rbentley

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Somewhere I saw a post about half ribs to help prevent delamination of the wing. I can't find that post and was wondering if someone could post pictures of this mod. My plane didn't come with them.

Richo

Giday,

The Half ribs fit at the side of the servo hatch and extend from the trailing edge to the end of the servo hatch. I made mine from 6mm balsa, the whole mod took about 1 1/2 hrs. Make a cardboard template to simplify the process. Dont forget to have the grain going top to bottom, not long ways.


Richo

rbentley

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Richo,

Thanks for the reply. Do the ribs go on both sides of the hatch? Also, do they go at both servo hatches?

Keith

Richo

Giday Keith,

They go to the servo arm side of both hatches. You could put them on both sides the weight increase would be insignificant.
I have attached a drawing that I received from Fiberclassics.

Richo

rbentley

My Feedback: (1)

Richo,

Thanks very much. This plane is beautiful. How do you like yours? Any other mods that I need to know about?

Keith

Richo

Giday Keith,

No trouble. These chaps are the best, your going to love flying it. One thing that is worth doing is puting an alloy plate on top of the undercarraige. We added a T6 alloy plate, that sits on top of the undercart inside the fuse. They replace the washers and end just before the fuse (about 15-20mm). They help stop damage to the fuse if you delaminate an undercarrage leg. The bolt holes are to far inboard (in my opinion) and allow the leg to bend up to far, damaging the fuse. The new all carbon undercarrage legs are better than the coposite ones. You can tell them apart when you drill the mounting holes, the composite (balsa/carbon) one's you can see the wood when drilled. I have had my rudder hinge break out, and my freinds split the rudder post. Fiberclassics said this was due to the pull/pull cables being to tight! CRAP. My hinge plate was poorly fitted, as for the one that split! Who knows! We CA the balsa rudder post and all is good. We did find that the hinge material in the rudder broke out on both of our models. The post in the rudder has a nylon tube in a groove at the rear. They glass this tube in. But the glass work was crap. We used a piece of the phenolic material supplied in the kit to fix this problem. We just cut some of the balsa away exposing the tube, we drilled a hole the same size as the tube in the phenolic plate and fitted it over the tube. The phenolic plate was then glued to the balsa.


Richo

rbentley

My Feedback: (1)

Richo,

Thanks again for all the info. Could you explain the statements below a little more. I am having trouble visualizing what is going on.

Thanks,
Keith

I have had my rudder hinge break out, and my freinds split the rudder post. Fiberclassics said this was due to the pull/pull cables being to tight! CRAP. My hinge plate was poorly fitted, as for the one that split! Who knows! We CA the balsa rudder post and all is good. We did find that the hinge material in the rudder broke out on both of our models. The post in the rudder has a nylon tube in a groove at the rear. They glass this tube in. But the glass work was crap. We used a piece of the phenolic material supplied in the kit to fix this problem. We just cut some of the balsa away exposing the tube, we drilled a hole the same size as the tube in the phenolic plate and fitted it over the tube. The phenolic plate was then glued to the balsa.

Richo

Giday Keith,

If you look into the hinge slots in the rudder you can see the hole in the balsa where the hinge pin slips through. This hole has a nylon tube in it. The nylon tube sits in a milled groove in the balsa, the tube is then fiberglassed in. The tube has broken out in two of the three hinge slots on mine and on one of the hinge slots on my freinds. We cut a balsa slice the same thickness as the phenolic material exposing the tube. We drilled a hole in the phenolic material the same size as the nylon tube and slipped it over the tube. I will try and get a picture for you!!


Richo

rbentley

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Richo,
Thanks, a picture would be nice.

Keith

rbentley

My Feedback: (1)

Richo,

Thanks again for all the good info. No picture necessary. By careful examination and your description, I figured out what you did. The question, now is, how you did it? There is not much room to work in there. What did you use to glue in the rudder hinge supports and the half ribs in the wing?

It's great to be able to find out all these preventive steps before they become a problem. I haven't started doing anything to it yet. I want to have everything mapped out before I begin. I am looking forward to getting this beauty in the air. My DA-100 is anxious also.

If you have a picture of your plane, I would like to see it.

Later,
Keith

Richo

Giday Keith,

I used CA on the half ribs, just rough up the area a little with sandpaper, and the CA will work a treat. Make sure the ribs aren't to tight a fit as they will push the wing skin up and look unsightly. The mods that I did on the rudder were also with CA. I did use epoxy on the hinge plate that broke out of the stern post (in the Fin).

Richo

Giday Keith,

I used CA on the half ribs, just rough up the area a little with sandpaper, and the CA will work a treat. Make sure the ribs aren't to tight a fit as they will push the wing skin up and look unsightly. The mods that I did on the rudder were also with CA. I did use epoxy on the hinge plate that broke out of the stern post (in the Fin).


Richo

rbentley

My Feedback: (1)

Richo,

Beautiful plane. I wish I was able to get one of the painted versions, but the one I have is white on top and red underside of the wings and stabs. Now I have to come up with a paint scheme. Any suggestions on the type of paint to use?

Thanks again for the modification info. I've finished the half ribs and the rudder hinge tube reinforcment. I assume that the trouble area is at the bottom hinge point in the rudder.

Blue Skies,
Keith

Richo

Giday Keith,

Not sure what paint to use! Perhaps it would be worth starting another thead for that one. As for the rudder, I broke out the botom hinge plate and the middle hinge is where the tube came out. On my friends it borke the middle hinge plate and the top hinge is where the tube came out on that one. Go figure!


Richo

rbentley

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Richo,

Okay I have done the half-ribs and the rudder hinges. I have reinforced the fuselage at the anti-rotation points for the stabs and made backing plates for the landing gear. Any thing else that I need to do?

Keith

Richo

Keith,

Cant think of anything else!

GO FLY THAT THING!!!!!!!

Richo