Need help, Balsa plans as second plane

[joshuabardwell]

To control how much glue I use and where it goes I often use a small paintbrush to "paint" the glue onto a joint.

I'm late to this thread, but I wanted to second this advice. I have done some amateur woodworking, and that's how the pro's do it. They'll use either a paint brush, or more often maybe a foam brush or squeegee. For covering small edges like the balsa ribs, it's sufficient to put a dot of glue on the brush and then slide the part along it. The key with wood glue is, "enough, but not too much". But "enough" is far less than most people think.

The other thing to do is, if you apply too much, wipe it off with a wet paper towel or something similar before it dries. When it is wet, it is easy to clean up. When it is dry, it is a real pain in the butt.

 

[roversgonemad]

I assembled the fuselage but it's not straight 100%, see attached photo.
Is it ok? or should i rebuild a new one?

View attachment 35767

If that's glued up, you will either need to take apart some glue joints or build a new one. That's a little too much of a banana to get it to fly well. You could always adjust the angles of your empenage to compensate, but crooked planes have a LOT of drag and rarely fly well. Luckily it's a pretty simple fuse and wouldn't be a bear to rebuild. I like to lay stuff out prior to glue-up just to be sure that everything is straight.

EDIT:
I like to only glue a couple formers and make sure everything is square and then add the other formers, making sure to keep the formers square and the fuse sides even as you glue them. I do this with the fuselage parts over the top of the plan.

Something like this:

Yes I know the plan is not in the picture, but I used it to get the sides lined up.

EDIT2: Another trick is to build the sides on top of each other to sure they are the same. Be careful with this thought because a lot of times, the thrust angle is set by building the fuselage sides slightly different lengths.

 

[kamil_blue]

I have rebuild the Fuselage once again, this time i glued the two sides with F2 and F5 first. After it dried i glued the rest of the parts one by one.
The result is much better now:

 

[mjmccarron]

Looks good! I think all of your work should pay off with a very nice Jr Falcon.

Mike

 

[roversgonemad]

That looks good! Nice work!

 

[kamil_blue]

Hello,

I already done the bottom side of the fuselage, don't have pictures right now.
I want to do the top side next.

My big question is, should the top side be detachable or fixed?
If it should be detachable, how should it be done? using magnets?

If it's fixed, then the electronics need to be installed before? Or should all the electronics be under the wing only?

 

[mjmccarron]

When i built mine i made the top sheeting fixed and accessed the electronics through the wing opening. The area in front of the wing is small and I didn't think it would be an advantage to have it accessible. It's really up to you though. Either way would work but, depending on your balance, the weight gain might be something to consider. You could build it fixed and then cut it out and frame it if you change your mind.

Mike

 

[kamil_blue]

I think I'll keep the front section detachable because the motor wires aren't that long, and i'll put the ESC there.

What about the push-rods?
If I glue the backward section, then the push-rods should be outside the fuselage, right?

If I do the front section detachable would using magnets be enough to hold it in place at flight time?

 

[mjmccarron]

You'll want to install your pushrods before sheeting the back section and yes, magnets work great to hold hatches on. I've even used magnets to attach wings.

 

[pgerts]

The fuselage needs the strengt of all parts glued together.
Leave the top sheet of until you have installed your servos and pushrods.
In the old days you used "snakes" for the thin pushrod to follow.
Another way is to use a light but stiff material between the shorter wire ends at the servo and rudder horn ends.
For planes your size i normally use 2 mm carbon rod between 0,8 mm piano wire ends.
I think that you need to put the servos as per the drawing if you keep the motor at 25 grams and a small battery.
You will see where to put the servos when you have put all other parts and tried to balance.
The picture shows a typical pushrod for a 40 size or the Falcon 56 size model.
The wood is light spruce. The bend is stiff not to bend unless the rudder is hit on ground and will prevent the servo gears to break and also allow for some adjustments.


Next picture is from todays flying with the larger Senior Falcon.

 

[kamil_blue]

I have finished the fuselage.
I glued the back section after i put through it the following pushrod.
I kept the forward section detachable using screws, I plan to put there the ESC and the receiver if possible.

Now I'm going to install the Servos, as far back as I can.
If I'm not mistaken my next step should be to install all the electronics, and see that my CG is ok, after that i will take the motor off and cover all the plane

One question, where should the CG be? is it the thick arrow below the head in the fuselage section?

Pics:

 

[mjmccarron]

Looks great! Yes, the CG is the big arrow below the head. It's located at about 30% MAC or 30% of the chord from the LE.

Mike

 

[kamil_blue]

I didn't get the chance to work on the airplane lately, Christmas and new year.
I finished the covering today, here is what i got:



The forward wheel is too small, the nose is too low. So I'm going to remove it and put a big one instead.

 

[crispytato]

Great job Kamil!

It's always good to see someone see a balsa project through to the end, a lot of people get half way through and realise it'll take more effort or time than they want to expend, and then never finish it!

In future you should taper the leading edge material down to match the wingtips, so you don't end up with lumps like you have on the wings.

The plane looks really good, the reflective strips should help with keeping it's orientation visible in the air. I'm looking forward to hearing how it flies! Good luck with the maiden. All in all, it's a great first effort, much, much better than mine was

peace!
Chris