Building techniques for Jet powered UAVs and models RSS

0. Introduction   This tutorial is following the one made by Joe Grice that you will find just below this article. This presents different techniques from the one used by Joe. The result achieved with my techniques will be slightly different. The panel lines will be more pronounced and the general aspect of the aircraft will be rougher. 1. Aircraft preparation   One nice thing with Flite metal is that it sticks better to mirror finished surfaces. So I usually just wipe the whole aircraft with an acetone dipped cloth to get rid of the demoulding wax. Then I fill...

The following is a step by step tutorial on applying Flite-Metal.   An easy way to remove the metal from the roll without wrinkling.   Tools required. Sand surface with 320 grit . Hold against flat surface while releasing to avoid curl. Burnish/press onto surface. Lay masking tape right up to edge of panel. Overlap next piece onto tape. Use ruler and #11 blade to cut, but leave tiny lap. Burnish edge down. Sand lap edge to remove overlap. Now you have level butted edge. Sand overall with 320 grit.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Use straight edge and #2 mechanical pencil to...

0. Introduction Heat management is essential to jet powered UAVs or models. The safety of the vehicles and property or persons on the ground can be affected in many ways by heat related issues. Bush fires ( fire bans in the summer ), direct burns due to jet efflux/ hot parts exposure, airframe destruction in flight, loss of control due to airframe deformation or electronics burning, airframe explosion due to jet pipe implosion are some examples among many others. The main source of heat in the model is obviously the jets engine. This type of powerplant is basically burning the fuel as hot...

I am getting a lot of questions from customers about cartridge tips. "Should I use one?" "isn't it better to mix the glue all by myself?" I have been using Hysol glue for many year in professional/ aerospace applications and the answer is simple: I am using long, short and no tips! Here is how I use a tip for my application. If I have to glue large surfaces together or blocks, I use no tips and mix the glue directly on a post-it block. When I have finished the job, I peel off the used sheet and the block is...

Hysol glue is a great product. The cartridge system enables you to meter exactly the proper mix ratio and the tips will get you to do a professional job very easily. However, there are basically 3 choices of glue.   1. Hysol 9462 http://www.ultimate-jets.net/collections/glues/products/hysol-9462 It is a great glue that makes very strong joints and remains slightly flexible when cured. This is perfect for gluing formers in a fuselage for example. This glue is slightly more expensive than the two other types and has a setting time of 7 hours, which is quite long and requires building planning to avoid...