OK Steve so here it is, the method of assembling the SE5a with closed loop aileron control!
The fuselage is held inverted in the assembly support and the underpan and wheels removed.
The aileron control is not strictly a “closed loop” because there is in fact a gap between the two servo arms, although in operation this gap stays the same effectively making it a closed loop. Moving both arms outward in essence makes the loop longer enabling the quicklinks to be accessed with the wings not fully butted up to the fuselage and centre section. Notice the spring inside the fuselage pulls the servo links inwards.
During storage, with the ailerons at neutral, the quicklinks just protrude from the root ribs and they are kept under tension by button thread attached to springs.
The top quicklink is pulled out from its wing tube and is held open and in a protruding position by my third generation “special tool”, at the same time the spring tension on the lower quicklink is eased to allow it to retract into its wing tube but still maintain tension in the cables. As you can see the ailerons are now deflected up.
The spring-loaded quicklink is attached to the link on the opposite side of the centre section.
The wings are then located loosely in position and their supporting frame removed; the bottom wing grub screws are tightened slightly to hold the wings in place whilst allowing the top wing to slide somewhat.
Pressing on the spring-loaded quicklink pushes out the centre section link, which is attached to the wing quicklink and the special tool removed, tension in the cables being maintained by the spring-loaded quicklink.
At the same time as pushing on the spring loaded quicklink the bottom wing quicklink is pulled from its wing tube and held in position by the “special tool”. The servo link is pushed out from the fuselage against the internal spring tension, engaged with the wing quicklink and the “special tool” removed. Tension being maintained by the spring loaded quicklink and the internal spring.
Both wings can now be pushed fully home and the bottom wing grub screws tightened. The tails of the rear flying wires are threaded through their anchor block and hooked to another of my special tools. Pulling on the ring applies equal tension to both wires and the bolt is then tightened; this is the most awkward part of assembling the model and is a procedure that would be simplified if I had three hands!
The spring-loaded quicklink is removed and the centre section link held in position with a pair of forceps, tension now being maintained purely by the internal spring.
The whole procedure is repeated for the other wings except this time the internal spring replaces the spring-loaded quicklink.
Finally the wheels and underpan are fitted, the model turned the right way up and the top wing grub screws tightened.
I was hoping that the weather would allow me to take some good outdoor photos but although the rain stopped long enough for me to get the model assembled it’s now looking decidedly dodgy so they’ll just have to wait for another day.
Linear Mode
