along the way.

The Sig kit was well designed and anyone who  has built a few kits should have no problem with this one.

The model is very light when finished and has very low wing loading.  The benefits of  low wing loading  become very obvious in  flight. Improved sensitivity of the flight surfaces while performing  maneuvers and extend flight times. Not to mention softer landings.  The ground handling is typical Cub. The Cub can be very challenging to keep  straight  and requires a lot of rudder impute to keep it on track during power up for take offs. The plane has a tendency to turn left abruptly if too much power is applied rapidly. So just ease the power up slowly for your first flights. After you get the hang of it, you can jam the throttle and go. The plane leaps into the sky in a matter of a few feet if you have enough power.

The Sig  J 3 Cub has a one piece wing design with functional wing struts. The wing is very light and needs the struts in order to operate safely. Catastrophic wing failure will a cure if the struts are not used. I watched a pilot friend take of with a simlar Cub. He neglected to install  the struts. When asked, he told me that they were cosmetic and not really necessary.

He was wrong!

As he pulled out from a loop under light power. The wing folded in half and he was at the controls of a not so guided missile heading to the ground rapidly. I'd say the fuse beat the remains of the wing to the ground by a good 5-6 seconds. As my friend learned. If you take the time to install the struts and you save yourself the time it takes to build another Cub.

The whole plane was first covered with white UltraCoate . I used Monokote for the accent colors. It took almost eight hours just to design and apply the covering on the main wing. Once I had my color scheme figured out the rest of the project moved quite a bit faster. I was able to transform the rest of the plane from basic white to what you see here in about 6 hours or so. Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out what you want to do. This often takes  longer than  the actual doing.  Horrible grammar, but you get the point.

The best thing about this color scheme. Visibility. You can really see this plane in the sky!

Note on the set up.:

As with all my planes. This is an e-conversion. An E-flight 32 bl out runner motor and a Castle Creations 60 amp speed controller used for the flight power.  A separate 5 cell 1500 mah NiMa battery is used for the receiver and flight servo's. A  4,000 mah 30 C  4 cell (14.8 volt) Zippy battery from Hobby King is provides the main power supply. They are affordable and provide good performance for the money. Flight performance is better than scale and i have endless vertical. Loops are tight and aileron rolls are reasonably axial. Takes offs require about 20 feet of roll out under full power and landing this plane is a matter of cutting the power and gliding in. This is a good semi scale model and I would suggest everyone have one as a relaxing  Sunday fly er. 

 

 You may notice the absence of a motor on either side of the cowl. The wasn't a motor in the kit I purchased.

Funny, It dosen't seem to affect the planes performance one bit

I just finished reading an article in the  recent publication of Model Airplane News. The article related to the up coming film by George Lucas: The Red Tails. The article was authored by John Reid and I found it to be very informative and illuminating. There is a lot of misinformation regarding the Tuskegee Airmen and I felt John did a great job of providing factual information.
  Following his article, John Reid provided a step by step article detailing the conversion of a Aero Works Mustang  ARF to a red tail  Tuskegee Mustang.  This is a great article. Sure to help anyone with the desire to customise their aircraft. Great job John!
Although John did beat me to the punch on his red tail conversion I may be out in front on this Mustang.

Ben, a flying buddy of mine had an older version of  Hangar 9's  Mustang  60 that he was done flying. Ben offered the plan to me for free with the provision that it be restored and not used for parts. The plane was in pretty good shape and had been well treated. Usual  bumps and bruises. I told Ben it would be a pleasure. I grabbed the plane and ran. A free Mustang are you kidding me, Heck yah!

I stripped all the covering off , sanded and cleaned the surfaces shortly after getting the plane home.  Now what. I l had no Idea what look I was going for. I have several other Mustangs with a sismilar finish. I wasn't sure I needed another one with this covering scheme.
The project stalled for almost a year.
It came to me after watching some videos of the Reno Air Races on U-Tube. The paint schemes on these planes are awesome and I knew this was what I had been searching for. A truly unique look on a Mustang.
Of course I didn't mention to Ben my intent to convert this plane to a Reno Racer. Why spoil the fun. I couldn't wait to bring this plane to the flying field and show Ben his Fully restored Mustang.

Many of you will notice the absence of a spinner and the exhaust pipes. These parts are on order and should arrive soon. Till then I'll just keep flying this model without.


