The refurbishment of a Seagull Swift 40

CarolineTyler

Legendary member
Decided on the location of the wing servos and will beef up the spar to mount it.
Ply doublers cut
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Spar cut to match
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So we get this...
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Ply doublers have been glued on and will leave it till tomorrow before drilling the screw holes and fitting the servos
 

CarolineTyler

Legendary member
Getting so close to finishing this bird to the point of doing all the covering. The ragged hole under the vertical stabiliser on the fuselage I have filled and smoothed.
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Closed up the bottom of the battery bay.
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Decided on the location of the ESC and will use the existing hole where the previous owner had cut a hole to create airflow to keep that ESC cool.
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Made a small scoop to feed air in and the outlet is in the lower portion of the tail. Fashioned a small jig to hold the ESC vertically in the airflow to maximise cooling.
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mayan

Legendary member
Getting so close to finishing this bird to the point of doing all the covering. The ragged hole under the vertical stabiliser on the fuselage I have filled and smoothed.
View attachment 127824
Closed up the bottom of the battery bay.
View attachment 127825
Decided on the location of the ESC and will use the existing hole where the previous owner had cut a hole to create airflow to keep that ESC cool.
View attachment 127827
Made a small scoop to feed air in and the outlet is in the lower portion of the tail. Fashioned a small jig to hold the ESC vertically in the airflow to maximise cooling.
View attachment 127826 View attachment 127828 View attachment 127829 View attachment 127830
Your pushing me @CarolineTyler, making me itch. Making me consider trying a balsa build in the future :).
 

Seahunter

Active member
Very nice work Caroline, I'm enjoying following along looking at the photos. I have an old .40 Nitro Thunder Tiger Trainer hanging in my shop needing restoration. You have inspired me to restore it and convert it from nitro to electric. I have a box full of iron on covering to choose from. I love working with the transparent covering, hard to hide flaws and repairs with it though.
I also have a Seagull Cherokee ARF new in the box out there I've had for years and never put together. Seagull made some nice models. I probably will auction that one off on E-bay some day. Again, good job!!! :D
 

CarolineTyler

Legendary member
Very nice work Caroline, I'm enjoying following along looking at the photos. I have an old .40 Nitro Thunder Tiger Trainer hanging in my shop needing restoration. You have inspired me to restore it and convert it from nitro to electric. I have a box full of iron on covering to choose from. I love working with the transparent covering, hard to hide flaws and repairs with it though.
I also have a Seagull Cherokee ARF new in the box out there I've had for years and never put together. Seagull made some nice models. I probably will auction that one off on E-bay some day. Again, good job!!! :D
It's good to know that others are enjoying this restoration thread. Getting close to the big visual change from skeleton to a fleshed out plane :)
The original covering I'm not a fan of, more like sticky backed plastic than a proper taught covering.
 
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Seahunter

Active member
That moment when you have finished the repairs, done the filling and all the sanding and it's time to start covering.
#Nervous
If you've never covered with iron on before, just review the many videos available and of utmost importance, have new blades to do your trimming, if you pick up a dull blade, your covering can tear at the edges, been there done that! You go girl! :)
 

CarolineTyler

Legendary member
I do need to get one of those natty double bladed knives to cut hinge slots and some new pushrods and clevises etc to finish off after covering. May even pick up a few cute decals to apply - more rainbow unicorns perhaps??? :p:LOL: