the frame roughly, mark the final cut line on it. Then cut it to
exact shape with a 6 - 8 mm overlap all around.
Make several hand-holds with wide paper masking tape
(see photo) to make holding and positioning the canopy
easy. Push the canopy up tightly inside the back of the
frame and fix the bottom 2 back corners with one drop of
slow CA each (ZAP-O or Plasti-ZAP recommended).
Note:
Do NOT use any CA accelerator/kicker - you will
immediately ‘fog’ the clear canopy!
Tape the front of the canopy to the frame temporarily. Mount
the canopy frame to the fuselage (use all 4 bolts), and tape
the back of the canopy frame tightly to the fuselage. Using
the masking tape handles to pull the canopy outwards firmly against the frame, working from the
back towards the front, glue the edges of the canopy in place in 2 more places each side, with
just a single small drop of CA at each position, all the time checking that the edge of the canopy
is tight up against the frame at the front.
Then make visual check from the front and back to make sure sure that the canopy is straight.
Now that the canopy is fixed in position and cannot twist or warp anymore, you can carefully glue
the rest of the canopy firmly in place. You can either complete the gluing from the outside, allow-
ing the CA glue to wick into the joint between the frame and the clear plastic or, if you prefer, you
can carefully remove the canopy frame from the fuselage, and use a 30 minute or 24hr epoxy
and micro-balloon mixture for gluing all the edges to the frame on the inside surface. Even if you
use the CA glue method, we recommend that you also glue the inside edges with the the epoxy
mixture to be sure that the canopy cannot come off in flight.
If you wish you can tint the inside of the canopy using one of the aerosol spray paints used for
painting the inside of polycarbonate car bodies (eg: the Tamiya or Lexanit ranges). Use many
very light coats to get even coverage.
Horizontal Stabs
Finished in 2 - 3 hours
The stabs are 99% finished at the factory, and only need the 4 servos, outer elevator horns and
linkages installing. We have already installed the inner control surface horns for you, but it is
mandatory to fit 2 servos in each stab, to prevent any chance of flutter, and so you need to install
the outer control surface horns for the outer servos in each elevator half. Follow the instructions
below for fitting the outer horns into the elevators.
First insert the 20mm aluminium tube spar in the fuselage sleeve, and install both stabs to check
the fit between the root ribs and the fuselage. You might
have to sand the root of the stabs slightly to make a perfect
joint, and if the tube is too long can to shorten it a little.
You have a choice of servos for the elevators, either a pair
of the hi-power digital JR8511/8611’s in each stab, or a pair
of JR8411’s, which is also sufficient for each elevator.
Important Note:
C-ARF also strongly advise that you
partly static-balance the elevators by gluing 25 -30 grams
Composite-ARF SuperXtra 330L
(3.1m span)
17
(above) The canopy is glued in
place with CA, using masking-tape
handles to pull it into place.