RBCkits
“Pou du Ciel”
Construction of the Pou du Ciel
Use CA glue for all joints.
Use a light covering such as micafilm or litespan and don’t shrink it too tight, as the light wingstructure will easily deform.
Wings:
Note that each wing has two dihedral breaks at rib position W3. Therefore the leading edge dowel and the leading edge
sheeting has to be made in parts, shaped, and joined at the dihedral break.
The wingribs have subtle differences, it is best to mark the part numbers on them before cutting them loose from the sheets.
Front wing:
Construct the mainspar by joining parts FM1, and the secondary spar is made from parts FM2. Place the ribs as per plan.
Place leading edge (3 parts) and trailing edge. Construct wingtip from parts W10,W11 and butt join to leading and trailing
edge. Add top sheeting from 1,5mm balsa (3 pieces). Add parts W6 and W7, and the front wing is ready for covering.
Rear wing:
Use the same sequence as for the front wing, using parts RM1 and RM2 for main and 2
nd
spar respectively. The sheeting is
made in 5 parts, as shown on the drawing.
Add parts W8 and W9(do not forget the self-clinching M4 nut) Push the 4mm dowels through the spar and glue to ribs W0,
test fit part F11 before glueing. Place scrap filler pieces against W2A for smooth fuselage fitting. The rear wing is now also
ready for covering.
Fuselage:
The fuselage is initially built upside down on the building board.
Glue together parts F19 and pin onto a flat building board. Reinforce F10 with short pieces of 2x6 spruce placed on either
side of the servo hole and pre drill to take the servo mounting screws.
Slide formers F8, F10 and F12 onto both parts F13, place the whole assembly onto F19, position formers F14, F15 and F16,
check for straightness and glue all joints.
Glue the self clinching M4 nut to F7, and glue to F8. Place F6 and F9.
Built up the bottom sheeting from 1,5 mm balsa sheet as per the template on the drawing. Glue the sheeting onto the inverted
fuselage, aligning the front with the rear of F6. Make sure it is aligned properly lenghtwise. Glue the sheeting piece forward
of F6
Remove the fuselage assembly from the building board and glue 2x6 spruce rudder servo rails in position on F13. Lightly
sand the edges of F19 and the bottom planking with a sanding block to get the right bevel and sheet the sides with 1,5mm
balsa (grain runs vertical).
Place and sand a scrap filling piece at F6 and finish the rear end of the fuselage to a point with a balsa block glued to F16.
Reinforce the frontal opening with 2x10 balsa strips on the inside of the side sheeting and a piece of 2x8 spruce across at the
underside of F19, between the 2x10 balsa strips.
Place F18 and cut a hole in the bottom sheeting for the wing mounting bolt (you can fit a tube from paper to guide the wing
mounting bolt). Glue F11 to F12, make sure that the “shoulders” rest on F19. Place F17 (F17 contains a small piece of inner
(white) cable to act as a bearing for the rudder). Place formers F4 and F5. Reinforce motor bearers MB1 with 2x6 spruce,
chamfer inner sides of MB1 to fit the motor and place MB1 onto F19 / F4. Place F3.
Now sheet the top deck of the fuselage with strips of 2x15x150mm balsa, do not forget the openings for the wing cabanes
Make the cowl from F1,F1A and F2 and 0,4mm ply, and make snap retainers from scrap balsa. These retainers will slide
inside the frontal fuselage opening and hold the cowl (=battery hatch) in place.