Along the way I made a few modifications the model. I did an e-conversion to start. Redesigned the landing gear doors, and included inner gear doors for scale effect. The inner doors mar operated using a separate servo. I added material around the gear door wells so the gear doors when closed would be flush with the wing surface.
I'll be honest. It about drove me nuts trying to get a tight finish and get the doors to open smoothly. There's always some play in the landing gear mechanisms that cause's  heart ache if the tolerances are too tight.

This is my favorite Mustang to fly. I would recommend the ARF  to anyone with underwing experience.
Great handling in the air. Smooth and gentle to land.

I've included this stock  photo from Hangar 9's web-site.

F 27 Stryker Full Build

Part One:

I watched guys for years fly their Park Zone F27 Strykers. Great acceleration and smooth gentle landing

I had to have one.               So I built one.

                                                                  

My friend Brian had the first offering of the Stryker and had been flying it for years. Brian kept bugging me to get one so we could fly them together. Finally I relented. I told him I had ordered one on-line and it should arrive in a few weeks. He questioned my reasons for not just going to the local hobby store and buying the Stryker off the shelf. I didn't have the heart to tell him the size of the Park Zone model really didn't appeal to me. I told him instead how I got this great deal and didn't have to pay any shipping or tax.

I had to buy some time. 

 

My plan was to do a complete build. Just a much larger version. I like 60-120 size airplanes best.

Since I only had about two weeks to create this model  I need to expedite the design faze of this build.

I went to the local hobby store and purchased a replacement F 27 Stryker airframe for about $19.00. This came complete with all the flight surfaces. Not a bad deal.

I traced the out-line of the complete airframe on my plan sheet. I traced all the flight surfaces separately on the same plan sheet. After tracing was completed I made sure the drawing was symmetrical before proceeding further.

Now came the hard part. I needed to duplicate the wing cord as accurately as possible. I measured equal distances across the top of the foam fuselage where I wanted formers located. I did the same on the out-line of the fuse I had previously traced on my plan sheet. Carefully I cut wafers from the fuse at the locations of each former. The cut out formers were about 1/ 16 -in thick. I laid the formers on my plan sheet and traced them on the plans.

This method greatly reduced the time required to render a set of plans!

Once this was done it was time to in large the plane. No details of the structure were drawn at this point. Just the outlines. I felt it would be much easier to drawl in the structure details on a larger set of plans. I went to Kinko's and after several attempts had a set of plan out-lines the size I was looking for. A F 27 Stryker with a 71-in wing span.  How cool is that?

.

With my large set of plans laid out I proceeded to add the structure details. The wing is a one piece design. The top and bottom of the fuselage are detachable for access to the batteries and steering controls.The rear nacelle is also removable for installing and adjusting the motor position. The landing gear are a fixed position design. The two vertical stabilisers are epoxied directly to the main wing with contoured gussets on both side of each for added strength. The canopy was borrowed from a Hangar 9 Mustang D PTS I no longer have. 

The nose cone is  removable as a result of  modifications I had to do after the build was completed.  Originally this plane was designed to be a puller prop system using an E-flite 60 bl out runner motor. The motor was mounted to the front of the aircraft. The problem was I couldn't get the batteries far enough back in the fuse to obtain the proper CG. At least not without adding almost 3lb of tail weight. Totally unacceptable.

My first solution was to move the motor to the rear of the plan and make it a pusher prop setup. This solved the problem of balance, but unfortunately created a different problem. With the motor mounted on the back of the air plan I couldn't spin a large enough prop. The two rear vertical stabilisers limited my prop size to 14-in. This prop size on a 60 motor didn't generate enough thrust. I needed at least a 15-16-in prop. If I had the availability of a 7 cell Li-Po set up at the time maybe. But it would have been close. This model weighs in at over 11 pounds and that puts it's weight on the outside the reach of the 60 bl motor. I should mention this model was built 4 years ago and a lot has changed since then. Larger motor and electrical systems have advanced a great deal and are much more cost effective. A 60 motor was considered large for the time.

Needless to say. I had a problem.  "For every problem there is a solution."

