I posted before about the project plane I picked up. Wings are MiniMAX and even have MiniMAX RS part numbers on them. The fuselage is a slightly modified Legal Eagle, (which I almost hate to admit) but it was a good buy and came with a 2A042 Military Surplus engine and prop. Plan A was a HiMAX, but $$ savings was too tempting. The wings and one aileron were messed up, with a few broken members and pulled-apart wing trailing edges. Someone apparently didn't know when to say "tight enough" on the fabric. I've been piddling in the evening on the 1st aileron that had a few broken members. Got it stripped of fabric, glue residue removed, wood repairs done and sanded everything to re-finish. The varnish was on really thick and the wood hadn't been sanded before varnishing, but after sanding the "rough sawn" texture off of the ribs, etc. I'm pleased to say I managed to lighten it up by 4+ ounces in the process. Yeah, not earth shattering weight savings but the ounces will all add up in the end. I'm quite the stickler about that. So, aileron #1 is safely stored for now and aileron #2 is the next victim. Fabric is already stripped and glue residue removed. It will now get a thorough inspection (haven't seen any damaged pieces yet) as it gets sanded in prep for a light re-varnish. If I can get 3 ounces off of it in the process they'll weigh exactly the same. BTW....when I varnished the 1st aileron leading edge I did it with a rag instead of a brush. Dipped the rag (old, non linty towel) in varnish and wiped it on. I kept wiping the varnish toward the part not yet varnished to remove the excess and the result is smoother than a .....well I'll let you finish that. I hope to post more as I make progress. Might try to add a photo here and there as well. Lynn |