Royal Kit for Bleriot Mk XI

The fus starts here. Slight delay while the corner notches were adjusted with 1/64 and 1/32 ply shims glued in place to improve shape and squareness. Missed one and put it in after assembly. Also sanded the formers before insertion to make the outer edges flat. All seems to be square. Good old laccy bends and 4 clamps hold it til the glue sets.



This is the battery compartment.

Phil! If you didn't spend so much time talking about electricity motors you could have finished this baby

Phil-C wrote: This is much more fun that faffing with fuel...

Phil, I can see that your mind is made up and I wouldn't want to sway you but, think of it as not "faffing with fuel" but as a ritual to be carried out with solemnity and respect. Think of the patina that will grace your model which others of a different persuasion will attempt ( and fail) to replicate with a weak wash with an airbrush. Think of the quality time you will spend with the air frame which you have so lovingly crafted. But most of all, think of the sight and sound of a 4 stroke puffing it's way through an azure sky - Benedini? Pah!

Phil-C refers to

Good old laccy bends

Has his trusty manservant been spending too much time underwater?

Bands! That sned button again!

Alan, I will have a go at disfiguring the airframe with all those charismatic oil stains, but this time they won't be further disfigured by the paint being washed off in flight, and during filling, emptying, wiping down....

Here is the Shuttleworth example for me to attempt to emulate.



For sound effects, I have an idea. My trusty manservant will have a 40 FS on a workmate next to the flight box, and will operate the throttle to suit.

These words cover the next step. "Fully install fuselage formers F5 through F9, insuring alignment remains perfect". This took hours. The formers were not the correct shape, and the corner notches that match up with the four longerons didn't. I re-made three and "soled and heeled" the other two, but still not correct, so cut through the formers and inserted bits of ply, then when it was all looking OK, plated the formers fore and aft with strips of 1/64" ply. The result is a strong structure.



Eventually, the whole fuselage is pretty true. Next step, plate the sides of the front box with the supplied ply and balsa panels. Before that, see if a 4s battery will fit and decide where the servos will go: possibly under the battery, so all of the equipment weight will be near the firewall.