Airplanes: Chuperosa Part 1

Here's a 1.5 meter 2Ch. sailplane currently in the assembly line. Called the Chuperosa- it's an old kit with sheeted foam core wings, built up fuse, and sheet tail feathers. Unfortuantely, I was dealt a setback the other week when I attempted to sheet the wings. I was using Dave Brown Southern's Sorghum for the adhesive and after I applied the glue and placed the top sheet on, I noticed it was a bit crooked so I attempted to re-set and destroyed the skin. It was very frustrating due to the time it took to make the skins. I do not recommend using that type of glue. Next time, (if I can bring myself to work with foam cores again) I will use the white glue technique as described here. So now, the next step is to scratch build a traditional wing using the root airfoil as my main pattern. It appears that the company who manufactured this kit is no longer around- if any of you have built or flown a chuperosa, know of any groups, resources associated with this model please post a comment. I will have several more posts on this project starting next week so, as always check back often! Below are the pics of the fuse, and tail assemblies and the front cover of the instruction manual

Airplanes: Mini Kestral

Here's a small scale RC glider that I recently completed called the Mini Kestral. It was designed by the master modeler Dave Robelen. It has a 38" high aspect-ratio wingspan, and is built completely out of lightweight contest grade balsa. I found the construction article in the now (unfortunately) defunct Radio Control Microflight magazine. Plans can be purchased here. I still need to install the electronics- which will not be easy due to the small size of this bird. Stay tuned for new posts when she's flight ready, along with posts from the field on the maiden flight!

Robotics: Link Crawler

Here's a bot that I built a while back that I named link crawler due to the wonky linkage. It was a bit low-end, but it actually stomped around like it might of had a purpose. It was controlled by a basic stamp microcontroller from parallaxinc, used 6 servos for motion, and was unfortunately sensor-less for its short lifespan due to the fact that this project was an exploration of walking style robots. There's something about seeing a fabricated object with moving appendages that never ceases to amaze me.

Projects: My Workbench

This was a pretty simple deal. Purchasing and transporting the materials was more difficult than the actual assembly. It is made from 2x4's and a fantastic 7' solid core office door that I scored from work which is covered with a 1/8th" hardboard veneer that was cut to match the door. My friend Eric made this possible with his miter saw and 4 runner, and I suppose his construction experience. I found the reference drawings and info/instructions here: http://www.freeww.com/workbenches.html
Below are the sequence photos: