12
❏ ❏
4. Slide a silicone clevis retainer over the solder
clevis. Reinstall the aileron pushrod with the threaded
clevis attached to the control horn.
❏ ❏
5. Assemble and connect the fl ap pushrods
following the same procedure. We installed the pushrod
in the outer hole of the control horn and the hole 3/8"
[9.5mm] from the center of the servo arm.
Note:
With
the fl ap fully retracted “up”, the servo arm is centered
on the servo.
❏
6. Return to step 1 and install the aileron and fl ap
pushrods on the right wing.
The Thunderbolt was a massive airplane, the
biggest and heaviest single engine, single-place
fi ghter ever built. The engine, the Pratt & Whitney
18 cylinder twin-row radial, developed 2,000 HP
and was the most powerful engine at the time.
However, in turn, it needed a highly effi cient
duct system for its super-charger. The designer,
Alexander Kartvile, designed the duct system fi rst,
then built the fuselage around it.
JOIN THE WING
Note:
Keep the retracts in the retracted (up) position so
they do not extend and retract as you handle the wing.
❏
1. Clean the aluminum wing joiner with denatured
alcohol to remove any possible contaminant.
❏
2. Gather everything required for gluing the wing
joiner and wing together including 30-minute epoxy,
mixing sticks, epoxy brush, clamps, #64 rubberbands,
12" [305mm] long dowel or wire, denatured alcohol and
small paper towel squares. Mix up a 1/2" oz. [14.7cc]
of 30-minute epoxy. Apply a generous amount of
epoxy to one side of each of the plywood wing joiners.
Sandwich the aluminum wing joiner between the two
plywood wing joiners. Hold the joiner together with
clamps. Use a paper towel dampened with denatured
alcohol to wipe off any excess epoxy around the edges.
❏
3. Use 6-minute epoxy to glue the two 3/8" [9.5mm]
diameter forward wing dowels in the leading edge of the
wing. The wing dowels should protrude approximately
1/2" [12.7mm] from the wing. Also glue the 1/4" [6.4mm]
aft root rib guide dowel in the left wing half. Clean off
any excess epoxy before it cures.
❏
4. Once the epoxy has cured, remove the clamps
from the wing joiner and sand off any excess epoxy you
may have missed. Test fi t the wing joiner in each wing
half making sure that both wings halves fi t together at
the root without any gap. Trial fi t clamping the wing
