After a great deal of sanding, shaping, and notching, I began to assemble the first half of the fuselage. The keels are held down with a pin bent in a Z shape. Formers were held vertical using pieces of angle iron with rare earth magnets to hold the jig together.
Former "B" was a bit of an issue. My solution was to use a piece of scrap wood to "block up" the non-attached end. I would be interested in hearing some feedback on a better way to do this on the other half. To me, this method seems hap-hazard.
One side complete.
Next comes the other half of the fuselage. Remember, I am building the fuselage in two complete halves. That means two keels, each half as thick as the plan calls for. The trick is that the second half has to be a mirror image. One way to do this is to photocopy the plan and print a "mirror image". My technique was far less complicated and lower tech. I simply wiped the back side of the plan sheet with a paper towel dabbed in vegetable oil.
The second half goes together the same as the first. The two halves match up nicely. A little bit of shaping will still be needed to blend the upper and lower keels with the formers.
Nice work! There is nothing like the simplicity of a small scale sailplane for those of us who love to cut and glue balsa!
Posted by: Tom Martin | June 22, 2009 at 09:54 PM