YX Tail Kit Helpful Hints Request

[John Usher]

Hello All!
Our YX-B tail kit (same as YX-A) will arrive this week. We humbly request any hints, watch out fors, gotchas, special tools, etc that you would share with us in regards to building the YX tail.

Thanks in advance!
John and Daughter ;-)

[Bryan Cotton]

John,
It is mostly pretty easy. The first few pages of my build thread focus on the tail. You can see the setup I used to bend the hockey sticks. Worked well. Hints:
1) run a #40 bit through all the laser cut holes in the hockey sticks because they are ugly. If you have a drill press that is best and it is a good task for a 12 year old. That is how old Adam was when he did it.
2) if things don't cleco together perfectly carefully measure the parts and compare to the plans.
3) you need a flat table to build them. If you are smart make your table long enough for wings - 10' will do.

My folks live in Loudon. This year it looks like we are converging in CT for my niece's wedding. I may be down in 2017 and will visit if it works out. How old is your daughter? It is a great project to do with kids.

[John Usher]

Thanks Bryan for the tips! My daughter is 11 and very much a "Daddy's girl"! ;-) We finished our table yesterday. Getting it flat AND level was quite the challenge. You're always welcome to stop by when you're in the area. We live in Maryville.

[Bryan Cotton]

John,
11 is a great age to build if she has the interest. One thing when building with kids - don't shoot for perfection. Do shoot for pride in workmanship and airworthiness. I would much rather have a good airplane I built with my kid than a perfect one where my kid was excluded. Plus, if you teach them they can do it, they will, and the workmanship and confidence improve over time.

A key thing to teach is to look at the reflection of the drill bit. If you are not perpendicular the reflection looks bent. Thin sheets are less critical for perpendicularity than thick pieces so I say let the kids drill! It is the only way to learn.

[John Usher]

Good advice Bryan, thanks! I have to take advantage of this time period where she still thinks it's "cool" to hang out with dad in the garage.

[Area 51%]

Hi John, Randy here from Area 51%.

Having recently assembled my tail structure from the "un-matched hole construction" kit, I have had many issues that I hope were a one-time anomaly that no-one else will encounter.

If your hockey sticks have a "brushed" or sanded look instead of the factory mill finish with printing, use a fine grade of sand paper and polish a portion of it somewhere in the middle. Mine had an unusual "tracking" that I could not eliminate. Apparently a flaw in the stock that someone else recognized, and tried to correct unsucsessfully. A replacement stick was in order and was found to be as you'ld expect.

My RH rear spar was wider than all the other skeleton components. It measured 2.5" where as all other parts were 2.440-2.450". This was going to leave a step. Kerry measured their stock, confirmed my finding, and assured me this was not going to be a problem as they use this same stock for their quick build frames. Wasn't good enough for me. I ordered a piece of blank channel (2.450") and made my own.

The second rib in from the root appeared to be too long. In reality, the holes that hold it to the front spar were misplaced and pushed it a little closer to the tip. The structure tapers nicely so any movement (out or in) will give the illusion of a longer or shorter part than it should be. Cleco it in place to the front spar,and see if it holds the rear spar away from the other ribs. Also, a good way to tell something is amiss, is by projecting a front to back line through the skin holes in the rib, and confirm they are in alignment with the skin hole in the spar. Mine were off by more than a hole and a half. I ordered a piece of blank channel and made my own.

The short little inboard leading edge has 4 holes that "should" line up with the corresponding holes in it's attachment clip. I had sprung for the machined angle parts. Non of the holes matched. The laser people and the CNC people have different prints apparently. The factory cure was to drill extra holes. Mine was to purchase the longer tip ribs and cut them down as spelled out in my plans, Circa 2013.

That's all that comes to mind right now. I can't speak to the skin installation as I abandoned the tail structure at that point, and moved on to the aft fuselage. Ask me how that's going..........I dare you!

Happy thoughts here from Area 51%.

[John Usher]

Thanks Randy for the tips! My only disappointments so far have been the condition of the parts I received. They were all covered in scuffs, scratches and greasy hand and fingerprints, especially the stabilator skins. Not something I expected "new" from the factory. Several of the scratches were deep enough to catch a fingernail. I also had the same issue with the small inboard leading edge rib. The holes do not line up with the angle piece. Bending the hockey sticks was also somewhat of a challenge as the recommended method of using a V block lends itself to the material torquing away from the bend line under pressure. Fortunately, I followed the advice of several builders and made a jig that prevents both the hockey stick and the 1" bolt/rod from torquing away from the new bend line when under pressure.

[Area 51%]

Yeah........they lull you into thinking you can use the 2X4 that the pallet is made of for a forming block. It folds like a bad poker hand. Maybe Oak or Teak or Ironwood. I had the advantage of a bad hockey stick to practice on. What I used for thinner material was a 2X4 with shallow grooves spaced at 3/4" CC. Then I laid a round shafted phillips screwdriver in each groove, and used that for a bottom die. A shiny 14mm deep socket did the top chores. Very little marring.

Get a grip on yourself concerning the component quality. I've got a Home Depot bucket full of sub-standard (by my standards anyway) parts. I'm going to Ace today and buy a wheelbarrow. It's hard to get good help these days under the age of 40.

60 and counting from Area 51%

[Bryan Cotton]

Randy,
Sorry to hear you have so many bad parts. It was a lot different for me though by no means perfect.

My first two hockey sticks I bent using a pine 2x4 form block. It crushed the corners of the block but the part came out good. Later I changed the tool and used oak screwed to plywood and that works awesome- plus I can unscrew/move the blocks for different radius mandrels.

I don't play poker. I do have a pretty positive outlook though and it helps in all things!