The Black Arrow

[Jmk89]

A beginning made on the next steps:

1.     second part of the tailplane casing glued in place


2.     the plug piece glued between the two vertical spacers


3.     two upper side pieces shaped from 2.5mm balsa using the tail rib template to guide the scalpel blade


4.     the upper side pieces glued onto the top of the sloped centre ribs of the tailplane



Just need to:
1.    sand the plug so it fits the front fuselage
2.    sand the top side pieces so they flow neatly down to the tail
3.    cover the tail casing
4.    add hooks and tail skid to the tail casing.

[Jmk89]

Now the following have been done:

1.   The plug is cut and sanded down so that it fits in the rear hole in the fuselage


2.   The upper side pieces are sanded down to follow the line of the upper longerons


3.  The tailplane is plugged into the end of the fuselage.

[Jmk89]

Covered the tail covering and put the thing together to do a bit of test gliding in the back yard.  No photos yet.

CG was at about 50% of wing chord (no CG marked on the plan) and without adjustment there was a straight dive.  Added tail weight - needed 5.5 gms before we got a decent glide. So I added 3mm increase to wing incidence (it was set with 0 ° according to the plan) and she only needed 3 gms of clay.

Decided to put 2 or 3 coats of banana oil on the tail structure.  We will see what the weight of tail plane is in the morning when that dries.

I hope to go and test out at the paddock with the KeilKraft grass tomorrow - rain permitting.  Photos will be supplied!

Current weights:

tail -  7.5g
wing - 11g
fuselage - 41g (including 4 strands x 400mm x 6mm rubber)
prop and noseblock - 10.5g

[dputt7]

Hope the weather is fine and you have a successful trial.

[Jmk89]

Too damp today. The forecast for tomorrow is better. So fingers crossed!

[Jmk89]

Only flying has been on the back lawn - so far the test glides have been pretty good, but I need to repair the tailplane as the trailing edge got crushed in one landing/arrival.

But here are some more pictures taken on the kids'  trampoline (they're now in their 20s but the trampoline remains so it may as well be used as a photo stage )

[dputt7]

  Thanks for the photos Jeremy, It really looks the part and the "Black Arrow" finishes it off nicely.

[Jmk89]

The test glides in the back yard in the slight mizzle that was falling at the time reveled a problem - both fins decided to warp.  So they have been removed (thinners in ziplock bag again to dissolve the balsa cement I used) and I am now making the outlines from bamboo rather than laminated balsa.

If all goes well I may go and fly her on Sunday.