Vagabond assembly

The Vagabond is ready ! It weights 620g. Overall, the assembly went well, the design for an EPP glider is pretty good. I started by the fuselage and carbon rods to stiffen the boom. Then I also installed the elevator and rudder control rod sleeves. Be careful to not bend them while installing them into the foam because when bent they can make the mouvement of the rod less smooth and bad neutral position return. The servo tray is glued on the EPP using fluid cyano. Once done, I focused of the tailplane, that I wanted absolutely to make removable. My first idea, what to modify the joiner extremity (4mm carbon rod) to lock it in rotation with a corresponding print. Problem was that I still could twist the tail because of the rod torsion. My clubmate Joel Marin, who build a Vagabond too, found a clever and simple solution for the tail: use a small aluminium tube at the root, and drill a small hole in the tube and the carbon rod to install a stop pin. The pin have a L shape to secure it with some tape. As final solution, in addition to the aluminium tube, I added on both side of the tail a small epoxy plate to improve guidance. Now, it is fine, the tail is perfectly secured in rotation and translation.

Remaining task mainily consists in the radio installation. I used 9gr, metal gears in the wings, a 13mm old analog but strong servo for elevator, and a tiny plastic gears 9g servo for the rudder, which is a bad idea as I quickly broke the gear. To metal gear everywhere is my recommendation.

Initially I wanted to use a 4cells 2 A eneloop battery, but it is clearly too heavy, even if there is plenty of space in the nose front. I finally installed a 4cells 800mA eneloop battery. I didn't need any lead to achive the 100mm CoG. Flying weight is 620g. For comparison, the uncovered version of the Vagabond is 500g, so 120g less.

Please find below the assembly log photo album that tells more that hundreds of words !