dhal22

202's it is then.

david

hrrcflyer

8178,

I apologize for hijacking your thread, but if it isn't too much trouble, can you give me the weight of your Spring Air retract gear for the mains (not including the wire or wheels), the air tank, fittings, tubing, etc.? I am considering trying a set of electric retracts on a future 60 size pattern plane (probably a Super Kaos). The units I am looking at weigh 3.1oz each and they plug right into my receiver with no additional battery required. I'd appreciate it if you would share any thoughts you have with me.

I am really looking forward your your SBA build. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

David,

I talked to the good folks at Spring Air today and yes the 202s are what you want for the Blue Angel and SBA with 5/32 struts. The nose gear provides the flat mount you need and the excellent Spring Air steering arm system. All of the Spring Air main gear retracts now incorporates the brass adapter like shown in my Blue Angel thread. They suggested that the brass adapter is longer than it needs to be and can be cut shorter to save a little weight. I’m going to revisit that on my Blue Angel.

I told them that I was concerned about how much they had reduced the cost of their retracts and they said that they were able to do that because they only sell direct now and are passing the savings on to their customers. I was a little worried that they might have reduced their prices too far. I don’t want them to go away because they are the best in the industry and we need them. As you know they have added the ability to buy on-line from their website and will be updating the pictures so that they match the product correctly.

They were short stock on the nose gear and will get them built and shipped within a couple of days. I had them add an air restrictor (with filter) to my order so I can see how that works.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

I should have the new Spring Air retracts soon and I will weigh them for you. All of my other retracts are installed right now and a pain to remove.

I’ve never been brave enough to run my mechanical retracts from my flight pack and have always used a separate pack for the retracts. Seems like it is extra weight well spent.

Glad you are looking forward to the build and I promise it will not take as long as the Blue Angel.

hrrcflyer

8178,

I share your concern regarding mechanical retracts. I too have used a separate battery for them. However, the retracts I am considering are electric and the actuators and motors are built into the retracts so you don't need a separate retract servo and you don't have the headaches with control rod and linkages to contend with. The retracts come prewired with a "Y" so you only have to plug them into your receiver. If you are curious, you can go to www.lado-tech.com and see what I am talking about. I already have one set that I will be putting into my Ultrasport 60 (if I ever get the time to build it) I am just curious if they will be too heavy for a classic pattern plane. i am not in dire need of the weights so I will patiently wait until you get your new retracts.

Don't concern yourself with how long it takes to build your SBA. I am sure it will turn out just as well as your Blue Angel did.

OK, I'll let you get back at it. Thanks again for the help.

BTW, I am in no way associated with Lado Technologies, I just know that their retracts are of the highest quality, they are affordable and customer service is outstanding.

dhal22

another option is to email spring air and ask. their customer service is excellent.

david

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Tonight I focused my attention on the fuselage nose area to plug all the old holes in the firewall and engine mount with hardwood dowels. I glassed some cloth on the front of the nose ring so I can smooth it out and glassed the hole in the side of the fuselage that was below one of the engine mount holes. I then put my OS 61SF ABC-P engine in, made marks for the new engine position and drilled the motor mount. Not sure why the original owner had the engine mounted so far forward because the holes seem to line up for an OS engine.

After I was sure the engine mount holes were OK, I started the next step in closing in large fuselage cutout that was made around the engine by the original owner. The image below shows the glass work on the top side of the engine cutout. I used 1/64 plywood and balsa to form the shape along the upper part of the opening. I also need to add back the glass that was cut away in front of the carb and on the lower side of the opening.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Got the glass work done around the engine opening and used some micro-balloons and resin to fill in some of the low spots. Much better!

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

I used some 3/4 ounce cloth to finish off the nose repair so it blends in with the original fuselage glass well. While I was sanding I started work on sanding the fuselage seams.

I decided to reuse the original Bakelite engine mount pads that had been glued in with epoxy. Because epoxy does not bond with polyester very well, when I moved the engine position I was able to pop them out, sand the epoxy off of them and remount them with resin. To hold them in place I put some scotch tape along engine the crankcase mounding lugs to protect them and mounted the engine to clamp them down.

