Retro RC Radio Flash
In a short time, the fuselage (above left) is ready for installation of the AR6400. No further finish is needed for the fuselage; however, one could use markers or paint sparingly to decorate if desired. Darryl chose only to paint the wheels on the finished model. The included Esaki tissue (above right) is printed with
stalling the radio. I will address that when we get to the radio components. The wheels are made from two balsa parts, one a full wheel, and the other a ring. These are glued together and the edges rounded to make it look more like a tire. For a stronger wheel, I suggest gluing the wheel parts together with the grain running in op- posite directions. The wheel axles are bent from 1⁄32-inch wire found in the parts bag. The full size patterns are on the parts dia- gram sheet. The wire is fairly soft, and easy to bend. Just make sure to study the dia- gram carefully to get the correct shape. Small ply discs are used as bearings and retainers for the wheels. Study the plan dia- gram for proper placement of these discs. The larger ones are glued to the wheels, as bearings, with the smaller used as retain- ers. If you’re careful, you should be able to just press the retainers on the wire axles, and not use glue. The tail skid is also bent from the 1⁄32-inch wire.
The tail skid wire design on the plan is quite complicated, and would challenge the most experienced modeler, so I opted to heed the advice on the plans that says, “Tail skid may be simplified if desired”!
I made my skid to have simple 90-degree bends on both ends, and it is glued into a hole in the fuselage at the tail skid position. To date, it has not strayed!
graphics and layout marks to aid in cutting for each flying surface. Choose your favorite method of application for the tissue. Darryl chose to use a glue stick to adhere the tissue to the framework. To keep it light and prevent warping of the frame, do not apply any sealing sprays to the tissue.
One very nice touch in this kit is the Japanese Esaki tissue supplied for the cover- ing. This is some of the finest and lightest tissue, and is loved by freeflight modelers everywhere! Retro RC even went further, and pre-printed graphics on the tissue adding a nice finishing touch! My tissue was a dark blue; however, their website mentions that the tissue can be one of several colors. I am not sure if one can order the color of their choice, or if it is just the luck of the draw. The back of the full size plan sheet has the diagram for cutting the tissue for each piece. However, when one looks at the tissue, there are small printed dashes that also guide the modeler on where to cut, also a nice touch! While there are other lightweight options available these days, it was nice to get back to the tissue covering I grew up using. Once all the flying surfaces are covered, the wings joined and the horizontal and ver- tical stabilizers are mounted on the fuse- lage, it is time to install the electronics. As I mentioned earlier, I waited to this point to mount the motor. I like to be able to easily remove my motors and gear boxes. For this application, I simply trimmed the plas- tic motor mount to fit nicely into the ply mount, and used two small screws to secure it in place. Only when I was satisfied with the fit of the mount on the fuselage and the motor shaft centered in the front hole did I
glue the motor mount in place. Removing the two screws allows me to remove the gear box assembly for maintenance or replacement. The receiver brick is held onto the fuse- lage by another of this kit’s nice touches. There are several ply brackets that will slide over the fuselage, and snap onto the board, holding it securely in place. Retro RC real- izes that the AR6400s are available in the long or short versions, and include the ply mount piece for each of these receivers. One just needs to select the correct plywood part for their application. This unique method made mounting the receiver a snap! Once the board is in place, it is time to hook up the controls. Ply control horns are included, and slide into slots on the respec- tive surface. The horns look similar, but are slightly different, so make sure to place them correctly. The pushrods are the typical carbon fiber rods, with fine wire ends held in place with heat shrink tube. Carefully make the Z bends in the smaller wire and place them on the servo and control horn. Careful- ly place the carbon pushrod and heat shrink tube in place over the Z bend wire, and shrink the tube to hold it in place. Make any adjustments required to center the control surfaces and test for proper movements. The last thing we need to do is mount the battery. I make a small sleeve mount for my little batteries which fastens to the bottom
Once the wings are covered, they are joined together. Take care to sand the correct angle of the center ribs, and check for proper dihedral (above left) before gluing together. Here one wing half is weighted and pinned flat while the other half is blocked at the correct angle for gluing. The fuselage stick is held in
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place while the horizontal and vertical stabilizers (above right) are glued in position. Check to make sure the surfaces are square to the fuselage and each other before gluing. All surfaces are covered with the tissue before final assembly.
SEPTEMBER 2013
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