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Welkin Diary - October 2008

I would very much like to sheet in the rear sections of the wing panels whilst they can still be laid flat on the board - there is no trailing edge as such so trying to join the top and bottom sheeting 'in the air' would almost certainly result in a wavy trailing edge.

However, the wing section on the Welkin is pretty skinny, especially the tip panels so, having opted for a centrally mounted aileron servo to avoid even more wiring in the wing, the question arose of when, where and how best to fit the bellcranks.

The picture above shows the bellcrank positioned so that the snake can be attached later, after the panels have been joined, and the closeup below shows just how tight it is for space.

The head of the shortened pivot bolt was first cyanoed into a piece of 1/16 ply glued to the lower sheeting. Then the pushrod was made up and fitted to the bellcrank. I have tried to judge the bend in the pushrod so that it reaches clear through the slot in the lower sheeting but can temporarily be held in the slot with a piece of masking tape so that the wing panel can still lie flat on the board.

With bellcrank and pushrod in position, the top spar was added followed by a second piece of 1/16 ply, backed by 3/32 balsa. This piece was first glued to the spar and the bolt end then the balsa was contoured in readiness for the top sheeting which hopefully will secure the bellcrank permanently. Of course, my options for adjusting the length or shape of the pushrod are now pretty minimal.

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