5
Building instructions
Attach the motor to the bulkhead (2) and place it temporarily in the fuselage. Assemble the folding propeller
and fit it on the motor shaft. Trim the front face of the bulkhead (2) if necessary until it fits correctly. Check
that the spinner backplate lines up accurately with the nose of the fuselage.
Mask off the front surface of the fuselage with adhesive tape, then glue the motor bulkhead in place
permanently.
Allow the glue to set hard, then run a 3 mm Ø drill through the marked holes in the fuselage. Countersink the
two horizontal holes (for the motor retainer screws) and install the motor using the retainer screws (8). The
motor installation aid (Order No. 5731) is very useful here.
Tip: optimum cooling for the COMPACT motor is obtained by locating the holes in the nose bulkhead which
are outside the motor mount area, and opening them up to 5 mm Ø. Soak the motor bulkhead with thin
cyano glue to stiffen the component.
The photograph shows the parts required to retain the canopy (12). Bend the retaining bar (9) to the shape
shown using a pair of pliers, and check that the canopy latch fits into the loop. Place the canopy on the
fuselage and mark the position of the retaining screw (10). Drill a 2 mm Ø pilot-hole at the marked point and
fit the retaining screw (10); tighten it just to the point where the canopy is a snug sliding fit under its head.
Glue the retaining bar (9) in place, fit a 3 mm Ø rod through the loop to hold it in position as shown in the
photo, and tape it in place. Invert the fuselage before applying glue to the bar.
Glue the canopy latch (11) in place, using a piece of scrap 3 mm plywood as shown to support the latch pin.
Attach the elevator servo to the battery plate (4) using the fixings supplied with the servo. Fit the battery plate
(4) (with servo attached) into the fuselage, position it as shown on the plan and set it exactly horizontal.
Check the position once more, then glue the battery plate in place together with the fuselage former (5). Use
a strip of hardwood to apply the glue in the inaccessible areas.
Glue the cross-piece (6) under the flanges of the wing saddle. Cut the foam strips (17) to the shape and
length shown, and apply them to the wing saddle as shown. Caution: the foam battery guides (16) should not
be glued in place until
after
the captive nuts (14) have been installed.
Plug the wing panels together using the steel joiner rod (13). Place the wing on the fuselage, check
alignment carefully and tape it in place as shown. Drill 4 mm Ø holes through the cross-piece (6).
Remove the wing and drill out the holes in the cross-piece (6) to 5.5 mm Ø. Sand the gluing surfaces of the
captive nuts (14) very thoroughly and glue them in the underside of the cross-piece. Tip: fit the wing retainer
screws (15) through the cross-piece (6) and screw them into the captive nuts to a depth of about 3 mm.
Apply glue to the nuts and pull them up into the cross-piece using the screws. Check alignment, then leave
the fuselage inverted while the glue cures.
Cut the elevator “snake” outer (18) to length and glue it in the fuselage former (5).
Cut down the servo output lever and drill out the linkage hole for the pushrod connector to 2 mm Ø. Tighten
the self-locking nut (20) just to the point where the connector still swivels smoothly, but without slop.
The next step is to fit the output arm on the servo, but first the servo must be set to centre from the
transmitter, or by using a servo tester. The M3 grubscrew (21) should be secured with a drop of UHU thread-
lock fluid once the correct settings have been checked.
Stick the foam battery guides (16) in place as shown.
Caution: the next step is to glue the plywood tail saddle reinforcement (3) in place, but be sure to cover the
snake outer with tape beforehand to avoid glue getting on it. Apply STABILIT to the reinforcement (3) and
slip it into position from the tail end. Press it into place and leave the fuselage inverted while the glue sets
hard.
Screw the horns to the two V-tail panels as shown in the photo, taking care to position them as an exact
mirror-image, otherwise elevator commands will produce asymmetrical travels. The V-tail can now be fixed to
the fuselage using the screws (23): first position the tail assembly accurately and tape it in place, then drill 2
mm Ø pilot-holes for the retainer screws. Connect the steel control surface pushrods (22) to the horns and
slip the two pushrods into the snake outer (18) before fixing the V-tail to the fuselage using the self-tapping