Members projects

Waco project:

Someone got himself a BigBox of Stuff, but it came with a German manual.
Efforts will be made to translate those foreign words into Tyrella-speak.
In order to give the builders something to go by, I’ll put the translated prose on this site.
For now, don’t link to this document, I’m trying to work out a deal with the manufacturer!

The original document is copyrighted, so please respect this. Saying that, there is nothing in it that is not somewhere in some forum. Also, there are hardly any secrets in gluing a few bits of wood together.

I don’t have the drawings on hand, the translation is done purely from the document. There are points where it would be handy to have access to the drawings, but I’ll get around to that when most of this document is finished or when there are questions from the builders.

And before someone asks about those other ones: who knows?? This might encourage things!

And of course, it often happens with translations, that the right word just does not want to appear in the brain. If you spot anything dodgy, let me know!

 

Introduction: skip this for now, if you want to know about Waco’s, search!

 

Fuselage construction:

We start with the construction of the fuselage centre section. (part 500)

Glue the 4/2 pieces together on an absolutely level building surface. Use white glue, because it fills the small gaps better. (Note: use Aliphatic glue, the yellow stuff from Titebond. Get it here: http://www.axminster.co.uk/titebond-titebond-original-wood-glue-prod22581 )

An absolute level construction of part 500 is important, because this part serves as the reference for all the other dimensions and angles of the plane. After adding glue to both parts, gently push them together. Make sure the parts are joined accurately, you could use a credit card or something like that to push the parts down and scrape off any excess glue. Do the same for all other ’500′ parts. (Hint: put some cling film under the parts, otherwise you glue them to your building board! It also helps to draw a long straight line on your building board, to help position the centre section. It’s wood, there will always be some deviation from perfect, so you have to be sure that you get it right!)

Use the same procedure for the sides, parts 501. Part 501 consists of 10/6 sections, 5/3 for each side. A LEFT and a RIGHT side!

Do make absolutely sure that the top line of the sides is perfectly straight, since this will be joined to the 500 centre section. (Hint: B&Q sell various alu angles/tubes. Try to get a square 2 meter length (2 pcs is better) and some other angular stuff. These come in handy during construction.)

We are going to add formers 502 and 506 to keep the sides aligned, so it’s better to prepare 502 by glueing the 1 mm plywood parts on the front and rear side now.

(Note from the translator: I am not 100% sure at this point, but I think that the description for the building process applies to both the big and the smaller version of the kit, hence the references to 10/6 sections. 10 would be for the large one, while the smaller one has 6 parts. )

When the glue has dried (next day!) the sides can be glued to the centre section.

But first you have to make sure that the part fits. The sides should slide with a little effort in the slots of the centre section. If not, it might help to ever so slightly touch the tabs with a sanding block to chamfer the corners slightly. Just enough to knock of the edge, not more! Again do use Titebond. This is a big plane, do NOT use superglue!

Watchout: Former 506 must be installed such that the diagonal brace looking in the flight direction, with the fuse upside down as it is now, runs from lower left to upper right. The following formers are glued in such a way the the direction alternates. (Next is lower right to upper left.)

Glue the sides now, and add the 502 and 506 formers before the glue sets. That allows small adjustments, especially at the level of 506 where the sides curve.

Hint: it is easy to use to much glue, and that makes the plane heavy! Remove excess glue after the parts are put together. Use a scrap of wood or something like that to scrape away the excess. And do make sure there are NO gaps in the joints.

Watchout: It is very important that the space in the formers for the corner pieces 527 (8 x 8 mm balsa) stay clean, and that the sides do not get pushed in too far. It must be possible to insert the 527 balsa pieces afterwards!

You can now add the remainder of the formers, (503 to 512, as will as support formers 513 and 525.) To make inserting the ‘feet’ into the centre section easier, use the method described above, i.e. , knock off the sharp edges where the feet go into the centre part.

Use part 618 to set the correct distance between 525 and 511. Part 628 has 2 slots, that are used to align 525 and 511.

Next glue fuse bottom 514 into the sides 501 and former 502. The LG supports 515 (front) and 516 (rear) can now be added. I always sand down the corners of these parts to allow them to fit snugly. Do the same with corner reinforcements 517 at location 511.

The next step, the construction of the lower wing centre piece, needs some additional preparation. You need some cling-film to cover the fuselage.

