I have been plugging away slowly on my modified RCP F18V3 and have reached the stage where I am ready for the main assembly. In this first picture I wanted to point out a different wing reinforcement setup I am going to experiment with. On our NAMC Mig-35 and Mig-FA, we have had great success with a "Pi" shaped setup, named as such because it resembles the mathematical symbol "Pi". On the F18 because of the different wing shape and the fact that I moved the motor mount forward by 1", I was not going to be able to run as long a main wing spar as if I built stock. So I am going to experiment with this "A" shaped plan. The main spar is 4mm carbon rod, very stiff, a piece about 16.5" long. The two pieces of carbon fibre that angle along the leading edge of the wing out to the wing tip are 3mm carbon tube, each piece 12.5" long. I didn't come up with these lengths using any kind of scientific formula, I just had them laying around and they seemed to fit my plan just fine. Already I can tell it will be a very stiff, strong wing, even stronger once I install the KF4 airfoils.
It might be hard to see the line in the picture, so I put a pen to point where the line is so I could ensure that the inside tip of the 3mm carbon tube pieces will get locked under the nacelles/intakes when those are glued on. As we learned from the NAMC Mig-35/FA, this really helps lock in the carbon fibre tube to make as solid a wing reinforcement as possible.
I attached the back plate/horizontal stab/elevon piece back on to the main wing plate and I have also installed my elevon control horns. I find it so much easier to do this when it is still a flat piece of foam to work with. On this wing plate, I have also sanded the trailing edge of the wing/aileron so that it is symmetrically tapered to allow for smooth airflow. I also did the same to the leading edge of the horizontal stab/elevon and the trailing edge of the elevon, the leading and trailing edges of the prop slot, all to allow for smoothest airflow possible.
I have also installed a short piece of 3mm carbon fibre tube in each vertical stab, these pieces are 5.5" long, again nothing scientific, just what I had laying around. The side shown of the vert stab/rudder assembly will actually be on the outside of the plane with the smooth side of the hinge on the inside. This hopefully keeps the prop wash area between the stabs/rudders as smooth as possible by having the bevelled part of the hinge on the outside. You can see a blue line I drew so that when the stab/rudder is installed on the plane, a portion of the carbon tube will extend below the wing plate to lock it in nice and tight and hopefully keep the vertical stabs from fluttering in the wind and high alpha.
I also assembled the fuselage and installed the canopy. I tapered the canopy front and back by narrowing the centre piece by 1/4" on both sides giving a more oval shape to not only make it look good, but hopefully more sleek through the air. The front part of the fuselage has been shaved down with a knife to remove the square edges of the score lines, then filled with a very lightweight finishing spackle, then that has all been sanded as smooth and sleek as I can get it to present the least amount of drag.
Next up is to put the plane together short of installing the vert stabs/rudders, I will do that last after final sanding as I find it easier to handle the plane without the vert stabs/rudders in the way when I am constantly flipping the plane on it's back to adjust elevon and aileron control setups.
More to follow very soon, I'm getting more excited at each stage of the build to see how this modified F18 is going to turn out and perform :)
Cheers,
Scott
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