CMAD Miss Foxy Lady build thread

[KRProton]

I use Zap Goo or Shoe Goo to glue in the servo tray. Apply the glue in both sides of the fuselage above the strips.

Apply Shoe Goo to the sides of the servo tray.

Position the servo tray in the fuselage making sure it is locked between the fuselage sides and on top of the strips. Use your finger to wipe the glue on both sides making an even fillet. Place the fuselage right-side-up so to prevent the servo tray from moving up and away from the strips. Allow to dry for at least a few hours, overnight preferably.

[KRProton]

Couldn't get back to this project, but finally got back to it and made a little progress.

But first, let's go back a few posts to where I was adding the 1/8" ply wing bolt platae doublers. Sometimes, they can be a little tricky to get them into the exact position you want before the CA tacks up and it's too late to make an adjustent. What I do is just add a small dab of thick CA to my finger, stick the doubler to it, and put it up into place. This makes it pretty easy to get the doubler right where you want it.

[KRProton]

Okay, next I like to install receiver antenna mounts, before the on/off switch, servo wires and pushrods are in the way. I believe this idea came from Gary Schmidt. The Futaba receiver antennas are supposed to be 90-degrees to each other and he suggested bending plastic tubing to place one of the antennas "floating" across the inside of the fuselage well away from any carbon fiber. I believe many (most?) people simply tape the antennas to the inside of the fuselage, but seems every time I remove the wing and open up the plane, the tape has come off and the antennas are just bouncing around inside. This "tube" method is a bit of hassle, but I've never had any fly-aways from loss of signal. (Knock on wood!)

I have this pre bent piece of wire to serve as a form for molding the tubing into a 90-degree bend. I suppose most any plastic tubing could be used, but this is leftover inner pushrod tubing from an old Great Planes pushrod kit.

Slide the tubing onto the wire.

Use a heat gun to thoroughly heat the tubing so it will conform to the bend in the wire.

Allow to cool, then slide the tubing off the wire.

[KRProton]

I used to use Shoe Goo to glue the antenna guide tubes to the side of the fuselage, but I've switched over to RTV silicone because it's thicker and doesn't flow making it easier to keep the tube in place while it dries.

Use a hemostat to set the tube in place. Don't place the front of the guide tube too close to the servo tray or too high in the fuselage, otherwie it will be difficult to guide the antella into the tube.

I made another antenna guide tube for the 2nd antenna as shown...

Here's where I placed the 2nd, shorter antenna guide tube.

Here's how the antennas will be routed through the antanna guide tubes when I actually install the receiver later.

[KRProton]

Back to the fuel tank for a minute...

On the previous page a few posts back, we already glued together the parts for the wedge and cradle for the Jett 6 oz. tank. Test-fit the cradle to the tank and wedge to make sure they easily fit together. Make any adjustments needed.

Test-fit the cradle/wedge/tank assembly in the fuselage just to see how it all fits. The cradle should be positioned so there is an approximately 1/16" - 1/8" gap between the back of the tank and the servo tray.

Mark the location of the cradle so you will know where to reposition it when glueing it in in the next step.

[KRProton]

Remove the tank and wedge/cradle assembly. Apply Zap Goo/Shoe Goo to the wedge and reinstall at the marks you made.

Using the seam on the back of the tank as an alignment cue, make sure the tank is vertical and the cradle is horizontal.

Make sure the front of the tank is centered and that the tank is not installed "cockeyed," and use foam or a paper towel or something similar to hold the tank down and centered until the glue dries.

[KRProton]

Let's cut the holes for the fuel lines and wrap up this fuel tank installation...

Fuel tank installation and fuel line routing takes a little planning. We don't want the front of the fuel tank up too close to the back of the firewall, or else the line may not be able to make a large, 90-degree bend. Well, this should have been discussed when mounting the tank and setting its location a few steps ago, but I've built several MFLs now and I know where to position the tank. But let's see how it might look inside the fuselage...

With the fuel tank mounted in the fuselage, I made a "gauge" from this balsa stick marking the distance between the back of the tank and the firewall. Out of the fuselage, the 2 x 4 represents the back of the firewall and the 1/2" plywood block represents the space we would like between the fuel line and the firewall. We don't want to cut the hole for the fuel line through the fuselage right up against the back of the firewall, but we also want the hole about as far forward from the fuel tank as possible to allow a smooth, large-radius bend for good fuel dilevery, and so that when excess line outside the fuselage needed for fueling is pushed back into the fuselage, that the line won't kink.

