rudder now needs to be made to allow clearence of
the dowel elevator joiner and full movement of the
rudder. With the rudder temporarily hinged to the fin,
test-fit the fin into the stab slot to be sure there is no
interference in the movement of the rudder and
elevator dowel. Disassemble these parts.
As shown on the plans, we have used short lengths
of scrap innerthrottlepushrod stock tubing to make
the stab and fin flying wire brace points. These
should be now glued in place in pre-drilled holes.
OPTIONAL DECORATION DETAIL-
1/4" LENGTHS OF 3/32" OR 1/8" DIA. PLASTIC
TUBING CAN BE EPOXIED INTO EACH JOINT
BETWEEN A SPRUCE CROSS BRACE AND
UPRIGHT (16 PLACES). LATER,"RIGGING" IS
T H R E A D E D T H R O U G H EACH TUBE, DRAWN
TIGHT AND EPOXIED IN PLACE.
Although we have been instructing you to sand the
various components of your Elder Biplane as you were
constructing them, take the time now to carefully re-
check any structure which may require final touch-up
sanding or filling. The difference between a good cover-
ing job and a great one tends to be about $2.00 worth of
sandpaper and the willingness to use it.
COVERING & FINISH
Now that all of the various components of your Elder
Biplane are completely assembled and sanded to their
final shapes, you can turn your attention to covering.
This is the point that can separate your model from
anyone else's. You must decide what you want the
finished airplane to look like. We have finished our pro-
totypes in a wide variety of color schemes representing
everything from an R.A.F. WWI fighter (in cream
MonoKote with red, white and blue Roundels and tail
treatment) or a German WWI fighter (all red Monokote
with black Iron Cross's on a white background) to
civilian-type versions (dove gray fuselages, transparent
blue wings and tail-group and chrome Monokote
'cowls')! Interestingly, no matter what color scheme we
used, there was always a group of people at the flying
site who would stand there looking at the Elder, arguing
about what a real, full-scale aircraft it represented. Just
remember that the Elder is not a scale-model, you're free
to cover it in any configuration that stikes your fancy— it
will look great!
Before covering, it is suggested that the final finish be
applied to the open spruce fuselage structure. This can
be done is several ways. There is a very good product on
the market called Varathane that is sold through most
well-stocked hardware and lumber supply oulets. This
material is essentailly clear and will leave the spruce
about its same color, maybe a little darker, and
somewhat shiny. It is resistent to spent fuel and quite
durable in actual use. Epoxy paint, mixed to achieve a
woodish brown color and brushed or sprayed, also
works well. Take your time here, use light sandpaper to
go over the framework, smooth ing it for the finish of your
choice. When applying the finish, be sure that all of the
exposed wood, except the top, rear stab glueing area,
receives paint. We then used flat black paint (again,
epoxy is great) to paint each of the ply 'joint caps'. This
really makes the structure come to life!
Now for the covering itself. Use the directions that are
supplied with each roll of Monokote and cover each of
the various components separately; fuselage, wings,
stab, elevators, fin and rudder. Some of you might have a
problem with the wingtips of the Elder, if this is your first
venture into the use of Monokote or your first R/C
airplane. Here's a method that works quite well, First,
cover the wing panels totally, starting with the bottoms
first, including the wingtips. Then cover the tops of the
wing panels out to and including the last outboard W-3
wing rib, but not the wingtips themselves. Next, cut an
elongated triangular piece on Monokote to fit over the
space between the forward W-3 rib and the forward W-7
wingtip former—keep edges straight, allow about 1/8"
overlap and iron this piece in place. Move now to the
next exposed triangular area between W-7 and W-8 and
repeat the process. This method will provide a much
easier covering situation for the newcomer and, if done
carefully, gives you a nice looking, wrinkle-free wingtip.
When covering the fuselage be sure that the bottom
covering—the piece that you should apply
first—overlaps into and on the firewall by about 1/4" at
least.
Assuming that the airplane is now covered, turn your at-
tention to fuel-proofing the engine compartment. We
like to use and highly recommend a liberal coat of
polyester resin. This material should be applied to all/ex-
posed wood in the inside of the cowl area and over all of
the Monokote seams that terminate in the cowl itself.
This seals the wood as well as the Monokote seams and
avoids "fuel creep" later on. Be sure to keep the resin out
of the bolt holes in the firewall.
Use your X-acto knife to now clear-out all of the hinge
slots in the ailerons, wing and tail group. Do the same
thing for the wing hold-down bolt holes, the cockpit, the
landing gear screw holes, etc.
Mount the lower wing to the fuselage with the nylon
bolts. Place the stab in position on the top rear of the
fuselage and sight down the front of the model to
observe if the stab is sitting flat in relationship to the
wing, without any tilt. Once satisfied, hold the stab firm-
ly in place in the position that it is meant to be; square
with the fuselage and aligned correctly with the wing
when viewed from the top—make sure that it is exactly
where you want it. Use a sharp pencil and, while holding
the stab in place, trace the outline of the framework that
is in contact with the bottom of the stab onto the stab
itself. Remove the stab from the fuselage. Use your
X-acto knife to now lightly cut-out the frame outline from
the bottom of the stab's Monokote to expose the
wood—this will be your glueing surface The stab can
now be mounted to the fuselage; we used a 'thick' CA
adhesive for this.
16
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