Flanker colours

I've had a good browse through the different schemes from the full size Su27, and I've come down to one of these choices :

They might not be twin-seaters like the model, but I like both of those, other than the white!  I've had a lot of problems with matt white on the A10, but I've got a while to make my mind up on this one.

Flanker tail servo installation

Here is a picture of the seperate all-flying-tail servos installed in the underside of the tail section of the Su27.

I was going to stiffen the M2 rods with a carbon sleeve, but they are so short, I can't see the point, so have omitted them.

I can now move on to finalising the sheeting on the top of the tail section, before marrying it up to the wing.

The Flanker progresses, part 2

As promised, a picture of the  rear fuselage section so far :

And here is the wing, now top-skinned, and leading edges drying.  Ready for carving tonight : 

The Flanker progresses

The construction of the rear fuselage continues, here you can see tailplane mechanism going into the rearmost liteply former :

The brass tube has a 4.05mm ID, which is ideal for the 4mm carbon tube the tailplane halves will sit on.  The gap in the centre is to accommodate the movement of the bell-cranks, in this case a nose-leg steering arm, shortened to its innermost hole.  This means, of course, that each tailplane will be driven by its own servo - in this case a digital, metal-geared Corona high-voltage item.  A push-rod of M2 flavour will be sheathed in a carbon tube for stiffness to drive the bellcranks, all of which needs to be finished before the sheeting and stringers can looked at.  Will post more pics after lunch as always!

PSS SU-27 "Flanker" progress

A bit more done now - RH wing panel completed and joined to the LH assembly :

And, as can be seen in the background, the nose section was started last night, and it got this far : 

It's all coming together nicely, but I'm sure progress will slow once the planking starts!

Hey - how about MORE PSS?..and Sea Hawk update

The Sea Hawk is still in the planking stage at the moment, but is starting to get held up by other things not being done - namely the wings will need cutting / veneering / joiner tube installed shortly.  This is so the fuselage part of the joiner tube outer can be mounted level and true to the rest of the fus - an impossible feat once the top planking is in place!

OK and yes, another PSS model that I mentioned a while back is being built - the Su-27 Flanker from the Andy Conway plan.  I've had the plan and plastic parts for around 3 years now, so I've made a decent start.  4 days and 3 scalpel blades later, the wooden parts were all cut :

And after I'd re-cut the wing ribs (my photocopy of the plan was WAY off), the port wing is under construction :

It's all coming along nicely, but there are definitely some boo-boo's on the plan I have - maybe they have been fixed in more recent versions? These errors so far include - TE not shown notched, though should be; solid lines shown on the plan, where there should be dotted lines (loads of places I've found this); false LE about 2 inches too short.  Nothing major as yet, but it has slowed things down here and there.

Oh, and here is Matt with his Flanker, alongside me and my Fulcrum : 

Sea Hawk construction resumes

So, with the official PSSA meets all done for the year, construction of new models is resumed.  The B24's tail has had some work, but I may go electric power on that after all.

The Sea Hawk has had it's planking work start, but that will of course definitely be PSS :

Yes, it's on a small building board!  I still need to tidy my main work bench then I can move it across to there.

Final official PSSA meet of the year - The Great Orme

After a changeable forecast in the days and weeks leading up to the event, it was rather questionable as to whether we would be flying anything other than electric aircraft off the big rock.  In the end, the direction settled at SE, and a forecast 9mph - rather poor!

But then, on getting onto the edge near the ski slope, a 22mph column of air greeted us - spot on!

2 days' worth of great flying in excellent company, and many a giggle then followed.

Hope to do it all again soon guys - maybe another unofficial November meet if we get a big SW?