Leprechaun Build 2020

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Belair Short Kit

Materials List from Belair….

How many rolls of covering?

2 hv6100

2 hv 6110

A Bit More Stuff

1 I would like the wing to slide together at the center and I will tape and rubber band them to the pylon.
2 removable stab

2 wing Panels

3 1/2 sq x 36

9 1/4 sq x 36

4 3/8 sq x 48

28 3/8 sq x 36

4 1/8 x 3 x 36 Good stuff

8 1/16 x 3 x 36 Good stuff D Box Sheet

4 1/2 sq x 36 spruce Inner Panel Spars

Stab Measurements

47 1/2 x 12

Rib w1 18 inches long

spoilers wider solid wood , not open

I see this model has fillets at some vertical to horizontal fuse side joints, no this is **not my build**

There’s a belly plate as well, something is needed for a towhook

Not much room for ballast, servos and receiver well forward though

Pylon for wing and stab seems to be a variation from the Belair Drawing

March 28

a bit of a look thru the short Kit, not everything pictured came from Belair , but was purchased seperate

Pylon for the wing, still gotta wrap my head around how this is gonna work

will have to sort thru this, nice CF rod seperatly purchased

There’s an awful lot of Undercamber here, these were in the short Kit

didn’t check the thickness, looks like 3/16, 1/4, and 1/2 as well as 1/16 on the outside lookin in ,this Balsa is not included in the short KIT:)

Nice stash of Lumber. This plane is big though

This has been a rather interesting observation, it appears 4 inch width balsa is needed for d box sheet not 3, as perhaps I will but a 1 inch piece onto the 3 Inch I have.

I read somewhere that the chord on this wing is 19 Inch, I will join the 3 Inch sheeting as needed to use for the d box.

No reference that I can find anywhere for the use of the 3 x 1/16 sheeting shown on the Materials list, so I would guess that’s the intent.

Perhaps back in the day 3 Inch was cheaper and easier to get

Onward and Upward

time to get at the Build

a clean slate, fine sheet of gyproc wallboard 20 x 60 or so

the tip panel includes 4 ribs including the root, there is lots of undercamber complicating the build

the spars have to be tapered from the 3rd rib from the tip, and it appears perhaps a bit of a curve needs to be added into the top spar

the TE meets the spar at the tip on the top, not the bottom due to the undercamber

the last ribs notch at the bottom is not 1/2 inch deep

17 1/4 inch tip panel results in 18 degree or so angle, I am gonna go with that, it also is confirmed on the plans

I have both left and right lower spar marked for the rib locations, and opposite just to be certain

Next Up more tip Panels

LE 3/8 x 3/8 needs to be slit and bent to shape, take care to tie in as well at center of rib front face

LE where formed glued then added to panel

9 degree jig here, though I would recommend this rib get added later when tip panel is fitted to inner panel

there’s quite a bit of undercamber, did I mention that earlier 🙂

supplied inner panel joiner, box needs to be made for both wings to suit

Joiner, rectangular cutout for joiner box, CG mark rearward of two spar notches

notches tight for 1/2 x 1/2 will clean out, with a file

somewhere within this span I can add spoiler opening

the Inner big Panel

front edge of ribs, both sides the same, height needs to be trimmed to same end to end for each panel

aligned with a 1/2 x 1/2 block there are some variances in the 1/ 4 x 1/4 notches that will get cleaned thru with a file

retainer nibs get cleaned off on lower edges

upper spar notches, I am glad I aligned this all beforehand rather then just dump the glue to the whole lot, this is what you get with a short kit, a one time effort to create files for laser cutting and no clean up later by the Kit Crafters . Just because it’s laser cut doesn’t mean it will just fall together!

will pass a block over all edges to clean some of the char as well

4 inch plus for 7 degrees at the root rib for a huge 14 Deg dihedral angle

root rib, I will get a whole thru here for a 5/16 rod

spars marked, for rib placement, left and right

something like this should work, I’ll extend the brass in as far as possible and box it all in later , woo hoo nice

some rib notches need to be cleared to fit the spar, will check top notches as well

