Sport JTEC RADIOWAVE 26% Pitts Model 12

[stangflyer]

Wow! What a day. All my kids did their Thanksgiving with "inlaws" and their mother and since "our" thanksgiving is tomorrow, I put today to some VERY good use. I put 10 good hours into the Pitts today and needless to say, I feel as worn out as a full 12 hour day at work. LOL. Pretty sad, Ya gotta go to work to relax huh? hee hee.

Oh well, progress is good right? Because I knew I had a "FULL" day of aileron fitting and bevel sanding to do, I wanted to get the doublers for the lower wing glued in place. I still have not decided ultimately how I am going to mount them, but at least the ribs now have the strength to support the servos in what ever configuration I choose to install them.

Once the doublers were in place, I drilled the hinge points, bevel sanded the leading edges and test fit the ailerons to the wings. I am pleased as they came out pretty good.

I even got some pretty good deflection angle too. So, I am thinking the Pitts will have plenty of roll rate. Even in slow motion action. Hee hee

 

[stangflyer]

I had to do a couple of things to the lower wings also. I really got a head of myself and forgot the root end of the wings were supposed have a section of the aileron "NOT" cut off. Ooops... Ah heck, I got that taken care of and then had to sand the leading edge of the wings in from the root about 2" or so. In order to get them to fit the fuse, the wings are very tight against the "F3" former and needed a section sanded to allow the fitment of the wings. Not a big deal. It is kind of the same broken angle on the leading edge as a 260 wing. Not as pronounced but kind of the same. I had thought I built something wrong but as it turns out, I just sanded my leading edges with a sharper angle than what it was probably designed with. Once I got that angle sanded, the wings slid right into place.

Once I got the lower wings fitting correctly, I glued in the phenolic wing tube and the anti rotation tube. And wouldn't you know it? I must have done something very right for a change. The wings bolted into position "PERFECTLY" with no hassle or mis-alignments. Wow...About time something really went right for a change. LOL

Once the lower wings were in place and pretty much done, I got to finishing up the upper wings. I did have to add a wafer to one of the ailerons as the gap was just too much for my liking. With the top wings pretty much finished now and ailerons also done, I mounted everything up for a test fit. Now that the wings are pretty much ready for covering, I can now focus on the fuselage.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You can see in the photo above how I extended the trailing edge of the "Center Wing Section" at the edges that meet up with the ailerons. For what ever reason, the ribs are not long enough to allow the trailing edge to meet the trailing edge of the ailerons. I looked at a lot of photos from 2wings.com and what I came up with is what you now see with the trailing edge. I added stock, sanded it to shape, then rounded it to match the trailing edges of the ailerons. I kind of like the looks of it.

As I mentioned, I mounted everything for a trial fit and I can not believe what I discovered. The lower wings bolted up perfectly. The center wing section bolted up perfectly. The top wings bolted up to the center section perfectly. And even the inter plane struts fit like they are supposed to. Heck, this thing just "might" come out looking and flying half way decent after all.

I also took just a minute to weigh the built up fuse and wings as it is at present. Including the weight of the 3w70, prop, canopy, (guessing at this point because so much has to be cut off of it to make it fit)...pretty much everything except covering, wiring, servos, tank, spinner, landing gear and wheels....about 14-15 pounds. This thing is going to be a 2 winged "TANK". LMAO. But since the wingspan has been stretched out to just shy of 79", it will probably fly every so sweet.

Tomorrow? Ah yeah...tomorrow! Bottom of the fuse, tail gear landing plate, cowl and then...."THEN"....ugh, fuselage sheeting. By the way, @Maxwell1945 and @Wacobipe , please give me some direction on the tail gear plate please? Just "HOW" exactly is it intended to mount? "ON" the aft fuselage stringers or???? Kind of lost at this point. Your help is once again required.

 

[HRRC Flyer]

Hey Rob,

What is the black glue you are using? This is the first thread where I have seen it, I think. . . LOL.

Your S12 is looking AWESOME. . . . . . My flying Buddy FINALLY got his canopy to stay attached so his plane is spared a gruesome death at the hands of the dreaded band saw. . . . . Keep up the work and consider yourself lucky. Some of us have to work tomorrow. . . . . . I'm outta here, I am worn out and I need my beauty sleep. .

Later Buddy

 

[stangflyer]

Hey Rob,

What is the black glue you are using? This is the first thread where I have seen it, I think. . . LOL.

Your S12 is looking AWESOME. . . . . . My flying Buddy FINALLY got his canopy to stay attached so his plane is spared a gruesome death at the hands of the dreaded band saw. . . . . Keep up the work and consider yourself lucky. Some of us have to work tomorrow. . . . . . I'm outta here, I am worn out and I need my beauty sleep. .

Later Buddy

Beauty Sleep? Boy, you are gonna need a lot of it aint ya?

The black glue is IC2000 CA. Specifically made for RC car tires. It's some pretty amazing stuff. You want something really-"REALLY" glued that will not come loose? Yup, that is the schnizzle. For most of the plane, regular CA, Epoxy or wood glue works great. But for the really high stressed areas, i.e., wing spars and tubes, the black tar is the stuff to use.

 

[WMcNabb]

Looks great Rob!

 

[stangflyer]

Couldn't sleep so I decided to tinker with the Pitts. Got started gluing in the aft bottom fuse stringers. I chose bass wood for the strength and reduced weight over spruce. Balsa can also be used, but really didn't want to take the chance of having them break from picking the plane up. I also designed a bottom in the canister area. I'm hoping it will give the fuse bottom a little more roundness to the appearance.

Still not sure yet what to do about the tail gear support yet. Maybe I just don't get it, but sure seems small for the area it needs to cover.

 

[Alky6]

Beautiful work Rob! You can really make hay when the sun shines!!

 

[HRRC Flyer]

Beauty Sleep? Boy, you are gonna need a lot of it aint ya?

Hey now, I resemble that remark. . . . .

 

[stangflyer]

Beautiful work Rob! You can really make hay when the sun shines!!

Now there is a comment I've not heard in a coons age. Probably the last time I heard it was when I was a wee lad working with my daddy in the fields. Awe jeez, now my age is showing. Ugh...lol!

 

[HRRC Flyer]

. . . Awe jeez, now my age is showing. Ugh...lol!

The way I see it is as long as I keep getting older it's OK. I don't have to start worrying until I stop. . .