983RV Life

Tag: Fuselage

  • Cradle Done and Wiring Block Diagram Started

    Cradle Done and Wiring Block Diagram Started

    I spent quite a bit of time in Visio working on the block diagram. I know the components I want/need in the plane so now I just need to document how they will connect to each other as well as the redundant paths in case one of the methods goes awry. When Brendon got home from school I got him and Andrew to help me out in moving the fuselage to the cradle. It worked pretty well and it is surprisingly stable which makes sense with the main portion going through the spar of the plane. It is VERY tight in the garage right now so I will definitely need to take the wings to storage as soon as possible. I just need to find a safe way to do it. I will probably have to move them one at a time as I don’t think they will both fit in the trailer at the same time without overlapping and creating an opportunity for scratching. Either way, here’s pictures from the work today. Note: The block diagram is not 100% finished yet. I still have a bunch of documentation to validate what is needed, etc.

  • Additional Cradle Work

    Additional Cradle Work

    After looking at the cradle and thinking about the stability I want, I decided to put some additional length and width to the rear. This will allow me to adjust the cradle after I get the empennage attached so that it will support it a little bit better. But hopefully I won’t have to use this for too long as I got the rotisserie from the club which should be what I use for the majority of the build while it is not on its wheels. Either way, I used as much of the timber from the crate as I could which appears that some of it was made out of balsa…. It should be sturdy enough with how big of a block it is but it does give me some pause. I need one more wheel which I will pick up tomorrow and then I can move the spar mount brackets they had from the crate onto the cradle for my forward mount and then I have some additional 2×4’s which I can use to mount along the middle spar of the cradle to support the rear.

  • Fuselage and Empennage Retrieved and Cradle Build

    Fuselage and Empennage Retrieved and Cradle Build

    I got the fuselage and empennage today from storage. Took quite a bit of moving stuff around but we got it figured out. I got the fuselage removed from the crate and I started working on building a cradle. I think I might need to make it a bit longer though as the wood I used from the crate wasn’t long enough. Luckily I have plenty more where that came from to make it longer. I also ordered my magnetometer and one of the autopilot servos so that I can 100% finish the wings. I still need to determine how I want to terminate everything at the inboard wing rib but I’ll do more research tomorrow