OLY III

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE OLY III

Proudly written by Bob Legue

Items needed to complete your OLY lll

  1. Two or more channel radio system.
  2. 3 plus rolls covering.
  3. 5- minute and 30- minute epoxy.
  4. Wood glue
  5. Thin CA and accelerator
  6. Flux and solder
  7. Assorted sand paper

Tools required to complete the OLY lll

  1. Zona saw
  2. Hobby knife
  3. Sanding blocks
  4. Square
  5. Tape measure
  6. 36" straight edge
  7. Weights in assorted sizes
  8. 40 watt soldering iron

General notes for construction

  1. Always build on a flat building board.
  2. Protect plans from glue with wax paper or a plan protector of some sort.
  3. Read the entire assembly manual before beginning and really understand the building sequence. Study and become familiar with the plans.
  4. Glues add weight- use the appropriate glue as well as the right amount. Remember no glue joint has to be stronger than the materials being joined.
  5. There are several places in the instructions that state " weigh down and let dry or let cure" this is an important step to keep things straight. Don't rush this step, your reward is a straight, warp free plane that will fly straight. For weights I use simple diving weight as I have them on hand. Always spread the load of weights as evenly as possible to ensure even contact.
  6. Protect your self from dust and glue fumes.
  7. Always dry fit parts before gluing.
  8. There are several steps that require clamping. I used nothing more than simple spring type clothespins for the entire model.
  9. It is best to remove excess glues especially at the spar areas while still wet as they will interfere with the fit of the W1 and W2 pieces.

Horizontal stabilizer and elevator assembly:

  1. Locate and place both elevator and hardwood connecter against Horizontal stab trailing edge. Place waxed paper over stab at hinge line. Epoxy elevator assembly together. Pin in place against stabilizer and let cure.
  2. Tape elevator to stab on one side, turn over and flat sand with progressively finer grit paper. Tape sanded side and turn over, remove tape and sand this side. The idea here is to prepare the wood for covering- not to remove excess wood. It is easier to sand this structure now than to try to do it after the ply doublers are in place.
  3. Lightly epoxy plywood doubler over stab top using fin alignment holes for alignment. Remove excess epoxy from holes. Weigh down and let cure.
  4. Turn stab over and lightly epoxy solid ply doubler directly over upper plywood doubler. Weigh down and let cure. Sand bevel in elevator leading edge and round over perimeter.

Fin and Rudder assembly:

  1. Lay rudder pieces over plans using straight edge for proper alignment.
  2. Wood glue together and let dry.
  4. Align vertical stabilizer and rudder. Use masking tape and join on one side. Turn over and sand flat using progressively finer sandpaper down to 400 grit. Now tape this side and turn over. Remove tape and repeat sanding process.
  5. Epoxy on plywood control horn doublers aligning with pre bored holes. Weigh down to ensure it is flat and let cure.
  6. Turn over and repeat for other side.
  7. Sand bevel in rudder for hinge line. Sand stabilizer/rudder perimeter round.
  8. Set aside- you're done.

FUSALAGE

  1. Lay fuse bottom parts over plans and glue front plywood to rear balsa pieces.
  2. Draw centerline down fuse bottom and all formers.
  3. Collect balsa, plywood, and liteply front and rear fuse sides. Make two piles with straight edges facing each other. The order is, 1/64 ply on inside, then the 1/8 lite ply front and rear sides, finally the balsa outside front side tripler.
  5. Lightly apply epoxy to the front liteply fuse joint and balsa front fuse sides aligning the former holes. The balsa piece should be on the board first so the outside will be flat. Remove excess epoxy from holes. Let dry.
  6. Glue front and rear pieces against a straight edge and let dry. Lastly, on the inside of fuse epoxy 1/64 plywood tripler with careful alignment at former holes. Clean holes of glue if necessary. Weigh down and let dry. Repeat for other side making sure you build it opposite to the first one so you end up with a left and right side.
  8. Lay either fuse side on its side with outside facing down, glue in formers 1 and three square to fuse side.
  9. Cut and epoxy in spruce fuse side stiffener.
  10. Continue to glue remaining formers 2, 4 5, and 6. The continued use of a square here will yield a perfect form. Glue in servo tray.
  11. Coat all formers with glue and place other fuse side on top, check tail and nose for plumb then weigh down and let dry. If nose and tail ends are not exactly plumb you will get improper wing alignment. Take your time here, check and recheck.
  12. Glue fuse assembly over fuse bottom aligning the fuse and former centerlines, weigh down and let dry.

(RAY'S NOTES: I always put the fuse bottom on last to make it easy to access the push rods and locate the servo tray to match the height of the particular servos I will install. Also, the fuse top is the most important part for fuse strength, I glue carbon to the underside before installing the top and with the bottom off, I can double glue the top part to the sides easily from the bottom.)

Add the tail post block between the rear fuse sides as you go. Epoxy nose block into position making sure it is square to fuse bottom, clamp sides and let dry.