End Part One:

DeHavilland DH 88 Comet



 

 I first learned about this plane for the first time when I saw it  pictured in a RC plane publication.
They were advertising the ARF version new on the market. As I always due, I started researching the model and checking reviews. According to the reviews the model was reasonably well build with no major problems noted. However after an extensive search of independent blogs a come to realize this may not be the case. Many of those who purchased this particular model found the prep work on of the many painted accessories poorly done and the color match not particularly good. Then too, the hardware provided with the model was weak and failed easily. The fit and finish over all was substandard and most people who purchased this model were not very happy. Especially when the price for this model was $399.00. It's my understanding that many improvements have been made since the original the models original release. But to little to late for me. I had moved on to a search for plans with the intent of building my own version.

Below you will see my final rendering. I will be providing some details of modifications as well as build hints to help should you choose to build your own Comet.

The plans for this model were purchased from Ivan Pettigrew. If you have the time I recommend visiting Ivan's site at http://ivansplanes.com/ . He is an excellent designer and has many unique plane plans available.You may feel the need to make some minor alterations and up dates based on new materials available today. Many of Ivan's plans are hand drawn and rendered years ago. A lot has changed in just the last few years. Electronics, motors and landing gear options to name a few. I'll provide a blow by blow of the modifications as we progress through this and not bore you now with to many details.

As with all my planes this model is configured for electric power. All the set up info is a s follows:

I used 2 E-flite 36 bl out runner motors. These will  provide excellent power. Each motor is rated at 700 watts power with the use of 4 cell Li-Po batteries. The motor has a continuous draw of 42 amps with a burst of 60 amp. It's important to decide early on in the build if you will use one battery for both motors. Or one battery for each motor. There are advantages to both.

With a single battery you need to series the 2 ESC's together. A single battery may also require that the battery have larger storage or mah rating. A higher C rating (discharge rating) is needed to provide adequate amperage to both motors. To verify that your single battery can provide ample power use the following calculations. You must know the maximum amp draw of the motors used. In this case the E-flight 32 bl motor has a maximum amp draw at burst of 60 amps. Multiply this by 2 since this is a twin. The total amperage needed will be 120 amps at maximum draw. This means that your battery should deliver a minimum of 120 amp. I say minimum, but really you want a margin of at least 20% so you don't over work your battery. This  means available amperage should be 140-150 amps.

To figure out how many amps you battery can deliver is also very easy. Multiply the storage or mah of the battery by the C rating of the battery. This amount is the amperage available. Example: A 4S Li-Po battery with a mah of 5,000 and a C rating of 30 would have 150 amps power. 5,000 X 30 = 150,000.00. Ajust the decimal point. Equals 150  amps.

Lets look at some of the advantages of this configuration.

First and foremost is simplicity. You need only build a single  battery compartment. Only one battery access  point is required. Weight can be centered within the fuselage to produce latitudinal and longitudinal stability. having the batter location in the fuselage will simplify obtaining proper C of G. Thus reducing the potential of adding weight during balancing. Lastly: weight. and thus wing loading of the model. Typically a single battery pack will weigh less than 2 packs with the same ratings.

Now for the disadvantages. There really is only one. disadvantage. Flight time. With a single battery you may need to keep your flight times between 5-7 minuets. If you want longer fight times just install a battery with a higher mah rating. The great thing is the costs of batteries has come down quite a bit and battery performance has improver greatly in recent years. The Cost of a single battery that meets the requirements of this airplane are now available through countless manufactures at costs ranging from $70.00 to $90.00 If you require a brand name battery the cost can go as high as $250.00 or more.  The choice is really up to you. I have never found a need to spend large amounts to get decent performance. Check out Hobby King for some awesome battery prices. Remember one thing. A single battery system requires the battery to have a higher mah rating and decent C Rating sufficient for the particular model requirements.

