[Tomahawk]

I found this plan on the internet a couple months ago. Someone had a build thread but increased the size of the plane. I printed the plan off and found it out of scale to what was suggested. I fiddle with the sizing and using the trexler wheel to size the plane I finally scaled the plan to what I think the size should be.
If I have kept your interest this far some people are calling The Little Plane That Could the "Micro Bee".
The wing span is around 10". The original plan calls for a Cox .010 in the nose but with todays electrics becoming lighter an electric version should be no problem.
Anyway here is the plan finally scaled to the correct size. There is a plan sheet, part sheet and a wing sheet. Each one is printed on a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.

Chris

[Tomahawk]

While I was waiting for the epoxy to dry on my latest build I decided to start working on the Micro Bee.
Oh-Boy!!! This plan leaves a lot to be desired. Straight lines are not straight. One half of the stab and elevator are a different shape than the other half.
Fuselage sides are different from the plan to the parts page.
Even the wing is longer on one side than the other.
I have hear of distortions of the plans but this really takes the cake.
I decide to make paper cutouts of the various parts and match and fit them together until I come up with a workable solution.

After a few evenings of fitting I ended up with a lot of paper cutouts but saved a lot of balsa. I should be able to start selecting light balsa for this build.

Here is a pic of the cutouts I have selected to begin my build.

Chris

[Tomahawk]

Off to sort through the balsa sheets. Most of the parts require 1/16" balsa. (stab, elevator, fin) I decided to use c-grain wood as I don't want any flexing of these parts. Found some 5 1/4lb sheet I was saving.

I needed some b-grain for the fuse as it needs to bend to allow for a curvature of the sides. Found a nice part sheet of 5lb stock.

Stripped a few stringers off some hard density 8lb 1/8" scrap balsa I had laying around.

Some 1/8 lite ply for the firewall and servo tray.

I began to trace the parts and cut them out. Sanded the parts to equalize mating sides.

Hmmm. Three ribs. I think anybody can stand cutting out three ribs.

Well it looks like I have a kit now. I will start assembly next.

Chris

[Tomahawk]

Lets build a wing!

In traditional Clancy style there are two wings offered. A 10 inch and a 8 inch. I am going to stick with the 10 inch. Figure I will need all the lift available with a plane this small.

Had to clean up the wing plan a little but the assembly is very straight forward. I did add some small strips of balsa at the butt joints of the ribs and the leading and trailing edges. I did this just to add a little more support to these areas. I will use a round needle file to clean them up after sanding.

It didn't take long for that classic lazy bee wing look to appear!

Chris

[Tomahawk]

Starting the fuselage.

Basically I added 1/8" sq. balsa strips to act as guides for the formers during assembly. They will later reinforce the formers. I used some 1/64" ac ply to reinforce the wheel mount area instead of the 1/16 balsa recommended.

Reinforced the stab area with a strip of balsa on each side of the fuse.

Added some strips of balsa to the rear of the fuselage to have more surface area to glue the ends together. I will taper these strips so it will be a flush fit.

Not shown in the pic are the servo plate rails I added. It will be much easier to measure and add these now than later.

I decided to mount the firewall straight as I can easily add any side or downthrust by shimming the outrunner mount.

Thats all for now!

Chris

[Tomahawk]

Worked a little on the Micro Bee tonight.

Glued in the firewall, flipped the plane over and glued the back of the fuse together. Then I ran into a snag. The problem was I moved the servo tray back to allow max. room for the RX, ESC and battery. Well the tray while holding the servos also creates the side curve to the fuselage. I thought fine, I will slip in a temporary shim at the widest point to hold the curve of the fuse. Then glue in the various parts I cut out.

Ugggg!!! The parts I cut out don't fit the fuse. Most are too small. I ended up tracing new parts through the fuse to make sure they are accurate.

If you build this plane I recommend waiting to cut out these parts and just trace them through the fuse. The plans are wrong.

I will be starting to sheet the bottom of the fuse next.

The pic shows me tracing the new servo tray through the fuse.

Chris

[Tomahawk]

A little more progress.

Sheeted the bottom of the fuse with some light a-grain 1/16 balsa.

When I removed the temporary shim the bottom held the fuse curve but the top returned to its original shape. I replaced the shim and added a 1/8 wide balsa doubler to the top of the fuse. This aided to keep the curve at the top of the fuse.

I next started to figure out where to cut the openings for the pushrod exits.

Well, thats all for now.

I attended the EMFSO AGM on Sunday and found a 5 gram outrunner for my Micro Bee.

Pics of sheeting the bottom of fuse and the outrunner.

Chris

[Tomahawk]

A little more progress.

I added a strip of typing paper to the top and bottom of the elevator joint halves. This was a very thin area and adding the paper really increased the strength of the joint.

Drilled some holes for the wheel axle and wing hold downs.

Cut out some small parts. Wooden control horns and drag. Also cut the slots for the control horns in the rudder and elevator.

Sanded the parts, vacuumed and tack clothed. The usual sequence before covering can commence.

Here are all the parts laid out ready to be covered.

Chris

[Tomahawk]

Time to cover.

I wanted to use transparent covering with the Micro Bee. With all the planes I have built I have never used this type of covering. The Bee pics I have seen always looked nice with transparent so I figured this was a good excuse to try it out.

I was lucky to find a part roll of transparent violet Ultracote at the London Swap Meet. There should easily be enough to cover the Micro Bee.

Covering with transparent is a little different as you must be mindful of your overlaps. At each overlap you will end up will a darker shade of the colour which could look terrible if it is in the wrong location. You can also use this to your advantage as I will show later. One other thing is that this covering is like food wrap and it really likes to stick to itself. If you accidently have two adhesive sides touch you might not get them apart without ruining the covering.

Anyway, here is the pic of all the parts covered in transparent violet.

Chris

[hifly2104]

Hey looking good Chris,which one of the Bee's is this modeled after was it the lazy bee. I still have a long and short wing from the Original kits way back when they first came out.Just need to build a fuse for them. I have had the two original Bee's a King Bee and a Speedy Bee. I even upscaled the Speedy Bee to a forty size,it flew very well but man Dumb Thumbs destroyed it