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Sunset 2023 - Surfer project
- Thread starter thenated0g
- Start date
Doc J
Very Strong User
thenated0g
Moderator
@Hawaii Sloper and I talked about it some this evening and I think what I'm going to do is just not plan on having the surfer on top or if I do save it for last and I'm going to build it as light as possible like planning not to crash and that will keep the weight down in the nose significantly.
thenated0g
Moderator
The craziness has begun.
Debating whether or not I want to pick up some thin door skin plywood to use as my airfoil templates instead of the sheet metal. The nice thing about the wood templates is that you can sand it to make a nice finish so it's even.
Pretty sure there's some full scale planes that don't have this root.
Debating whether or not I want to pick up some thin door skin plywood to use as my airfoil templates instead of the sheet metal. The nice thing about the wood templates is that you can sand it to make a nice finish so it's even.
Pretty sure there's some full scale planes that don't have this root.
thenated0g
Moderator
Stock Pw51 airfoil. Good point about the laser
thenated0g
Moderator
thenated0g
Moderator
I had thought about trying to make the 4 pieces of the template connect together like a puzzle but since this is a one off part i decided it wasn't worth my time. Instead i just used some E6000 glue as it has some movement to it and overlapped a piece over the seam.
Since the surfboard foam is so dense and heavy i have been considering using some lighter insulation foam in the back and heavy surf foam in the nose area. Or maybe some holes in the back.
Since the surfboard foam is so dense and heavy i have been considering using some lighter insulation foam in the back and heavy surf foam in the nose area. Or maybe some holes in the back.
thenated0g
Moderator
I started blocking out the foam and figuring out what sizes i need. I ended up making the front 26" block out of the heavy surfboard foam. I will hit home depot this weekend and grab some lighter Rigid insulation for the back 46". I have been pretty happy with the monokote stuff at aloft and its definitely lighter covering than the other things i could do so that should help with tail weight as well. I do want the surfboard to be able to sit on the elevons upright, like a surfboard would normally sit against a railing/wall, so i am going to reinforce the elevons, probably with some light ply on the top surface so it has some more strength.
For the vertical stabilizer/surf fin i am going to have it friction fit into the fuselage. Sandwiched in some light plywood or EPP, something that is applying pressure, but will allow it to rip out in a crash.
For graphics i decided to just go with an easy classic surf design. Something like this.
For the vertical stabilizer/surf fin i am going to have it friction fit into the fuselage. Sandwiched in some light plywood or EPP, something that is applying pressure, but will allow it to rip out in a crash.
For graphics i decided to just go with an easy classic surf design. Something like this.
Doc J
Very Strong User
thenated0g
Moderator
thenated0g
Moderator
Doc J
Very Strong User
Look out for the lateral stability Nate. Otherwise you might find it has a pretty hard to control oscillation due to the air escaping off the sides of the board.
I hope I'm wrong on that.
Couple of nice slightly oversized fins underneath? 'fin-like' surfer riding on top? Side rails?
Its bonkers but I love it.
Doc.
thenated0g
Moderator
thenated0g
Moderator
Forgot to mention that at this point it weighs 2.2kg
thenated0g
Moderator
A little bit of work on the surfboard this morning. First thing I did was take my tool and even out the silhouette shape it was kind of rough from hot wire cutting. Next, I marked an equal distance away from each corners on the top and used Japanese style. Saw to cut that exact angle. And then used tools to round that over. The tip of the nose needs some work and I still need to do the same on the bottom before I can see it all rounded and decide if I want to do more.
One thing that's kind of hard is that a normal surfboard is pretty much the same thickness all the way through and so you can get pretty close to the same round shape on the corners. Whereas this surfboard is an airfoil shape so it's very thick in the front and not very thin in the back. So I'm just kind of going to have to eyeball it to see how much I want to adjust the shape of those corners.
There's definitely going to be imperfections that you'll see on it, but pretty happy with how it's looking considering I'm doing it all with hand tools manually.
At least this stuff doesn't get everywhere
One thing that's kind of hard is that a normal surfboard is pretty much the same thickness all the way through and so you can get pretty close to the same round shape on the corners. Whereas this surfboard is an airfoil shape so it's very thick in the front and not very thin in the back. So I'm just kind of going to have to eyeball it to see how much I want to adjust the shape of those corners.
There's definitely going to be imperfections that you'll see on it, but pretty happy with how it's looking considering I'm doing it all with hand tools manually.
At least this stuff doesn't get everywhere
thenated0g
Moderator
Showed up to work and got sent home for a snow day. And unlike last time we still have power and internet yay!
So got some work done on the surfboard.
Added a wooden meter stick down the center to help stop it from breaking in half on impact.
Also as seen i added some thin plywood to the elevons, which i still need to cut in half. This combined with some matching plywood glued on to the top trailing edge of the main part of the wing will allow a nice strong glue hinge.
Also laying out the control rod tubes and figuring out where the servos will be buried.
Also figured out the surfer mount part of the board if it flies and i get a chance to put here on. I will have some carbon rods in between the foamboard that will slot down into the surfboard.
So got some work done on the surfboard.
Added a wooden meter stick down the center to help stop it from breaking in half on impact.
Also as seen i added some thin plywood to the elevons, which i still need to cut in half. This combined with some matching plywood glued on to the top trailing edge of the main part of the wing will allow a nice strong glue hinge.
Also laying out the control rod tubes and figuring out where the servos will be buried.
Also figured out the surfer mount part of the board if it flies and i get a chance to put here on. I will have some carbon rods in between the foamboard that will slot down into the surfboard.
thenated0g
Moderator
e6000 hinge
