Waterplane Scratchbuild--jump in, the water's fine!

[Red]

Kits are all cut. Get ahold of Paul Kohlman to get them while they're hot.   

[peason]

Hey guys, going to be around next weekend, can you bring them to the field?  I'm traveling this week so I'll tag up later in the week.  Thanks, Paul

[PTKohlmann]

Thanks for jumping on this, Red!  I'll pick everything up tomorrow.

Hi Paul--yes, I can bring the kits up to the field next weekend.  I probably won't get started before next weekend, so everyone has a fair shot out of the blocks. Probably;)

I'll print up an assembly drawing to go with the kits for each builder.  I'm also attaching the parts templates that show the position of the formers and such.  Shumate put together an excellent instruction guide that is found at the beginning of the original build thread.  The file for this is too large to post here, but here is the link again:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=922465&highlight=jetset44

Paul

[peason]

I'm positive others will beat me out of the blocks, I'm going to finish the glider tug we talked about and "re-maiden" it this Saturday.  After that, finish the Crack Yak, and the big Sbach is going to be in-bound... lots of fun but I'll get to this before summer flying sets in.

[PTKohlmann]

Ok, all of the kits that have been spoken for have been delivered except the one for Mr. Eason.  Paul, I'll be at the Hobby Expo Saturday and may be working Sunday.  I'd like to get you your kit Sunday am, though, so let me know if you will be around.

Red cut extras so there are two kits left if anybody wants one.  As usual, Red's work looks great.

Paul

[peason]

Paul - Pretty sick with a nasty head cold and don't think I'll make it outside much this weekend, so don't worry about the kit.  I will be at the club meeting (for sure) on the 19th if you wouldn't mind bringing it then, I would appreciate it.

Anybody started building yet?

Thanks PaulE

[PTKohlmann]

Sorry to hear that you are under the weather, Paul.  That's no fun.

Drew and I got started tonight.  The instructions begin with the wing, but Jake only had one CF rod for the wing spar when we dropped by the shop after the Hobby Expo.  I let him know that there might be a run on 'em and he told me that more will be in tomorrow. 

We cut strips of foam from the edges of the sheets to be used for reinforcing the inside corners of the fuselage.  The balsa stripper came in handy, although Drew has not quite mastered this yet;)

Next we glued the strips to the edges of the fuselage sides.  We used Gorilla Glue spread thin and activated with water.  Once these were dry we installed the fuse formers and called it a night.

Not a tremendous amount of progress, but we're moving!

I'll post some pics, but the site is acting up right now.

Paul and Drew

[PTKohlmann]

Here's Drew getting us out of the blocks with the balsa stripper.

[PTKohlmann]

Looks like Patrick got the file upload squared away.  He increased the allowable file size by a bunch.

Thanks Patrick!

Paul

[PTKohlmann]

Drew and I have been getting very small sessions in during the week but we're making progress nonetheless. 

We got our wings caught up by gluing the CF stiffeners into their respective slots.  Jake got plenty of .210" rod in for the main spar.  We used a 3mm flat stock that was on the rack for the angled stiffeners and they fit perfectly.

We are sticking with the plan for the most part, but I couldn't help but add a couple of mods.  The first was to add support rails and a half former under the battery tray.  A significant increase in durability in what I have found to be a problem area in other desigs for a very small gain in weight.

Once the wing is on it starts to look like it might amount to something.  In fact, it passed the glide test and it thinks that it is a Vulcan bomber!

Paul and Drew

[PTKohlmann]

Just got back from the field for a night flight.  Gorgeous evening but man my thumbs got cold!

Spent alot of time on the tail today.  That's about half of the build--seriously!  It starts with a sandwich of a slotted centerpiece with two sideplates.  The idea is that the slot forms a channel for the Motor/ESC and elevator servo wiring.  The top of the sideplates also form a platform for the bottom of the nacelle to perch on.

Once the sandwich was cured, the LE and TE were shaped a pocket was cut for the elevator servo.  The nacelle sideplates were dipped in boiling water and then shaped to fit the nacelle bottom.  The rest of the nacelle is pretty much of a box with reinforced inner corners. 

Couldn't help but put mine all together for a photo.  Drew is just a couple of steps behind.

Paul and Drew

[peason]

Looking at using this motor:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__24239__D2826_6_2200kv_Outrunner_Motor_USA_Warehouse_.html
Reading some posts, it should be close to the Greyson motor, but less than 1/2 the price.  Worth trying since I had some other parts to order from HK.  Paul

[PTKohlmann]

Lost a week on the Polaris due to that whole work thing.  But I got back to town Friday and made the big push to get this project into the air.  Well, that happened tonight just as the sun was going down.  Pretty tough lighting for our little camcorder, but here is a little video of the first flight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HyO8qfxtMg

I ran a 3S 1350mAh to minimize the wing loading for the maiden.  Probably wasn't necessary as she turned out to be very floaty.  Maybe the easiest maiden I've done.  My only gripe was that she needs some downthrust.  Might be due to the fact that I flew her with the upper fuselage uncovered.

Drew has slowed down on his due to competing interests, but now that he's seen mine fly he will probably get moving again soon. 
Paul

[PTKohlmann]

Here are some build photos to get things caught up. 

I'm giving plenty of detail on the controls, since I made some changes here.  I moved everything up to the top to keep the electronics and the control horns out of the water.  The electronics have been CorrosionX'd and the horns and motor mount were sealed with water-based polyurethane.

Also worth noting, I'm using silicone caulk to seal the entry points for the wiring and joints in the fuselage.

You guys building yet?

Paul

[Red]

Looking great Paul! No building yet for me. I'm buried up to my eyeballs at work, and not letting up for the foreseeable future.