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The positioning of the components installed in the nose of the fuselage will depend to
some degree on your choice of battery pack and other RC components and all of
these will influence the balance point. Carefully check the physical layout of all the
components, bearing in mind the recommended centre of gravity.
The servo mounting tray is to be located within the cockpit opening leaving sufficient
space to accomodate the receiver battery. The servo mounting tray does fit in the
fuselage opening! Turn it around carefully and you will find that it will slip neatly into
place. Don’t be tempted to apply force, or to remove too much material which will
result in a poor fit. Mark the position carefully with a pencil and tack the servo tray in
place using an instant adhesive – before bonding the frame securely into the
fuselage with a generous bead of thickened epoxy. Allow to cure. Tip:
Some may
wish to complete the job by adding a layer of wetted fibre glass cloth over the entire
servo frame allowing about 10mm extra on both sides to bond with the fuselage
sides.
Prepare the servo output arms with servo in the centre (neutral) position mount them
onto the servo output shaft. Mount the servos and the ON/OFF switch onto the servo
mountin tray.
The rudder and elevator push-rods will need to be shortened such that with the
servo in the centre (neutral) position the corresponding control surface is also
located in the neutral position. Both Bowden tubes used to support the rudder and
elevator control push-rods will naturaly also need to be shortened accordingly.
This is also a good time to install the aero-tow release (if required). There is a
good selection of purpose made model aero-tow release mechanisms available
commercially for which installation techniques vary, but the simplest form is
described below:
Carefully mark out and cut a 10mm slot about 2mm wide transversally about 5cm
from the nose and with the lower third of the fuselage diameter. Using thickened
epoxy, fix a length of PVC Bowden tube along the inside of the fuselage such that
it intersects the slot at 90 degrees. The slot should be positioned so as to allow at
least 5-10mm of the PVC tube in front of the slot. Once the resin has cured, cut
away the Bowden tube from inside the slot and insert a length of steel wire inside
the tube such that it engages both sides of the slot when closed and is clear of the
slot when open. Connect the free end of the steel wire to a suitable servo to