Does this Plane need spoilers

more then an inch wide, spoilers spoilers

notches to suit clearance for the spoilers 2 ribs each side

lasered out some square holes for spoiler servo rails

this should work, but I see I need some notches at each end of the spoiler bay for the spoiler sub spar to carry through

this should work, other panel prepped as well

what about holes for servo leads

gonna build on a 1inch block, with a quides at the LE, and square the ribs to the lower spar in two planes

a little patch of wax paper at each rib intersection

straight more or less, the LE will help here later on

I wouldn’t want to do this in my lap (winging it or freestyle?)

both left and right, still need to add the root ribs

close, some like to set one wing panel on another, a good time to check for symetry or lack of:)

this is the ply root rib , yes your right , there’s no ply root cap in the kit. I like caps to clean things up 🙂

Cookies any one, we have made 11 varieties, 20 KG or so

Back at it

Whoaa,

inner panel trailing edges, one has quite the twist in it, long pieces laser cut, huum

Movin along, Short Kits

Lots of details that need sorting , wing joiners panel joiners shear webbing and doublers, Spoiler opening and fillets,

ply and balsa, I like the ply to be fairly accurate and sand the softer material down

join like this , I see there’s some sanding and clean up to be done on the trailing edge

spoiler opening ends , curved fillet template , I will need for of these

1/8 fillet material marked and pre cut , need to add the 1/2 round shape

like this , they get glued in place with weldbond

that pretties things up and gives me something to nail the covering too, Huum what Color 🙂

first set of wing rod tubes, and end plugs

adding wing root ply caps , so a 1/8 spacer is used where the two inner panels come together

there’s more to these wings

more shear webs into the first few bays beyond the joiner tube

the joiner box for the second forward wing rod, do you have to use both wing rods, perhaps no, also 8mm CF rod might be an option in your situation

lots of undercamber

CG location, chord is around 19 1/2 inch

spars are not located vertically one over the other

stab spar on drawing , big wow, add a straight line

Tip pieces left and right cut from two different files, trim to same size

TE 1/4 sheet, not symetrical end to end , builder take note

there’s room here at this joint to fit as I go along

more dry fitting and alignment, turns out the ribs locations shown are not perpendicular to spar, buyer beware

I will set the ribs with a square as I glue them

1 extra rib, spaced these two center ribs at 2 inch

slowly making my way forward and defining set locations, glue to follow

of course the two tip pieces need to align and end at the correct spots

off the board, soon I have to cut the aft 1/3 away

I added the cut lines before I removed from board

More Stab, big cut

some cuts thru the ribs with the japeneese saw, and then some relief was needed for the cap thickness minus the notch dpth

4 ft level gets the back edge somewhat straight

this should work, gonna need a bolt beam spreader to hold this all to the fuse at some point

Fuselage, wow no wood in the short kit for this, well except a few pieces at the fin, rudder

You’ll need 7 ft or so of 3/8 material for each of the longerons, 2 splices in my case

curves, I did wet down and set beforehand, the front 6 inch or so on both needed slits to turn the tighter radius

each vertical set was cut in 2’s and the pins where left on board for the second side

diagonals cut in two directions where they meet the corner

This is a big step in defining the shape, build accurate

I will decide later whats left and right

just a close up and I did use some scraps to protect the wood from the pins

both sides up. will clean up and set up for cross pieces tying one to the other

Big ply wing pylon, doesn’t look nice

more chord on the rudder, some of these round pieces came with the short kit

the entire aft structures sets between the fuse sides

a couple bolts should hold the stab in place

I have rounded out the openings in the fin and rudder

More on Stab support

I will have to cut some square holes thru the lower sheet

with an aft taper to allow clearance for the top sheet

Hinges for the stab and rudder, these are a Possibility ??

