So far to date, building the ArrowMaster 55 from Alien Aircraft www.alienaircraft.com has been a lot of fun. The parts fit has been excellent and very accurate. At this point in time, I’ve got about 3 hours into building the bottom wing. In this post, the ailerons are built, shaped and hinged. I also add wing tips to increase the wingspan to make the model meet International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA) biplane requirements. By the way, can anybody guess which famous model I used as an inspiration for my wing tip design? All that’s left to do on the bottom wing is to join the panels and do a final sanding.
3/8″ square hardwood blocks are used for the “N” struts mounts. You use the plans to plot their location and then remove the sheeting and then epoxy them to the rib.
Here the blocks have been installed and sanded flush with the sheeting.
I changed the wing tip design to add a total of 6 inches to the span. This increased the span from 55 inches to 61 inches so I could fly the plane at IMAA events. Can anybody guess where the wing tip shape came from?
Here the dihedral brace is being fitted.
Here’s the completed wing panels ready for the ailerons.
Here’s a look at the parts required to construct the ailerons.
The aileron is built on the plan, the top and bottom sheet is laser-cut and the ribs and L/E are glued into place.
After the glue has dried, the top of the aileron is sanded smooth and the L/E is tapered to follow the angle of the ribs. The aileron top sheet is then glued into place.
The aileron is now ready to shape the L/E. Per the instructions, I drew a centerline on the L/E and the “V” that defines the shape of the L/E.
This is the completed right aileron.
Here’s the completed lower right wing panel ready to be joined to the left wing panel.
To finish up the bottom wing, the wing panels are epoxied together and then the center section is reinforced with the supplied 2 inch wide Dacron strip. It’s secured with thin CA and makes for a strong joint.
The Dacron reinforcement is first tacked at the T/E and then pulled tight. The material is then saturated with thin CA. The top is done the same as the bottom.
Here’s the completed center section reinforcement. This concludes the construction of the bottom wing. Building the top wing is next.
That’s it for this evening. Stay tuned for more updates and details for building this great looking sport biplane from Alien Aircraft. The ArrowMaster 55 is truly a retro design with lots of appeal.
To see part 2 of the Build-Along Series, click here: https://www.modelairplanenews.com/blog/2014/07/22/workshop-build-along-2-alien-aircraft-arrowmaster-bipe-wings/