I carefully glued the 1/4” plywood repair piece into retract gear mount with epoxy. I’m going to glass some cloth over the mount to bond it together and it will not work if there is any epoxy present on the surface.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

The wing cores have cutouts for center mounted aileron and retract gear servos. I’m going to be mounting my aileron servos outboard of the retract gear and using Spring Air pneumatic retracts so I needed to fill in the cutouts. I cut some scrap wing foam and glued in the cutouts and then sanded the root flush. I still need to clean up the holes made for the air lines by the original owner.

Although the SBA looks very much like a Blue Angel I’ve found that none of the components are the same size or shape. The wing span is 3.25” shorter, different airfoil (thicker at the root and thinner at the tips), the stab is shorter and a different shape and thinner, the fuselage has a longer nose and tail and is a different shape and the list goes on. Because there are so many things that are different, I’ve decided to just build it as a SBA rather than modifying the wing and stab to the Blue Angel specifications. The SBA has beautiful lines as is so I’m going to just build it as FK intended.

To be continued…

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

8178, I'm actually glad to read that you're building it stock. I'm not a purist by any means, but you already have one BA and besides it will be worthwhile to find out how the two compare in the air.

David

8178

My Feedback: (17)

The more I think about it the better I like the idea!

8178

My Feedback: (17)

The SBA was missing the balsa aileron stock but I had an extra set that Dynamic Balsa sent with my Blue Angel wood order. They had miscut the angle on the front edge and included them with the correct set. A little work on my neighbors table saw corrected the angle without changing the width.

I don’t have any plans for the kit other than the FK two view dawning (that I posted in the first post) and some pictures of a kit from magazine ads. After reviewing the two views and the kit pictures I decided to add a filler piece at the wing tip to make the tip a little stronger and provide some extra space to inlay plywood at the tip. The wing tips are sharp and I’m finding with my Blue Angel the tips would not last long without a hard edge.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Did a bad thing! The right wing had a slight bow in it and while I was heating it over the stove burner and applying force to straighten it, I used too much heat and force and made a dent in it. To fill-in the dent I glued some 1/16” sheeting onto the dented area and then sanded it down flush. It took a lot of sanding and it looks like heck but it is smooth, the dent is gone and the wing is straight.

To be continued…

WEDJ

Glad to see I'm not the only one to share boo-boos.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

I like to cut my hinge slots before shaping the control surfaces to get a good alignment. Use 3/32” plywood tabs in place of the hinges and glue the aileron to the wing with rubber glue.

I added pieces of 3/32” plywood in the wing tips and glued hardwood strips on the wing tailing edge.

I then used a razor plane to rough shape the aileron to the wing and then sand it for fit.

To be continued…

Aurora_60

My Feedback: (1)

After all the years of building, I never stop learning something new. Thanks!


DM

tychoc

8178,

Your build threads are a wealth of useful ticks and information. The stuff you wish were in magazines, but never is.

Thanks,

tychoc

phantom_najd

My Feedback: (2)

I followed all your building threads with great interest and was so happy to see the BA flies on one hand but the following couple of days I started missing the flow of information I receive with each post (symptoms of withdrawal? ). Here I am following another building thread of yours and can't be thankful enough to you taking all the troubles in documenting your builds. Thank you very much.

Azzam

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Thanks for the nice comments guys!

8178

My Feedback: (17)

One of the elevators was missing so I made a new one and also added hardwood on the trailing edges and the stab tips.

The rudder and vertical stab post was missing. The SBA drawings and pictures show a full length rudder but I decided to do the rudder per my Blue Angel plans. After I get the top piece glued in with resin I’m going to glass it with ¾ ounce cloth. I’ve already found on my Blue Angel that it is handy to have glassed tip on the tail when I accidently stuck it in the ceiling of our loft area.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

I glued the vertical stab tip in with a slurry mix of resin and micro balloons. Needless to say it is critical to get it aligned dead on! After the resin set I sanded the joint smooth in preparation to glass it with Âľ ounce cloth.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

My Tower order showed up so now I just need my retract gear order from Spring Air. I’ve been able to use scrap wood from my Blue Angel build so no expense for wood.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Got the vertical stab post installed. I trimmed a piece of balsa to fit the opening, glued it in with resin and taped the sides of the fuse together with masking tape. After it was set I did the hinge slots for the post and rudder.

To be continued…

bob27s

My Feedback: (19)

Seems like it took you 14 months to get this far on the blue angel [&:][&:]