My son loves the pilot in the Edge and asked Dad to move him over to the Pitts... How can I say no???


A little on the heavy side (4oz) but he fits perfect. So I cut out the canopy floor and started working on a simple mount...


Hope he doesn't get a headache from Hysol fumes and the 5lb of sand on his forehead he he he he...

Looks great Jeremy, I like Charlie Hillards old Sky devils scheme on the Challenger. I just came from HF and seen it there and then opened right up onto your post here.

Ahh so I’m not the only closet helifreaker here. Cool.

OH boy, I guess we have both been exposed now
Yah started planes around 1978 and helis around 1995 . Had several little breaks through the years when funds or free time was none existent, still flying and the thrill has yet to leave.

Noticed some weirdness on my new planes engine box plywood. Should I be concerned and if so how should I go about fixing or reenforcing.

Can you point out what the “weirdness” is, specifically?

I see that yours is drilled and pinned (good).. I also see some discoloration from a penatrating glue like thin CA. Nothing out of the ordinary there. If I where building from a kit I would have epoxied the tabs personally but sometimes I will use a drop of CA around an epoxied joint to tack in place while the epoxy cures.


The only other thing I see is a lot of sanding dust on the joints from the factory. A little sloppy (mine had it as well), but 5 minutes with the shop vac took care of it.

Originally Posted by jharkin

Can you point out what the “weirdness” is, specifically?

I see that yours is drilled and pinned (good).. I also see some discoloration from a penatrating glue like thin CA. Nothing out of the ordinary there. If I where building from a kit I would have epoxied the tabs personally but sometimes I will use a drop of CA around an epoxied joint to tack in place while the epoxy cures.


The only other thing I see is a lot of sanding dust on the joints from the factory. A little sloppy (mine had it as well), but 5 minutes with the shop vac took care of it.

Both the top and bottom joint holes are cracked at the bottom. Mine was drilled with some screws ran in. I was going to drop some CA down into them and I noticed this.

Ahh I see it now. Hard to tell without being there in person but my guess is the slot for the tab was just a little bit tight and when they pressed it into place to the top lamination of the ply cracked.

*IF* you can see that there is no crack on the back side and its truly just one lamination I would probably be comfortable just wicking some glue into it and calling it good. (You also have hte pinning and the triangle stock.) Rather than CA I would mix up some epoxy and thin with alcohol.

If you feel like more is needed I would wrap some 2oz glass cloth around the joints and epoxy it.

Originally Posted by Dennis P

OH boy, I guess we have both been exposed now
Yah started planes around 1978 and helis around 1995 . Had several little breaks when funds or free time was no existent, so no flying but the thrill has yet to leave.

There are a bunch of others as well... more than I realized

Ya definately got me beat... I started as a kid right around gold sticker time (~91-92ish) with A futaba Attack AM and a Goldberg Eaglet... took a break and then back again around y2k, moved from glow sport planes into scale and giant scale and then got the heli bug in 2012 or so - just in time to learn on flybar before everything went FBL.

I did once get stick time on a vintage X-cell 60 that had literally been in basement for 30 years - bent frames, wood blades, analog servos, rate gyro and all. Was actually a lot of fun as even the most basic circuit flying was soooo challenging compared to today. Gives me new respect for the skill it took to get involved in the early days...

Originally Posted by jharkin

Ahh I see it now. Hard to tell without being there in person but my guess is the slot for the tab was just a little bit tight and when they pressed it into place to the top lamination of the ply cracked.

*IF* you can see that there is no crack on the back side and its truly just one lamination I would probably be comfortable just wicking some glue into it and calling it good. (You also have hte pinning and the triangle stock.) Rather than CA I would mix up some epoxy and thin with alcohol.

If you feel like more is needed I would wrap some 2oz glass cloth around the joints and epoxy it.

I can't see the crack deeper than the first layer after looking closer. I think the glass cloth idea is good I'm going to go with that. I am thinking one layer wrapped with some epoxy on each edge. Thoughts on a good place to buy cloth?

Thanks

I use to get cloth at my LHS... when we still had one.

Tower carries various weights online https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...erglass+cloths

Or you might find some locally in an auto parts store near the Bondo kits.

Originally Posted by jharkin

I use to get cloth at my LHS... when we still had one.



Tower carries various weights online https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...erglass+cloths


Or you might find some locally in an auto parts store near the Bondo kits.

I picked up some at Walmart since our LHS are long gone. Just was concerned about expoy properly penetrating the weave. Not sure if there was a difference. Will give it a try.

The prime motivator is here!! The canister is definitely going to fit with the extended tunnel, should be fairly easy...

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!! Gobble gobble.

Most glass at auto stores or anywhere outside of hobby related is going to be extremely heavier and harder to work. Our hobby glass is usually 1/2oz to 2oz which is much thinner and more flexible which makes for superb resin penetration.

+1


Auto body glass feels like 5oz cloth when Ive worked with it. 1/2oz cloth is what you would use for glassing wings on a warbird.


For reinforcement I'd use 2oz. Double up if you feel the need for more strength.