Scale Wendell Hostetler 30% Piper Cherokee Glass Fuselage Build.

The rudder came out at 79 grams, could make it a little lighter but going to use it for this build. It work well, no soft spots , I like it. Started fitting the rudder, trimmed the fin etc.

Found the engine for this plane. I responded to a post on another forum about Wendel Hostetler plans and I stated that wing joiner construction is critical, I posted a photo of the Cherokee and stated that it will use a wing tube. Another fellow asked what do I plan to power it with to which I replied a Saito 61 FS. He has one he was looking to sell and a deal was struck.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Cherokee build forum!!! My son is doing Thanksgiving dinner with his wife's side of the family so we have our Thanksgiving dinner planned for Saturday, trying to eat two dinners in one day is just plain insane. So today, my wife , daughter and her husband are visiting Morten's Steak House in Pittsburgh, they do offer a turkey special but I'm going steak! Mortens is one of few places open today.

Working on the tailplane, the rudder will be a traditional torque tube linkage. Clamped the rudder in the drill press and set up on the leading edge using the method Joe Pie uses when drilling castings. Turned a piece of scrap 3/4" round bar so that it could be chucked up in the 1/2" chuck. Then made sure the rudder was vertical while zero in on the round bar. A 5/8" end mill was used to bore a hole about 1 1/2" deep. A piece of 5/8" dowel was center drilled in the lathe from both ends to reduce drill walk. This will get glued in with Gorilla glue when the time comes. The rudder servo resides in the vertical fin area, a servo mounting plate is epoxied in and curing. The 1/4" lite ply rudder post will extend down to the bottom of the fuselage. A Sig 1/8" nose wheel bearing will provide support for the torque rod. While the epoxy is curing, working on the door hinges, on the third prototype and finally got the order of operations down.

Here's the third prototype, Calling it done and moving on to the bottom hinge, of course it is different! Might need the rotatory table. Oh, and two eyebolts are needed!

You are really doing some nice work.
it is funny looking at your pictures drilling the rudder and the way you clamped it to the table. It struck me a while back I was trying to drill a part and struggling to do it. But it never came up in my mind to turn the table vertically and then clamp the part. Thanks.
good score on the engine.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Just wonderful work.

Need two servos to complete the avionics package, thought I would check out the Black Friday sale at Servo City, there's a sale but there are no Hitec D9XX servos in stock, no discount listed, $139 to $149 depending on the number. Found the D945TG in stock at Amain Hobby for $89 plus an additional $5 off so I ordered the two I need. The remaining servos are from the prior Cherokee, I sent the servos that worked into the Hitec service center to get checked out with a note saying they had an encounter with Mother Earth, they checked them out and sent them back no charge.
Working on the rudder, drilled the hinge holes through the tail post into the rudder so the holes will line up. The hinges are glued in with clear Gorilla glue. Using Rocket City strip aileron rod and clevis along with the Sig 1/8" nosewheel bearing for actuation.

Put the fuselage back in the mold to epoxy the tail post in. Used 1 1/2 ounce cloth, the bottom has a small piece of 19 ounce cloth, should be straight.

Finished one of the door hinge eye bolts. No prototype, first one was a success! Going to mount the top hinge and take measurements to make the bottom hinge,

Love me some mill work!!