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Blejzyk FIRST 2-meter Polyhedral Build

G-man

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My introduction to Blejzyk kits is the 2-meter polyhedral FIRST.
What a joy to build because the engineering is superb and the
quality of the wing components and tail surface parts is so high.
The fuselage is in a class by itself - a wonderful example of the molder's art.

My FIRST build took 14.25 workbench hours over 12 calendar days.
My all-up RTF weight is 30.9 ounces, 876 grams. Nose weight 2.6 oz, 74 g.

It passed the initial hand-launch testing this afternoon.
Spring cannot come soon enough for me.

// Dave
Aloft Blejzyk FIRST_3180.JPG
Aloft Blejzyk FIRST_3239.JPG
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Aloft Blejzyk FIRST PLG-3361.JPG
Aloft Blejzyk FIRST PLG-3364.JPG
 

Konrad

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I hear you about spring!

How have you finished the wings?

All the best,
Konrad

P.S.
G-man you look familiar. Are you known by other names in the soaring community? That LSF mug is a bit of a give away.
(Watch it, this is a family friendly site. I know a lot of folks call me by some colorful names):oops:
 
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G-man

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jvaliensi

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Nice!
Reminds me of my 1st RC flight with a 6ft Drifter kit I built. I finished it in jan/Feb and couldn't wait to fly it. I never flew RC and didn't have an instructor. My buddy from school came along. We launched it with an Upstart and I flew it around ok. I landed about a 1/4-mile away from where we were standing. As we walked across the field, which was covered with 2ft of snow, my friend remarked "you are going to have to learn to land closer to us!"
By that spring I was playing catch with my glider.
 

Wayne

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Hey Dave, thanks for posting up! You always do an amazing build and I love the photos, cant wait to hear how the first flights go. I have not yet flown one of the 2 channel gliders from Blejzyk, but do have a Faun nearly built. The Faun is the 1.5m little brother of the First.

For those that may not know, Dave contributes boatloads to the glider community and he will not accept a penny in return. He is a true glider lover and I'm very pleased he likes the Blejzyk kits.
 

G-man

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JV> my friend remarked "you are going to have to learn to land closer to us!"

Old Flying Buddy Dennis Phelan used to say, "Walking is part of soaring."

JV> By that spring I was playing catch with my glider.

Like a boss. Way to go.
 

G-man

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Wayne,
I will take your advice and try an aileron Blejzyk aileron kit, "to see the excellent live hinges."
Give me a little time to decide which one I want to build first.
Thank you for making all this fabulous stuff available to us.
// Dave
 

Konrad

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Welcome G-man (Dave)

Walking and hiking is why we men call this a sport. Never mind what the wife calls it.;)

I love the Blejzky kits. In the last few months it seems that every time I walk into Wayne's shop I walk out with a Blejzyk kit. I have 4 on the bench as I type. (I need to learn to focus!) I like the live hinge with wiper pocket. Just something you don't see in most wooden wings. Its a nod towards the molded models. I will be modifying the 2.2 m Igi for as a 4 servo wing. But is one wants a native 4 servo wing the 2.4 m Hammer looks real nice! The S7012 handles a lot like the RG15. With the slopes we have here. It really responds well to adding ballast and ballast and ballast, I hope you get the idea.
https://alofthobbies.com/igi-2-2-meter.html
https://alofthobbies.com/hammer-2-4.html

Not much of a skid. looks like you got most of the energy out of her on landing.

All the best,
Konrad
 

G-man

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Konrad,
Yeah, my wife has some memorable names for me, too.
I can see why you're piling up the Blejzky kits. Great product.
I'll be getting another after I see how this one flys in my little world.
Short skid in the snow, you're right. Throwing into 15-18 MPH head wind.
I know live hinge. What is wiper pocket?
// Dave
 

Konrad

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Dave,
I may be using the wrong nomenclature. Wiper pocket is what I call the space where the lower leading edge of the control surface goes into when deflected. On most of my glider I have a gap sealing wiper ( hence the name) over the hinge clearance space.

Here are some photos showing this on my Blejzky Mefisto. I'm call it a wing pocket.
https://forum.alofthobbies.com/index.php?threads/mefisto-build-blejzyk.284/

All the best,
Konrad
 

G-man

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Konrad,
Oh, right. The slot before the flap LE, 'cuz it's hinged on top.
Airtronics used to sell mylar aileron/flap hinge tape, adhesive all the way across on one side.
And mylar aileron/flap gap seal tape, adhesive half the way across on one side.
// Dave
 

Konrad

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Yep, I still make my own gap seals of that style, out of double sided tape and thin mylar to cover the classic “V” gap we see in most wood wings.
https://forum.alofthobbies.com/inde...d-thread-on-alofts-forum.125/page-6#post-1951
https://forum.alofthobbies.com/inde...d-thread-on-alofts-forum.125/page-6#post-1960
The Blejzky models have a pocket that is actually a kin to the wiper seals we see in composite ship of old. It is easy to actual add wipers should one want.
Blejzky kits really are nicely thought out models.

All the best,
Konrad
Wipers composite.jpg
 

G-man

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I have an Elf on my todo list. Would you mind sharing what electronics you used?
Sure:
- Four-cell 4.8 volt NiCd battery pack. Many suppliers.
- FrSKY V8R7-II receiver. From Aloft.
- HiTec HS-85MG servos. HS-82MG boxes shown, and they would work as well.
- Charge switch. Many suppliers: JR, Electrodynamics, Hobby King fitted if I remember right.
- LED Receiver Voltage Monitor. Multiple suppliers.

If were building an Elf, I'd take Wayne's recommendation for in-wing servos.
 

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Wayne

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G-man - Sorry, to combat spam we do not allow a new user to post links without moderator approval. Right now that is pretty much just me and with our new space and everything else I can't always get on here to clear the moderator que. Very sorry. On the plus side, we did avoid a bunch of windows 10 spams..
 

G-man

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Wayne - Not a problem. I understand. Thank you for keeping the train running.

I'll post pictures. Here is one photo with two building tips:
1. Use a drill press vice to hold a round fuselage steady during bench work.
2. Tapping threads into plywood eliminates the need for the underneath hardware.
 

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Konrad

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What are you using as soft jaws? I assume it is some kind of conformal compound, rubber foam?
I'd think that hard jaws would still allow the fuselage to spin in the jaws.

All the best,
Konrad
 

G-man

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It's worked for me so far with the original hard jaws.
If it became a problem, the jaws could be faced with
rubber sheeting (like inner tube rubber), or EPP foam.
 

G-man

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The FIRST fuselage is so beautiful I did not want to have the visual distraction of an external rudder linkage.
Here is my method to keep the rudder control linkage inside the fuselage.
 

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