Hard to assemble glider

The big Kestrel is a pain to rig. Fortunately it happens relatively
seldom. Somehow it never seems to just come together.

That said, the tight fit means that even after 30+ years there is no
play at the wingtips, and she feels rosk solid. YOu just have to have
very good friends if you want help rigging.

On 2014-07-22 06:37, Tim Taylor wrote:
I found with the Ventus and Nimbus it is good to clean the pins on the end of each spar root and wing root should be cleaned with 00 steel wool every few years and then lubed carefully. The spherical bearings on the fuselage and on the wing roots should be cleaned until they move freely. They can be rotated and removed if installed correctly (incorrectly and they go into the tubes). Q-tips and solvent will help free then up.

I have found many ships have never been cleaned in years.

Usually the tightness for the last 1/4 to 1/2 inch are from lack of cleaning as long as the flaps, spoilers and dump valves are set correctly.


--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771

I find my Discus 2 can be a dog to get the last inch of the wings in on a hot day (common in Arizona), but much, much easier on a cool day. Presumably thermal expansion plays a role?

The spoilers are what usually hang up, so I give the handle a last tweak to clear them before the final push. The manual says to rig the left wing first, but most owners do it the other way round so they can easily access the cockpit. Otherwise, clean, grease and push!

Mike (WA)

Apart from being heavy I always found my old Kestrel 19 a very
easy rig. You can see and get to the top of the spars so you
can see where all the pins should be and there are studs on the
top of each spar stub so that you can use the special rigging
lever to draw them together. I sold the glider almost 30 years
ago but still have the lever. If you have the studs but not the
lever let me know Bruce.

John Galloway

At 04:44 22 July 2014, BruceGreeff wrote:
The big Kestrel is a pain to rig. Fortunately it happens
relatively
seldom. Somehow it never seems to just come together.

That said, the tight fit means that even after 30+ years there
is no
play at the wingtips, and she feels rosk solid. YOu just have
to have
very good friends if you want help rigging.

On 2014-07-22 06:37, Tim Taylor wrote:
I found with the Ventus and Nimbus it is good to clean the
pins on the
end of each spar root and wing root should be cleaned with
00 steel wool
every few years and then lubed carefully. The spherical
bearings on the
fuselage and on the wing roots should be cleaned until they
move freely.
They can be rotated and removed if installed correctly
(incorrectly and
they go into the tubes). Q-tips and solvent will help free then
up.

I have found many ships have never been cleaned in years.

Usually the tightness for the last 1/4 to 1/2 inch are from
lack of
cleaning as long as the flaps, spoilers and dump valves are
set correctly.


--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771