IMAC All New 3.1m Radiowave Giles 202 Competition Series Build Thread

[Kevin-Young]

Since we are really happy with how the testing went on the prototype 3.1m Radiowave Giles 202 we decided it is time to build a brand new one for us since the prototype was actually based off my last one that has mold on it from my water heater letting go in my garage (not exactly the show plane you want to show customers).

For a while now we have been spit balling some ideas around on what we can do to offer a full competition series version of our 3.1m Mx2 and now the Giles. One of the things we have been considering for awhile was a fully sheeted fuselage version which makes it nicer for covering and such. So over the last couple of weeks I have been tweaking some of the AutoCad files to come up with the new 3.1m Giles 202 competition series.

The CS version is going to be very similar to our traditional version but will have a couple of extra features like the full balsa fuselage sides, Carbon fiber landing main gear, carbon tubes & sockets, and carbon tail wheel assembly. The new features of the airplane and additional carbon items the new 3.1m Giles CS kit will is going to be introduced at $1750.00 + shipping. (Traditional version with lite ply sides is $1500 + shipping)

One of our main interests when coming up with the Competition Series version was making sure we stayed true to our design techniques and constructed the airplanes in a way that no matter what level of building experience you have you will be successful in building one of our kits. So to do that we wanted to make sure that the airplane still featured our interlocking tab design so everything self aligns and is straight.

Here are some pictures of the prototype 3.1m Giles 202

 

[Kevin-Young]

So to start off this build we figured that we would show you a bit of what I do to cut out the airplanes after I am done with the design work in AutoCad. These pictures are just some of the formers and such that I will end up cutting. In all it generally takes about a day to cut the plywood parts (the foam is what takes for ever).

Picture #1 shows the program that the laser uses to cut and how the parts are nested to maximize the material.

Picture #2 is the laser actually cutting the file from picture 1

Picture #3 is the finished product

Picture #4 is one of the balsa sheets that will be used. This one is for the rear section of the top plate which is basically the backbone of the airplane and everything tabs into.

Picture #5 is that section actually being cut. The cross pattern that you see is actually used for gluing to when doing the cross bracing to keep the fuse stiff.

 

[Kevin-Young]

Since most of the plywood and balsa parts are cut out it is time to make an airplane! Before we really get started building we tend to get all of our scarf joints out of the way and any spots that we have to join the halves together such as the fuse top plate and fuse sides.


Picture #1 is the jig I designed for making your scarf joints for the 3/8" balsa longerons that run down the fuselage sides. (comes with the kit too http://www.GiantScaleNews.com/forums/images/smilies/200.gif)



Picture #2 is the 3/8" balsa longeron after it has been cut



Picture #3 is both halves of the scarf joint just before we glue them together with titebond (CA to tack)



Picture #4 is the two halves of the top plate which feature a dove tail design to help keep them square



Picture #5 is the two halves now glued together with titebond



Picture #6 is the dove tail joint for the balsa fuse sides



Picture #7 is the fuse sides after being joined, again using titebond



Picture #8 is shows the doubler that goes behind the joint on the fuselage sides. You will also see that the F5 former tabs into all of this.



Picture #9 shows the fuse sides after being glued in place with titebond

 

[BalsaDust]

Very nice.

 

[Alky6]

Awesome! Sub'd.

 

[jtec/radiowave]

So, along with the doubler for the joint on the fuselage sides there are a couple of doubles that need to be glued into place before you glue all the formers in.

With the balsa sided fuselage we needed to put a doubler in place for the wing attachment area. Traditionally you will see companies put some 3/8" balsa square vertically place one the fuse sides with a plywood plate so when they secure the wing bolts it does not crush the balsa. This works extremely well but we wanted to try something a bit different so we designed a doubler that laminates to the balsa sides and goes from our F1 former to the F4 former and ends up getting tabbed into those four formers.

Picture #1 show the wing double before getting glued into place

Picture #2 shows us gluing in the wing doubler and using some of the formers and wing tube socket just to assure proper alignment.

Picture #3 shows wing doubler after glued in place

 

[jtec/radiowave]

Now there is one more area that needs a doubler for support and that is at the rear of the fuselage that incorporates the tail tube support, horizontal fin mounting, and rudder servo mounts. One thing you will notice with this doubler is it has a hatch built in so if you ever drop a servo lead in the tail you will easily be able to fish it out (the hatch itself is not shown in these pictures)

Picture #1 is the doubler before being glued in place.

Picture #2 is the Doubler being glued in place. On this we again use the carbon tube as an alignment tool and then just make sure the servo openings are aligned.

 

[jtec/radiowave]

One thing to mention on the doublers is while the wing and tail doublers are pretty self explanatory in how they line up due to the tube holes and such the fuselage side doubler has a mark denoting what side is top because if you were to look at it quickly you may not notice a difference in the doubler as there is only about an 1/8" difference between the top and bottom. The difference is for when the fuselage floor gets glue into place a little later.

 

[jtec/radiowave]

To pretty much finish up the work on the fuselage sides for a bit the final step is to glue the longerons in place.

Each side has a top and bottom longeron. Since this airplane utilizes a Balsa rear top plate we decided to glue the top longerons directly to the top plate (traditionally we have done it just to the fuse sides). The bottom longerons will obviously be glued to the bottom side of the fuse sides.

Picture #1 shows us getting ready to glue the top longerons into place on the top plate. For this you need to align the longerons with the inner tabs on the top plate for when it is joined with the fuse sides later.

Picture #2 shows the longerons about to be glued to the bottom of the fuselage side (note, as mentioned in previous post there will be a 1/8" gap between the fuselage side doubler and the bottom longeron. This is on purpose so the fuselage floor can slide into place when fuse sides and top plate are joined later on.)

Picture #3 Longerons glued into place on fuse sides

 

[jtec/radiowave]

We'd add more pictures but we're waiting for glue to dry. We assembled the engine box today and use Hysol epoxy to glue it together. It give you lots of working time but it also takes time to cure fully.