Fuselage:
The fuselage is a fibreglass and epoxy moulding, without a foam sandwich, all painted silver in the
moulds. We highly recommend that you lightly sand the
complete
inside surface of the fuselage
now, with 120 - 240 grit sandpaper - this is especially important in the nose area as access is dif-
ficult after the nose ring, inlet duct and nose gear bay are installed and glued in position. This op-
eration will also remove any loose glass strands that
might get in your hands later.
Generally you can follow the assembly sequence
shown below for simplest access to all the parts.
Nose
Check the fit of the nose on the fuselage, and sand the
back face very slightly (if needed) on a large flat sand-
ing sheet so that it matches the moulded flange on the
front of the fuselage. Sand the complete inside surface
of the nose, and the outer surface of the
flange on the fuselage in preparation for
gluing in position.
Glue the nose onto the fuselage, using a
thick mixture of 30 minute (or 24 hour)
epoxy and micro-balloons. There are 2
very
small marks on the nose ring that should be
aligned with the upper panel lines on either
side of the fuselage. These lines are so
small that it is almost impossible to show
them in a photo, but we have tried here !
Tape the nose firmly into position, and wipe
away any excess glue that squeezes out
at the joint line on the outside (use ‘Ron-
sonol’ or equivalent) before it cures.
Nose Gear Bay
The nose gear retract unit, leg and wheel, and the
steering servo should be installed in the fibreglass
nosegear bay and finished before the completed unit is
glued into the fuselage. This sealed bay eliminates
most FOD that would, otherwise, be sucked into the tur-
bine on the ground.
Cut out nosegear opening, following the molded-in
panel lines moulded into the underside of the fuselage
at the front, but make the width of the opening 40mm
for the
whole
length, as shown. The finished opening
should be 40mm wide and 166mm long, and the front
of the opening should be 44mm behind the back edge of the nose ring. It is easy to cut this out
using a fine razor saw or sharp modelling knife against a steel ruler. Sand the inside surface of the
fuselage on either side of the nosegear opening carefully now, if not already done, as the nosegear
Fox Composites Co., Ltd.
18
(above) Align the very small marks on the nose
with the upper panel lines on the fuselage.
