Build: Kimball-Somenzini Python 100

[Reza]

Dear Flying Giants Community,

As we are approaching the shipment of our Kimball-Somenzini Python 100. I thought it would be good if I did a build thread as I am writing the assembly manual.
We are doing the best we can to start shipping by the end of October.

I received the plane last week. This is a production model! I opened up the boxes and had a hard time believing this is an ARF. It looked more like a professionally built KIT to me than an ARF.

The amount of attention to details is phenomenal. Most of the plane is already built for you. To say a few, all the blind nuts through out the airplane are inserted, all the control horn holes are burnt nut just removed! Hinge slots are super clean and the covering is ironed, all the hinges line up to perfection, in fact you can’t insert it 1/16” to the left or right!

Landing gear and wheel pants, this part always take me 2 hours to set the angle, well this plane probably will take 10 minutes as the wheel pants and landing gear are already drilled out and blind nuts are already inserted! Cowl is two pieces which is really hard to find on a 100cc plane and comes ready to bolt on and fits and looks phenomenal.

Canopy/hatch one piece molded plastic, painted hatch and polarized canopy already bolted to the fuse, I mean right out of the box!

It is truly canister ready; all you need to do is run the cans. It also comes with Greeve pipes plate for those who are seeking the Ultimate power!

All the bolts and blind nuts are Standard and not Metric!

Comes in two very different schemes as shown in the pictures.

I truly believe that this plane will set the bar higher in both quality and performance in the ARF market!

Plane will be equipped with The Mighty DA100, MTW75/Stock Muffler (there is a chance we do a Tuned Pipe installation), JR 8711, 2.4 Spektrum AR9000 receiver, and Duralite latest high current regulator and battery!

I will not only do a build thread but also will be covering all the questions with regards to the components of the plane. Once I get to the component installation parts, you are more than welcome to stop me and ask any questions you may have. I will do my best to answer them all and if it is beyond my knowledge which happens quite often I will try my hardest to get the answers for you!

And let’s not forget the key Gentlemen that made this happen. Kevin and Jim Kimball, Bob Trueworthy, Wayne Ulery and Quique Somenzini. I personally want to thank these fine people for their hard work; contribution and being such class acts in our hobby! If it wasn’t because of them we would not be enjoying such an awesome airplane in ARF.

Finally I would like to ask all of you to bear with me. I can not answer questions during business hours and I am under lots of pressure handling the build thread, writing the manual and building the plane. The sooner I get the manual done, sooner you will have your airplanes, so I will update you on the build a little slower than the actual build.

To top it off, I will have multiple videos at the end. From Maiden to wringing it out with my limited flying skills.

Best Regards,
Reza Gholamipour

[50%plane]

Looks like an awesome plane!

50%

p.s. The Leseberg scheme would look awesome on it...

[randy racer]

bring it on reza! i am looking forward to this build thread and the vids after so get busy. LOL!

randy racer

[Cracky]

Ooh Baby!! This is going to be a good one!!!

[DR10044]

Reza, I can't wait! All planes should have two wings! Looks like an early Christmas!

[Reza]

Ok, let’s get rolling, shall we?

Please find attached the pictures of the boxes and some of the features I mentioned in my article, we will explore those as I continue the build thread.

I took the wings out of the box and I could not find a single wrinkle, however after 3-4 days sitting in my very warm garage they started showing themselves. Point is do not get tricked with seeing the covering tight. They are coming from China that is very humid and when they are exposed to different climate, balsa starts shrinking a little and wrinkles appear! Which is totally fine but make sure you go over it with heat gun when that happens before you hit it with your iron.

Enough of that, I’m sure all of you know this is the part that should not be missed!

Hinge slots were super clean, covering at the bevels looked as tight as they can be but I went over them with iron anyways.

Rest was as easy as it could get. Apply glue and hinge but here’s couple of hints:

Hinge slots are not super tight; hinges go in with ease so you want to make sure that there is enough glue to hold your hinges tight! I use Pacer Hinge glue but it is totally fine to use Gorilla glue, in fact if you know how to use them it is a lot easier.

I applied Hinge glue to the slots then pushed the glue in with tooth pick. Then I applied a little more glue and this time I inserted the hinge in the slot and took it out! I had a nice thin layer of glue on the hinge. Finally I added a little more glue to the hinge slot and inserted the hinge, knowing that I have enough glue in the slot and on the hinge!

Clean the excess glue that oozes out with alcohol swab.

I would do the moving surface first then the wing. You can do it any way you are comfortable. Please do apply a little of Petroleum Jelly on the hinge pin.

Honestly I did not touch my xacto knife through out the hinging process. All I did was grab the hinge, apply glue, insert it, and clean the excess!

This will be your easiest hinging ever!

I’d like to ask those that use Gorilla glue to tell use how they control the amount of glue that need to be applied to one slot so we don’t have to keep wiping off the hinge when they glue expands?

All 4 wings took me 2 hours that’s including doing the pictures, and moving stuff around to have as clean shots as I can get. Making notes for the manual and all that. If you only hinge, it should take 1:30 hour for all for wings.

If you are using Pacer hinge glue, please allow some time for the glue to cure before you hinge it to the other side! So do all the ailerons, then start attaching to the wings. I did the aileron one night and the wings the next evening!

[Reza]

Hinging!

[JeremyHolt]

The covering looks great on that thing!

[krayzc]

oooo weeeeee i like!

I only put a few drops of g/glue in the hole and not on the hinge. the hole is H 2 O from a q-tip prior to placing the drops of g/glue in the hole....

[ConRadical]

Yeah Baby.... i've gotta have one of these things!!!

[Canardman]

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[Reza]

Ailerons and wings are hinged! Install the servos the way that output shaft is towards the leading edge of the wing. I'd like to show you a tool that has been very useful to me. I bought it from SWB. It's called grommet inserter and also you can use it to mark where the servo screws are going to go, so you can use 1/16" drill bit for your pilot hole. before you screw the servo screws.

Before I forget, even though it may not be necessary but when I drill the servo screw holes with 1/16” bit, I use super thin CA to harden the wall before I insert the servo screws!

I am using King Servos, I meant JR 8711 all around!

[Reza]

I am a little disappointed in the amount of deflection of ailerons! I doubt I can keep up with the roll rate of 700 degree per second at full deflection

[Reza]

Now question for all of you:

When I wrote the Yak-54 manual I did not use Dubro nuts and washers because especially on ailerons they may not sit flush, most modelers over tighten them and crush the aileron, so I epoxied the bolt or threaded rod and it worked great. Which way would you rather do or see the manual done on that matter? Cut the head of the bolt with dremel and epoxy or use complete Dubro hardware. I will show you a method that you can use Dubro without crushing the balsa. I also know about using CA and making balsa harder but generally which way would you prefer doing this?

[MikeC3D]

epoxy bolt in wing , cut bolt head off......nice looking bird, I love my 102" yak.