16)
Next you will be sheeting the bottom of the fuselage.
All sheeting, top and bottom is installed cross-grain.
Locate the provided 1/8” x 4” x 36” balsa sheeting. Sheet bottom of the fuselage from the aft side of the wire
trap to the forward edge of the tail wheel bracket mount. Carefully mark and cut the 1/8” balsa sheeting as there
is just enough raw material to sheet the fuselage top and bottom with no scrap left over. Use thin CA glue to
attach the sheeting to the sides and be sure to glue each cross grain seam too.
17)
Slightly round off the edges of the lower
straight portion of the plywood pylon core where
it passes through the pylon hatch. Do not round off
the egdes of the upper curved portion of the pylon
core. Carefully push the pylon core through the
slot of the pylon hatch. BE CAREFUL! The lite-
ply hatch is easily broken at this stage of building.
Insert the pylon core through the slot of the lower
pylon support and fully seat the pylon core on the
fuselage floor. Move the pylon core/hatch
aseembly as needed to center the hatch between
the formers and the fuselage sides. When
everything is in proper alignment, drill through one of the four hatch pilot holes and 1/8” birch plywood hatch
mount with a #29 drill bit. Be sure to drill straight and perpendicular to the hatch. Remove the pylon/hatch and
then tap that one hole for the 8-32 nylon screw. Ream that same hatch hole with a #18 drill bit for a clearance of
the 8-32 nylon screw. Reinstall the pylon/hatch assembly and secure with a 8-32 nylon screw in the hole you
just tapped. Repeat the drill and tap operation on the opposite, diagonal corner of the hatch. Then repeat once
again on the remaining two hatch hold down screws. This method of drilling and tapping each hole individually
takes more time but the resulting fit of the hatch to the fuselage will be superior than if you try to drill and tap
all four holes at the same time.
Do not
glue the pylon core to the pylon hatch at this time!
18)
The top of the fuselage can now be sheeted. You will
need the remaining piece of 1/8” x 4” balsa from the
bottom sheeting. Install the pylon hatch with four nylon
screws. The pylon core does not need to be installed for
this step. Trim a piece of 1/8” balsa sheeting to fit behind
the pylon hatch. Before gluing the first piece of balsa
sheeting in place, it is best to leave a small gap between
the sheeting and the pylon hatch. This allows room for the
film covering to 'fill' the gap when the model is covered.
The easiest way to produce the correct gap is to fold a
small piece of printer paper in half (i.e a piece of this
manual) and then fold in half again so that you have four
thickness' of paper and place it between the hatch and the sheeting. Spot glue the first piece of balsa sheeting in
place with thin CA glue being careful
not
to glue either the paper or pylon hatch to the model. Remove the
paper and pylon hatch and fully secure the first piece of sheeting in place.
9
