GREAT PLANES EXTRA 300S, 60 SIZE, ELECTRIC CONVERSION, 2019 BUILD ALONG

[rockyboy]

The cheapest source of lead shot I've found is in diving weight bags - I think I paid about $8 or $9 for a one pound bag. I've also made up a couple with aquarium gravel that work pretty well even though the weight density isn't quite the same.

 

[nhk750]

I was trying to find a template to cut out some radius in the sheeting and found an old drafting compass that worked perfectly. I used it to scribe a mark then cut with razor. Then glued the sheeting to the wing, one more step done...

 

[nhk750]

More work done on the wing tonight. The servo tray was a little tricky to glue and clamp in.

 

[nhk750]

Ok, on with the build... Got the servo bay finished up this morning before work, just need to install the small bit of sheeting to the top of it, add a little cap strip at the bottom, then can remove the wing from the building board, trim excess wood off and finish the top parts of the wing half. Then, start building the other half.

 

[nhk750]

Time to start the other wing half. There are a few little things to finish up, but the rest of the sheeting and other major stuff is done after the wing halves are joined. I wont chronicle the building of the other half, so will check in from time to time until joining time.

 

[nhk750]

Working on the other wing half.

 

[nhk750]

Ok, I'm back from North Carolina and flying almost 6,000 miles round trip in a 737 makes me want to get back to building. I didn't like how the bottom sheeting came out on the other wing half so I thought I would try something different with this side. I figured using magazines may distribute the weight better when pressing the sheeting down and hopefully have less ripples as the lead weight bags I used on the other half caused a little sagging and some ripples. They wont be noticable (unless you know they are there) when I'm finished, but with this thin 1/16" sheeting the magazines should work better.

 

[nhk750]

The magazines worked better, but I can still feel a tiny amount of ripple, but I can't see anything and it looks good. So I will proceed with this method. I think they were just trying to keep this plane as light as possible and that's why such thin sheeting. Definitely will need to be careful handling this plane.

 

[nhk750]

Getting some work done,,,slowly

 

[roversgonemad]

I don’t know why this just struck me, but you can build with magnets and never ruin a set of plans!! I still pin, and I almost always end up with ruined plans, not directly from the pins, but from glue seeping through pin holes in the wax paper.
Your build is looking nice. Magazines are a great way to weight sheeting. A little lead on the magazines and it really distributes the load well.

 

[nhk750]

Yes, the plans stay in perfect condition, unless you get a little hole or cut in the plastic and some glue gets in there.

 

[nhk750]

Getting ready to do some final small stuff on the wings then join (epoxy) them together. After joining the wing halves there is much more work to do before the wing is finally done and I can move on the the meat of the project, the FUSE, and the electric conversion engineering.

 

[Chuppster]

Man, those look really good. I admire your perseverance, this is a big build and you just keep plugging away. Thanks for bringing us along the journey!

 

[nhk750]

Thanks! I try to do at least one thing every day to keep progress going. It is also stress relieving for me to work on projects like this.

I'm ready to join the wing halves and everything looks good for wing alignment. This wing is bigger than my building board so the one end hangs off the board, but it's a happy accident as the wing support jigs were giving it to much dihedral, so since the wing tip jig is off the board it allowed the wing to drop slightly and now the center sections line up correctly, with less dihedral. It's a weird way to join the wing halves using support jigs and the upside down building method...not sure I like doing it this way, but I guess it is working, except for the dihedral issue and getting everything to line up properly. The issue of the dihedral gauge was brought up earlier in the build thread and if I were to do it again, I might even eliminate all the dihedral to simplify building and also make the plane more aerobatic (possibly).

 

[Chuppster]

Thanks! I try to do at least one thing every day to keep progress going. It is also stress relieving for me to work on projects like this.

I'm ready to join the wing halves and everything looks good for wing alignment. This wing is bigger than my building board so the one end hangs off the board, but it's a happy accident as the wing support jigs were giving it to much dihedral, so since the wing tip jig is off the board it allowed the wing to drop slightly and now the center sections line up correctly, with less dihedral. It's a weird way to join the wing halves using support jigs and the upside down building method...not sure I like doing it this way, but I guess it is working, except for the dihedral issue and getting everything to line up properly. The issue of the dihedral gauge was brought up earlier in the build thread and if I were to do it again, I might even eliminate all the dihedral to simplify building and also make the plane more aerobatic (possibly).

I'll have to check to be sure, but I'm fairly certain my Extra 300 doesn't have any dihedral (it's an ARF).

 

[nhk750]

As you can see, this one has very little also. I bet the arf has a few degrees too.

 

[nhk750]

The epoxy is applied and wing halves joined to become one. No turning back now, hopefully I didn't forget anything...

 

[Chuppster]

As you can see, this one has very little also. I bet the arf has a few degrees too.

You're right! Just a tiny bit though.

 

[TooJung2Die]

Wings with no dihedral tend to look like they're drooping even though they're perfectly flat. A little dihedral is good.

 

[Chuppster]

Wings with no dihedral tend to look like they're drooping even though they're perfectly flat. A little dihedral is good.

I'd never thought of that! Good point!