Extreme Flight 60" Laser Build Thread

[YellowJacketsRC]

Watching carefully!

 

[wedoitall]

that looks awesome. So I cant remember if you said before what you mounted the bottom of the seat and the dash its self to. is it balsa? are you gonna have a Pilot X? Ive never done a cockpit or even a pilot before.

 

[Fast3D]

Well I got to maiden my Laser this morning and it did not disappoint. Hard to say at this point if I like it more than my 60" Edge but for sure it's not worse. I find it hard to believe but the slow flight on the Laser might be a tad better. Today was one of the rare low wind days here in Texas and elevators had no wing rock what so ever and came down with just a little forward speed.

I started my CG out balancing to the wing tube and found it a little nose heavy but not bad. I moved the pack back 1/4" the next flight and it was better. Another 1/2" on the third flight. I may split the difference the next time out as I only had time for 3 flights before work today.

Rolling circles required more elevator when I started but with the CG move rear it was much better. Entering Crankshafts was not as easy at first but then really nailed it. It flips right on it's own axis. Roll rate is very fast and very axial. Knife Edge was much better after I moved the CG and had no coupling issues. I was flying lower Expo than the manual suggested with my Edge but set this up per the manual. I need to back off the Expo on my next flights.

I am so happy with the plane and visibility is great with nice contrast from the upper and lower surfaces.

Congrats! That looks nice. Now I wish I had bought the red one!

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

that looks awesome. So I cant remember if you said before what you mounted the bottom of the seat and the dash its self to. is it balsa? are you gonna have a Pilot X? Ive never done a cockpit or even a pilot before.

I do not think you can get this in if it was on balsa. The photo paper is strong enough. I did this on my 87" Extra and it held on just fine. After it all works in place you can spot glue from the bottom the paper and balsa stringers with some welders adhesive. It is really trapped in there. The dash fold is always trying to unfold which it cant because it rests up against the windshield part of the canopy.

No pilot X, this image is really of an empty cockpit. There are some cockpit photos that have the lower half of the pilot, feet and hands in the image and the pilot figure adds to the 3D image of it but this shows an empty seat and I don't think it will look right.

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

Congrats! That looks nice. Now I wish I had bought the red one!

Thanks. They both look great, just what you are looking for.

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

Had to work last night so could not do anything. Everything is going pretty well so let me show you the next steps I took.

I folded down the dash part to make it easy to slide in through the stringers on the canopy. I should mention that the back foam should be dry before moving on to this. First thing is to tuck under the foam the back edge of the print. This leaves you a very nice clean transition and also prevents any gaps from forming. then just center the print along the sides and give glue one side at a time from the bottom. Remember this is not a support structure so no need to go heavy. I used thick CA because I did not want it to run through and out to the canopy. That would be disaster you can't clean. By just pressing the tip along the seam of the wood and the paper I applied the glue along that edge. I did one side at a time and allowed it time to dry. So you know one reason I do one side at a time and give it time to dry is the fumes from CA can cloud some canopy material. Also another reason for the thick as the fumes are not as bad. Do the opposite side and again allow to dry. I let it dry in the normal position so gravity is all that is needed for the paper to lay flat. Then not sure if the CA would eat the foam or not I chose to lay a bead of welders adhesive along that seam and work it in with my finger.

As you can see by the picture it's looking good. You can also see why the foam is there to space out that backrest so it is not sitting back so far in the canopy unrealistically. You can also see the clear part in front of the dash that some seem so concerned about. I'll show you next how to handle that.

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

Okay so as you can se from the bottom this is what we have to cover. My first thoughts were to airbrush this from the inside, but I had another idea to make it look more scale like. Every full size plane I have flown and the Piper Arrow that I owned had a sun shield over lap over the dash to allow you to see the dash gauges better. So I cut a piece of manila card stock from a folder wide enough to cover the gap and long enough so I can secure it to the inside of the canopy. This card stock is strong to hold it's position yet thin enough to slide under the slanted dash and between the canopy. I played around with how far to slide it under and as you can see by where I am holding it not only covers that opening but adds a nice 3D realistic appearance to it as well and yes the tail number N10LL is Leo's tail number for that little swag.

The part is in the garage now as I painted it and tomorrow I will glue or tape it in and this will be done.

 

[YellowJacketsRC]

Wow. That's really cool!
Does the top of the head rest touch the back of the canopy?

 

[YellowJacketsRC]

What color u paint it?

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

What color u paint it?

I have a textured dark gray that I used for my motor box on my 87" Extra that looked pretty cool. I want to see how that looks after fully drying. Of course there is always black. Something I also want to prototype tomorrow is to cut another piece of manila and spray down a coat of spray mount adhesive and apply some 2oz fiberglass cloth, then paint that black for the carbon fiber texture look. Who knows this textured gray might be the underneath side finish because you can just barely see it. I won't rush this last piece.

If you are talking the foam yes it is glued to the back two slanted ply. I also heated a drill bit with some flame and melted some of the foam behind the patch pin hole to allow the pin to go all the way through.