  1. Epoxy plywood and spruce stick tow hook mount in center of fuse.
  2. Through the fuse sides, slip one brass wing rod tube and one aluminum wing alignment tube and center in fuse. Measure from brass tubes to tail center of plane and adjust if necessary to get the same measurements. When satisfied rough up tubes and epoxy in place. Use a lot of glue here.
  3. Prepare plywood wing roots for servo leads or tubing if you are going to install spoilers. Do all four roots at once to maintain alignment.
  4. Epoxy one set of plywood wing roots to fuse sides, when dry sand off any exposed tube flush with wing roots. The other ply wing caps are for the wing.
  5. Pushrod time. Run the two music wire pushrods through the formers and make adjustments NOW for ease of operation. When satisfied with them install with Z bend to rear of plane. Take the third short music wire and cut in half. Assemble roll joiner between the cut front and rear music wires and solder joint inside of fuse. When cooled give a good tug from both ends at once to test. **
  6. Place horizontal stab and elevator on fuse rear with the trailing edge of the stab at the cut out and mark front of stab on fuse. This becomes the mark for the balsa fuse top. Epoxy in plywood horizontal stab support flush with fuse top then the balsa fuse top on top of that. The laser cut balsa top will extend above the fuse sides for shaping.
  7. The balsa canopy block is marked down the center as well as the canopy spacers before gluing together. Sand the block to fit the fuse. Now line up all those marks and glue together.
  8. Route spoiler servo leads through fuse before gluing in the fuse top blocks. Notch out fuse top balsa blocks on bottom side to clear wing tubes. Check fit and glue in place. *
  9. Carve, sand, and sand some more to shape fuse as shown on plans on plans. Use finer and finer grades of paper for best results.
  10. You may finish the entire fuse, stab, and rudder covering now. Don't forget to leave a strip of covering off where the fin and the stab glues together as well as the stab to fuse joint.

* I converted the fuse to have this piece removable, only used cut off and scrap wood out of the kit to do it-no added wood.

** I used HS85MG.

THOSE BIG BEAUTIFUL WINGS!!

  1. Align lower trailing edge sheet with straight edge and pin down. Take 3 or 4 number 5-15 ribs to set spacing for leading edge sheet and pin down. Mark position of ribs 1,2,3, and 4 on both LE and TE sheeting. Cut and fit the inboard center lower sheeting to LE and TE. Draw the marks on the sheeting for ribs one thru four.
  3. Lower spar placement is done using a few ribs for positioning. Glue spar while cross pinning across spar. Weigh down and let dry. If you choose to add carbon fiber tape to spar sand relief into lower leading edge sheet the thickness of your tape and glue with epoxy the tape to the sheeting and the spar to the tape all at once. Of course this is optional.

  1. Install the innermost rib #1 using W1 to set angle of rib.
  1. Starting at the outboard end of inner panel begin gluing a rib then a shear web, rib then a shear web until you get to the last 5-15 rib. The ribs will only get glued from 1 inch in front of spar. The rear of the ribs located behind the spar can be glued to the end of the rib. Temporarily install the top spar without glue and apply weight across the entire span, let dry.

(RAY'S NOTES: Before setting in the ribs and shear web blocks, Check each rib at each rib location to be sure the bottom spar notch of the rib is deep enough to allow the rib to fit down on the spar with the bottom of the rib fully resting on the bottom sheeting. Why? Well it isn't because the rib notches are incorrect or erratic, the spruce spar is the culprit. The thickness and width of each spar can vary, if you don't perform this check, the bottom sheeting (airfoil) will be distorted. And also look poorly constructed after the covering is put on. When placing the ribs, I ca the rib to the rear sheeting and from the back edge of the front sheeting forward to where the bottom of the rib starts the Phillips entry curve all in one step. Wood glue or epoxy work fine on the shear web blocks. If carbon is epoxied to the top of the bottom spar, then use epoxy to glue in the shear web blocks.)

