[NSRCA-discussion] Article (series) suggestion for K-factor

[Peter Vogel]

Whoops!  Meant to send from gmail!

Peter+


Begin forwarded message:

> 
> So, I received my first composite plane for Christmas (A beautiful x-treme Composites Griffin) and, like Don Rumsfeld a lot of unknown unknowns are becoming known unknowns :-). Ordinarily I turn to articles on the web, build threads, etc. to learn what I need to learn, but I am shocked by the dearth of information on basic composite assembly information out there!  I'm fortunate to have the brilliant and talented Jon Carter and Dale Olstinski nearby with Jon Bruml, Chris Fitzsimmons, Frank Capone and Don Atwood not that much farther away, but I doubt everyone is that lucky!  
> 
> There's a good, but still detail-lacking (because he refers often to instructions on the specific plane) and somewhat dated article by Earl Haury off Don Ramsey's pattern page, but that, and some of the other building techniques there and on the Central Hobbies site are the best resources I've found, which is sad!
> 
> There is real room out there for a soup-to-nuts tutorial on building out a composite ARF, like a very detailed build thread that lets you into the builder's head:  WHY did you do what you did, what would you do differently if the motor were mounted the other way (if you use a nose-ring mount in your build, what would you do for a firewall mounted motor?  I think it's safe to say most newbies will be coming in with electrics) and so forth.  
> 
> I'd call myself an intermediate balsa builder, having built several 40 size planes from
> Balsa kits about 20 years ago, and I've assembled we'll over 50 balsa ARF's in the past 4 years, but as I say, this is my first composite build. Also, as a matter of critique of the Griffin, at the price point ($1500) it's reasonable to expect that this would be a first composite for a lot of folks, that it comes with NO assembly manual is a bit of a shock. 
> 
> Examples of areas where this newbie has had several 'hmm' moments (some of which Dale and Jon talked me through at the field the other day, some of which are new since)
> 
> I've got an advance and the F3AU mount for it, but the 'ears' of the nose ring (and the mounting holes) extend slightly beyond the edges of the front of the plane's existing nose ring, I know I need to put a ply spacer in back and the ears will fit within the composite shell at that point, but wouldn't we want the mounting screws for the nosering to go through all three layers of nosering structure to hold the whole sandwich together?  Should I drill new mounting holes in the ring to allow that and shave a gram or two of weight by cutting the ears off the F3AU nose ring mount?  
> 
> Should I reinforce the installation of the Aeroply spacer with fiberglass?  How is that done?
> 
> What's the best procedure for ensuring that the spinner is centered in the nose when everything is mounted?
> 
> what's the best way to mount the stab incidence adjusters in the stab and then line up the holes to access the set screws?
> 
> How do you determine where to put the pull-pull cable exits?  How do you decide whether to cross the cables or not?  
> 
> The recommendation of BVM aeropoxy/hydrosol epoxy instead of typical 5/30/60 minute epoxy off the hobby shop shelf.
> 
> Control rod selection, sizing and sourcing. 4-40/2-56/3mm/2.5mm/2mm what's the right size for what?  What parts are compatible with what (I.e. clevises for BB control horns of various sizes (this is really something F3AU & Central Hobbies sites could do better with) 4-40 titanium turnbuckle rods are relatively easy to find, but where does one find metric sized or 2-56?  Why or why not titanium rod ends with Carbon rods?
> 
> Just a few examples to get the writer juices flowing in an expert builder -- if an expert builder near Santa Clara wants a composite newbie ghost writer/photographer (I've written several technical books and done some photography that has made it into textbooks) I'm game!
> 
> Peter+
> 
> Sent from my iPhone5