Skyray 35 Build - Faux Streak look

Cribbs74 wrote:I have been wanting the belt/disc sander from Harbor Freight for quite some time now. Now I want it even more.

My little one is just a 1.5" or so belt. My big horizontal belt/disk sander is almost too big. It has a busted power switch. I need to get it going. The little one is essential. I use it to shape everything. Remember the Dural engine bearers on the Yak... belt sander. I love it. Inherited from my father-in law, along with my drill press and many other essential tools. He'd be happy they're getting used.
Rusty

I already showed my girlfriend a small belt/disk sander at Home Depot and mentioned that I have a birthday this year.

Jim

I got the hang of it as I went along. The long slot in the first stack has a rough spot in it, but inconsequential to the build. The "jig" tabs are scored for easy removal.
Rusty

Go Rusty go!!!

Cribbs74 wrote:I have been wanting the belt/disc sander from Harbor Freight for quite some time now. Now I want it even more.

Hey Cribbs,

Are you talking about the little 1" belt/5"disk one? If so stay away, mine is horrible. The disk is not square or concentric. As soon as I get some time I'm gonna have to machine a new one or see if I can maybe fix it somehow. I had ti file the disk frame to close the 1/4" gap on the table otherwise if the work piece grabbed it would suck down and jam the disk. On the belt side, the frame is so unsquare its impossible to make the belt ride in the middle of the rollers and the adjustment is merely there for show. It does absolutely nothing. I forget where I saw it but the HF is obviously a very bad copy and I wish now I'd have spent the little extra for the real one.

Mike

RknRusty wrote:I got the hang of it as I went along. The long slot in the first stack has a rough spot in it, but inconsequential to the build. The "jig" tabs are scored for easy removal.
Rusty

Light ply is something I have no experience with. After making the sixteen lightweight balsa outer ribs, I had three more center ribs to make. These kit ribs were some other grade of light ply than the outer ribs, and made pretty ratty templates compared to the others. I had half way considered using the kit ribs for the center three, but after seeing the poor quality of them, there was no question about replacing them. For this I went with a sheet of hard 3/32" ply rather than the contest balsa. Same routine as above. I forgot to mention that I coated the entire edges of the template ribs with a bead of CA to protect them from being bitten by the sandpaper.

All I have to add after making these last three is that it's harder work finish sanding, and you have to be more careful with the belt sander taking away all the wood that doesn't look like a rib, simply because you have to be more aggressive unless you want to hand sand your elbow off to finish. And for the center slots, I just removed the scroll saw blade to pass it through a starter hole and turn the speed down low and cut away. This is the first time in the year I've had the saw that I've needed any speed other than full.

Last year my Mom came to visit and said, "Show me what I got you for your birthday." I showed her the saw. This year I showed her the Oriental. It's next in line!
Rusty

Variable speed scroll saw? Cool, wish mine did that.

Rusty, this is the best thing you can do if your looking to learn the pattern. You need to make about 3 more sets of those ribs and build all of these planes at the same time. If an accident occurs, pick up another and continue flying. The Skyray 35 is more than capable of a PAMPA pattern and having many on hand makes for a great day out. If you get to the field and for some crazy reason something happens, having another on hand keeps your spirits high. I wouldn't even paint them, just clear them go fly. Ken

Looks good. Actually the center three are glued. I'm too ham handed to do more at once than that. A CA freak could have had it all done, but I am using Titebond. The butt joint and spar doubler are epoxied.

Looks like I'll be taking off Thursday to go up to Watt's and fly while he and Wayne work on the Brickhaus Fanfare e-conversion. I notice one of Allen and Watt's collaborations is in the centerfold of CLW this month. I'm in there again in a goofy picture on page 57, but they think my name is Rusty Nail.  Suits me I think it's a stupid looking picture.

Here's the Skyray wing:

Just humming along there Rusty Nail! Are you building it stock or are you going to make it look different?

Hope Thursday pans out!

