GoFlyRC.com - Aeroworks 29% Edge

Aeroworks 29% Edge 540 Phil's Edge is nearing completion. Here are construction pics and Phil's notes from the building process.
Home History Projects/Reviews Aeroworks 29% Edge 540 Carl Goldberg Falcon 56 MkII *Updated 3/1/06:* Colombo Andersson 38% Extra FlyFan 40% Extra Great Planes Big Stik .40 Great Planes Christen Eagle Great Planes Extra 300S .60 Great Planes RV-4 Great Planes U Can Do 3D Hangar 9 33% Cap 232 Hangar 9 1.20 Cap 232 (Bob's) Hangar 9 1.20 Cap 232 (Bill's) Hirobo Freya .60 Lanier 80" Cap 232 Lanier 31.5% Staudacher S600 Sig Kadet Mk II Sterling Ringmaster Thunder Tiger Fun Tiger Trick R/C Zagi 400x Wild Hare 35% Extra 330L Friends Events 2004 Tucson Aerobatic Shootout 2005Tucson Spring IMAC Crash Pictures Full Scale Quinn's Aeronca Champ Flight HiperBipe SNS-7 N777HT Full Scale Pictures Car Stuff *Updated 3/06/07:* 1989 Jaguar XJS Random Thoughts Links Stuff for Sale Contact Bob Bill	Year Built:	2004
	Weight:	TBD
	CG:	TBD
	Engine:	DA50
	Prop:	TBD
	Muffler:	Slimline
	Fuel:	Unleaded w/ 100:1 Amsoil
	Radio:	TBD
	Servos:	TBD
	Battery	TBD
	Color Scheme:
	Building Impressions:
	Flying Impressions:
	Joining sides. The fuselage sides come in 2 parts. The pieces are joined at the aft section near the stab halves. Here you can see the parts being edge glued together with a straight edge at the top to keep everything straight and true.	Router Cut Over Doubler. In this picture you can see the doubler has been added to the joined fuselage sides and the stringers have been installed. To cut the groove in the stringer I set up my Dremel Router to the desired depth and cut the material out. Worked out very well and was far easier than cutting it with an x-acto knife. I also setup a guide at 90 degrees to ensure the notch stayed straight at both ends.	Pre Assembly of Fuse. This picture shows the fuse being dry fitted. It is best to try everything before you apply glue. This way you can identify any problems and address them before making it permanent. If you look carefully you can see the Center Line (CL) marking on the front former on the table side. By drawing a line on the work surface at a perfect 90 degrees to the edge you can ensure a perfectly flat and straight fuse.	Fuse Almost Done. The fuselage is really coming along nicely and in this picture you can see the bottom stringers have been installed as well as the fuselage bottom. The only critical thing here is to make sure the parts stay straight and flat while gluing them together. Any mistake here will become very difficult to fix later. You can also see the Wing and Stab tubes in place. Although they are not glued in at this point it was useful to place them in there to make sure the alignment of the wings was matching the construction of the fuse.
	Gear Blind Nuts. The blind nuts for the landing gear were a little long and would have protruded through the gear mounting plate. To solve this I added a plywood spacer. The spacer was created by drilling a hole into a small square piece of wood. Then another piece of wood was drilled with the same size hole. Then you take the second piece of wood and clamp it to the disc sander and place the square on top. Line up the two holes and put the drill bit in there to keep it in place. Then turn on the disc sander and turn the square around in a circle. The results, a perfectly round disc with the correct size hole already installed directly in the middle. I could have used a hole saw but with this method you can make any size circle with any size hole in it.		Front hatch sheeted. Not a difficult part to complete but make sure everything is flat and straight when sheeting or it will be locked in warped. For all my sheeting I use probond. I offers excellent work time and bonds the wood to the foam well. For those that have not used Pro-Bond it is a simple glue to work with. Here in Arizona there is little humidity so I wet the parts with a misting spray bottle before putting them together.
	Here you can see the gear on the plane. I decided to use 3" main wheels and a RC-Blimp Carbon Tail Wheel (Medium). RC Blimp Tail wheel.	Servo Rails 1: Here is a picture of the servo rails being installed into the foam wing cores. I decided to do these before the sheeting went on so I would not have to cut through the sheeting. More of a cosmetic thing than a strength issue. Although, I highly doubt these will ever come loose.	Servo rails with caps: You can see the balsa caps I added to the servo rails. I wanted the servo to be slightly recessed into the wings and I added a strip of balsa onto the hardwood rail to make the wing flush again. Additionally, the balsa is much easier to sand smooth than the hardwood would have been. The channel for the rails was cut with a dremel router and a straight edge. Very simple to do, set the depth of the bit to the desired amount and follow the straight edge.
	Wing dowel being glued: Here you can see the hard points for the DA Wing Studs. I did not want to use the screw into the wing tube method of attaching the wings so I added the DA studs. These seem to be a simple and effective method of attachment. They also act as anti-rotation pins. The picture does show a set of nylon bolts in the hard points but those are only temporary until the probond sets. That glue likes to push things apart as it dries.		Wing Studs in Hardwood: Here are the wing studs before installation... All Wing Studs Installed: ...and after the installation.	Final Sheeting on Both: Here is a picture of the wings as they came out of the shucks. Again, I used Pro-Bond glue for this step. It was very effective but also a pain. Like I said before, the glue likes to push things apart and in the case of the wings it would move the sheeting out of alignment as it cured. A couple choice words and a few realignments and it was set. I used about 200 lbs of weight per wing during the sheeting process.
