[mwavesdave]

I thought I'd put up an in-progress build thread, not of mine, but my spouse Leeann. She's building her 6th aircraft, after doing a 2 meter glider, an Eagle 2, a small Cub, a 1/4 scale Cub, and a small Pitts. She's been working on the Cessna for a while, and figured it was time to show that it's not only guys in the hobby. She's going all out on this, full cockpit kit, detailed aftermarket panel, nav lights, strobe, landing lights. We replaced a lot of the kit items with the ARF items, such as the main gear, nose gear, wheel pants, wing struts and glass cowl. She's glassing the entire aircraft, with Z-Poxy and .5 oz cloth. It's also getting a Horton STOL kit. I'll post some photos tomorrow, she's at the glassing stage right now, and has 1/2 the wing glassed, rudder and elevators, and one aileron. She's going to be finishing the glasswork on the wing next day or two, then the fuse, vertical and horizontal stab. Not sure on her choice of paint scheme yet, but she's just bought a really nice 2 stage airbrush, and is practicing with that prior to laying on paint.

[Sukhoi 68]

VERY NICE!!! I had the Pica 182......LOVED IT!! Go Leeann!!


Scott

[mwavesdave]

Some shots of her progress, rudder is glassed, and first coat of primer on, zero filler required. Wish I was that good! Same for the elevators, glassing is done, again no filler, and ready for primer. Thankfully she had to do a bit of filling on the wing, but not very much. 1/2 is fully glassed, STOL wing tips done, and flaps/hinges fitted. Fuse is ready to glass, once that's done, the interior will get a good cleaning, so I can show off the baggage compartment, with mesh to hold things in place, and the carpeting. She's also added piping to the trim, and the seat trim. Tail beacon in place, think that covers these photos. More to follow as she progresses.

[mwavesdave]

Pics didn't load the first time, trying again!

[machzx]

very cool

[williame3590]

Your a lucky guy Dave, soon she will be better than you!

Bill

[Wayne_K]

Very cool, great subject, great work!

Always wanted to build that one, definitely on the list. (its growing...)

Did I see Tactic servos? I started using a set (hard) in my H-9 Denight Special this spring, about 50 flights, and rock solid. Apparently made in the same factory as Graupner equipment.

Anyway, I hope Leeann enjoys the rest of the build!

W

[stegl]

Not sure if she is set on using the internal wire and horn for the elevator setup but before I hinged mine I went with separate servos for each half if the elevator . I will post the pictures as soon as I can . I used airtronics digital servos that fit in the hor. stab. Two big plus'S..... Redundancy when wired into two separate receiver port and a very solid link from servo to elevator with non of the pushrod slop , using a pushrod. Her changes with the landing gear from the OEM aluminum to the fibreglass ARF gear is perfect. I used the Robart suggested upgrade and went with the ARF wheel pants. I also changed the wood horns in the flaps to double ply and ball links. She is doing a great job as a great flying aircraft that I can vouch fore.

Pictures are pretty self explanatory. The last picture is he maiden flight or was it a real one I copied... forgot !

[stegl]

My original concept with this one was to use cheap analogue servos and 91 4 stroke OSengine but over the years ; after I got into electrics decided on quality electric motor , ESC and definitely digital servos. Did a fuel to electric conversion with batteries loaded from the bottom.Let me know if you want more info. Hopefully this winter I can get floats made-up and installed as this will be a beauty on water.

The plastic simulation on the flying surfaces I spaced a bit wider than the plans as I felt that the plans were too close together. Looks much better . The wingtips can be unbolted so I can add lights in the future.

[mwavesdave]

Thanks for the ideas Len, the elevator arrangement is certainly a step up from stock, increased reliability and simplicity for sure. Also love the flap arrangement, the double ply control horns are a great idea. Probably too far into the build for doing those mods, but she's also got a Beechcraft Bonanza TF kit waiting to be built, so will download your photos and keep them for future ref. Also a good improvement for the TF P-47, which has the same flap setup. I'm the research part of the build, I still need to look at some photos, and count the corrugations on the real bird, cause she'll want it as scale as possible. For power, we've got a Saito 100, fits great into the cowl, and with an angled exhaust, the muffler will be totally hidden as well. Agree with the idea of floats, she's already got a set for her Eagle 2, and I just got a set of plans for a Twin Otter, that would look great on floats, preferably a full amphib setup.