i wouldn't call this a build thread. more accurately it is an assembly thread. i don't see much building involved at all.
it is a very killer looking plane none the less. i can't wait for the video done in grand giant's fashion!

Nice plane, can't wait to put one together, should be BAD AAASSS .

It's a build thread.

I guess you could call it a build thread. I am posting more pics but not a step by step, it's more like a highlights thread. The instruction manual is very good, wth lots of photos to help you as you go, it's very straight foward and builds quickly. There were just a few mods we did and I'll post pics of them. The motor box can be a little confusing, so hopefully with the photos I took will make it a little more clear.We were really excited to get ur done and give you guys and gals a flight report, so having to stop to take photos falls by the wayside, that's why I didn't get pics of every step.
Max and I did get the AJ in the air today and all I can say is WOW! All the hype about this plane is true, it's one sweet flyer. I didn't do too much on the maiden because the radio wasn't set up to what I'm used to (I fly a 9C and this plane is on a DX7 set up by Max to his preference). On my second flight, after adjusting the radio, it felt like an old friend. Max will be posting video and commentary later.
Anyway, on to the "build"
The first set of photos is the CA hinges in the wing and rudder pinned with T pins and ready to put the aileron on and slide the rudder into the fin. The other photo is of applying Blenderm tape on the hinge line to seal the aileron.

These pics are of the motor box. The photos of the box were a little washed out in the instruction manual so I duplicated them here.
The first photo is the box layed out in the correct assembly position.
Next we have the two piece firewall that needs to be aligned and glued together.
The remaining photos are different views of the glued together motor box. The instructions tell you to tack-glue the box with CA, then after it's assembled, use epoxy around the edges of the joints to lock everything in place. I chose to glue as I built using gorilla glue and then clamp together and let dry. The next one I do I think I'll go with the recommended method because I'm sure it will be less messy (Gorilla glue is a PITA to get off your fingers).

Here's a close up of the wheel assembly and the ply backing plate glued into the wheel pant. I've found that using Goop (ShoeGoo) holds the ply plate in the wheel pant better than epoxy or anything else. The last pic is of the hoz stab with the covering cut and peeled back, getting ready to glue it into the fuselage. When I did glue it into the fuse, it lined up perfectly horizontal to the wings.

The next photos show the elevator assembly.
The elevators go on to the stab differently than any I've assembled. There's a hardwood (bamboo?) dowel that joins the elevator halves and fits into a recessed channel cut into each. There is a slot cut into the ends of the dowel so a CA hinge can slip through it, strange but innovative. You see, once everything is glued up, there's no way the elevator can rotate off the dowel/joiner. The photos of this were taken of the FG Extra because I didn't stop to take photos on this one, but at least you'll get the idea.
The instructions tell you to CA the hinges into the stab first then glue the joiner with epoxy and slide the elevators on, let the epoxy dry, then hit the hinges going into the elevator halves with CA. Personally, I don't like to CA a hinge one half at a time because the CA will saturate the whole hinge, not just a half. It's my opinion that the hinge will have less holding power in the wood after CA has dried on the hinge then re-glued. So what I did was T pin the hinges in the stab, slide on the joiner, and then test fit the elevator halves on. I then mixed up 5 min epoxy, slid off an elevator, put epoxy in the joiner channel and then slid the elevator half back on, then did the same on the other half. Mind you, I have not CA'ed anything yet. I then made sure the gaps were right on the counterbalances and used masking tape to hold the halves in the right position. I used the blade of my knife and pushed the joiner into the channel on the elevators, then sighted from the rear to make sure the halves were perfectly aligned. It was only after the epoxy was dry that I CA'ed the hinges.

These are pics of me rigging up the pull-pull for the rudder. On planes this size I use Spectra Line (hollow braided kevlar) instead of the supplied wire.
The third photo is of the balsa tri-stock (red arrows) I used to beef up the landing gear plate. I don't know if this is nessessary but it's a habit I've adopted after a few too many plate rip-outs on not so perfect landings.

These two are of the mods I did to the battery tray. The stock tray seemed a little flimsy to me so I glued a couple pieces of 1/8" balsa sticks on to the bottom of the tray for added ridigity. The little half moon cut outs (red) I dremeled out so I could get to the landing gear screws if needed.

The last photos are of the electronic controll system (although I switched out the Berg receiver for the Spectrum AR600 receiver before the maiden). Since we're running 4s batteries we are also using a Park BEC so the servos don't overload the ESC causing it to shut down.
The other pics are me trimming the canopy and applying vinyl trim tape around it after gluing it on. the instructions recommend just screwing the canopy on, but I glued instead, why, I don't know.
Then we have a pic of where I placed the ESC. I cut and glued a little lite ply plate on to the bottom of the motor box and then velcroed the ESC on to it and then zip tied it for added security.
The last photo is the pushrod linkage on the aileron. The supplied hardware for this is a glued carbon rod/plastic clevis/funky EZ connector thingy that I didn't like the geometry of, so I went with the KISS method, the old tried and true Z-bend rod with a threaded clevis, simple.
That's it guys, if you have any questions I'll try to answer them.
Dick

Is the plane going to be available in the FG scheme commercially? I thought that was just for the Fliton contest.

No the FG planes will not be sold commercially, they're just for the contest...oh yeah, and one for Max.

Yes, I have to admit, I snagged one from the contest batch - Edson was nice enough to make a few extras.. We'll have it fully vinyl'd up and on display at the AMA show. There is no way that thing is ever gonna fly. It's too beautiful. Destined for my office I believe

Looks great boys..I think I'm going to have to get my hands on one of these....

That makes two of us, but I gotta finish the Inspire Mini first.