Komet ME-163

Greetings Folks!!  Well, I decided to put together my documentation for one of my entries for the Profile Scale Speed Event .... (probably won't be all that fast though but it's gonna' be fun)!!  So, here goes:
Saturday, April 11, 2015
ME-163 KOMET:
I spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon making up some plans for building some 1/2A’s for the Cox Profile Contest.  I didn't thinkthey would take all that much time or effort once I’d made the templates.  I went to OuterZone to see what I could find in the scale category and actually found there were quite a few to choose from.  Thank goodness for .pdf files because I figured out how to scale and then print the tiled plans to the size I need.  Granted I did waste a few sheets of paper but not many.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
I spent a few minutes going over the plans I printed out re-print them on card stock to make the templates.  I worked until about 1925 or so taping and cutting out the plans for the RIVET and the MINNOW.
Monday, April 13, 2015
A few days ago I ordered a set of plans I found on EBay from a fellow named Dennis Leonhardi from New Prague Minnesota for a 1/2A plane, the KOMET ME-163, and they arrived today.  They look very neat and doable.  Around 1900 or so and I was able to print and cut out a set of templates for the KOMET ME-163.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
I began building the KOMET ME-163 that I cut out last night.  By 1530 all of the major components were cut out and initially fitted and sanded.  I decided to take a couple of photos to document the build before getting too far into it.  I made some iron-on hinges from some Coverite I had been saving and decided to them for attaching the elevator to the horizontal stabilizer.  I like this stuff because it takes paint nicely or I can use Monokote over it once I’ve given the wood a coat of Sig Stix-it.  To make life and the build a bit easier, I used a piece of Sig 4” pre-shaped balsa to make the wing then.  Once the two pieces were glued together the only thing necessary to focus on was getting the airfoil to the proper shape and then fitted into the fuselage.  I set the fuselage into my bench vice because I knew it would hold the fuselage vertical and at that point it was just a matter of tweaking the wing saddle so that the wing was level and equal distance from the wing tips to the end of the fuselage.  I coated the joint with some thin CA to tack it in place followed by an application of thick CA to fill the gaps in the joint.  I repeated the procedure when I had ensured the horizontal stab was aligned and with the incidence matching the wing.  By 1730 the wing was fitted and looking good.  So far …. so good!!  Although they’re not called for in the plans I opted to use a couple of pieces of ¾” triangle stock to reinforce the wing seat, then used a round file and the Dremel to help shape it back to a bit of a streamlined shape.  I don’t think it will have all that much of a negative effect on the flying characteristics other than maybe knocking off one or two MPH.  I resumed work and by 1820 all of the basic alignment and glue up was complete.  Next comes the firewall, engine mounting and the mounting of the controls and skids.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
After scripture and coffee I came into the workshop and resumed work on the KOMET ME-163 with the goal of completing it today.  By 1330 I was done with the basic framing and alignment.  I made the 1/8” plywood engine mount and braced it using some ¾” triangle stock.  Next, using a Brodak 1/2A bellcrank, p/n BB-390, I set up the controls.  The lead outs were made of .021” solid wire and the pushrod was made from a piece of .054” music wire.  Other than that, most of the rest of the construction was rather straight forward.  For the outboard wing, I took a small fishing sinker, about 3/8 ounce, and beat it flat on the anvil and about 1/16” thick then took the Dremel and routed out a matching area in the bottom of the outboard wing to the appropriate depth and inset the weight with medium CA.  Once the CA had set I gave it another wet coat of thin CA to harden the surrounding wood.  At this point, it was ready for the finish process.  A buddy of mine, Larry, stopped by around 1500 or so and I managed to convince / bribe him to complete the finish on the plane.  I hoped he wouldn’t mind and thankfully he took it home with him.  As such that allowed me to begin consideration of the next project.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Larry completed painting of the ME-163 and wanted me to put an engine on it and fly it but I decided to just wait until next week to give the paint had a little more time to cure.  I took a bit of time to update the logs and take a few pictures to update the documentation for the ME-163.
Friday, April 24, 2015
After scripture and coffee I headed for the Gibson Center for some more flight time.  I focused on flying the 1/2A ME-163 KOMET.  I had a ball; the Black Widow pulled it through the air just fine, so much so that it even made me a bit dizzy.  I wish I had been able to time it because I’m pretty sure it was in the 50 to 60 mph range.  To be continued, I s'pose!!    I loaded a number of photos on the www.ServImg.com because I couldn't load them directly to the page.  I hope that's all right.

Jim Carter