The firewall is about 1/4" thick, plus that 1/2" spacing mentioned before = 3/4". So mark a line 3/4" aft of the front of the firewall.

I use a rubber grommet to protect the fuel line from the fuselage, and to hold the fuel line in place after fueling. This requires a 3/8" diameter hole.

From experience, I know to locate the hole a good 1/4" above the needle valve. This location allows for another smooth, large-radius bend for the line from the inlet fitting on the engine mount up to the 90-degree elbow I'll use to pass the line through the fuselage.

[KRProton]

I use a 1/16" carbide cutter to initially rough-cut the hole.

Next, I chuck up a 1/8" carbide cutter to get a little closer to the edges of the hole.

I use a rolled up piece of sandpaper to perfect the hole.

Now the grommet is ready to install.

[KRProton]

Test-fit a piece of fuel line with a Robart 1/8" 90-degree air line fitting into the grommet. You can add a drop of glow fuel, or just a little spit to get the line with the barb from the elbow to fit into the grommet. You want a bit of a tight fit so the grommet will hold the line in place while the engine is running, but loose enough so you can pull the elbow and line out of the fuse for fueling. If necessary, this fit can be adjusted by elnarging the hole in the fuselage.

Cut the other hole for the pressure line. Be ceratin to cut it well above the battery plate and forward enough that the line will not kink where it exits the fuel tank. Where shown in the photo is about right.

[KRProton]

Let's route the fuel lines...

I use pieces of electrical wire to pull the lines thrugh the fuse. Route them in through the holes in the fuselage, into the cabin area and connect them to the fuel lines on the tank. Carefully pull everything back out.

Cut the fuel line from the tank so that there will be enough to grab with your fingers when fueling, but no too much line so that it could kink inside the fuselage.

There should be enough leftover line to connect from the fitting on the engine mount to the other end of the elbow. Tuck the line back iinside the fuselage with the elbow holding it in place. You can cut the pressure line later, but now this is your fueling setup. Later, a line will be connected to the needle valve fitting in the middle of the engine mount, loop around the top of the engine mount, go back down through the loop in the fuel cut wire, and then bend forward to connect to the fitting on the venturi of your engine.

[KRProton]

Finally...

The front of the tank should be stabilized and cushioned to keep it centered laterally. I just cut a couple "wedges" from foam and glue them to the sides of the fuselage tight to the tank with Shoe Goo.

Squeeze a piece of foam between the front wing hold down and the bottom of the fuel tank to hold it down and keep it centered while the glue dries.

[KRProton]

Finally, finally, finally...

You'll need another piece of foam to press between the top of the wing and the tank to hold the tank down (up). Another dab of Shoe Goo here. I suppose it depends upon the density of the foam you are using, but if the foam protruded below the wing saddle about 1/8" this will be the right amount to hold the tank.

After all the glue dries, we'll take out the tank, drop in the battery and once-and-for-all mount the tank.

[KRProton]

The glue has dried on all the foam scraps we were using to center and hold the tank down, so now let's remove the tank and install the receiver battery...

Remove the fuel tank.

Here's a picture of the fuel tank setup.

The battery plate previously installed has the "hook" side of the velcro glued to it for holding the battery. Apply the "loop" side of some velcro to the battery. Rather than simply laying a narrow strip of velcro to the battery, I think you get more securety from wrapping the velcro up around the sides.

NOTE: I'm slightly apprehensive about mounting the battery with only velcro, but I've been doing it this way for at least three or four years and all the batteries in my plans are still secure. I don't know if I'd mount a battery to the side of a fuselage with velcro, but with the battey laying on a plate on the bottom of the fuselage, the gravitational force works in our favor.

[KRProton]

It can be a little tricky to get the battery positioned exactly where you want it on the battery plate up in the nose, so I wrapped a piece of vinyl tape in a loop and taped the battery to a ruler so I could position the battery more easily. If the tape sticks to the battery you can just pull on the excess tape.

Feed the ruler with the battery up into the front of the fuselage to stick the battery in place.

Make sure the battery is positioned so you can get to the balance charge plug.

[KRProton]

Use a piece of wood or something similar to make sure the battery is pressed down tightly to the mount plate and the velcro is fully engaged.

Pull the fuel lines from the tank back through the fuselage and install the tank.

By the way, here's a look at those foam wedges we added earlier to center the front of the tank.


Next we'll move onto mounting the on/off swicth, servos and pushrods.