This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
The turtle deck is sheeted with 1


⁄16-inch balsa (above). Pre-cut the sheeting and


moisten before wrapping around the formers. The tail feathers, such as the vertical stab and rudder (at right), use standard built-up construction.


and battery mount, then the other fuselage side. A small board with a weight on top will keep the assembly together while the epoxy cures. Double check to make sure the top of the fuselage sides are perfectly parallel. When the epoxy has cured, place the fuse- lage assembly upside down over the fuselage plan top view and add the remaining form- ers, making sure the fuselage is straight. With all the main formers in place, add the sub-formers on the bottom of the fuse- lage. The bottom of the fuselage is now ready for planking. It’s important to plank the bottom of the fuselage before sheeting the top as I found it necessary to reach in- side the fuselage when attaching and align- ing the planks. To allow some “meat” for sanding, the fuselage bottom is planked with 3⁄8-inch wide by 3⁄32-inch thick planking. To ensure tight joints, I cut my own planks with a trape- zoidal cross section. To make the cuts, I use


a Master Airscrew balsa stripper to which a 3⁄16-inch square hard balsa stick was at- tached under the back edge. This set the cut- ting blade at an angle to the cutting table surface. By rotating the balsa sheet back and forth after each cut, trapezoidal planks are easily cut from the sheet.


Add the planking strips to the fuselage bottom starting along the sides, alternately from side to side. As the planks come togeth- er, it will be necessary to trim the planks to fit. Take your time here as any gaps will weaken the structure and make final finish- ing more difficult. To make sanding easier, I used Ambroid Cement along the edges of the planks and CA to attach the planks to the formers. With all the planks in place, rough sand the fuselage bottom to remove any ridges.


With the fuselage bottom planked, the rear turtle deck formers can be added and the turtle deck sheeted with 1⁄16-inch balsa sheeting. Precut the sheeting to shape and attach to the top of the fuselage sides first. Moisten the outside of the sheeting and carefully wrap the sheeting around the for- mers, matching both sides along the center- line of the top stringer.


Now it’s time to move on to the nose. I recommend that you drill the motor mount- ing holes in the firewall before adding the


FLYING MODELS


Order Plan CD464 for $21.00 21


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68