Airplanes: Chuperosa Part 8

The wing is finally complete. It's been a busy summer, so finishing this project is proving difficult- but with this step complete, progress is being made. I still need to add the glass tape at the center, but I wanted to document it at this stage because I think the tape clashes with the overall form. This was my first scratch built wing. It was a great learning experience, but I'm looking forward to my next project being a laser cut kit.

Airplanes: Chuperosa Part 6

The left wing panel is finally complete. I need to pick up a new scale to see how much more sanding I need to do- hopefully those holes I drilled in the TE will help reduce the weight. If you have any wing building tips, please let me know and post a comment.

Airplanes: Chuperosa Part 5

This is taking longer than I thought. I forgot that I would also have to make my own drawings. Below is a picture of the left wing panel with 6 more ribs to fit. Notice the steel straight edge at the leading edge- this is the first time I tried this, and it works very well because it not only trues up the LE, it gives you a more solid object to work with, which in turn helps make sure the ribs can be sung without bowing any of your straight lines.

Airplanes: Chuperosa Part 4

I shaped the wing ribs today. This was the first time I used the stacking technique, and it seems to work well. It's exciting to see this glider finally take shape.

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