Assemble (Don’t glue them yet !!) parts 518 to 524 according to the plan and install this assembly at the correct position on the fuselage. If everything was built according to the plan the assembly should slide without problems into the provided space. Only parts 521 are allowed to show a small 1 mm gap over a length of 15-20 mm at the location of the sides. This is acceptable and is caused by the curvature of the sides.

If everything looks ok, than parts 521 and 522 are glued together. Do make a left and a right assembly, and do make sure that both still fit support former 518.

When 521/522 have dried, glue 521/522 and 518, 519 and 520 together on a flat surface. (top side down) As soon as everything is assembled, and before the glue sets, put the whole assembly back in the fuselage (don’t forge the cling-film). Parts 518 and 523 must be exactly aligned with formers 504 and 506. Cut-out to cut-out and contour to contour must match! Once the assembly sits properly, you can add bearers 523 and 524. Leave everything overnight to dry!

Next step is to add the corner reinforcements 527. If you worked carefully, you should be able to push the wood through the cut-outs in the formers along the sides.

Don’t worry about small!! deformations in the balsa surface. The 2 bottom longerons in the fuse have to be glued together with filler piece 528 to fuse-bottom 514. The bottom longeron run as far as the sides. Because all 4 longerons are fitted to the firewall, they must protrude at least 6 mm, to allow fitting the firewall later. When it all fits, remove them again and glue them in permanently. Wipe off any access glue.

Now we go back to the centrepiece. We can add the outer ribs 529 and 530 with the bracing support 531 (I think we are talking about the flying/landing wire supports, need to see the drawing to make sense of it!)

We first glue 529 and 530 together. Make sure the cut-outs for wingtube and spars stay free of glue, otherwise it will be a big job later to remove the hard glue. (When you use aliphatic glue, simply wipe the excess away with a damp cloth.)

The Turn-buckles have a left and a right thread. Do make sure that the eye with the LEFT thread is mounted on the brass support. (You are able to add an ordinary nut on the RIGHT hand thread, you use that during assembly to prevent the turnbuckle loosening itself. (good idea to leave those nuts on now!)

Bevel the edges of 531 at the ends, so that it sits flush against inner and outer ribs. Don’t remove too much wood, since considerable (flying) forces have to be transferred to the adjoining ribs and 518. When both 531 parts fit, you can glue the 4 blind nuts in with epoxy. I (Peter) always glue a a piece of lite ply on the back of the nuts, so that they don’t come loose in time. (Kees: If you tell me the size of the nuts, I’ll cut a bunch. He basically makes a washer with an inner hole, large enough for the blindnut to go through, and caps that off with another washer, with a smaller hole, large enough for the bolt to go through. It’s like a pocket. )

When the glue has set, trial fit the 4 turn-buckles 533 with brass part 534 (enlarge the 2 largest holes in the brass part to 4 mm!) and screws 535 and 536 and nuts 537. First mount the turn-buckles to the brass. Once the screw is tight, use a pair of sidecutters to gently destroy (NOT CUT) the protruding threads of the screw. This prevents it from ever coming loose. Of course you could use loctite or a lock nut. (I would !)

With the brass part and turn-buckles fitted square(!) on 531, it is time to trial fit this assembly into the slots of 518. Also add the 539/530 ribs. The 531 assembly should be square to part 518. To allow you to remove the turn-buckles easy, it is now time to make some cut-outs in the ribs at the location of the turn-buckles.

When is all looks according to the plans, it’s time to get the glue. First glue in 531. Take care it is glued in square, and don’t move/force 518. Observe the 90-degree angle between 531 and 518. Once the glue is set it is time to add 529/530. After the glue is dry, add the spars 538/539.

When the whole assembly is dry, you can remove it from the fuse. Take you time here to let things dry properly, leave it a day extra, or put it back in it’s place when you are not working on it. It will keep things square.

(Note, this part will be glued permanently to the fuse at a later stage)

Next, degrease the glassfibre tube.(540) and roughen up the tube at the positions of the ribs. Next insert the tube, WITH alutube inside!! through the holes. The outer sections, 230, that will be built into the wing, can be removed for now.

Using a twisting movement, the tube should slide into the holes.

Now it’s measurement time! Measure the distance to the building board on both sides. It should be approx 260 mm. It’s more important that both sides are the same then that they are 260mm. (Do make sure the tube protrudes the same distance on both sides. And if in doubt, turn the fuse 180 degree and repeat. And measure 3 more times, just to be sure to be sure.

The dihedral is automatically built into the wing through the ribs, and the wing-incidence is set with the fuse sides, it’s almost (but not impossible) to get this wrong.

(start of page 5 here)