1/4 Scale Salto**
Posted: 12 Jul 2020, 17:09
Although the H101 Salto was originally available in the Pat Teakle Sailplanes range, the fuselage mould had been damaged beyond repair at some time before Cliff took over the reins, so sadly this aerobatic model has not been available.
However, Cliff has recently managed to obtain an unused original fuselage & John Hall has worked his magic on it to produce a new mould, plus while he was at it, modify the wing section from the original Ritz1 variety.
After lots of discussion & comments/advice from other modellers, plus the desire to make a model that is relatively easy to build, the new fuselage has an HQW2.5/12 wing section, giving a thin section with no need for washout.
Although the use of substantial carbon joiners was considered, it was decided in the end to go for a pair of 15mm steel joiner strips mounted in wing tubes & which just fit between the main spars. Dihedral is provided via a ‘scissors’ type joiner fuselage box which takes the wing joiners in an interleaved arrangement.
The main spar assembly is made up as full box section at the root, changing to a 'C' beam at the aileron taper break. Scale rotating TE airbrakes are used & the built-up structure is sheeted in 0.8mm ply (or perhaps GRP sheet) prior to glassing the finished wing. Time will tell how this aspect pans out
Anyway, with a set of laser cut parts supplied by Cliff, the build of the first wing has just started.
The pics show the initial build of the RH wing root end, with all normal ribs attached to the lower main spar & rear spar web + root end rear web doubler. The Liteply false LE is notched into each rib & the notched rear spar web also helps locate everything - which is just as well as for some reason, the plan has printed undersize
4 ply angled ribs will be added at the root end to form the edges of the 2 TE brake cutouts. Again, these notch into the structure to take up the correct positions.
The front spar web (again doubled at the root end) will be slotted in shortly prior to the section of root ribs between the spar webs being removed to insert the joiner tub assembly (2 brass tubes + 2 spacers, reversed between wings to get interleaved joiners in fuselage )
However, Cliff has recently managed to obtain an unused original fuselage & John Hall has worked his magic on it to produce a new mould, plus while he was at it, modify the wing section from the original Ritz1 variety.
After lots of discussion & comments/advice from other modellers, plus the desire to make a model that is relatively easy to build, the new fuselage has an HQW2.5/12 wing section, giving a thin section with no need for washout.
Although the use of substantial carbon joiners was considered, it was decided in the end to go for a pair of 15mm steel joiner strips mounted in wing tubes & which just fit between the main spars. Dihedral is provided via a ‘scissors’ type joiner fuselage box which takes the wing joiners in an interleaved arrangement.
The main spar assembly is made up as full box section at the root, changing to a 'C' beam at the aileron taper break. Scale rotating TE airbrakes are used & the built-up structure is sheeted in 0.8mm ply (or perhaps GRP sheet) prior to glassing the finished wing. Time will tell how this aspect pans out
Anyway, with a set of laser cut parts supplied by Cliff, the build of the first wing has just started.
The pics show the initial build of the RH wing root end, with all normal ribs attached to the lower main spar & rear spar web + root end rear web doubler. The Liteply false LE is notched into each rib & the notched rear spar web also helps locate everything - which is just as well as for some reason, the plan has printed undersize
4 ply angled ribs will be added at the root end to form the edges of the 2 TE brake cutouts. Again, these notch into the structure to take up the correct positions.
The front spar web (again doubled at the root end) will be slotted in shortly prior to the section of root ribs between the spar webs being removed to insert the joiner tub assembly (2 brass tubes + 2 spacers, reversed between wings to get interleaved joiners in fuselage )