Lockeed Vega

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I have started construction of a Lockheed Vega, designed by Lindsay Todd in England and offered as a short kit by Sarak.The model is about a 60inch span and Lindsay flew his on 3s. It should come out to be about 4.5 pounds flying weight.

The plane has always been a favourite of mine. Amelia Earheart was the second person in history to fly solo across the Atlantic. She flew a Vega. The plane is also famous as it was flown by Whiley Post who set records in one called Willie Mae, while only having vision in one eye.

I usually like to start a model with an easy part and so this afternoon I built the horizontal stabilizer.

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The elevators are 1/8th balsa with 1/16 "ribs" added to the top and bottom surfaces. The trailing edge of the stab is grooved to accept the leading edge of the elevators to assure a nice tight fit and small gap between them. DuBro hinge tools were used to cut slots in the surfaces, and then small hinges installed. Happy with the finished product.

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It was kind of a rainy day and I had time to get started on the fuselage. I put the 1/4 inch logerons on the plan and carfully measured the placement of the bulkheads, marking the longerons as I went. I then slowly and carfully positions everything over the plans. I now build using a metal building board and magnets. Once everthing was in place and held by magnets I glued everything together using medium CA.  I am quite satisfied with the results. As stated previously, I like to round the trailing edge of the stab and round the leading edge of the control surface. This allows for the hinge to be embeded into the leading edge of the control surface and makes for a nice tight gap, while still allowing rotation.

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A bit more work today. The wing sadle is made of 1/4 inch planks laminated. I kept the bottom of the planks aligned so I can use that for the base of plywood that will provide the wing bolt. The planks are then rounded and sanded to conform to the fuse profile. I found this fairly easy with a micro plane and sanding bar. The last picture is of the landing gear mounts. hardwood with plywood shoulder reenforcements.