ClintonB Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 .. and here's today's latest build picture .. Where are all those easy to build flats gone?This looks to hard
Mick Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 .. and here's today's latest build picture .. A Comco C42 in the background - a nice flying, typically German well made ultralight. Sadly way overpriced for such a simple construction. Underneath the lightweight composite shell is a big ali tube fuse just like a Drifter.
bexrbetter Posted March 15, 2017 Author Posted March 15, 2017 So working tonight into the freezing cold evening, I present to you the closing (literally) stages of the elevator by the glow of my electric heater! Talking above about ........ "The problem and time loss of drilling your own holes is in the measuring, scribing, center punching and pilot hole'ing (and the inaccuracies that come with that)", .........I made a mistake and I had to redo the 2 top sheets late this afternoon, and I did in the old hand style, and you can see the resulting wrinkles and poor finish (relative to cnc lasering) on the edges in comparison. 3
bexrbetter Posted March 16, 2017 Author Posted March 16, 2017 So, some more on the Elevators today, almost got them together. Will make them look a bit more fancy later on, more important bigger picture needs at the moment. 7
bexrbetter Posted March 16, 2017 Author Posted March 16, 2017 ... and then time to pay attention to the wings things, stage 1, basic Spars.. Bits including Spa Caps and Spar Web that is tapered and folded on the sides for self jigging besides extra strength.. Next the major Gusset Plates that also act as jigs for self jigging, the little rivet star cluster you see in the middle is also a tricky little self jigging moment to align the 2 Gusset Plates perfectly, darn it makes life easy ... Introduce the Spar Caps to the gussets, clamp them together and drill through the lasered holes in the Gussets (already done here) .. Drop into the tapered Spar Web, slide sideways and it all jams together to self locate, easy peasy ... Do some final assembly at the Gusset end (not complete here, some components missing still and ends not trimmed yet) and later you're ready to start looking at Rib work! 7
bexrbetter Posted March 20, 2017 Author Posted March 20, 2017 Hi Bex, Not yet. It looks like you now have the task of bending all the flanges on each rib to attach them to the spar (unless those holes at the spar end of the ribs are to attach them to a spar mounted flange?). If you do not bend them all to exactly the same angle, there will be a discrepancy with their alignment at the leading edge. You probably already have an accurate solution to that potential issue. Ok, I figured it out over the weekend, meant I had to scrap 2 wing spars, but was worth it, was too messy a system due to a poor foundation, and needed improving. First I laser'ed a jig plate that clamps to the spar caps so I can very accurately drill the holes to accept the 'rib to spar' brackets (that I also figured, laser'ed and folded) .. I love lasers! ... then added the rib brackets, distances between were perfect, and test ran a rib, worked great, very easy. Notice the rib sitting on it's little shoulders on the spar cap edges, g'clamp, drill, clean and rivet 5
bexrbetter Posted March 30, 2017 Author Posted March 30, 2017 I have to get serious about skinning the wings soon, so today I lasered out a bit of tin and set up some ribs to do a trial run rather than take the risk with some aluminium. Lucky I did because it did need some modification to the length of skin going over the tip of the nose. All sorted now. 5
bexrbetter Posted March 31, 2017 Author Posted March 31, 2017 .. and another milestone reached today, after a lot of thought, designs, time and attempts, the wing spars are now properly attached to the fuse. Another case of just because something looks good and works on a computer, does not mean it works in real life, stupid computer. Please note that the turtledeck and VS are just sitting on loosely in these pictures .. 9
bexrbetter Posted April 1, 2017 Author Posted April 1, 2017 So today I was playing around with retaining the gullwing shape I like very much. While mucking around with it I was delighted to realise a simpler way to construct the wing as well, simpler and less work (same foundation though). The 'Gull' is a bit softer than originally planned, but will still be there .... 5
bexrbetter Posted April 11, 2017 Author Posted April 11, 2017 Getting close to skinning a wing, pictures in a day or 2. 2
bexrbetter Posted April 11, 2017 Author Posted April 11, 2017 Getting the mid ribs all set up, almost ready to go on the spar, here you see the main spar, mid wing ribs and rear spars. The tapered wings are very time consuming, with a straight wing you just design a rib, associated parts, a section of the spars and skins, and just multiply them, with the tapered wing you need to pay attention to each segment along the length. 8
bexrbetter Posted April 12, 2017 Author Posted April 12, 2017 So have successfully figured the mounting of the mid wing ribs, not all shown here. Oh the actual mounting is easy enough, it's just what you do now that you have to be wary of how it affects things 8 steps further along the design, as ever ... 3
bexrbetter Posted April 13, 2017 Author Posted April 13, 2017 ... and happy to find the rear spar fitted as drawn .. 5 1
Birdseye Posted April 14, 2017 Posted April 14, 2017 [ATTACH=full]49866[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]49867[/ATTACH] Must be thinking about now, "is this just a proof of concept or could I actually make it fly?". 1
bexrbetter Posted April 14, 2017 Author Posted April 14, 2017 "is this just a proof of concept or could I actually make it fly?". Same thing, needs to fly to be a proof of concept.
Birdseye Posted April 14, 2017 Posted April 14, 2017 Same thing, needs to fly to be a proof of concept. There I was thinking it was just 'proof of the construction concept' 1
bexrbetter Posted April 14, 2017 Author Posted April 14, 2017 There I was thinking it was just 'proof of the construction concept' Well it is that as well, the penalty for that is the materials are not as long term durable, and not optimised for weight so it will end up about 20% heavier. But if it can't fly at 20% heavier than that would be of concern as it's only the difference between 1 and 2 Pax.
Birdseye Posted April 14, 2017 Posted April 14, 2017 Well it is that as well, the penalty for that is the materials are not as long term durable, and not optimised for weight so it will end up about 20% heavier.But if it can't fly at 20% heavier than that would be of concern as it's only the difference between 1 and 2 Pax. Good test bed for your new motor then :-) 1
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