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Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 04 Jul 2021, 20:50
by SedB
Thanks a lot for sharing gents!

Daniel

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 09 Jul 2021, 11:47
by Peter Balcombe
With the airbrake installed in the RH wing, the D box has now been skinned and a bit of other skinning applied behind the main spar to the point where I have run out of ply again!!
However, more will available after the weekend & a softwood LE strip will be fitted & profiled, rather than try to bend ply around the LE.

Meanwhile, the RH wing has been refitted to the fuselage to check the fit of the aluminium sheet wing retainer which is epoxied into the root ribs & projects from the wing root. The tongue slides through a slot in the fuselage root rib during rigging & is clamped onto the fuselage top plate by an M4 bolt in a captive nut as shown below.
I have slotted the tongue to allow it to move away from the bolt in ‘extremis’.
Photo of retainer in the wing root also shows some of the balsa strip skin supports added behind the main spar (& other places) where skin panel sections are butt jointed.

Meanwhile, an instrument panel has arrived from Cliff at Laser Cut Sailplanes :)

Also, the 2nd brake mechanism has been made up, ensuring that it is a mirror image of the RH unit. This unit will now be fitted to the LH wing once the brake box width has been increased as for the 1st wing.
Not sure if I mentioned it on the first brake build, but I am using 1.6mm wire pins for the blade hinge axles, running in brass tubes epoxied into the arms. The actuation pushrod fits into an M2 ball link running on a 2mm axle epoxied into the arm crank. All of the above axle pins need to finish fairly flush to the mount in order to prevent a projection catching on an adjacent blade or brake box edge during operation.

I have now received an updated 3 view drawing which shows Jilles’ amended CoG position, which is 157mm behind the LE - so just as well that I reduced the nose cone ballast load before fixing it in place ;)
RH wing partially skinned
RH wing partially skinned
Wing retention method
Wing retention method
Retainer in wing
Retainer in wing
Instrument panel
Instrument panel

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 10 Jul 2021, 14:53
by Peter Balcombe
LH brake now fitted in the wing & connected up to the root servo.
Shot below shows it prior to adding the 1/8” balsa sheet covers over the recessed blade on each side to give skin support . An added bonus is that these strips also tend to act as closure stops.
Lighting is poor, but you can just make out the pushrod going to the crank on the rear (lower) blade arm.
LH brake fitted
LH brake fitted

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 10 Jul 2021, 19:52
by Jus Gordon
Lovely build Peter, great workmanship!

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 06 Aug 2021, 09:43
by Peter Balcombe
The build has been progressing behind the scenes, with both wings now fully skinned, tips on & ailerons hinged - so just about ready for covering.
Pics to follow once the weather allows outdoor shots ;)

Meanwhile, the fuselage is back on the bench to allow a removeable battery tray to be installed up front, above the tow release servo.
The tray front slides in between 2 cross rails fitted onto the front former, with the rear supported by, and secured to, another cross beam.
The tray is 6" deep & 4.5" wide, so should accommodate two batteries side by side, secured by Velcro, or similar, straps.
The tray & tow release servo will be largely hidden by the instrument panel once this is in place - next job!
Oly Bat Tray_rot.jpg

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 07 Aug 2021, 16:37
by Peter Balcombe
The instrument panel has now been fitted using 3 ply “ears” glued behind F3 at roughly 10, 2 & 6 o-clock positions, onto which small small magnets have been fixed. Magnets have also been fitted in corresponding positions on the rear of the panel, allowing an easily removeable, but adequately attached panel.
As can be seen in the photo, the panel covers the battery tray & all but a little of the tow release mounting structure :)

Other jobs recently completed include installation of the wing servo wiring harnesses in the fuselage - connection being via fixed 6 pin Multiplex connectors in each fuselage wing root rib.

Both wings have also been finished ready for covering, servos fitted & pushrod cutouts made in the aileron servo hatches. M3 threaded pushrods have been used with a metal clevis at each end.
(All wing servos are JX PDI-HV2107MG digital types which produce over 5Kg torque).
The brake servo access covers are similarly fitted at the root end, although they need no surface slots.

Meanwhile, the glassed canopy frame has been rubbed down & given an initial coat of grey primer both inside & out in readiness for spraying the outside in Cirrus Blue whilst the inside will be brush painted in Aircraft Grey/Green.
00C9EAC3-F137-4764-B15E-2E9A0EB8D90A.jpeg
2059E685-9DE1-45DA-94A0-13299D5C8162.jpeg
3BCB6E3A-ADCE-4867-9C6E-A5B9F5B1010B.jpeg

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 08 Aug 2021, 17:40
by Peter Balcombe
With the canopy frame now sprayed with grey primer it was time to bite the first bullet & cut the canopy to shape.
This task is slightly more pressured than normal as cutouts are needed at the rear to clear the ‘ears’ framework and also make sure that the top of the canopy goes up to the top of the framework in order to meet the LE shroud when fitted.
The photo shows the resultant ‘dry fit’ before spraying the frame in its final Cirrus Blue colour.
C421ABD7-57DC-4D87-931F-4CF7E20C90C7.jpeg

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 09 Aug 2021, 12:37
by Bovin
I am enjoying your building very much! What a beautiful canopy :D

Vincent

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 09 Aug 2021, 18:28
by Peter Balcombe
Thank you Vincent 👍
Canopy frame given first coat of Cirrus Blue using a rattle can. Will put on a further coat tomorrow once the 1st coat has fully dried.
The interior will be painted Aircraft Grey Green.
9C511C03-CFD6-41CE-A924-124A3D274F9C.jpeg

Re: Olympia 2b 1/3 scale

Posted: 11 Aug 2021, 18:39
by Peter Balcombe
Interior of the canopy frame was painted today with Aircraft Grey Green, so I will be able to fit the glazing tomorrow. Once that has been done, I will remove the lower rear frame cross member as this will make it much easier to fit the canopy with a pilot in place. (Note that there are pins on each rear side of the canopy frame, so they will prevent any ‘spreading’).

With the canopy side coming on nicely, I have produced a scale seat arrangement using info kindly provided by the owner of Oly VV400.
Thus 2 seat supports side frames have been 3D printed (blue is the only print filament I have at present I’m afraid!) & spacers cut from ply to make a frame which sits on the fuselage former & co-incidentally puts the pilot’s rear end at the correct scale height.
Note that the support frame slope in front of the seat pan is where the control stick assembly is attached on the full size. Similarly, the sloping rear uprights are used on the full size to attach either a recess or non-recessed back plate, depending on whether the pilot uses a back parachute or not. Both VV400 & 401 pilots use back parachutes, so there is a recess arranged for this to fit into.
Adding a seat pan made by laminating 3 pieces of 0.4mm ply together provides the correct seat profile & a test fit with one of Wilson’s pilots shows that all look good.

Having talked to Cliff, he will be able to supply laser cut parts for the seat support frame etc. in due course.
Seat support frame
Seat support frame
Seat pan in position
Seat pan in position
Pilot & canopy frame
Pilot & canopy frame