It's going to look a whole lot more like a Flite Streak, but cosmetically only. Otherwise it's pretty much a Buckerized Skyray.
Rusty

Now that the pressure is off, the Spring Opener is history, I'm back on the new Skyray. Got the spars and LE on it and sheeting the TE. Pretty soon the bellcrank and Flite Streak tips and I can finally have the front of my table back. Next time I build a wing, it's going to be on the back side where I don't spend so much time with my day to day projects.

The only other thing I have going is the tail booms for the Li'l Satan so I can fly the Traveling engine. They're cut out and ready for hinging, so I should get that show in the air soon too. I don't want to be the one that holds up the show, but it's a bit more to do than just the Travelling prop was.

Progress reports should resume soon.
Rusty

P.S. In the first post I mistakenly referred to my modifications as the Allen Buck mods. I meant Brett Buck. Allen, from PA. comes to Huntersville. Brett is in California.

I'm thinking of finishing my Skyray with nothing but clear.  The wings will be colored Monokote, but as for the rest, I suppose I'll silkspan the fuselage and tail feathers, sand it smooth, and then coat it with something clear and fuelproof.

My Baby Streak that was built by my RC club prez. is finished like that, but he can't seem to remember what he coated it with. I really love the look but don't know for sure to what to use. The Streak finish seems absolutely impenetrable by wet fresh fuel. Any ideas? I'm guessing the answer will be Sig or Brodak butyrate dope.

Since the Ray will have the streak look, this is a mini version of what I want:


I'm ready to get this thing in the air. I want to get my Oriental on the table.
Rusty

I am waiting patiently for you to finish your Skyray and then I will learn how to build mine.
 

 
Working on the ribs at the moment as per the mod you are employing. The plywood supplied in my kit is rubbish to say the least. Warped and knotty!
 

 

Maybe, Roddie. Seems like Lustrekote just sits on top and never really bonds or hardens. I wouldn't want it to start peeling like shrinkwrap if it gets nicked.

Ian I need to show you something I had to do at the end ribs. I'll be getting very detailed over the next days. I'm not at home right now though.
Rusty

Ian,

I assume you are going to get rid of that plywood. If you do, replace it with 1/16 it's plenty strong and lighter.

Ron

3/32" balsa for the ribs. I used contest grade but it's super light. I used hard balsa for the center ribs.

Ron, Roddie, Rusty,
 
I am replacing the ribs with balsa - I am currently "working" on this - "wry smile" (nearest emoticon -
). More on that later! (Hint). I probably won't be using much of the kit.This is one of my "special" projects!
 
Electrickery - I keep going in different directions. I am spoilt with RC and the no holds barred "Park Flying" but I like the sound of IC and may have located a suitable site in Northern England. I plan my retirement early (not ready yet but it is looming!)
 
So I will also be building some for IC. Haven't decided on the Skyray yet but I have a Ringmaster that will be electric. The decision on electric vs IC is based on weight distribution - not as simple as you might think - batteries are bulky and heavy and it helps if they can be used to adjust the CG rather than contrubuting to a plane that need extra weight to balance it. It isn't always easy to covert an IC design.
 
I have still not flown control line even though I have two small electrics ready but that is not stopping me building bigger in preparation. The Nobler is well on the way but I promised build pictures. Although I took them - the SD card I was using spazzed and I think I have lost the pictures. Anyway, I have only got as far as the wing. Don't know why but I always build wings first.

The Nobler, I am thinking about an OS 40 LA R/C engine and fitting RC throttle control.
 
Also the Frog Aerobat - smaller wing in the picture. This is earmarked for IC - no room for electrickery and will be a tissue and doped model.
 


The gyro control looks interesting but I have been shifted towards "governing". Electrickery that maintains constant rpm no matter what the inclination of the aeroplane. This can be done either by the ESC (very expensive) or through the timer (not quite so expensive).

Back to the Skyray - it takes me quit a while to track down SIG kits in the UK. I had a false start because I ordered a "Skyray" and doh! got the 1/2 A one! I thought it was cheap at the time.

