❍
3. Use a sharp hobby knife to cut the covering from the
bottom only of the horizontal stabilizer (stab) over the half-
circle notch in the trailing edge. Also cut the covering from
both sides of the stab over the half-circle notch in the
leading edge.
❍
4. Place the stab on the fuselage, keying the notches in
the stab into the pegs on the fuselage. Use a fine-point, felt-
tip pen to mark the outline of the fuselage onto the stab.
❍
5. Take the stab off the fuselage and follow the
Expert Tip
below or use a sharp hobby knife with a straightedge to cut
along the lines. If using a hobby knife to cut the covering, take
great care not to cut into the wood. Cutting into the wood will
weaken the structure which could cause it to fail in flight.
❍
6. Peel the covering from the bottom of the stabilizer.
❍
7. Reposition the stabilizer onto the fuselage. Resting the
fuselage on your workbench, place a weight on top of the
stab to hold it down. View the fuselage from the rear. If the
stab is parallel with the workbench, proceed to the next step.
If the stab is not parallel with the workbench, remove the
stab and use medium-grit sandpaper to sand down the “high
side” of the stab saddle where the stab rests until you can
get the stab level.
❍
8. Use 30-minute epoxy to glue the stab into position–be
certain to coat both the bottom of the stab and the fuselage
with epoxy. Use weight or T-pins to hold the stab in position
until the epoxy hardens.
Join the Fin
❍
1. The same as was done on the top of the fuselage, cut the
covering from the small hole in the top of the stabilizer for the
aft dowel in the fin. Place the fin on the fuselage, “keying” the
dowels in the bottom into the holes in the fuselage and the
stab. Without using any glue, place the tri-stock fin braces on
both sides of the fin. The same as was done with the bottom
of the stab, use a fine-point, felt-tip pen to mark the outline of
the fin braces onto the fuselage top and the fin so you will
know where to cut off the covering.
How to cut covering from balsa.
Rather than using a hobby knife which could
inadvertently cut into the balsa, use a heated soldering
iron. Move the iron at a pace that will just melt the
covering without burning into the wood–the hotter the
soldering iron, the faster you will have to move it. A sharp
tip isn’t necessary, but a fine-point does work best.
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