Airtronics Olympic II electric sailplane build

[GliderFlyer]

I'm ready to build. I only have a week until I go to CAP encampment for a week and a half, so my goal is to get the wing mount out of the way before then. I have this idea so far:

Inserting a dowel through the leading edge sounds complicated to me, and I also would have to add an extension to the former in the fuse at the leading edge to receive the dowel. So I was looking at the wing while it was mounted on the fuse and saw the leading edge and thought, "what if I just attached some sort of metal hooks onto the former in the fuse that would grab each wing by the leading edges?" There would have to be a hole for the hook to grab in the leading edges, but I think that I will go with the paragon-style canopy to cover those holes. The trailing edges will be secured with bolts.

I think that the leading edges may need a little bit of reinforcement for this option, but other than that, it sounds pretty secure to me. I am not sure how clear I explained this, if further clarification is needed, you can ask.
What are your thoughts?

 

[GliderFlyer]

Are Tyvek hinges suitable for a model this size?

 

[TooJung2Die]

Are Tyvek hinges suitable for a model this size?

I wouldn't hesitate to use Tyvek for hinges. Ever try to tear the stuff? I usually use the mailing envelope type but I have a sheet of heavier Tyvek used for sheathing houses. It is thicker than the mailing envelope Tyvek and I saved it for a larger airplane. You can always use the toothpick through the hinge trick and it'll never come loose. By the way, if you're ever looking for extra super light weight Tyvek sheeting scavenge a piece off a painters one piece cover-all suit. Many of those disposable suits are made from very thin Tyvek cloth.

 

[GliderFlyer]

I wouldn't hesitate to use Tyvek for hinges. Ever try to tear the stuff? I usually use the mailing envelope type but I have a sheet of heavier Tyvek used for sheathing houses. It is thicker than the mailing envelope Tyvek and I saved it for a larger airplane. You can always use the toothpick through the hinge trick and it'll never come loose. By the way, if you're ever looking for extra super light weight Tyvek sheeting scavenge a piece off a painters one piece cover-all suit. Many of those disposable suits are made from very thin Tyvek cloth.

Good to know. I have access to a 100' roll of the house covering kind

 

[Piotrsko]

Ummmm. The house covering kind tends to unravel. You want an unwoven type

 

[Tench745]

Some FedEx mailers are Tyvek as well.

 

[GliderFlyer]

I now realize that this build is taking way too long. I should have been done before summer began. I think that this bolting wing mount has been holding me up, so I think it would be for the best if I built the rubber band mount. It will still fly great. I already covered the horizontal stabilizer and elevator because I wanted to get something done. Progress should accelerate now.

 

[GliderFlyer]

Today is a free Saturday, and if I work long enough, I think I can have the wings covered today. So far I have installed the spoiler servos, drilled the spoiler servo lead exit holes in the wings, and sheeted the top surfaces of the root ribs. After that, it is just finishing touches, a little sanding, then covering.

 

[GliderFlyer]

I accomplished my goal today!

I plan to make wing bags to keep the covering nice.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

I accomplished my goal today!
View attachment 205254
I plan to make wing bags to keep the covering nice.

Those are some good looking wings... How much do they weigh?

 

[TooJung2Die]

I like the color combination. It'll look great with the light shining through.

 

[GliderFlyer]

It's been a long while since I've updated this thread. I took a small hiatus from building until recently. Yesterday I got so much progress done. I covered the fuse (after sanding it of course) made a canopy, finished covering the tail, hinged the tail, fixed the wing alignment, installed the spinner, installed the servo rails, glued on the HStab, and started to work on the spoilers. There's kind of a lot of details. If you're curious, you can check out the more active thread on RCGroups

Here's some pictures that show what progress I've made.

 

[GliderFlyer]

I have been working on it some more today, and have made quite a bit of progress. I attached the pushrods to the control surfaces and servos. It was very simple, except for the part where I had to change out the servos after I found out that one of them was dead I thought I had tested them earlier, but I was in too much of a hurry to remember. Fortunatley, I had a pair of HS-81 servos to replace the old ones, which were FMS (I got them free from a club member). I had to re-glue one of the servo rails so they would fit, and now all is well. I successfully did a control surface test and am pretty tempted to try a maiden flight today, even though the spoilers are not installed, and the canopy still needs to be covered. I also installed the rubber-band pegs on the fuse. The plans show that the pegs should be under the wing, but my instincts (and experience) told me that they should go on the outsides.
AUW so far is ~1070 grams