Colored Epoxy

Jun 8, 2016

by: Don Helps

Have you ever wished epoxy could be purchased in colors to match your aircraft? It can! After you have mixed your epoxy, small amounts of paint can be added to the mix. After the epoxy has cured, it will match the finish of your aircraft. Mix the epoxy/paint combination thoroughly before applying.

Cantilevered Hinges

Jun 8, 2016

By: Tom Noser

If you are going to do scale aileron, elevator or rudder hinges, you are going to have to move the hinge line back from the leading edge of the control surface. “So, tell me something I don’t know” you say.  Well sure you know that, but what do you use to handle the cantilever problem? (You know, there’s a gap between the support structure and the hinge point, and the beam spanning that gap is called a cantilever).  Well I’ve been using metal tubing to do the job and I haven’t seen anybody else doing that.  That’s probably because I haven’t been to enough scale contests and talked to enough builders, or maybe it’s because these guys are just being cagey, but here’s a method I’ve been using for about eight years. The first time I used this system I was building a Piper Tri-Pacer which uses Friese ailerons, and the cantilever in that case is severe as you can see in Figure 1.

I use 0.032″ annealed aluminum for the bracket. The same bracket is used for the hinges without the operator and serves the flap as well as the aileron. This type aileron was used on the P-47 and many other WW II aircraft. The aileron is built using a bulkhead just aft of the hinge line. Backing plates are cemented to the back of the bulkhead to provide a means of mounting the brackets. You can see that this aileron can be easily balanced by cutting a saw kerf into the nose and gluing in a strip of solder.  Zero gap hinges shown in Figure 2 are more common. The hinge line is more properly located further to the rear so that the surface can be more easily balanced. (See Figure 4)

The leading edge is made by cutting a 1/8″ saw kerf in the back of the leading edge block and then tapering the block as required. Two sheeting kerfs are then cut into the edges. Cut transverse slots for the ribs and round the block to a half round shape. The hinge beams can now be located and the slots cut to allow free movement through about 30 degrees. Glue the hinge beams into the leading edge and put the top sheathing and all the ribs in place. You are going to need a solid block between two of the ribs to accommodate the operator shown in Figure 3.

To make accurate “Z” bends I drilled a 3/32″ dia hole 1/8″ below the top in one inside face of my vice. Bend a 1/8″ leg on the end of a 1/16″ or 2-56 rod using the vice and a hammer. Put the leg in the hole in the jaw face of the vice and close down on the rod. Hammer a bend in the direction opposite the first leg and remove the rod from the vice. I think you will like the result.

Figure 3 is definitely for serious builders. It will deliver all the torque your servo puts out without friction losses or slop. When used in conjunction with the hinge shown in Figure 2, the control surface is easily removed for painting or maintenance and, best of all, you’ve gotten rid of the turbulence and unsightliness of the outside operators. The zero gap surface still needs a cloth seal between the surface and the rear spar as is done on prototype aircraft to eliminate airflow between the top and bottom of the wing, but I think that balancing the surface about the hinge line will eliminate flutter problems.

Figure 4 illustrates the aileron and elevator hinge for a Cessna 310. The 20% hinge line gets the aileron balanced with a minimum of additional weight in the leading edge. Note that the operator in Figure 3 is not pinned to the aileron. It is free to slide in the telescoping tubing. Also, the 2-56 screw is tapped through the block and the 1/8″ square tube. The bracket in Fig. 1 can be replaced by a piece of 1/16″ plywood, which is glued to an aileron rib. The hardwood block is slotted with a 1/8″ saw kerf 1/8″ deep and glued to a plywood plate.

21 Ways to Kill Your Club

Jun 8, 2016

The following list was obtained from a leading national community service organization. We can all learn from it.

