Wawayanda Flying Club Forum

Originally posted under General Discussion titled: Merry Christmas to ME!!
Decided to put it under Project Builds and add pix as I work on it.
Here are the original pix the day I brought it home:
As I stated in my original post, the original owner glued the control surfaces with HUGE GAPS!!
That is the first issue I am addressing.

Starting to address the hinge gaps.
Have new hinges and a drill guide Gizmo coming.
Hopefully I can drill out the old hinges & replace them.
The hardwood blocks inside the structures are too small to relocate the hinges, Sooo... I'm gonna have to drill out the originals.
Also have servos, pull-pull cables, & other bits & pieces ordered.
Power will be a DLE 30 (Thank you Henry!!)

Got some more STUFF today.
Harbor Freight drill press. (Will drill straighter holes than I could by hand)
Also got a V-Block for it to hold rounded pieces.
And the hinges & other stuff showed up, so tomorrow i can start trying out the drill press.

Putting considerable time into this plane, not much progress to show for it.
Cutting old hinges, drilling them out & reassembling control surfaces takes time if its to be done right.
Found out that the best way to cut old hinges is with a nice new, sharp #2 Xacto blade in a HD handle.
Steady pressure and a rocking motion cuts cleanly through the hinge.
A dremel with a tiny saw blade or a grinding disc just melts through the hinge, leaving a mess.
Compared to the drill press, the cleanest, most accurate holes i made were by hand.
Started with a tiny bit in a pin vise, & gradually increased size to what was needed.
With the drill press, the bit would flex a little bit & be off center.

nice progress