| Day 1 |
|
The box was slightly bigger than that of the Somethin Extra. The Patriot has a LOT of parts, a lot more than the
Extra did. In fact, most of the parts are not even cut, they're just blocks of wood or balsa sticks.
|
|
The plans, once unrolled, reminded me just how much work is ahead of me. This is not going to be an easy, or quick
for that matter, project.
|
|
All the parts have been organized. The parts list that came with the Patriot was unfortunately useless as
it referred to part numbers and vague descriptions of what it represented, it is next to impossible to compare
it to the items to ensure that everything is accounted for.
Additionally, the items are not laser cut like the Something extra, I suspect they were simply die cut.
As it involved a lot of exacto knife work to pop all the parts out.
|
| Day 2 |
|
I begun by assembling the fin. At this stage I realized that this project will require a lot of sanding and shaping.
This project will take a lot of CA to assemble.
|
|
The stab was next, I overlayed the plans with wax paper to prevent CA sticking the project to the plans. Once
again, a lot of sanding and shaping was required to complete these steps. I think I was spoiled by the
Somethin' Extra's Pre-Shaped, Pre-Cut parts. The Great Planes patriot will be a lot of work to complete.
And knowing me, it'll be a lot of chances for screwups.
|
| Day 3 |
|
I've started assembling the Patriot wing. The first step involved in gluing and cutting some balsa to make the
top and bottom spars
|
|
The leading edge sheeting for the wings took only few minutes to complete. Essentially a strip of balsa was cut diagonally
and then reglued to form a big triangle.
|
|
The ribs of the wing being alligned to the plans and the bottom spar. I've pinned the spar to the work area
to make the alignment easier. The work area is actually a small piece of drywall.
|
|
The notched trailing edge attached to the ribs, it took me a while to align everything properly. I used thin CA to
initially set the alignment, then follwed by thick CA and accelerant to permanentaly attach it.
|
| Day 4 |
|
It was a short day, I've only had time to cut and glue the balsa web shears to the wing.
|
| Day 5 |
|
I've sheeted the top leading edge of the wing. I had some screwups along the way I don't want to get into.
I'll have to do quite a bit of sanding and filler (and more sanding) to fix this.
|
|
The construction of the second wing was much quicker than the first one. Essentially repeating the steps.
I've managed to pretty much build up the entire wing structure in just a matter of hours.
|