A two battery system may sound more appealing but does have distinct disadvantages. If one battery fails the plane may; and probably will experience adverse yaw or a wing over death spiral. If enough rudder can be applied quickly a catastrophic result may be avoided. Maybe! Since each battery only provides power to one motor the size of the battery can be much smaller and less costly per battery. However since you need two batteries the cost of both combined may be the same or greater than a comparable single battery. You also have the benefit of charging 2 batteries rather than just one. Then we come to making access available to both batteries. Yes you can locate both batteries inside the fuselage. I strongly encourage this. The alternative is to locate the batteries in each nacelle. ESC manufactures will tell you that the closer the battery to the ESC the better. While this May be true I have yet to have any problem with batteries laced as far as several feet from the ESC. Placing the batteries out in the wing can produce adverse yaw and pitch issues. Not to mention all that weight father from the center line of the aircraft. Think of it this way. The farther out from the center the weigh is positioned the greater effect it will have during a turn or a snap roll. This can severely reduce the planes ability to right it's self after a particular maneuver. The battery weight is thrown outward during maneuvers causing slow or unpredictable flight response. Then there is the balancing issues associated. Weight may need to be added out board to obtain lateral balance. Not all batteries weigh the same. Even if they are the same size and from the same manufacturer variations can occur.

Let's move on.

The ESC's selected are made by Castle Creations. I chose the 60 amp Phoenix ESC. This is the recommended size for the E-flite 32 bl out runner motor. Two ESC's are required. One for each motor. Castle Creations does not recommend using one larger ESC for twin applications. The ESC's are located inside the nacelles. The nacelles are designed to be removed from the wing  for access to the landing gear, ESC's and servos. I used a single battery system for this airplane located inside the fuse so no access hatches are Incorporated within the nacelles. This had the added bonus of additional room for the retractable main gear and  landing gear servos.

All the servos used are JR ST 47 BB standard. With the exception of the landing gear servos. The are a JR Landing gear servos.

A separate 5 cell Ni Ma battery pack is used to power the electronics A Spectrum receiver system was installed.

That's it. Now we can move on to the build.

Building a wing:

The plans for this model were hand drawn by Ivan Pettigrew. A well know and respected designer. They were somewhat rough in nature but did allow for very easy modifications. All the drawings were on  a single sheet so it was necessary to cut each section from the main plan sheet in order to simplify the build process.
You should always cover your plans with a clear wrap or other translucent material to avoid gluing your model to the plans or build surface. As with all scratch builds, you need to cut out patterns from the plan sheet then trace the patters on to the flat sheet  stock material. For the wing. cut all of the formers out first. Match each former to its corresponding former for both wing halves. This will insure both wings are the same when completed. I have found a single sided razor blade works best for this. You can get these at your local hardware store. A box of 100 blades cost around$7.00-$9.00
Test fit all the formers over your plans on the main spar prior to gluing. Some adjustments may be necessary so text fit all components first. Use a straight edge to help align the formers to insure a tight fit with the back of the leading edge material and the front edge of the formers.
Once you are satisfied with the fit. Glue all the formers except former one (center former) to the main spar using a square to insure the formers are perpendicular (90 degree angle) to the build.  Most wings are designed with dihedral. The number one former(s) (center former) may need to be place at an angle relative to the build surface. Consult the plans and if necessary, create an angle piece (jig) that is appropriate for your model. Use this angle jig to position the center former at the appropriate angle. This model has 2-inches of dihedral. Requiring the center former(s) be placed at an angel. Make certain that all  formers on aligned properly over the corresponding locations on the plans. For gluing formers to the main spar I recommend using  Medium CA glue. An accelerator may be used but is generally not necessary.

 Most sets of plans don't provide the order in which you should build different components. This is up to the builder. I usually build the flight surfaces along with the wing to insure a good fit. As you can see below. This was done for both the ailerons and flaps. The plans for this model didn't have the  flaps drawn but I felt they would be very advantageous given the tapered wing design. The flaps I designed deploy between the nacelles and the fuse. This design creates less drag and extends the wing surface affording slower landing speeds.  It was only later. After I had completed this build that I learned the original style of flap used on the full size Comet. The original flaps were more of an air brake design. A one piece flap running between the nacelles and under the fuselage. For scale effect I should have done my home work. Oh well better with flaps than without.

Notice the wing extends straight on the plans.

 Sheeting the flight surfaces once their sub structure is complete makes them much easier to work with  and you are less likely to cause damage due to rough handling. Do this as soon as your flight sub structures are completed.
 
 The photo above shows the flap with the bottom sheeting applied.
The photo below is the aileron with the bottom sheeting applied.


