Originally Posted by jharkin

+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.

I ended up ordering some 2oz from this site. Waiting on it's arrival. http://cstsales.com/e_glass_cloth.html

Originally Posted by cbcalhoun

I ended up ordering some 2oz from this site. Waiting on it's arrival. http://cstsales.com/e_glass_cloth.html

When I need bulk I order from them, good company, but most the time it's the LHS.

Can anyone tell me the cowl to firewall distance on this airframe? Trying to order spacers for my gp76 so i can get straight to building when it all gets here.

Nevermind found it at the beginning of this thread
So it looks like a blzing star mount with 3mm spacer will give me around 167mm should be about 2.5mm of clearance.

Not much progress in the weekend after Turkey day. We had our club auction and we took a family day to get the Christmas tree up and decorate.

We did have one day that was passable to go out flying, but the wind was gusting 25-30 so I just took the helicopters. One of them was leaking gas unfortunately so had to pull it apart for some maintenance. Working on helis is pretty simple though so it only took an hour or so to drop the engine and get the tank out - turned out to just be a blanking plug split.

In the meantime, parts keep arriving. Got most of the hardware and have the tanks setup. I tossed all the lines and re plumbed with viton, but the clunk is usable.

Running the stock pilot tank (17oz) for smoke and have a 24oz EF tank for fuel. They will fit side by side at the CG, no problem.


Now I just need to wait for the servos to get here from Japan.........

I setup the plane to check the engine mounting. Turns out the DA60 template in the kit is usable for the 70, but I want to be certain the spinner is lined up before drilling.

Note that the DA60 plywood mount set that Desert Aircraft sells is a perfect fit to get good spinner to cowl spacing with the 70.

Dennis sent me the layout for the Red Devils graphics.. I think the USA crest needs to get enlarged but other than that this is going to look great I think???!

Originally Posted by jharkin

Dennis sent me the layout for the Red Devils graphics.. I think the USA crest needs to get enlarged but other than that this is going to look great I think???!

Looks good to me!

So I got some time this weekend and worked on the engine mount.


The DA60 mount stack gives perfect spacing if you use all of it except the 1/8 piece. I glued the stack together with tightbond to make assembly easier, cleaned up the holes on the drillpress and then marked the location on the firewall using the method above. Turns out hte laser markings where close, I only had to go up 3mm.


*** The clunky hardware store bolts are just temporary... I need to get some longer 1/4 cap screws, nordlocks and T-nuts before final assembly ***

I also FINALLY got around to re-ironing the covering, and opened up all the cooling holes.


Some servos showed up so test fit the tail...

I loosely bolted in the engine, and surprise!!! the 60mm header clears WITHOUT extra spacers! Thats going to save a couple ounces as those steel flanges are heavy...


Also have more than enough clearance for the plug caps and carb

Throttle servo. I decided not to use the big bracket provided and just flush mount it to keep the servo away from heat as much as I can. I added a stiffener as the floor of the motor box is too flexible here...

I had earlier opened up the rear of the tunnel. So now I fabricated a removable mounting for the canister mount. Out of sheer luck the mount ends up perfectly positioned at the weld seam where the internal baffle is - the strongest part of the can. I'm also going to make a heat shield over the wing tube.


Question to all: Should I box in the can completely or do you think its ok to just leave it open? I know some designs do....


Either way I'm building a falser floor above the can tunnel roof to mount fuel tanks, I dont want my velcro straps to melt...

can i asked what is the Thickness of the GFK Cabane wing mount?