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FUSELAGE CONSTRUCTION
1.
The fuselage sides are made first. No matter how many times we say this, some builders always make the mistake of
making either two right or two left fuselage sides!
However, we'll say it again -
MAKE ONE RIGHT AND ONE LEFT FUSELAGE SIDE.
From your kit contents, locate the two laser cut 1/16" balsa fuselage sides and the
two 1/64" plywood fuselage doublers. To give you time, use a slow setting
adhesive to glue the plywood doublers in place to each fuselage side, aligning
them carefully. Wipe off any excess glue and use pins or weights to hold the
doublers firmly in place to the fuselage sides on your flat work surface until the
glue sets.
2.
As shown on the plans, the fuselage sides are framed with 1/8" square balsa longerons. Pin the fuselage sides firmly to
your flat work surface, with the doubler sides up. Starting with the bottom longeron, use CA glue to glue the longeron in
place from the very rear of the fuselage forward to the front edge of the doubler. Pin the longeron in place as you go. Glue
the top longeron in place next. As shown, this piece fits from the front face of F-6 back to the rear face of F-7. Next, glue the
stabilizer longeron in place. This is cut to fit from the back face of F-7, back to the rear of the fuselage side.
The longeron that fits at the top of the fuselage, directly beneath the wing is now
prepared. As you can see, this piece is glued to the top of the fuselage side and
fits from F-6, forward to the bottom of the leading edge of the cabin. In order to
make this piece fit flat to the fuselage side, you must relieve it slightly to fit flat
against the fuselage doubler, forward of F-5. Use a sanding block to do this and
glue the piece in place.
3.
Cut, fit and glue the two 1/8" square balsa uprights in place that fit against the
back face of F-6 and the front face of F-7. Hold the actual formers in place to the
fuselage side when doing this to insure a perfect fit.
4.
Cut, fit and glue the 1/16"x1/8" balsa uprights in place between the fuselage longerons at stations A and B on the plans -
these are installed on the 1/16" edge. Cut, fit and glue the 1/16"x1/8" diagonal fuselage braces in place, from F-6 back to F-
7, also on edge.
5.
With the uprights and diagonal braces in place in each fuselage side, turn the sides over and cut, fit and glue the three
1/16" square stringers in place using the plans for placement reference. Cut, fit and glue a length of 1/16" sq. balsa to the
center of the window frame support, as shown on the plans. Avoid using excess glue for this step. The exposed edges of
the window frame will later be used to mount the front windshield and the side windows.
6.
From your kit contents, locate the four 1/8" lite-ply laser-cut landing gear supports. As shown on the plans, these are glued
directly to the fuselage doublers, using the tick marks provided for placement. The supports fit against the bottom fuselage
longeron. Use thick CA glue and use the actual landing gear wire for exact spacing between the supports. Once these
supports are glued in place, use your hobby knife to slot the bottom longerons, where the landing gear wire exits each
fuselage side.
Summary of Contents for SIGRC80 Rascal C
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