❏
51. Cut a small groove in the TE of the stab so the
horn
on the elevator joiner will not bind against the
stab when the elevator deflects downward. Test fit
the elevators to the stab, with the elevator joiner in
place, and make adjustments if necessary.
BUILD THE FIN AND RUDDER
❏
1. Place the fin plan over your building board and
cover it with Plan Protector or waxed paper.
❏
2. Test fit the die-cut 3/32” [2.4mm] balsa
fin ribs
R2 through R6
in the notches of the die-cut 1/8”
[3.2mm] balsa
fin TE spar (R7)
and
rudder LE spar
(R8)
. Place the assembly over the plan.
❏
3. Use a small square to position the fin TE spar
over the plan near rib R2. Align rib R2 over the plan
and pin it to your building board. Use one T-pin near
the front of the jig tab and one T-pin near the rear of
the jig tab.
❏
4. Use the same method to align the fin TE spar
over the plan at each rib. Pin the rib to your building
board. Glue the ribs to the spars with medium CA.
Use small drops of CA and do not build up fillets.
Later, we will remind you to reinforce the glue joints.
Refer to this photo for the next three steps
❏
5. Pin rib
R1
in place and glue it to the spar. Cut
the end off rib
R1A
at the embossed line and set the
cut-off piece aside. Pin the remaining part of R1A in
place and glue it to the rudder LE spar.
❏
6. Sand the fronts of the ribs to match the aft
sweep of the leading edge. Cut a shaped 5/16” x 15”
[8 x 381mm] balsa
stab/fin leading edge
to a length
of 11” [280mm]. Glue it to the front of the ribs so the
top
edge of the LE is
even
with the
top
of the ribs.
The bottom of the LE will extend below the bottom of
the ribs but will be sanded flush later.
❏
7. Sand the upward facing edges of the leading
edge and the sub spars so they match the contour of
the ribs. Do not change the shape of the airfoil by
sanding too much.
❏
8. Arrange the T-pins so they all go into the jig tabs
at the same angle. This will allow you to remove the
fin and rudder from your building board by lifting it up
and to one side after the top sheeting is glued in
place (because the T-pins are concealed).
❏
9. Glue the fin and rudder skin to the structure. The
bottom of the fin skin should extend below rib R1 by
approximately 1/4” [6.4mm] so you can trim it later.
Make sure the trailing edge of the rudder meets the
stoppers on the top of the jig tabs on ribs R2 and R6.
Note:
The rudder skin was cut wider than needed, to
allow enough material to trim it to size now.
T-34 Fact:
The T-34 began as a private venture by
Walter Beech shortly after the end of WWII. The
Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza had been
developed and Mr Beech felt there was a market
for a military trainer based on the Bonanza. After
the war, there were over 50,000 war-surplus
trainers still in the inventory and there was a lack
of funding for a new trainer, so Beech built several
proof of concept aircraft as a private venture. They
used the same basic wing, landing gear and
some fuselage parts from the Bonanza and one
even had the classic V-tail. These aircraft were
developed under the company designation Model
45. The first prototypes use a 205 hp Continental
engine while later prototypes used a more
powerful 225 hp engine.
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Summary of Contents for T-34B MENTOR
Page 7: ...7 DIE CUT PATTERNS...
