Rich's shop 11:00am - 5:00pm

This is the first day of work on the S4V model. Billy and Janda started by transferring cross sections that were captured and scaled up from X-Plane onto 1/8” hardboard while Rich cut them out on a scroll saw. Kris arrived shortly after and took over for Billy so that he could tend to his significant other.Kris, Janda and Rich then constructed a jig that will support the model from the rear only using some 2x4’s and the 7’ long square steel tube supplied by Billy. This jig will allow us to access all sides of the model without interference. After the frames were cut we spent most of the rest of time aligning, checking, removing and fine tuning them. Next step is to apply stringers/longerons and balsa sheeting.

Materials Used

(2) 2’x2’ panels of 1/8” Hardboard - Rich
(2) 8’ 2x4s - Rich
(1) 1” square by 7’ long steel tube – Billy

Rich's shop 11:15am - 8:30pm

Second day working on the model. Sergei, Janda, Kris and Rich made some minor alterations to the frames. We decided that making the aft section symmetrical, losing the “chines” where the wing will blend in, will make it easier to make the fuse and allow the most versatility for using different wings. Rather than cutting notches in the frames for stringers we cut rectangular strips out of hardboard and glued them in between the frames. We then started with the sheeting. More like planking actually. We put narrow 3/16" thick strips on the top, bottom and sides then filled the spaces left with ½" wide strips (also 3/16" thick). The top half is 90% sheeted, the bottom probably has two or more hours of work left to finish with the skin.

Materials Used

(1) 2’x2’ panels of 1/8” Hardboard - Rich
(16) 1-1/2” x 3/32” x 36” Balsa – Janda
(4) 3” x 1/4” x 36” Balsa – Janda
(10) 3” x 3/16” x 36” Balsa – Sergei
(1) 2 oz. Bottle CA Glue - Sergei

May 29, 31

Rich's shop various times

Rich cut and glued in some more planks/sheeting.
Also did some shaping.

Rich's shop 10:30am - 3:00pm

Janda, Kris and Rich finished up with the planking. More sanding and shaping. Later Rich laminated a couple dozen 1/4" balsa pieces together to make a block for the nose and glued it on.

Materials Used

(1) 1/2 oz Bottle of "thin" CA glue - Rich
(2) Bottles of CA glue – Kris?, Janda?

Rich's shop 2:00am - 5:00pm

Rich carved the nose block to shaped and did a lot of sanding.

Rich's shop Noon - 5:00pm

Janda, Kris and Rich performed final sanding and shaping of the balsa and applied fiberglass cloth to the model.

Materials Used

Glass cloth - Rich
Resin - Kris

Rich's shop 10:00 - 3:00pm

Kris, Rich and Janda began with applying fiberglass putty to the entire fuselage and sanding. Much time was spent identifying and filling in the low spots, then sanding and repeating the process. This is the beginning of the end for the plug.

Materials Used

Sandpaper - Janda

June 29, 30

Rich's shop various times about 8 hrs total

Rich sanded, filled and sanded some more then painted and sanded and filled some more then sanded, filled...

Materials Used

2 cans primer - Rich

Rich's shop 11:00am - 6:00pm

Janda, Kris and Rich sanded, painted, filled, and wet sanded three more times. One final go-over with spot putty and wet sanding with 400 grit paper will finish the plug.

We discussed how we were going to make the mold. The best option seem to be to make it a three piece mold. A left, right and bottom. The bottom section will start about ten inches from the nose and continue to about 8 inches from the tail and will be as wide as the model. In other words, the bottom section is comprised of the entire area where the wing will join the fuse. So when we remove the wing, we will be removing this bottom section as well. That will gain us excellent access inside the fuselage for tending to the various bits that make it work and also for joining the two halves together.

Kris and Rich seemed to have the exact same idea of using landing skids for the main gear. The skids would have small jettisonable wheel assemblies on them for take-off which would be automatically released as the gear is retracted. This should save some weight and we wouldn't need to concern ourselves with brakes.

Materials Used

PVA - Janda
Sand paper – Rich

Rich's shop 10:00 am -1:00 am

Rich sanded, filled and sanded some more then painted and sanded and filled some more then sanded, filled and painted for the last time.

Materials Used

1 can Primer- Rich
1 can Paint - Rich
400 & 600 grit sandpaper - Rich

Rich's shop 11:00am - 5:00pm

Kris and Rich wet sanded again while Billy and Janda moved the LOX trailer to join the test stand in North Bend. The final coat of paint did not go on very well, it had some "orange peel" to it. After smoothing that out dividing lines were drawn on the top and bottom of the plug. We decided that the bottom section will also hold the motor and landing gear. That is opposed to the motor being mounted inside the fuse. So as it is now, the fuse will essentially just be a fairing that encloses everything and not a major structural component. The fuse will still likely be used for the electronics however. Lines were also drawn to represent the seperate bottom section. The rest of the day was spent applying layer after layer of wax.

Materials Used

Steel wire - Billy

Rich's shop 2 hrs

Rich, Janda and Kris - Discussion, purchase of clay for
flanges and spray gun.

Materials Used

5 packages of clay - Kris

Rich's shop 5 hrs

Kris and Janda designed and constructed wire cutter.

Materials Used

Wood, metal rod, alligator clips and bungee -
Kris and Janda

Museum of Flight

NSS meeting at MOF. Billy presenting for CST. Brought the S4V plug and composite engine for display.

Materials Used

(1) 1/2 oz Bottle of "thin" CA glue - Rich
(2) Bottles of CA glue – Kris?, Janda?

Rich's shop 5 hrs

Kris, Janda and Rich built up flanges using
modeling clay in preparation for laying up the
mold. Applied gelcoat using airbrush.

Rich's shop 5 hrs

Kris and Janda laid up the fiberglass for the
first piece of the mold.

Rich's shop 4 hrs

Janda and Kris helped Rich clean and
organize - in process of moving to new
workshop. Applied gelcoat.

Rich's shop 4 hrs

Kris and Janda laid up the fiberglass for the
second piece of the mold.

Kris's shop 3 hrs

Kris and Janda laid up the fiberglass for the
third and last piece of the mold.

Kris's house

Kris, Rich and Janda spent most of the time
discussing refractory materials and injector
design.

Kris's shop 4 hrs

Rich, Janda and Kris separated the molds
from the plug and drilled holes in flanges,
more discussions.

Kris's shop 4 hrs

Janda and Kris patched up cavities that were
left in the bottom section of the mold.

Kris's house

Rich, Janda and Kris discussed at length
refractory materials and methods of testing
and examined the injector which Rich had
been working on.

Kris's house

Meeting with Ed Wright - Billy, Sergei, Rich
Collingwood, Janda and Rich H attended.

Kris's shop 5 hrs

Kris had been constructing a "tent" in his garage so
that we could have a warmer place to work. Janda and Rich helped Kris finish this tent - which works quite nicely - then we cut out the airfoil templates for the S4V wing. Kris had previously plotted the coordinates of a 6% NACA 6606 airfoil onto light ply. The templates were cut out, sanded smooth and checked for accuracy. Kris and Rich set up the hotwire foam cutter perpendicular to the end of the worktable so that we could cut the foam blocks to size. The wire snapped on the last cut.