C-arf Eurosport Evolution build

[Thomas_W]

My new comp-arf Eurosport Evolution showed up today. The differences in this kit and the original one are definately noticeable, and the website doesn't point out some of them... Here's some of the high-lights:
new design engine access hatch
- Canard fuselage structure installed at the factory
- Canard hinge rods are installed and are now carbon fibre instead of fiberglass
- Panel lines now molded into the top and bottom wing skins
- the wings now have a fiberglass "cap" over the edges of the foam sandwhich material at the wing root.
- "scale" style wing fairings
- gear cutouts already done for you
- nose gear mounting plate installed w/ the fiberglass rovings
- equipment boards now furnished along w/ a fuel pump mount
- Removeable vertical fin
- all bulkheads in the fuselage are installed
- newer more "scale" style exhaust nozzles
- rudder control horn slots pre-milled
- Plywood wing root rib w/ stiffened main landing gear mounting area
- wing root rib ligtening hole is filled with balsa (kind of a mute point now w/ the new style engine hatch, this i beleive was carried over from the "new" euro which used the older style engine hatch)

Biggest let down so far, is the fact the instruction manual hasn't been updated for the newer style engine hatch. so you have no guidance on how to do that. BUT they did include 3 canopy latches, so i'm assuming they intend for you to use 2 of those for the hatch.

[Larry Lewis]

Great to see youre back on another one dude! A buddy of mine has the new Euro with that bottonm hatch. Looks great. They also give you the strakes for the wing etc.

Im down for the count right now. Ive been having a lot of problems with my Rhino's gas valve. Actually. the problem was at the ICS. Had several failed starts a couple of weeks ago. Then, on final attempt it started. But unfortunately I had my first wet start. It was a doozy! Airframe is all cleaned and repaired, but not sure if I'll get the turbine and ICS back in time for Fentress. Man I hope so,,,,,,,,,,,

[Thomas_W]

Finally got around to doing some work to the euro, and wouldnt you know it... Work calls telling me i have a trip starting may 6th thru may 30th. Sooo looks like its gonna be a loong dead point in progress on this project again, but the deadline i'm giving myself in June 18th, b/c on june 26/27 my flying club has its annual "jumbo" fly-in and it would be nice to have something to fly.

Anyways, i got the hatch assembly complete. I decided to go with 2- 1/4" dowels in the front and 2-4mm bolts in the rear. The rear blind nut mounts were the hardest part to figure out, as their is really no good place to glue the things to the fuselage. So i took some 1" sq. 3/32" ply and let them overhang the inside ledge about 1/4". I then tack glued them in place and put a bead of hysol between the ply plate and the ledge. After that dried i took some epoxy and milled fibers and built up the area a bit, and plan to put a layer of 1" glass tape across the plate as well. I believe this should be sufficient.

I also got the elevon and canard servo mounts built. They no longer supply 2- "angled" servo mounts for the elevons, instead they give you 3 that are identical. I also hysol'd them to their servo covers on the wings. I also made up and installed the canard servo mount. I marked a center-line on the canard structure, and placed the servo in the mount, then made sure the centerline of the servo arm was on the centerline. Then marked the position of the mount, removed the servo, tack glued the mount in place, then hysol'd it in place.

Also hinged the rudder and installed the phenolic rudder control horns. The lower hinge on my rudder was 20mm to far up the hinge line which would of caused it to interfere with the control horns. This is mentioned in the manual, so it was no surprise, but its nice to know they realized the error! A few nice features, is the control horn slots in the rudder are pre-milled and only require minimal adjustment for the control horns to fit. And the hinge positions are marked and drilled on the vertical fin for you. Overall i probly spent an hour taking care of hinging the rudder, glueing in the control horns and installing the servo. I personally dont like silver-soldered control linkages, so im going to replace the included rod w/ a 2mm fully threaded rod.

And i got the fuel tank mounting bulkheads built and fit to the fuselage. They required very little adjustment around the top of the bulkheads to fit nicely. both bulkheads did require a good bit of adjustment to the "tank slots" for the tanks to fit into them. I also installed the 4- 1" wide fiberglass tape strips on the bottom of the fuselage between the fuel tank mounting bulkhead positions.

I'll have pics up in a bit...

I could have the wings done today, but i've got to get a new set of landing gear, as the actual retract units from my last euro are junk. The side frames were so badly stress cracked they finally broke off at the mounting flange bend. So i'm planning to upgrade to the dreamworks "hercules" units and trailing link struts. I'm debating on replacing my C-arf wheels/brakes w/ intairco units as well....

[Thomas_W]

I've been busting butt tryin to get the "building" on this done before i leave on wed.

Today i got the aileron servo's mounted and the extensions ran, both servo "hatches" attached to the wing.
Installed the elevon control horns into the elevons.
The slots in the front fuselage cut for the front equipment tray.
And i fuel proofed and sealed the engine bay bulkheads, the equipment tray (to prepare them for painting).

I'm hoping to get the canopy hatch latch and hooks done tomorrow morning, and the equipment trays painted as well. Once that is done, i'll call it a month and it shall sit until i get back from my business trip, then i'll be busting butt to get it and a Kangaroo done.

Then once this project is complete, the 1/7 scale F-14 scratch build project begins.

[Thomas_W]

I realized i had not updates this before i left.. But the equipment trays have been fuel proofed and painted (silver) and are ready for their equipment fit out and installation in the airplane. I also got the canopy hooks and the hatch latch installed as well. The canopy system is about 50% complete w/ only a forward alignment hook to install and the cockpit base and canopy. I'm not fond of the cheap plastic "cockpit" that is included with the kit, so I have been looking for a full cockpit that will fit, but have had no luck. If anyone knows of one, please let me know.

I've recently found out, i'm schedule for yet another business trip from June 15th to June 28th (most likely to end of the 25th) so i will be working on finishing this project in a very short amount of time (approx. 10 days), that way I will be able to finish it, test fly it, and take 2 days to go over everything again. So if my trip does end on the 25th, i'll be able to fly the euro at our fly-in. Once i return from that trip, i will be starting the F-14 project. the plans have been paid for and shipped, the landing gear located and priced.

[Thomas_W]

I've been a bit of a slacker here lately on this build thread all b/c of work. I've been busting but on the build and the Euro is done and had its maiden flight yesterday.. here's some pics of the finished... If anyone has any questions about how i did something feel free to ask:






















For Landing gear i ended up going w/ the Dreamworks / Pro-link hercules retract units and the Pro-link trailing link struts. This setup is ALOT less stressful to the airframe. w/ my last euro and the straight struts you could hear the jolts to the airframe echo'ing inside it. this noise is gone now.

And here's a teaser of the "next" project. Stay tuned for this one, as i'll be starting it once i get the short-kit cut. Just to give you an idea of the size. the larger boards are 1 foot wide and 8 foot tall... the largest bulkheads are 36" wide and 11.5" tall