  1. In the same fashion glue in ribs17 to 23. Save rib #16 until after the wing panels are joined together. Again place in top spar and weigh down, let dry.
  2. Glue in top inboard spar now and use lots of weight. Let dry.
  1. Cut notches in ribs in front of spar to clear W1 and epoxy in front of spar. Use lots of clamps here. I used 3 spring type clothespins between each rib. Let cure.
  2. Glue front end of ribs 2-4 to spar and lower sheeting for about an inch. Add remaining 3/8-inch shear webs. Now glue in rear ribs 2-4 full length to lower sheeting over lines on lower 1/16 inch sheeting.
  3. Cut and sand to shape all outboard shear webs then glue into position.
  4. Glue in top outboard spar. Weigh down and let dry.
  5. Sand lower TE sheeting on both inboard and outboard panels from end of ribs to back edge of sheeting, full depth at rib end to nothing at TE. Put wood glue on top of all ribs from the cutout to the back of sheet, then all across the very back of the lower TE sheeting. Place the top 1/16 inch TE sheeting up to the notches and weigh down and let dry.
  1. Notch ribs for W1B and epoxy in place, again use plenty of clamps. Let cure.
  2. Cut out inboard ribs for the plywood polyhedral joiners, test fit and epoxy in place. Clamp securely. Let cure. Sand outboard panel to proper angle, raise panel to 5-3/4 inches and epoxy joiner to outboard panel, let cure.
  3. Rib #16 may be installed against the outermost rib # 5-15.
  4. Glue in all front and rear 1/16 inch vertical balsa shear webs along both inboard and outboard panels, clamp and let dry.
  5. Saw off all excess spar and sheeting from wing panels. Save cut offs.
  6. Rough up wing joiner tubes with sandpaper. Cap one end of wing tube with scrap sheeting and CA in place. Use only a little glue here and kick it with accelerator. Sand sheeting flush with outside of tube. You can cut the sheeting plugs using the tube as a " cookie cutter ". Just press one end of tube into scrap 1/16 inch sheeting while turning the tube.
  7. Cut the rear of the ribs behind the spar and dry fit W2. This has to fit flush to the spars and not stick up past top spar. Complete contact must be made at top and bottom spar for the full length.
  8. Place tube through rib #1 with 1/8 inch hanging out past rib #1 and touching the bottom spar, spot glue with 5-minute epoxy, let cure. Mix up a slurry of epoxy and micro balloons place wing on LE and completely fill around tube with slurry. Coat W2 with epoxy and place into position and clamp it fully down the length of itself to the spar and rib #1. Let cure.
  9. With wing secured and weighted down flat to the building board begin gluing leading edge sheeting to front end of ribs. Starting in center of panel lift sheeting up to rib just until it touches and drip thin CA down rib. Let cure naturally while holding in place. If you kick this glue joint most likely it will expand and distort the airfoil. This is a good place to build in a warp, check frequently that the entire wing is flat to table. Continue gluing ribs to sheeting by gluing the next rib to the right, then the next one to the left and so on.
  10. Sand lower wing sheeting to face of all ribs. Place a strip of masking tape on lower sheeting at each rib. Leave 2-3 inches of tape in front to hold down top sheeting for next step.
  11. Put wood glue on top of all outboard ribs to sheeting notch and across the full length of the spar. Place top sheeting in place and glue rear of sheeting in place with thin CA. Starting in center of panel, roll sheeting down against ribs and hold in place with the masking tape. Continue in a left then right pattern pulling down the sheeting until all sheeting is secured, let dry. Now do inboard panel.
  12. When dry sand top LE sheeting flush with ribs. Add wood glue to all ribs and sheeting, hold in place with masking tape at each rib and let dry. When dry cut off LE and remaining excess material flush with last rib.
  13. Install wing alignment block and tube. If you are going to add spoilers route the servo leads or pull string tubes thru the wing now. Cut and glue inboard top center sheeting.
  14. Coat wing tip block with epoxy and place on outboard panel at last rib so it is flush with top of last rib, pin in two places from inside of rib and let cure.
  15. Carve and sand LE and wing tip to shape as shown on plans. Then sand some more with finer grade sandpaper. Wing trailing edge will be 1/16 inch thick. Epoxy inboard ply root rib over joiner tubes and let cure, they are slightly oversize so you may sand them to your wings final shape. Sand and remaining tubing off and deburr inside of tube with the back of your hobby knife blade. If installing optional spoilers do these now as indicated on plans.
  16. Build opposite wing in exact fashion and order.
  17. Put wings together on wing joiner rod and alignment wire, fully insert the rod into both wings. Turn the wings over and check for balance. I use a loop of kite string over both wires in the center and place a small amount of weight on the outermost rib until it balances. You may now cover your wings

FINAL ASSEMBLY

  1. With your choice of hinges, hinge tape is not supplied, hinge the elevator to the horizontal stabilizer. Then hinge the rudder to the fin.
  2. Install control horns then remove. Place a drop of thin CA in each screw hole.
  3. Drill 4 or 5 3/32 inch holes in the stabilizer ply mount randomly. This forms epoxy nails and eliminates the need for additional glue support.
  4. Epoxy the rudder and fin assembly into the stabilizer. Place square against both sides of fin to ensure it is perpendicular. Hold in place with masking tape from end of stabilizer across the fin top and across to other end of stabilizer until cured.
  5. Epoxy the stabilizer and fin assembly to the ply stabilizer mount, Measure from center of front fuse [I place a T pin in center of forward most fuse former and measure from there] to outward stabilizer hinge line until both numbers are exactly the same. A second check for square will be from wing trailing edge to hinge line, these should be the same also. Finally view plane from rear and adjust horizontal stab so it is level with wings.
  6. Place control horns over the Z bend end of push rod wires in second hole from bottom and install with screws to rudder and elevator.
  7. Install radio system per manufactures recommendations. For ease of plane set up be sure to use the EZ connectors provided in your kit. Center the fin and rudder to the stabilizers and lock them down.
  8. Pre drill hole for tow hook. Pre tap hole with tow hook, then remove. Mix a small amount of epoxy and drop into hole then screw tow hook into position and let cure.
  9. Most importantly balance the plane for and aft for best flight performance. CG is shown on plans.