Page 14
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Construction Manual
the basswood strips, and the front of
the hatch as we shown here.
Now follow these same steps to form
the sheeting for the other side of the
hatch. Note that you'll need to mirror
the fi rst sheet's curve when you set-in
the curvature for the second sheet, so
it will fi t properly.
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Step 104 - Fuse Assembly (attach the wing)
OK, now it's time to fi t the wing to the fuselage and drill the holes
for it's mounting screws.
Before you can sit the wing into the fuselage's wing saddle, you'll
need to sand the leading edge of the center section to round it
a bit. You'll see the curvature in
the front part of the wing saddle
that you'll want to match.
Check the fi t of the wing into the
wing saddle of the fuselage. It should
drop in without much resistance, so if you
need to, lightly sand the leading and trailing of
the wing a little to get a nice fi t.
When fi nished, center the wing's center section into the saddle.
Now align the wing properly to the fuselage by adjusting as needed
so that distance from the port wing tip to the rear of the fuselage
is the same the distance when measured from the starboard wing
tip to rear of the fuselage.
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Step 105 - Fuselage Assembly (drill wing bolt holes)
With the wing aligned, drill two
3/16” holes for the wing bolts,
using the pre-cut holes the WH5s
as a guide. Before powering up,
position the drill down through
these holes and only then turn on
the power to cut down through
the WH1/WH2 and WH3/WH4
sandwiches in the fuselage.
Use caution to make sure the wing does not move until both holes
are drilled.
When drilling, take your time and make sure the drill is held so the
bit is in the center of the wing holes. This will guarantee that the
holes drilled will be perpendicular with the wing’s sheeting.
This will make it so the wing bolt goes in at an angle, but the wing
bolt's head will be fl at on the wing surface. Remove the drill, remove
the wing and clean up around the new holes you drilled.
Run a 1/4x20 tap through the WH1/WH2 and WH3/WH4 sandwiches
so that the wing bolts will thread into these blocks. A few drops of
thin CA will help strengthen and secure the threads you’ve cut in
these holes. We've found this to be a very secure way of holding the
wing in place for all of our prototypes, but... if you don't want to go
this way, you can also use 1/4x20 t-nuts (not included).
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Step 106 - Fuse Assembly (Vertical fi n)
With the wing still attached, focus now moves to attaching the tail
surfaces. The fi rst thing is the vertical fi n. If you still have it taped to
the width and allow it to properly fi t
when attached to H1.
Dry fi t these parts together and see
how things fi t. Sand if needed to
make sure everything looks good,
then glue these two parts to the top
side of H1, making sure that H4 slants toward the front of the hatch.
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Step 100 - Hatch Assembly (framing)
Draw a line across the front of
the top of the hatch, at the front
of both H2 cutouts.
(I know, the
H2's aren't shown in this pic, but
pretend they're there).
This line will serve as the front
measurement of the strips you're about to cut.
Locate both of the 1/8" sq. basswood strips. Measure, cut and glue
the center length of framing as shown here. You'll need to sand a
bevel into the front edge to allow it to smoothly blend into the
hatch surface.
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Step 101 - Hatch Assembly (framing)
Using more of the 1/8" sq basswood,
measure cut and attach the two
pieces on either side of the center
piece you just installed.
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Step 102 - Fuse Assembly (framing)
The last two outer pieces go from H4, to 1/2"
in back of the H2 cutouts. These pieces should
be glued in so they form a straight line from
H4, to these cutouts, as shown here.
Again taper the forward ends into the hatch.
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Step 103 - Hatch Assembly (sheeting)
Locate two of the uncut 1/16" x 4" x 12" balsa sheets. These are
used to form the outer skin halves of the hatch.
As the sheeting we get can vary in density, you will probably have
to apply a bit of Windex® glass cleaner
to loosen up the grain. Soak the outer
side of the wood to expand the fi bers.
Now hold it to curvature needed, then
use a hair dryer or covering heat-gun to
help “set” the balsa’s bend as it dries.
Once dry, the you can start to measure
and cut as needed to complete one
side of the sheeting.
Use a bit of masking tape to hold it in
position along it's entire length as you
glue it to the hatch.
Then glue it to the side of the hatch,
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