CARF-Models Extra 330SC (3.1m)
www.carf-models.com
10
cowling is secured to the fuselage with three M3 bolts each
side, and the upper half secured with another three M3 bolts.
All these bolts go into M3 T-nuts, which are glued to the
inside of the cowling or fuselage, in
reverse
- that is with the
‘spikes’ pointing inwards. All bolt heads should have M3
washers under them, and these are included in the
hardware.
Tape the cowl firmly in position, and drill the holes with a
sharp 3 mm drill, on the fuselage sides about 7mm from the
back edge of the cowl and on each horizontal side about 6
mm above the edges of the upper halve. Sand around each
hole, and clean off the dust. Insert the bolts, check position,
screw on the ‘T-nuts’ and secure each with a drop of thick
CA. Finally secure all the M3 T-nuts with a drop of thick
epoxy/microballoon mixture over the ‘spikes’
Cockpit Canopy
The canopy frame mounting has already been completed at
the factory for you. It is held in place with 4 bolts (M4 x
12mm) into T-nuts inside in the plywood tongues, and the
holes are already counter-bored so that the bolt-heads sit
almost flush with the fuselage surface.
Sand the inside edges of the canopy frame carefully with
rough sandpaper, especially the joining tape inside the
seams, to ensure a perfect fit of the canopy inside. Lay the
canopy on top of the frame, and mark the rough shape with a
felt pen or wax crayon. Cut the outer border of the clear
canopy with sharp scissors, about 12mm (1/2”) too big all
around. Unless you are in a very warm room, we
recommend that the canopy is slightly warmed up with a hair
dryer to prevent cracking - but be careful not to melt or
deform it! When the canopy fits inside the frame roughly,
mark the final cut line on it. Then cut it to exact shape with a
6 - 8 mm overlap all around.
TIP:
The rear sides of the Extra canopy frame are exactly
straight, and it helps to temporarily fix a strip of 3mm thick x
12mm high plywood on both sides of the frame while gluing
the canopy in position to prevent you deforming it. Just apply
some strips of paper masking tape to the sides of the canopy
frame, and CA the plywood strips to them temporarily while
gluing the clear canopy in place, and then remove
afterwards.
Make many hand-holds with wide duct-tape to make holding
and positioning the canopy easier. With the canopy frame on
a flat table, push the canopy up tightly inside the back of the
frame and fix the just bottom 2 back corners with one very
With the clear canopy tacked
into place with the frame on the
fuselage, carefully remove it &
complete the gluing on a flat
table.
Secure all around the inside
edges with epoxy and micro-
balloons mixture, as seen on
this Extra 260.
Pilot-doll at the cockpit. Always
an eye-catcher.
