LMA Sky 120 Build

[Dave Parry]

Hi all, now you might be thinking what’s the point of this thread it is only a trainer? Pretty straight forward I would of thought,’ well you might be right’ but this will be a challenge for me because I have never build anything before so I hope you will indulge me.

After opening the packing from slec which I have to say was pack very well, I dug out the plans, oh boy where do I start? Well thankfully the plans are not as daunting as they first look so after having several cup of tea and pondering over the plans I cleared the work table and started to identify the parts and numbering them.

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Once all the parts was numbered I then sat and had several more cups of tea, I think I was just putting it off wasn’t I, I mean how hard it can be!! ‘I’m sure I heard some say that before’ right time to get the Stanley knife out and with that I started to cut out the wing rib and all that stuff.

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Okay the next stage, arr you though I was going to say after several more cups of tea didn’t you well you would have been right only her indoors polity told me to ‘go away in short jerky movements ‘I have no idea what that means ‘I’ll never understand them’ so with losing access to my tea supply I had no option but to carry on, so with sandpaper in one hand and parts in the other I proceeded to sand all the rough edges down.

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Next I assembled all the parts and got ready to do battle, I decided to do the wing first.

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Following the plan I found it easy to slot all the parts in place thank god I took the time to number them all I would have been lost if I hadn’t , I decided to dry fit all the parts first just in case I make a mistake.

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Okay that's it for now.

[Robert_Greenwood]

Brilliant!...Supprising how quick they come together!!

keep up the good work,

rob

[Jason Griffiths]

Looking good

[Nick Reeves 3055]

i'm following this with interest. once i get my genesis finished i might have to get my self one of these. what engine are you planning on using??

cheers

nick

[Dave Parry]

Rob, Jason & Nick, thanks for showing your interest, unfortunately I haven’t had chance to get back to the build this week, this is due to the LMA website and forum taken up all of my evening at the moment, ’lot of work to be done still’ so I hope to get back on it at the weekend, as for the engine I am going to be using a Zenoah 38, it will take a 26 but I like to have a little more up front.

[Dave Parry]

Okay on with the build, next stage, I needed to glue on the wing locater, well that what I call it, you know the bit that goes into the fuz to stop the wing flying off, anyway it took me a while to figure it out but I manage it,

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Once that was done it was time to turn my attention to the wing spar, now Tony Nijhuis has changed the design from the first batch that was sold, he has decided to have the wing so you can split them for easy transport, this involves putting in a box section, now following the plan I sourced the parts or so I thought, it said there is two 9mm spruce strips so I look at all the parts but I could not find them however I did find a length of spruce that looked right for the parts I needed, so thinking that must be it I measured and cut them to the correct length.

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Now when I came to dry fit them together it would not fit the spruce strips just seem to big, when I measured them I found it was 10mm not 9mm, gutted I was to say the least, but it was my own fault I should of checked instead of assuming ‘lesson learned’ so I checked the pack again but there is no sign of the 9mm spruce strips so not being a builder I had no stock I could use, job halted, time for a cup of tea and a think.

Right brew time over back to it, looking on I bypass the box section for now and fitted the servo try.

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After that I glued the LE & TE on and started to skin the top half of the wing, with the sheeting supplied using thin cyno to tack it then white glue.

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TE.jpg (18.88 KiB) Viewed 30935 times

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Okay thats it for now.

[PHIL ATHERTON 2400]

looking good son..........but don't forget to turn the plan over to build the other wing..........now i wonder who could ever do that build the same wing

[ian redshaw]

Hi Dave, your 'wing locator', surely there is more than that and a couple of bolts? Does the locator plate have a doubler that goes either side of it and the rib or something similar? Looks like the bits go together well, did they need much 'fitting'?

Cheers, Ian.

[Dave Parry]

Hi Dave, your 'wing locator', surely there is more than that and a couple of bolts? Does the locator plate have a doubler that goes either side of it and the rib or something similar? Looks like the bits go together well, did they need much 'fitting'?

Cheers, Ian.

Hi Ian the second wing is a duplicate of the first so there is a wing locater on both wings also a bolt in each as well, very little filler its slots together like a jigsaw fantastic for the likes of me who knows nothing, but is learning much from this build.

[ian redshaw]

Dave, in your 4th pic, the wing locator doubler I was on about is there, to the left of the locators you have shown fitted. I assume you have now fitted these doublers and there is nothing to worry about, I just couldn't see them fitted in any of the pics.

Cheers, Ian.

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

it looks, to me, that the wing locator under rib, is just glued to the bottom of the root rib? is there a doubler fitted, inside the root rib, gluing over the rib, and the wing locator, therefore making them a one piece affair??

[Dave Parry]

Ian, Alan thanks for your concerns, being my first ever build all help is appreciated, the pictures aren’t very clear However I have found out how sort that out with the camera now so I will take a few shots tonight and post them then you can tell me if it is okay I am sure it is but better to be safe than sorry.

[Dave Parry]

Okay here it is as promised, this is the way I have worked out how it is set up, I can’t see it going any other way following the plan. the first three pitures are a dry fit of the second wing the last two pictures are of the wing i have glued.

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the hole is for a dowl to line the wings up and keep them in place and as i said both wings have a locater on them.

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Dave---just looked at your pics,and yes ,you are doing it right,the locator is tied into the structure,and as you have seen around the 2009 events,the one i have is built the same,and i have stress tested on many occasions--a little bit more than the mild aerobatics that the plan recommends---the airframe is well designed by Tony Nijhous,so no need to alter anything.What colour scheme are you doing it in?

[Dave Parry]

Thanks for the info Dave, I can now carry on with the build as I said in an earlier post better to be safe than sorry, Now colour scheme, ‘well that’s a good one’, I don’t know yet what I could ask is what is the best covering to use any recommendations will be appreciated.

[ian redshaw]

Thats better now we see all the bits in place! Profilm or painted Solartex would be a great finishing material. I wouldn't use Solarfilm Polyester since in my experience it is a much inferior product in terms of finish and durability. Grand job Dave, Ian.

[Dave Parry]

Thanks Ian, i can crack on with the job now I know it is safe to do so Profilm hmm I like the sound of that, I have used Solartex before but don't fancy painting it after, anyway a long time of that yet will try and back to it this week, can't tonight Club AGM Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz did someone say pint

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

AH! now then, naughty lad you where hiding that full size tie in rib wasnt you? looks good to me, AND BOSSMAN, chill eh??

[Tony Nijhuis 2280]

Hi Dave,

Glad to see you're cracking on with it and building the Mark II version with the 2-piece wing......Even though I have a stack of models to fly its become my weekend hack....

The prototype was covered in Profilm by the way...the finish still looks great.

Must get on designing the low wing version

[Robert_Greenwood]

Looking good dave!!! soon be in the air...

Keep up the good work...