	Leading Edge Shaped: At this point I have added the Leading Edge to the wing and shaped it to match the airfoil of the wing. The instructions don’t tell you what shape they should end up but I decided on a relatively sharp Leading Edge. You will also notice I have not cut off the ailerons. I decided to set the incidence of the wing before removing the aileron to ensure it same out perfect.	Right Wing installed and Zeroed: Here you can see I have drilled the hole into the fuselage to allow the wing studs to pass through. It is critical to ensure the wing stays at a perfect 0 degrees incidence with that of the top of the fuse at this point. Any deviation will lead to issues later. I made a small hole at first and slowly sanded it to fit the stud during this step. I checked the incidence about 15 times during this process.	Wing TE installed: After both wings were set with the fuse I went ahead and cut off the ailerons. A band saw and a steady hand are a must for this step. You don’t want to mess up the wing now! Also visible is the Trailing Edge installed.	Right Wing Aileron Hinge: Think I got enough hinges? I really want to avoid flutter and never want the aileron to depart from the wing. I think I spaced the hinges at 3" from each other and drilled the holes using the Robart hinging guide. Nothing special during this step.
	Aileron Hinge Detail: The aileron is not all the way down in this picture but it does show the beveling detail as well as the approximate throw. Should have about 40 degrees up and down. To bevel the hinge line I used a small planer and a long GP Sanding block (with a lot of elbow grease). You really don't want to use power tools here because they remove too much material too quickly and may lead to a mistake.		Right wing Aileron Complete: Got the right wing sheeted, sanded, hinged, and beveled at this point. You might notice that I left off the tip sheeting. I wanted it this way until I have the entire plane complete. This way I can add lead into the foam if necessary to laterally balance the plane. Once balanced I will sheet over the tip and hide the weights.	Da 50 in Bags: I received my DA-50 with the Slimline Pitts Muffler and a Mejzlik 22X10 Prop. I had DA include the long standoffs but they did not offer them at the length I needed. There was going to be come customizing necessary to make it fit.
	Engine Standoff Drawing:	I made up a set of plans for the spacers by drawing the stock layout of the engine onto a piece of paper. I then added a mark at 7 1/4" from the firewall location (This is the distance given from Firewall to Spinner Back plate in the instruction manual). After I had the basics I used a square with angle markers to draw a 3 degree reference onto the plans centered on the firewall. After that was done I calculated the bolt locations on either side and made parallel marks following the engine angle. After all was drawn the spacers were visible on the set of plans. Now to make them!
	Left Side Spacers: Here is the left side spacers with the added aluminum shims. To make this part I used the measurements from the drawings I made and created a jig with them. I set up my drill press with a forsner bit and made 2 holes in a block of MDF at the exact depth as the shims, with a 3 degree offset. By drilling the holes at 3 degrees off I would be able to sand the spacers down flush with the jig and end up with a part that is 90 degrees on one side and 3 degrees off on the other. Additionally, the parts could be easily and accurately reproduced. For the shim material I ordered some 3/4" Solid Aluminum Rod. I pre cut the rods to the approximate depth as the holes in the Jig then pressed them into the holes. Then I sanded them down until they were flush. Once this was done I drilled a 1/4" hole through the middle of the spacer to allow the engine bolts to pass freely. Then I mounted the spacers onto a 1/4" dowel and put them on the Drill Press. Turn it on and you can sand the sides quickly and easily giving them the brushed look. ( Look closely at the top standoff and you can see the top spacer is angled at the rear.)		Spacer Complete A: Here is the results of the aluminum rod and the jig. You can see that one side is shorter. This allows the motor to sit at a 3 degree angle to the right in relation to the firewall. Additionally, the angle on the bottom of the spacers allow the motor to sit flush with the firewall and prevent breaking of the motor mounting tabs. The alignment is critical and must be done with care. Spacer Complete B: Here is a close-up of the longer spacers.
	DA 50 Mounted B: Another angle. If you look closely at the center of the firewall you will observe the center line as well as the offset center line. This distance was also received from the drawing for the spacers but I verified it by using a Machinist Calculator I downloaded from the internet. "Measure Twice, Cut Once!" The motor is 7 1/4" from the actual fuse center to the spinner back plate.		DA 50 Mounted A: View of the motor on the fuselage. Be careful not to mount the motor exactly on center. If you did this the prop and spinner would be off to the right because of the 3 degree offset. Mejzlik Balanced: Make sure that prop is balanced to prevent excessive vibration.
	Here is the Pull-Pull Setup for the Rudder. I decided to go with a bell-crank from SWB. I did this for two reasons. First, a bell-crank takes any stress from laterally pulling cables. Although there will not be a lot of tension this method should keep the servo from stripping due to stress from a sideways force. The second reason is the ability to have a "hole" type cable exit vs. a "slot" I did not want a large slot on the rear of the fuse and the offset/criss-cross ability of an offset arm should allow for the "hole" type of exit to be used. SWB sent the calculations for the locations of the exit hole based on fuse dimensions I sent them.		Here is a picture of the front canopy pins. I went with Carbon Fiber rods approximately 3.5" in length. I chose carbon over wood with the thought they would wear better, I always had wood ones wear a little and start to get loose. Hopefully the carbon will hold up. To install these I installed the canopy on the fuse and drilled from the front. To drill I used was a hollow brass tube, sharpened at one end. This easily cuts balsa and leaves a perfect hole in foam. Most drill bits will just chew up the foam.
	Here you can see the wings in place and the almost complete canopy hatch. If you look really close at the hatch you can see the rear section has yet to be sanded. To get the perfect fit I installed and glued the rear surface on the hatch, covered the turtle deck with paper, and sanded the section down flat. This preserves the angle and size of the rear of the cockpit as well as ensuring you don't scratch the turtle deck while sanding. You can also see the beginning of the covering scheme on the elevators. To keep things interesting I decided to do some covering Vs. woodworking. Hinges and control horns have been installed and glued into the elevators as of this picture.