Hi All
I have been dragging my heels a bit on this one because it is now autumn in Europe and that means lots of fruit and berries everywhere. Fruit and berries make wine and cider and although making it is a bit of a chore drinking it when it is done is the opposite (although drinking it AND making aircraft at the same time is not recommended).
I took a little longer to get this far anyway because of the mandatory cock ups that are made when you do something for the first time. If I had decided to make the steering bag out of cardboard discs and glue paper around it I would have finished ages ago but I am determined to make as much of this as I can out of the dense foam because I am still experimenting/learning on how to use this and what I learn now will be of use in future projects.
The first thing I did was make a sanding tool out of cardboard the same diameter as my plans. I drew a two dimensional shape on the foam sheet and ground out the curved outline with the sheet in one hand and the tool in another. I then flipped it over and did the other side. This method seemed fool proof but it did not work for some reason and the steering bag looked like it had an unhealthy dose of Blackberry grog. To make this fool proof and 100% accurate I made a cardboard pattern of the steering bag. I placed the pattern on the dense foam and cut around it with a hacksaw file used for cutting tiles, and run a round file over the edges to make it plush with the flat sides. I made another ‘U’ shaped sanding tool for the steering bag with the non sanding arms the same length as the pattern side’s height and the sanding part (bottom of the ‘U’) a semi circle so as to cut a profile half of the steering bag. The idea is when the ‘U’ tool touches the glass table on which they both rest the exact amount would have been sanded off. THIS WAS EASY! I ended up with two perfect halves and a semi sphere I cut with the drill and another ‘U’ shaped tool for the top of the bag. It fitted perfectly but somehow looked wrong. After looking at the plans, looking at the model, looking at archive pictures, looking at the plans, looking at the model, looking at archive pictures, looking at the plans… you get it, I came to the conclusion the plans are wrong and the steering bag was too small. I guestimated the correct size of the steering bag and did what has been previously explained all over again. This time it looks right. The irony is I have used more foam making this steering bag than the envelope, that said if I ever make anything like this again I now know the best way to do it.
I just need to shape it now, similar to how the envelope has been done. Another small mistake I have made is the metal rod running thru the middle would have been better left sticking out the back so I can attach the steering bag firmly to it; instead I sawed it off flush with the envelope. Fortunately the rod is hollow, I will now most probable have to go hunting around for another smaller hollow rod that fits inside the original one to extend it.
Thanks for looking in, Alan.