1. Don’t attend meetings, but if you do, arrive late.
2. Be sure to leave before the meeting is over and make sure everyone hears you leave.
3. Sit in the back so you can talk with other members during the meeting.
4. Never have anything to say at meetings; wait until you get outside, then always be negative.
5. After meetings, find fault with club officers and fellow members.
6. Hold back your annual dues as long as possible, or better yet, don’t pay at all.
7. Never accept an office or serve on a committee. It is much easier to criticize than to do.
8. When everything else fails, abuse the club’s officers.
9. Don’t bother enlisting new members; let the others do it all.
10. At meetings, agree to everything, then go home and do nothing.
11. Don’t tell the club how its policy can help you, but if it doesn’t help you, tell everyone else it’s useless.
12. Do nothing more than what’s necessary, but when other members roll up their sleeves and willingly use their ability to help matters along, complain that the club is being run by a clique or dictator.
13. Talk cooperation but never cooperate.
14. Get all that the club has to give but give nothing in return.
15. Threaten to leave the club if something isn’t the way you want it.
16. If you’re asked to help, always say you don’t have time.
17. Never read any mailings or seek information. You might find out what’s going on.
18. If appointed to a position, never devote any time to it. Let someone else do it all.
19. Overlook your own shortcomings and concentrate on what they are not doing.
20. Repeat all the unpleasant things about your club to anyone who will listen.
21. Always criticize club officers whenever the opportunity arises.

15 Do’s and Don’ts on Scale Documentation

Jun 8, 2016

12 Inches to the Foot

Jun 8, 2016

By: Stan Alexander

Wow, it’s been a busy year in the Scale World we live in. There has been an abundant amount of scale activity around the country; from Top Gun Invitational in Florida, to the Scale Nationals in Muncie, to the U.S. Scale Masters in California.

But these were just the major contests – and not the majority of “scale” activity in the USA. The same thing is happening on an international basis also. Less and less modelers are competing in scale competition each year it seems. Sometimes there is an uptick which we saw this year, but the over all trend has been less.

Gee I hope I’m proven wrong but we in my humble opinion need to do whatever we can to “infect” (if you will) others into scale modeling and competition. How to do this? Mmmmmm – have more competitions which are well organized, or we could increase the current number of classes in scale competition, or we could refine the ones we currently have with the help of the AMA Scale Contest Board. This probably needs to be done for both R/C and C/L scale classes.

How to start? Well if NASA has a committee to help steer and help the Scale Contest Board we could help to change some of the classes. Fun Scale for instance needs a name change! This, if you didn’t know, is replacing Sportsman class at contests around the country. Why? Well we aren’t growing builders like we were guys and gals. But we still need to have a class like Sportsman that could get modeler’s feet wet in static competition; like oh, say, Open Scale. While we are at it, have Open Scale Pro and Open Scale Am for those who are just starting. Why on earth would we want to do that? Well scale contests generally have a lot of administrative types associated with the events due to all of the judging. Having modelers with multiple entries helps to off-set expenses so the host club can at least break even with expenses.

These type of events also draw new and younger modelers into the fold. Take a look at the white hair out there guys. There are more of us than any other.

On the FAI scene, we have dropped out due to a seeming lack of interest in this competition. Why are we not competitive? One reason is that over the years we have been told that FAI Scale is the “boogie man” of scale competition by so many “knowledgeable” modelers. It isn’t that bad, but what FAI Scale could be called Museum Scale, as the models which are competitive are all scratch built creations. I don’t mean built from plans, or someone’s kit and modified, but scratch built from sheets of wood, metal, aluminum, fabric, paint, bolts and glue and a lot of work. Take a look at the models on the NASA Flickr pages from World Championships. Transportation expenses in FAI Scale are extreme. One modeler from Australia (their single entry) paid almost $7,000 to transport his model to the last World Championships. So this is a real concern for anyone interested.

But now (when the rules come out next spring) FAI has a international sport scale class which is flying the same flight schedule but relaxed static rules. It will be interesting to see what this does for international competition. I truly hope it helps as most of the international competitions have cut back on the number of non-European countries who participate in recent years. Mmmm – sort of sounds like the same problem we’ve seen here.

But 2014 is coming up soon, very soon. Plans are being made and vacations are being scheduled now for future competitions. Models are being built and its a season to ask Santa for that special engine, model, or huge box of wood for the shop again. So make plans to attend a competition near you or far away and just build something!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Who will be first out of the house on New Year’s Day flying a scale model? Will it be you? Hope so! And bring a friend!

Fair Skies & Tail Winds.