The picture below shows the wing with the bottom sheeting applied. The wings design is asymmetrical. This was a great time to stabilize all the formers and insure a good fit with the aileron and flap components. Do not sheet the top of the wings till after the wings are joined. A wing joiner is used and must be installed between the to wing halves on the main spars prior to top sheeting the wing. The picture also shows the leading edge and upper spar installed. It's important to install these pieces prior to sheeting the bottom of the wing. Once the sheeting is installed the wing will become very rigid. Make certain there are no twists in the wing  prior to gluing the sheeting in place. Secure the wing flat on your build board prior to gluing the sheeting in place. You can choose to create holes in the formers for servo wiring prior to gluing the formes to the main spar or after the formers are attached and the bottom sheeting is applied.
A 1/2-inch outside diameter piece of aluminum tubing at least a foot long makes a great boring tool for this purpose. Place the 1-ft aluminum tube in a vise and rough up the end with a hack saw to create a cutting surface. Place the cutting end of the tube against the former and rotate back and forth in a drill like manner. This will produce a nice clean hole for your wiring to slide through. All the holes will line up perfectly using this method. Work your way through as many formers as needed to reach the farthest servo location.

Just don't forget to make these holes before the top sheeting is applied or you won't be able to feed your servo wires through the wing. 

You will notice,  long wing formers were created for the center section. This is a deviation from the original plans. The plans call for the center wing extender sections (fillets) to be attached to the fuselage.  If you have ever tried to get the fillets of any size to be flush between the wing and the fuse you know the challenges involved. I elected to make the center extension section a part of the wing. The plans also indicate the wing will be permanently attached to the fuselage. I prefer a removable wing configuration for ease of  transport and repairs as needed.
Note: See photo of the plans above. Notice that the wing drawing shows the trailing edge of the wing extending straight to the fuse.
This modification makes removing the wing very easy and accelerated the build considerably. Smaller wing fillets were built and attached to the fuse for a smooth scale transition. Two other deviations were incorporated. The first is the use of 3/32 balsa flat stock for the wing formers rather than the  1/16 balsa material indicated on the plans. The 3/32 balsa material was much easier to work with and far less fragile. Secondly, I prefer a fully sheeted wing. Sheeting the wing adds a great deal of strength while creating a sooth scale appearance. Ivan Pettigrew designed this model to be very light. Although these modifications added weight to the model. The over all finish justified the alterations. You be the judge.


I have mentioned before that I prefer ease of operation and access to components within the model. I took a note from ARF's I've assembled and incorporated access doors for the servo(s). The best way to create these doors is while the wing is still on the built board. Measure and cut the doors before cutting out any sheeting on the wing. I recommend using 2/32 light ply for your access doors. If you like, you may want to laminate 1/16 sheeting to the outer surface of the doors. This is helpful when doing the final sand on the wing. The doors will have the same surface density as the surrounding wing and will sand flush much easier.
Once the doors are the desired size and fit snug between the formers. Use the doors as a template to draw the pattern on the inside of the wing sheeting. Cut out the door patterns from the inside of the wing. Stay inside the pattern lines or your opening will be too large. Install mounting rails or other material for the access doors to attach to. Place the doors in the appropriate openings and pre drill the holes for the mounting screws. Mark each door with its location and indicate which edge faces forward. This will insure a good fit later. Using a servo as a guide, mark the opening for the servo arm and mounting blocks. Cut out the servo arm opening. Epoxy the servo mounting blocks in place. Doing all of this before applying covering insures all your parts fit well and no epoxy gets on the covering. Temporally mount the servo to your servo door and test fit in the opening to insure there will be no interference. Install mounting screws and snug them down. If your satisfied with the fit, remove the doors and detach the servo(s).
Build the other half of the wing in the same manner and to the same point of completion.
Once you have both wing halves completed. It's time to join the wing halves together. First test fit to insure proper fit and alignment. Place one wing halve flat on your build surface and secure in place. Place the other wing halve  in position and support the outer wing with a block of balsa or a wing  jig if you happen to have one. Use small clamps to hold the wing halves together. If the fit is good remove the clamps and lift the unsecured wing off the build surface. Apply epoxy to both inner wing formers and to the wing spars were the wing joiner will attach. Place the wing half back in position and clamp in place. Install the wing joiner and clamp in place. Let the epoxy cure over night.
You may now sheet the top of the wing. Place the wing back in the build surface and secure one side in place. This will be the side to be sheeted first.
Laminate the stock sheeting material being used together prior to attaching to the wing formers. Sand smooth after gluing. Cut the sheeting material to the proper shape but slightly oversize. This will allow for slight adjustments as may be needed for proper fit. Test fit your material prior to gluing and make any adjustments required. When you are satisfied, run beads of Medium CA glue on all the surfaces to be glued. Quickly place your sheeting on the wing and apply pressure to the entire surface. Move you hand  over all the wing surface insuring contact between the formers and the sheeting is good. Once the glue has dried you may remove the wing from the build surface and inspect for any gaps at the glue joints. Apply additional glue if required. Sand off any excess material, but don't sand the wing surfaces at this time. Repeat this process for the other wing half. You should now have a completed wing.
Do not finish sand the wing yet.


