A10 last balance

The last PSSA meet of the year approaches, and so that last thing I had to do on the Hog was a c-of-g tweak.  Needed to build a jig to carry her though, as I was tired of supporting 37lb's on my thumbs.  Also a couple of views below of my weathering so far.

PSSA @ The Bwlch, September 2015

Well, that was pretty good fun! Nothing PSS flew on the Saturday, but Sunday bought not only a couple of long-term members but some good winds too.  The Horten went very well, and I am very happy with it!

A second test-glide turned into an all out slope flight as I was quite happy with the controls.  She's a keeper.  The B52 and the MiG29 were campaigned a bit too, but the BUFF's nacelle magnets need attention on one pod as it kept letting go.  

A great time all round, followed by a nice week-long holiday and some cliff soaring in SW Wales.

Bwlch PSSA

Well, this weekend's PSSing doesn't look too good.  The Hog certainly won't be going, neither will the Me262, and the Mig29 is only going because the Wife likes it!  With any luck the Horten will still be up for a maiden, and the only other thing that I have that should handle light wind well is the B52.

Other than that, the Phoenix 2000 will be going, where I will try the slope FPV aspect a little more.  Ah well, at least it doesn't look like rain, and quite a nice weekend overall.

Bwlch PSSA event

In case anyone reading didn't know already (unlikely!), the PSSA event at the Bwlch in south Wales is this weekend.

http://a470soaring.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/pssa-fly-for-fun-event.html

Hopefully will see lots of people there!

Horten complete!

Here is the ready-for-flight Horten and the Schwalbe on the lawn.  Horten came out at 3lbs 10oz, which is about 10oz heavier than I wanted.  Still a lot of wing area I guess, so should be OK.

A10 ready for action

Well, that's it - the A10 is ready again for action!

Another Horten picture

This one I took at lunch time. I have since added a bit of top and bottom surface weathering - should look OK in the air I hope!

I hate this A10

Well...I hate putting it together and man-handling it.  If it doesn't fly this year, I shall be selling it to fund other projects, I am sure.

Anyway - wings on and aligned, as the incidence pin holders that are in the fuselage had loosened.  So, I cut some better tubes (aluminium), greased up the carbon dowels and the faces of the wing roots, then squeezed it all together with a mega-f*ck-tonne of Gorilla glue splattered over the tubes.  Of course, all of that after fighting with the sodding wing spar for 10 minutes.

It all seems fine this morning, with maybe just a bit of thickened epoxy to add.  I need to finish painting the flap covers next, so that they can both be installed.

Horten paint progress

Well, she is just about there.  Here are some progress photos from the weekend.

Masked up a camo pattern :

 Filled in between the lines with sheets of paper :

Blast some green on, remove the masking :

Paint the underside :

The top surface now has panel lines, a painted cockpit, and decals have been applied.  The elevons are on, the servos mounted and links done.  Program done in the radio now too!

So all that's left is to cover and paint the two servo hatches along with the radio hatch; mount the switch and battery; panel lines and decals for underside; a bit of weathering; top coat varnish.  Should have that done in a couple of days.

A10 flap cover

The final A10 mods are now underway including these flap gap covers.  Dowels inserted into wing bottom surface :

Here is a 1/64th ply (primed) bit of wood placed where it should be.  I will paint this then get it mounted :

Gap covered! I will still tape the hinge gap from the underside to seal things up a bit on the suction surface, but this is what I had planned for sealing the whole system.

Horten in paint

Primer on, top coat for top surfaces now on (not shown as yet) :

Ooops...

...I slipped and started another build! So after tidying the workshop and moving everything around a bit, I freed up a large amount of space, and I managed to find my 3M mount spray.  I decided this would be an excellent time to cut some wood on the Sea Hawk, so here she is - construction started on 31/8/15.