wakehand

Those are some sweet machines, I bet they're a blast to race on the water.

wakehand

Had a bit of nerve wracking build session getting the wing together. I had to do a little sanding of the W1 wing ribs to get them to sit flush with each other. I also decided not to use thin CA to join the main dihedral braces, instead I elected to use titebond 3. I figured I'd have better adhesion and a longer open time to make adjustments this way.

mkjohnston

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Steve, I am building a Sig Kavalier right now and I am not familiar with your Sig Kadet LT 40. I have never seen some one glue a wing together like you show in your photographs.Did you by chance glue the wing halfs together upside down? They really need to set up on your building right side up with one side flat and the other side elevated to get the correct dihedral angle. I have a 4 feet balsa building board which lays on top of my bench. I lay one side of my wing with part of it hanging off the edge to give room to prop up the other side for gluing and to set the proper dihedral angle. I would not use Titebond or CA to glue dihedral braces into the wing panels or to glue the wing together as it is not strong enough to hold the braces or the wing together. Use 5 minute or better epoxy as it will hold and your wing wont fold on its maiden voyage!
Build looks great Keep up the good work!
Michael Johnston
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wakehand

Hi Michael,
I should clarify, the wing halves were glued according to instructions, that is the left wing was pinned down and the right was placed into position while gluing (with a ply spacer to ensure the correct dihedral). I have some experience with titebond 3 and I have no doubt that the bond will be stronger than the wood. The instructions called for thin ca, which made me a little wary.. I've never tried epoxy and was hesitant to use it for such a critical assembly (not knowing how it tacks and sets up and such). We'll see how it goes!

mkjohnston

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Steve, Ok I like titelbond too but I would never use it for this purpose. I have built a few airplanes over the years and epoxy is not that hard to use at all, You have part A and part b and you pour equal amounts of it into a mixing container. after mixing it well you apply it with a disposable brush. I also put on nitrle gloves as I dont like to get it on my hands. I like Devcon 5 minute myself and I only use it to glue the wings together and the firewalls of my aiplanes. I just used it on the trailing edges of my Kavalier as it was reconmended by Clyde MCculloch the designer of the Kadet series. He said that using Titebond or CA tends to warp he trailing edge after letting it dry. I built my first Kadet in 1978 and I used way to much Titebond on that airplane turned out to be what I call a Lead sled but it still flew great. I dilute it with water now as a friend of mine who is a master builder told that really dont need full strength! If you are concerned with the holding strength of the 5 minute epoxy you could get a 15 or 30 minute epoxy. It just means you have to support what you are gluing a little longer depending on the set up time. Take Care
Michael Johnston

TomCrump

CA, Titebond, and epoxy are all suitable for joining the wings on the LT-40. It's a matter of personal preference.

I built my entire LT-40 using CA exclusively. The model showed no signs of deterioration, even though it was excessively powered.

You can't go wrong by following Sig's directions, so don't worry.

wakehand

Thanks for the reassurance Tom! Which engine did you have in your LT-40?

flyboy2610

My Feedback: (1)

I personally do not use 5 minute epoxy for anything. If I'm going to epoxy something I use 30 minute epoxy. If the joint needs the strength of epoxy, then I want it to be STRONG!

mkjohnston

My Feedback: (2)

I've been building model RC airplanes for 40 plus years and I have also used 5 minute epoxy in almost every build that Ive done. To this day I never had a wing fold from using 5 minute epoxy. I also use it fuel proof my engine and fuel compartments. Michael

TomCrump

I had a Tower . 46 in my LT. It was very untrainer-like when pushed. LOL

wakehand

A quick update to explain the lack of updates... A business trip broke up my momentum and when I got back to building this week I glued up the fuselage doublers incorrectly, making two left sides. On the plus side the wing is complete and looks pretty good. I placed a call to Sig to order new parts and they should be here in a week or so. It ended up being a very expensive mistake as shipping was $55usd to Canada.

Hydro Junkie

Did you ever consider just buying the wood and making the parts yourself? It probably would have been less expensive. Just a thought

jollyroger

My Feedback: (6)

I have a number of Harry Higley's books. One of them has many useful suggestions when building a plane. One of them concerns building the wing: First one wing is partially built and the second wing is then built onto the first using the correct dihedral (if used) that way both root ribs come together perfectly and allow for better sheeting. The builder then finishes building both wings. I've tried it both ways and actually like Higley's idea.
It does require the builder to have a good size table or bench to build both wings at once.

flyboy2610

My Feedback: (1)

That is an interesting idea. What is the name of that book? I'd like to find a copy. I have Higley's book "All About Engines". I think that's the title. It's downstairs and I'm upstairs. Pretty good book.