The kit contents - QFII Full Kit, Doculam, CF tow, and some very tiny magnets
Date/Time: Tue Mar 28 19:03:35 2006
Closeup of some of the laser-cut parts. The laser also engraved part numbers onto them
Date/Time: Tue Mar 28 19:23:04 2006
Step 1: Glue balsa doublers to front of the fuselage - Getting the pieces ready
Date/Time: Wed Mar 29 22:48:12 2006
Step 1: F2 former used to set max depth for the fuselage doubler
Date/Time: Wed Mar 29 22:52:42 2006
Step 2: F2 to F5 bulkheads slot into one side of the fuse at 90 degrees
Date/Time: Sat Apr 1 13:25:42 2006
Just a little bit of weight being used during gluing of the fuse sides with the floor
Date/Time: Tue Apr 4 21:27:14 2006
Test fitting the wing bolt plates - the rear plate is about a mm above the fuselage
Date/Time: Sun Apr 23 12:39:00 2006
With a bit of light sanding, the rear wing bolt plate is now flush
Date/Time: Sun Apr 23 12:44:43 2006
The blind nut fitted to the front wing bolt plate and fastened with thick CA
Date/Time: Sun Apr 23 12:48:46 2006
Test rudder sanded to shape, biased glass cut, and a mylar cut and waxed with Carnauba wax
Date/Time: Sun Apr 23 14:09:31 2006
finishing resin was rubbed into the rudder, followed by fibreglass, then waxed mylar layed on top
Date/Time: Sun Apr 23 14:46:38 2006
Various books used to weight down the sandwich of balsa/fibreglass/mylar
Date/Time: Sun Apr 23 14:49:28 2006
End result of glassing the tail feathers. The elevator surfaces were not so good.
Date/Time: Thu Jun 1 21:04:54 2006
... but the rudder surfaces were superb, as I changed layup method.
Date/Time: Thu Jun 1 21:08:19 2006
Nose Block is formed from laminating pre-shaped balsa parts
Date/Time: Sat Jun 10 15:40:23 2006
The nose block is formed by laminating five pre-shaped balsa parts, using Weldbond. Once the nose block is glued into position on the nose of the fuselage, it will be sanded to shape.
Top spar in position
Date/Time: Sat Aug 19 12:15:47 2006
The top spar was placed into the notches in the ribs. To glue the top spar down, thin CA was wicked into the joints.
Wing Joiner being laminated using Weldbond.
Date/Time: Sat Sep 2 11:57:23 2006
The wing joiner is made of two shaped balsa parts laminated together using Weldbond. Note that one of the parts is slightly smaller than the other. This is to allow the joiner to slide in between the top and bottom spars, which are not quite parallel to each other.
Trial fitting the joiner into the other wing panel
Date/Time: Sat Sep 2 16:09:04 2006
Before any major step, I trial fit, to make sure everything lines up, fits, and is ready for permanency. Note the trailing edge lines up pretty much exactly :)
TRial fitting the wing braces
Date/Time: Sat Sep 2 16:29:09 2006
Gluing the wing halves together involves gluing not only the wing joiner bar, but two wing joiner braces. These braces have previously been laminated with strips of carbon tow.
Table-top flying a rather naked QuickFlick II
Date/Time: Mon Oct 2 15:08:18 2006
It's always good to bench fly a new glider. The wing is done, but needs covering with Doculam.
A straight wing half with a flat carbon strip
Date/Time: Mon Oct 2 15:11:04 2006
Pre-preg carbon strips were laid down over the D-box sheeting on the top and bottom of the wing. The end result is a quite stiff wing. Mine came out nice and flat too - no warps or twists.
Wing tip detail
Date/Time: Mon Oct 2 15:13:26 2006
I wasn't happy with the wing tip . I lined up the tip sheet with the trailing edge, and should have lined it up with the leading edge. The fix was to add another sheet to the underside of the tip, to line up with the LE, and sanded to shape.
Wing mounting block detail
Date/Time: Mon Oct 2 15:13:57 2006
The instructions show a balsa sheet installed over the mounting block and between Ribs 1A. But there's so many difficult curves, that I decided not to bother. It's not a structural component anyway.
Wing covered with Doculam
Date/Time: Mon Oct 9 19:34:43 2006
The wing has been covered with Doculam, which is a thin heat-sensitive film covering used on text books. It shrinks just enough to remove the wrinkles. I'm impressed by the results.
The pushrod linkages connected to the control surfaces
Date/Time: Mon Oct 9 19:37:11 2006
Thin CA was wicked down the pushrod sleeves, to secure them to the boom.
