Mini Bee by Angelwing Designs

[Hank GB Z]

I got quite a bit done today. I had to move rooms at my hotel but the bigger room comes with a small balcony perfect for sanding at so the room doesn't fill up with balsa dust. I tack glued the motor mount and cowl on to sand to shape to the fuselage. The one side of the cowl is really thin i will probably add some material to the inside later. I need to sand the burn marks off the "instrument panel" but for now it's shaped and i'm pretty happy with it.

Next up the wing.

Also, i wanted to actually fly something so i made some paper air planes. Gotta scratch that itch some how.

Hank

 

[Konrad]

I have to admit I'm snickering at that Tee Dee.

 

[Wayne]

Love the extra steps on the rudder, turned out really nice.

 

[Hank GB Z]

Ok, another update. I made the center section of the wing the other day. I started by sanding the burn marks off the wood. Then i started gluing the part together. The hardest part was keeping the trailing edge stock, straight while glueing it on. I need to trim the spar and leading edge still. Tomorrow i hope to make the wing tips. After that it's the horizontal stab then i'm pretty much done with stuff i can do on this model till i get it home.

enjoy the pics,


Hank

 

[Konrad]

Kind of surprised at how much wood this has.

 

[Hank GB Z]

Yeah I know what you mean. It’s also turning out much bigger than I anticipated. The wing center section and wing tips are on separate plan pages so you don’t get a feel from the drawing of the final size.

Hank

 

[Hank GB Z]

Ok, I got the wing tips made up. I had to cut an angle on the rear spar to fit the curve of the wing tip. I dry fitted the tips using pins to hold them to the center section. It's not perfect but i'm gonna wait till i get the model back to my shop to fix them and make the panels fit well. I have better tools for that back home. I also added the laminations to the elevators just need to sand them. I will add laminations to the horizontal stab when i get home the scrap wood isn't long enough to make a single pice lamination.

I'm kinda suprised how long the wing it. It makes sense since it's supposed to be a glider but still suprising.

Aside from some sanding this model is pretty much done for now. When i get it home i will finish her up, i don't think it'll take to long to get her ready to cover and finish up.

Hank

 

[Hank GB Z]

Ok, one more update from the hotel. I finally head home tomorrow so tonight i will box up the model and get ready to bring her home. I'll make a post about the model surviving or not.

My friends daughter got a doll house kit for her B-day recently and as I was the only adult that builds stuff i ended up helping her put together a bunch of the furniture pieces. She did really good so i've decided to leave all the stuff i bought here for her to work with, MDF board, cutting mat, sand paper etc.

Also i thought i'd post up some pictures of other things i have built in hotel rooms. I meant to do this earlier but never got around to it.

the white plane is the MInt 2 from Pilot models (the white model), it's a nice little glider similar to the Top Model Minus that Aloft used to stock but just R/E. This pic is from when i finished the glider at home. The other is the Micro Gentle Lady that Aloft now makes. Also a bunch of different FF gliders i had made one time. Those are always nice because i can go fly them in the local park.

Hank

 

[Hawaii Sloper]

@Hawaii Sloper was super impressed with the angelwings and stuff from @Red . We talked to the owner of angelwings about doing a big order to save on shipping but i think his wife has been sick so he has been not working on production very much lately.

At Sunset this year @Red sold me an Angelwings SOAS. It is such a sexy plane. It went together really well. Pretty nice kit with only one or two minor frustrations. Currently waiting for some Ultracote carbon fiber and other colors to come back in stock so I can finish it. @Wayne would love it if you carried some Ultracote!
It’s the first balsa kit I’ve built in about 20 years! The last one was a Goldberg Gentle Lady. I have been doing the ARTF or foam planes and fpv for a long time instead. I didn’t have space or didn’t have time to kit build depending on what year it was. Really looking forward to having a few of Angelwings other kits when they are available. I forgot how much I love building a balsa plane.

@Hank GB Z This looks like a fun kit. Love the 3D print of the old glow motor! At first I didn’t even see the electric motor just thought it was a little gasser.

 

[Wayne]

We have ordered our covering film, and should have it here in a month or two. We went with the no-name brand just because it is cheaper and worked well in our testing. A lot cheaper.

 

[Hank GB Z]

Cute!
But because one has a laser cutter doesn't mean you should use it! This reminds me of my Lady Bug hoops. BTW; anybody have a surce for Trexler wheels?

View attachment 12094
View attachment 12095

Hey Konrad,

I sent you a text about the trexlers I have. Let me know when you get it.

Hank

 

[Hank GB Z]

Ok another update.

I got back a few days ago and I finally settled down enough to get back in the shop. I’m pleased to report the mini bee survived the trip just fine. Tonight I started doing final prep on the wing to join up the panels. Hopefully by next weekend I’ll be on to covering.

Here’s a pic of the parts on my bench. And yes this is after I cleaned the bench up...

Hank

 

[Konrad]

A clean desk, uh bench is a sign of a sick mind.

 

[Wayne]

Oh dang.. That looks like my office here at Aloft.

p.s. Funny story from the weekend. I had recently done a major cleanup of my garage/shop at home. This weekend while working on a car project I needed my big vice.. I could not find it!! How do you loose a vice?? I finally found it, but had to laugh at this..

 

[Hank GB Z]

Ok it’s been a little while. I glued the wing together awhile back then the project stalled. I decided I needed to finish something so this seemed easiest. I added the laminations to the horizontal stab that came out nice. The cowl got damaged because it was really thin at the top. I just chopped it down and I’m moving on. This shows off more of the fake motor any way.

I didn’t care for how the axel was just a piece of canon rod running over the lower stringer. So I made these brass straps and screwed down a steel rod. This is what my dad calls brute force engineering.
I need to do some planning for the push rods and control horns then it’s on to final prep for covering. Hopefully this weekend.

Hank

 

[Konrad]

I think I'll steal that for my Pirat. I'm getting pressure to get some of my low performance models built for Sunset. I don't want to go, but I think SWMBO has other ideas! I fear what she is going to do when I'm out of the house!

 

[Hank GB Z]

Yeah. I’ll have to look at my Pirat too. This might be a good option. I had some ideas about adding a bulk head and a spring wheel but simpler is better.

Hank

 

[Konrad]

Not happy with my solution. I added some carbon tow to carry some of the loads to the wing. I assume the wing will be the heavyest component that the wheel will need to support.

 

[Hank GB Z]

Yeah after you said you weren’t happy with the carbon tow. This was my thought. A ply bulk head behind the cockpit opening with a bent up piece of music wire to act as both a spring and a axel. I’d probably add a servo tray going into the cockpit to mount the rudder servo to.

Hank

 

[Hank GB Z]

Uhm. Ok. I think we are talking about 2 different things