Speed 400
Cloudster Project
As I was starting to clear dope the fuselage in
preparation for the first covering with Polyspan Lite, I realized I really
needed vents in the aft part of the fuselage for air circulation to
dissipate internal battery and ESC heat. The ideal place for these vents is
in the 1/16" sheeting under the leading edge of the stab. A hole pattern was
drawn on the sheeting as shown below.
The hole was cut out and sanded to shape on both
sides of the fuselage as shown below.
Before any clear doping, the bare fuselage
structure weighed in at 64 grams (2.26 oz) as shown below.
Oh yes, I almost forgot about securing the hinge
pin in the rudder's bottom hinge shown below.
The approach used required drilling a 0.0292"
hole in the end of a 1/16" wooden dowel that is 3/16" long. The dowel
is then embedded and glued in the base of the rudder's structure as shown
below. Notice also the recessed groove to the right of the dowel for the
hinge wire to fit down into.
The 0.031" bottom hinge wire has "U" bent on the
end as shown below that plugs into the hole in dowel with a force fit. This
is sufficient to secure the hinge pin.
I have put three coats of 50/50 clear nitrate
dope on the fuselage, cowl, fin, and rudder with sanding between the first
two coats. Since it is late in the day, I will start the first covering of
Polyspan Lite tomorrow............................Tandy