A Fuselage is born:
Building the fuselage was very straight forward and required no special skills. Built one side first. Cover that side with clear wrap and built the other side on top of the first. This insures that both sides of the fuse come out the same. Seen below with both halves. One on top of the other.



 The result: The two fuse halves are as close to the same size and shape as possible.



 As you can see by the photo below, I cut out the fuselage upper contoured formers from the plan sheet. Traced them onto 3/32-in flat stock and cut them from the flat stock material. Next,  pre-cut 1/4 by 1/4 lower formers from 36-in by 1/4 by 1/4 stock strips. Draw a center line on the plans down the fuse top view section. Place both sides of the fuse on the build board over the plans. Pin each side of the fuse at the front and rear of the wing saddle only. Pin the end of each fuse section to counter-part section. Keeping the top and bottom of each flush with the other. Insure that both fuse halves are perpendicular to the build surface.  Keep it true and free of warps. Once satisfied with the placement of the main structure. Install the 1/4 by 1/4 bottom stringers and the corresponding top formers.  Install the upper and lower fuse formers in succession. Start at rear of the wing saddle and work  toward the tail  first. Do not glue any of the formers untill you have all the rear section formers installed. Top and bottom. Check the alignment to make certain the fuse is still centered over the plans and that it is still perpendicular to the build surface. Once satisfied apply thin CA glue to all the matting surfaces except for the end verticle formers. A spacer will need to be place between these (see plans) then glue them and the spacer together.
 
Follow this same procedure for the formers starting from the rear of the wing saddle moving forward to the front of the saddle. When satisfied with the fit and placement on the plans. Glue with thin CA . Next come the tricky part. Place the forward most formers in place on the front of the fuse but do not glue at this time. Use a rubber band or soft clams to bring the two fuse halves together. Secure the front halves in their proper positions then proceed to installing the remaining fuse formers in place. Once all the formers are in place and you have verified placement and position of the fuse, glue all formers with thin CA. Before releasing the clamps or rubber bands apply medium CA to all previously glued joints and let it cure.
Notice in the photos above and below: The hatch section just above the wing saddle area on the top of the fuselage. The hatch was made at the same time as the rest of the fuse. You can hardly tell it's there. This is by far the best time to make the hatch. You just build the fuse. Then make two extra formers for the hatch ends prior to installing the stringers. This is assuming a hatch is to be installed.  Have the stringers installed on the main fuse sections first to stabilise the fuse formers before you move to building the hatch. Cover the inner fuse formers with clear wrap. Place the hatch formers on top of the fuse formers and pin in place. Cut, test fit and glue the hatch stringers in place. Remove the hatch section. That's it. Very simple with a very clean fit. If you like you can install a dowel in the front of the hatch extending forward into the fuse former for added security. Do this before you remove the hatch from the fuse. Later a latch can be installed on the aft section of the hatch cover, or you may choose to use magnets to secure the hatch in place. Your call.

 As I did with the wing. I deviated from the plans. I fully sheeted the fuselage. In fact, let me save some time here. All surfaces on this airframe are sheeted.  All the surfaces were sheeted with 3/32 balsa. I probably added a pound of total weight to this model. Oops. The trade-off was looks and strength. For this plane I'm OK with the trade. The all up weight is approximately 11 lb 3 oz. Not bad for a plane with a 71-in wing span. One of the many advantages of building for electric power is less heavy plywood formers to handle the vibration of glow engines. The wing loading on this model is a little higher than I would have liked. But hey, that's what flaps are for right? 

