GRAUPNER GmbH & Co. KG * Henriettenstrasse 94-96 * 73230 Kirchheim/Teck
www.graupner.de
*
www.tangent-modelltechnik.com
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Completing the canopy.
The Carbon canopy is supplied ready made and requires only minimal finishing. Place the
canopy on the fuselage opening, carefully check the joint and adjust as necessary for a
perfect fit. Minimum gap and good overall appearance will be your just reward for a little extra
time and effort at this stage. Follow the steps below to install the canopy retainer, taking care
to check the fit at each stage.
Installing the canopy retainer.
The canopy is held in place by a combination of a forward canopy pin and a rear GRP leaf
spring. The forward canopy pin is held in place by the channelled hardwood support. The
support is glued to the inside of the canopy about 50mm aft of the canopy edge such that the
tip of the pin is just inside the edge of the canopy. The canopy pin is glued into the channel in
the hardwood support – such that the pin protrudes sufficiently from the front of the support
to engage with the rim of the fuselage opening. Re-check and adjust as necessary to achieve
a good fit. Be sure to roughen the inside of the canopy with abrasive paper before gluing to
ensure a good bond.
The rearward canopy fixing is made using the GRP leaf-spring which is bonded to the inside
of the canopy and held in place with one or two layers of fibreglass cloth suitably wetted with
epoxy resin. Be sure to roughen-up the inside of the canopy with abrasive paper before
bonding the leaf-spring in place.
Test fit the canopy, and use a 3mm drill or suitable round file to form a recess in the forward
rim of the fuselage opening to accommodate the forward canopy pin. Re-check and trim
carefully until a perfect fit is achieved.
Tip.
Work carefully and accurately. Your patience will be rewarded by a tight fitting
canopy!
Fig 02. Canopy catch
Installing the all-flying tail-plane.
CAUTION! The elevator bell-crank mechanism is pre-installed in the fuselage, but is
yet to be permanently glued into place.
If necessary, please shorten the Aluminium nuts.
Attach the all-flying tail-plane making sure that the rearward steel wire
joiner passes through the hole in the bell-crank installed the fin. Carefully
check the alignment of the tail-plane halves with the fin.
Prepare a means to hold the fuselage with the fin at right angles to the work surface. Also
prepare something on which to support the two tail-plane halves at right-angles to the fin and
at the correct height. A few carefully selected books and/or Compact Disc holders might well
serve as an adequate jig for this purpose.
Now loosen the two Aluminium nuts holding the bell-crank bearing in place and make any
adjustment necessary to ensure that that tail-plane halves can be aligned at exactly 90° to
the fin. Apply a little thickened epoxy to the inside of the two nuts and carefully tighten,
constantly checking that correct alignment between tail-plane and fin is maintained at all
times.
Leave the entire tail-plane assembled in the jig described above until the adhesive has fully
cured.