screws, hardpoint drilled and counterbored

this should be clean , I will have to counter bore and drill the forward hardpoint

two mounting screws

I still need to clean up this area before I add some top sheeting

Here , the underside of the stab where the hardpoints will match up to the pylon

I will add these wings to the pylon to get a little more width for the stab perch

and round out the LE of the Pylon as well

perch gussets sheeted on top with some 1/16 cross wise

3 robart hinges, I will pull the rivets later and add a long piece of MW

try to get a tite hingeline where the rudder moves freely

something has to give here as I like to see the aft of the fuse with similar to the rudder width,

fuselage sides

a little sanding here before the sides get put together

the portion of the fuse near the pylon has the sides parallel to each other

full crosspieces with slots will locate the center ply pylon

more cross pieces, to tie the center fuselage sides together

and as well support the wing pylon, and the tow hook

I have added some good ply , where the tow hook fits

nose block , with hollow center this will get glued together later

glued and clamped, will require considerable shaping later

cross pieces, cut in pairs where required, square

some braces where used in some places, temporary will be removed later

ply bulkhead, supplied on the short kit, I want access from rear

OK, a little clean up is needed at the edges

fits here, and draws the nose together so have to place the fuse on a line over the board

shape templates come in handy as I get the nose rounded

Hopefully this is close, so much easier to sand now, then when attached to the fuselage

I cobbled together a jig to bring the forward end of the fuse sides together

June o3, some Pictures, with few words

some more snap shots

More Fuselage

stab pylon, still needs some clean up before I will glue it in place

more on finger grips lower fuselage corners

some filler sheet, mostly for support for ultracote, and support to wing pylon

lower sheet in place, and lightly sanded

been toiling with this forward lower opening for a while, there is a lower 3/8 x 3/8 skid as well that traverses this opening

square out and remove material from both sides

clean the corners working towards a round fillet

3/8 x 3/8 is difficult to bend so I will build up from 3 pieces

tail skid will get a strip of CF, I will add it after covering

that forward lower sheeting needs a backbone to hold the curve

will have to clean up ends and glue in place

I have touched the nose a bit more with the belt sander to get it closer to final shape

this is cleaning up nice, huum where can I add more wood Haven’t looked at the wings in a while 🙂

June 14

the home stretch,

Short Kits are great, free flight Models as well, tooling and building a short kit , and converting it to RC takes time.

I have experienced all the nuances of this build as every corner has presented a hurdle and a decision needed to be made.

So, some more pictures cleaning up some of the details, adding some pieces and hopefully this will all come together, I’m sure it will be a Great Plane

I decided to wrap the smaller joiner box

some weight at the end to hold things tite as I pulled the loops around

and the occasional dab of CA to hold a turn

spoiler servo, a tray as well as blocks for screws used later to hold the aft spoiler corners down

tray gets screwed down into a couple cross pieces

root template, need a couple 1/16 ply roots cut, as well as the 4 stops for the spoilers with screws

rounded up some 1 1/4 inch material for the spoilers, woo hoo

Magnets for the aft corners of the spoilers

supports at the inner panel roots for some 1/16 sheet

sheeting will join in with the forward d box, and fillet in aft at the TE

getting set up for servo mounts, spoilers need actuators

root rib plywood caps, not part of the cut , made these extra

d box sheeting, top and bottom full leading edge all 4 wing panels

I like to make sure there is full contact with the ribs and glue as well, when the d box is closed in it’s really hard to see how well you did

had to add an extra 1/2 inch or so to the sheeting to make it wide enough
***This is not clear on the Materials List***

leading edge requires a lot of work,. to blend in with the ribs, do as much of this shaping before gluing it into place

I think here I’m getting a straight edge on a piece of d box sheet

the panels had to come together sooner or later, spend some time with this dry fitting and aligning

upper d box sheet, I prefer to do my sheeting after panels are joined unless of course . If the airfoil has a flat bottom, then I will glue the ribs to the lower sheeting

this panel is about ready for the upper 1/16 inch sheet

precutting upper tip panel sheet to approximate shape

I have the root caps cleaned up, and added some holes

Trailing edge , lots of detail here to blend to the top of the ribs, and down to a suitable TE thickness

well, the wing pylon, it needs shape, and a cavity to pass servo leads thru, so here is my attempt

and of course the wing perches at the top of the pylon, more art 🙂

here is the U/S of the wing where it meets the Pylon

and the forward perch, not the slot in the wing where the servo lead will later drop out

building an airfoil on the pylon, here are some of the pieces

no sheet yet, but the foundation is there

More stuff, sanding and detail clean up, numerous enough, but I have a list now .