 Sorry, I don't have any complete fuse pic's after the sheeting was completed. I built this plane three years ago. I never knew a blog would be fourth coming. All the information being provided is from memory so please forgive me if not everything is in the proper order.
Below is the fuse with the canopy fabricated and the hatch installed.

 The canopy is made of  lite ply formers and was designed to be removable. A dowel is located under the front former and slides under the sheeting of the fuse. No rear retaining system is required. The fit is snug enough to keep the canopy in place. The canopy frame  was painted black then covered with ultra light Monocote Transparent Blue covering.

Canopy test fitted in the fuse

 A spring-loaded latch was installed in the hatch cover to secure the hatch in place during flight.

 Hatch cover sheeted and ready for fit and sanding.

Hatch installed in the fuse.

Something else I need to share with you. I cut my teeth on ARF's. I really like the way every thing is pre -covered and ready for assembly. I have incorporated this methodology into every build. Every part is designed to be covered before assembly. This often requires a great deal of modifications to a set of plans. However. when the time comes to apply the covering you won't be disappointed. It's so much easier to cover each piece independently.  Rather than cutting and fitting the covering on a fully assembled aircraft. I have done both and the former is so much easier than the latter.

  I have scratch built many twins over the years. No matter who's plans I'm working with they all shared one thing in common. Very poor detail when it comes to nacelle construction.  

Below is a photo of the plans for the nacelle. You will notice the very complex retract apparatus drawn. The plans were clearly created before the availability of self contained retract mechanisms. While I'm sure this design may have worked. I wasn't about to go to this much trouble for retractable landing gear. To many opportunities for this system to fail or have in flight problems.
 

The solution was mad easy by advances in retract design. I simply founds a set of self contained retracts with struts and used these instead. It did necessitate some redesign work on the nacelles but the retracts work great and are simple to install and remove as deeded.

  These three photos of the nacelle plans were all that I had to work with. A lot of guess work and I had a set of nacelles with retractable gear. I've done may scratch build twin and none of the plans offer much help in the construction of nacelles. I guess they think we should be able to create contours with little or no detail. I'm always puzzled why so little detail is provided for building nacelles. 

I fabricated  mounting plates from 3/32 plywood. Then added a 3/32 plywood doubler for extra strength. The large cut out toward the rear of the mounting plate is the servo mounting position. After looking at this you may be saying to yourself. I would have used thicker material for this application. You would be right. Accept for two key factors. One of coarse is the weight heavy materials create. The second and for me the more important factor was strength, or lack there of. When designing landing gear one should always allow for the bad landing. In other words if I'm going to do damage to my plane in the event of a poor landing Where do I want the damage to occur. You see you have a choice as to what breaks. You have no choice as to whether or not something breaks. With is in mind I chose to have the screws holding the gear in place be my weak link. Better the screws strip out of the wood  than shatter the nacelles or break the wing. That's why I used thinner materials for the landing gear plates. 
Over the years I've done a great deal of repairs for friends with large 3D aircraft. It seems the larger aircraft all share one  common characteristic. Week landing gear blocks. The planes come with stout enough struts but the wooden blocks they attach to always seem to tear out during  a rough landing. When this happens the are done flying for the day or longer pending the repair. My solution was simple. Change the location of the failure. I routinely install heavy plywood reinforcement to the structure to insure the blocks remain fix in the airplane. Rather than using blind nuts and bolts to attach the landing gear struts I use # 8 3/4-in wood screws. This way if they experience a rough landing the screws pull out and not the blocks. Little damage is done to the airframe. It takes a pretty rough landing to pull the screws loose so don't be to concerned. Just insert a few tooth picks in each screw hole and remount the landing gear. Every modification like this I've done has proven to be very successful and the plane owners love it. Only problem is I don't get as much repair work on their plane after this modification. 
An upper former plate was created. The former plates were then laid on the plans. Spacer material was used to position and attach the upper and lower plates together. See photos below for more detail.



 The landing gear mounts, struts and wheels were installed temporarily to insure fit and smooth operation. A bottom former plate was made to complete the sub structure.

 Many tests and adjustments were necessary to obtain optimal operation. Including mounting the servos and cycling numerous times. At last success! 

 After the structure was completed,  just wrap with 3/32 balsa and sand to shape. Create removable cowls for access to your motor(s).
Sorry no other pic's of the nacelles