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 Goldberg "Gas Bird" Construction Project Session #14


By Tommy Gray
AMA 17063


I started covering the model in the last session.  In this session we are pretty well going to finish things up as I am getting ready to leave for the 2009 Champs and I have to have it ready.

Here I am finishing up the fuselage covering.

Different view of the same covering of the fuselage.

In this view you can see I have finished up covering the tail section and the fuselage sides with the Polyspan covering.

Once the covering was done, and I had about 3-4 coats of dope on it to seal the Polyspan, I continued on with the Radio Installation.  (Once I have the trim painted on and the decals installed, I will put on an overall coat or two of Polyurethane spray to seal everything.)

Here

Here you see the covered wing from a couple of different angles.

To mount the Ohlsson .23 Sideport Ignition engine I am powering the Gas bird with, I had to fabricate two beam mounts, as al the commercially available mounts I could find were too short.  To make the mounts, I used 3/32" thick aluminum sheeting, and after cutting out the blanks with a Dremel cutoff wheel, I bent them to shape and cleaned them up a little on the sander.

Here is a view from another angle...

As you can see, I have installed a couple of maple blocks cut from a piece of maple engine mount stock for a spacer between the mounts and the firewall.  The reason for these will become apparent when you see one of the upcoming pictures, but I will fill you in anyway. 

I needed something to hold the bottom of the landing gear against the firewall, so I added these blocks and notched them at the back so that the gear could fit into the notches.  Once the mounts are screwed to the firewall with the blocks in place, the gear is secured at the top with a couple of homemade tabs, and the bottom of the gear is sandwiched between the blocks and the firewall, all nice and tidy.  I will paint the blocks black once finished.  One side benefit of the blocks was that they gave me a little more room between the intake on the engine and the firewall!

Next, I put on some paint trim and striping tape to accent the edges of the paint. 
First you see the stab.

Here is the wing, with the trim painted on it.

Originally,  I had left the fuselage clear without any paint trim.  When I came back from the 2009 Champs, I started looking at it and it looked way too plain.  I HAD to go back and spiff it up a little.  Here is what I did. I added a little red around the nose, and brought it back down the side bevels of the fuselage.  Here is a picture of it with just the red paint on it.

After the paint was dry, I went back in like I did on the wing and stab, and outlined the paint with 1/8" black striping tape for an accent.  Here is a view of the front after it was striped.

Looking at the entire side, and seeing it and the stab together, it is apparent to me at least, that the extra trim was a good idea.  It looks like an entirely different plane now and I am not ashamed to say it belongs to me!

Once I get the new decals done for the fuselage, I will show you some more pictures of the completed model. (Please forgive the cluttered bench in the picture.  I have not had time to clean up since I got back from the champs!)

Where do we go from here?

Well, we DID make it to the Champs.  Here is a picture taken at the Dry Lake just south of Boulder City, Nevada where the Champs was held.

In the picture below, you can see the decals and trim on the wing and tail.  The lack of trim on the fuselage is apparent somewhat here.  I made the waterslide decals on my computer and after everything was in place, I put on two light coats of Polyurethane Semi-Gloss Spray.  The spray gave everything a nice even texture and sealed the decals and trim, not to mention making everything fuel proof.

In the picture above, I had the engine removed to work on the ignition wiring, as I did not get it done before the meet.  The Ohlsson .23 event was scheduled for Friday, so the plan was to finish it on Monday, and test fly it on Tuesday evening after all the events were flown.  On Tuesday of Champs week, we were faced with strong winds, and the events were called off and rescheduled.  Unfortunately for us, we had a family emergency and had to leave the Champs on Wednesday morning, so I never got to fly the Gas bird.  I will save it for next year at Muncie, and in the meantime, I will get it trimmed out and all lined out ready to compete.

Once I have flown it, I will post a flight test report.

That's all for now....Tommy!


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