SPALINGER S25 1:3.5

[cw]

Just joking Wolfgang, really I have touch of rabies

Will you fly the Spalinger at Veauville??
Perhaps I will fly it in the UK first?

One last job before removing the fuselage from the jig...



checking that the tailplane is level with the fuselage...



Now the jig has gone back to bed...




Yes, storing gliders is becoming a BIG problem

[Wolfgang]

Oh great-I see you have nearly all your gliders in the refrigerator to have them for a very long time in good health (where is the rest of them-I miss Habicht,MG 19,Flamengo,T 21,T31......)
But what happens in summertime??? [oouf]is`nt it to hot there??

[patte de loup]

Ouahhh So quick Chris,
I haven't started mine yet May be one day
I hope to see her in Vauville too for motivation
Pat'

[erwan]

You should have a big trailer for coming with all your gliders un july..

[cw]

Always cool in there, Wolfgang...

The Petrel, T21, T46, and the T31 are all in other hands. My older Minimoa and the Skylark 4 have been 'loaned' to my pals Barry and Martin. In principle, I am allowed to fly them sometimes

[cw]

Before the 1.5mm CTP planking at the front of the fuselage can be finished, some polyester resin and chopped mat must me applied to the areas that would be hard to get to afterwards...



As it is cold in the garage, and the resin will cure slowly (my wife hates the smell!) I can proceed with making up the pieces for the elevators...

[cw]

The basic elevator structure is now complete. Not a difficult job; the ribs are simple triangles, the Leading Edge (LE) is from 2 pieces of 6mm balsa and the Trailing Edge (TE) from 1.5mm Spruce sheet laminated with 3mm balsa each side.

That's it for a few days...Happy Christmas everyone...!

[cw]

Now that the 1.5mm CTP planking at the front of the fuselage is complete:


I can now remove the temporary formers in the fuselage although first, the planks must be tied together with a little bit of glass cloth and resin...


Now, some 6mm sq spruce to strengthen the cockpit rails


Card templates are made up for the chopped glass mat...


Now the entire interior of the front of the fuselage has been glassed

[cw]

Attention now moves to the rear end: the rudder leading edge is first of all hinged up into the fin with Robart hinges...



1st stage of rudder construction...



Trailing edge now added...



Setting up the mechanism for actuating the elevator...




Good progress today

[cw]

It is now time to set up the elevator system: first, the servos must be installed...


The elevator push rod is made from 12 x 6mm Spruce, laminated with 6mm sq balsa each side. Then, the rear .75mm CTP sheeting can be added


I have discovered that the very small screws I normally use in the cockpit are also good for holding down the CTP where the clamps cannot reach...

[cw]

Today, the weather was good for filling & sanding...
First, some lead in the front...(The planking is left un-trimmed to give the filler something to grip on to)



A piece of flexible CTP is ideal for smoothing the filler down to make it follow the curve of the fuselage...


Uros, a very dusty business



There it is, about four hours' work. That's it for this year, see you in 2011...

[Rusjan]

[cw]

Finishing off the rear of the fuselage...


Checking the height of the centre cockpit formers...


Fuselage pretty much finished...





Time now to move on the wings

[caralp_laurent]

Superb Chris !

Lolométéo

[cw]

Back to my job today
I have now started making all the pieces for the wings... Thw wing plan is made up from many pages of A4 taped together, printed from my PC...
The ribs and wing planform have been plotted in Compufoil...


The wings will be supported on 3mm balsa jigs to obtain both the correct gull angle and to keep the wing straight...

[cw]

Jigging up the inner wing panel to work out where to trim the spars...


Only one short 14mm wing joiner bar, as the struts will take all the bending loads...


I could not resist seeing what she looks like

[cw]

Time now to join the inner and outer wing panels. Although on a straight wing the spars would be laid horizontally, here they are fitted vertically to allow the greatest area for the glue to do its work at the gull join. (The spars are offset, with the outer spar sitting in front of the inner spar) Once the spars are epoxied together, triangular wedges of Spruce give even more area for the glue to work...

[Walter L.]

Chris,

what is the dimension of the spars at the joining point between inner and outer wing panel?


Best regards

Walter

[cw]

Walter, the spars of the inner panel are 12 x 6mm.
The outer panel 12 x 6 at the join, tapering to 6 x 6mm at the tip...

[cw]

After adding the bottom sheeting, the wing is jigged up my usual way to accept the top sheeting, after which the wing will be rigid...



Adding the capping strips to the inner panel...



The easy part is now over: I have been saving the difficult parts for last...

Airbrakes
Ailerons
Canopies
Wing/Fuselage fairing

[patte de loup]

Finaly , Chris , the <wing are in two parts? How do you manage the wing fairing , face to the sweep?
Do you realise a special canopies are adapt from your previous planes?
KR
Pat'

[cw]

Pat, I am not yet sure what I will do where the wings join the fuselage, but when I do, you will know too

I am hoping that my Flamingo or Skylark canopies will do the job: the ones in the photo aren't yet quite right..

[Miguel Gil]

Hello Crhis.
Once again congratulations for your excellent work.
After looking at the forum to build different systems "gull wings" to apply to my project (Moswey III) that best fits the limited space that I have is to build your system to make them into two parts and then join them. I've seen you've used in other aircraft, so I start to build the wings of my glider this way and I hope I go nearly as well as yourself.
Regards,
Miguel.

[cw]

Miguel, it's fairly straightforward... good luck with your build, and if you need to ask questions, be my guest

[cw]

It is time to finalise the wing joiner arrangements... This means going out in the COLD!
I dislike rigid wing mounting methods because a heavy landing on the slope always means something is going to get bent or broken. The wings are mounted to the joiner box with individual 14mm steel bars. The bars are bent forward to accommodate the sweep-forward of the spars. Four sets of rubber bands will hold the wings to the fuselage, but will allow it to move in the event of a heavy landing. The struts will take most of the bending loads...

[jean claude Crétal]

Magnifique construction comme d'habitude Chris

[GARCIA]

c'est beau !!
José

[cw]

This last week has been airbrake week
I have used the same system I used with the Steinadler and the Topaze



The servo is glued to a 1.5mm plywood tray


A slot is created with 1.5mm balsa and ply


The ply plate is fixed with a single screw for easy removal


It was a lot of work as usual, but now I can move to the next phase...

[cw]

I an using my modified method of making the ailerons that I used for the first time on the Flamingo. First, the Leading Edge is made up and hinged to the wing with Robart hinges. (Yes, the full-size has Frise ailerons, but I prefer to keep things simple ) Reverse templates are made up from the Compufoil rib files and temporarily cyanoed to the wing to support the Trailing Edge. Then, the ribs can be added and you know everything will be straight and true...

[Grandemago]

Félicitations Chris, excellent travail, très belle création!

Daniel