I look at the models everyone builds on this site - it is a mine of information and experience and I am all for "short cuts" and learning from other builders experiiences together with the advisory comments. Jim's Akromaster is a prime example of another kit I am investigating for electrickery.

As you have guessed, I keep a close eye on builds - the more pictures the better. And yes - I am probaly the world's untidiest builder!

Hi Rusty,

I am starting another thread specifically on Skyray 35 wings. I do not want to dominate your thread on a traditional build but would appreciate your input (and anyone elses) on the wings. This will not be a "traditional" build.

You will see what I mean.

Great, Ian, I was just thinking about you while I was working on it. So, here's where I am.

The ribs have been glued to the spars and the LE for sometime now. Fragile as the contest balsa is, I'm lucky to have busted only one while sitting on the table pinned to the building board. I broke the outer most inboard rib several times. Finally got tired of fixing it, so set out to replace it. It occurred to me that with the larger Flite Streak wingtips, the extra soft balsa may need some help, so I used one of the kit supplied lite ply ribs. I just glued it next to the existing stub, which was still intact from the spars to the LE. It wouldn't go flush next to it without carving old glue and possibly making matters worse, so I left a 3/32 gap between them and filled the gap with scrap just to insure alignment.


When I started thinking about the tip weight, I realized there's no way the outboard rib was strong enough to support it. So I got another Lite ply rib and glued the weights to it and installed it much like I did on the inboard tip. However, the weights are epoxied to the ply rib but not glued to the interior balsa rib. I added a small spacer near the rear of this set of ribs too, to help with alignment.


Now for the TE sheets, The ribs have notches these sheets lay in, so if everything is straight, it fits up nicely. First you have to butt splice a pair of them together in order to span the full length of the wing. I did as the instructions said, cut a 45 degree angle on one end of each sheet. Joined them and added a scrap block as a brace. It will be hidden inside the TE when it's sheeted. Here they are ready for gluing onto the wing.


The instructions apparently want the TE sheets fully installed before unpinning the wing from the board. This means gluing the bottom sheet in place from underneath. Hmmm, Okay, I want to use wood glue but the chance of slipping and sliding might be a problem, so I said to myself... Self, what would Windy do? I know, Windy would use... brace yourself... CA. No I only glued the sheet to the center rib and each tip rib with CA. The ribs are very flexible, so I'll do the rest by moving it aside and applying Titebond wood glue and letting it spring back into place. For clamping, I am going to sand flat angles on wooden clothespins and use them all along the sheet over each rib to hold it in place. I'll lay the top TE sheet on it, unglued just for help clamping the bottom without damaging the ribs while the glue dries. Or maybe I'll just use pins. I hate poking holes though.
Here is the bottom sheet with the two end and one center rib CAd in place.


Also In case you didn't know, the three center ribs are made from very hard 3/32" balsa. This will give the bellcrank much more strength. The lite ply center ribs would also be a good choice.

Rusty

That wing is moving at a pace now.

I think that using CA to "tack" parts (a la Windy) is a good idea but where you used Titebond to attach the lower trailing edge - I would use a "penetrating aliphatic resin" - the stuff I have dries quite quickly and the glue on the joint is almost invisible (no bead).

I have developed a dislike of using pins following episodes of "splitting wood" and worst of all, the pin has become glued in! This has made a judicial use of fingers and pliers a necessity to remove the pin. Often the pin extracts with a lump of glue on it making a bigger hole or tear in the balsa.

CA does set a bit too quick for me and the penetrating CA has a habit of finding my fingers!

As you mention, clamping balsa is difficult. There is a fine line between holding it in place and crushing it. I now use "spreader plates" for thing like the trailing edge. When the lower one has set, for example, I would apply slow setting aliphatic or PVA and the clamp the upper to the lower sheet using aluminum rulers (strips of ply, plastic .........) to spread the load of the "clamp" (usually a clothes peg, bulldog clip ..................)

As usual, these are well detailed and informative pictures. I look forward to the next episode (as I do with the other builds that are going on)