Scale Soaring UK

The hinges are the usual Robart style pin hinges, which will be permanently fixed after the covering process..
My current preference for covering is to Solartex the fuselage and film the flying surfaces. (Strips of 'Tex ironed on in the appropriate places initially, will quite successfully simulate the joins in the plywood on the full-size) This helps preserve my stock of 'Tex, requires a lot less painting, is significantly cheaper, and a lot lighter, too. Concave and sharply curved convex areas are left open, with the edges of the 'Tex submerged under 2-pack primer. This is brushed on in six or seven coats. A light application of aerosol black will act as a guide coat, and the primer can be carefully taken down initially with 120 grit dry, on a block, followed by 320, which is fine enough to feather out the edges. From here I spray further 2 coats of primer over the whole of the fuselage, flatting down wet with 600 w & d paper. Then it's time to spray on the 2-pack top coat...

Thanks a lot for the explanation Chris, it's really helpful!!

Dan

The flying surfaces are covered initially with HK's matt clear film, and then the colour trims added. It's entirely possible to apply the clear in separate panels with a 25mm overlap, provided you don't over-shrink with too much heat, as the edges will pull away. (Don't ask!)

That looks stunning!! I love it !!

Very nice and an immaculate paintjob

Vincent

Very nice Chris. So that was 6 weeks and 2 days. Christmas must have slowed you down a bit I guess

Something needs to slow me down, Ray...Checking back, I've discovered that I've built seven models in just over 12 months.

STATS:

SCALE: 1/4
SPAN: 3.4m
WEIGHT: 15lbs
WING SECTION: HQ35/14-12
5-FUNCTION CONTROL FOR RUDDER, ELEVATOR, AILERONS, TOW RELEASE, SPOILERS

Deviations from scale: top-hinged ailerons, fuselage slightly thinned in width,
no elevator trim tab, non-scale wing section, no tailplane struts

I've not had that many opportunities to fly the Habicht, but here are my conclusions:

1: Perfectly safe at low speeds, as you would expect with this section

2: Capable of all the standard aerobatic manouvres, loops, rolls etc. (A bit untidy, but that's more than likely down to me!)

3: Capable of sustained inverted flight

The big lump of lead up front certainly goes a long way toward retaining energy during aerobatics. In common with every other Habicht I have built, you would need Big Lift on the slope, otherwise you will spend a lot of time trying to get some altitude before you can rapidly spend it. Aerotow is the better option, as you can start with plenty of height before hooning begins. Like it's bigger predecessor, such a flight will last 2 to 3 minutes.

Beautiful!

Also, for those who enjoy Scroll Saw Therapy, the parts are available from me in PDF form, all ready to print out in an A4 printer. (Note: always check the printout outs against the plan)