Assembled fuselage side frames (above left). They are made from 1⁄8 inch balsa. The fuselage structure is similar to that of the real E-2. Assembled
× 1⁄4-
Construction Before starting out, look the plans over to
get an idea of how it all goes together. Throughout construction I used mostly medium weight wood. In building the tail surfaces you would normally try to build them light by using lighter weight wood. Here, I just used medium wood, which worked out good since the model came out just slightly nose heavy. Tail surfaces: I usually start out on the
tail surfaces since they are quick and easy to build. They can also be fitted in place as the fuselage is being constructed to make sure they fit properly. The entire tail surfaces are built from 3⁄16-
inch balsa. A 3⁄16-inch hardwood dowel joins the elevators together. For attaching the vertical fin on to the fuselage, two 1⁄8-inch dowels are glued in the vertical fin. These dowels fit into holes drilled in the rear fuse- lage block. Fuselage: The fuselage side frames are
built over the plans. Bottom keel, K1, is lam- inated from 1⁄8-inch lite ply and 1⁄8-inch balsa. The 1⁄8 × 1⁄4-inch longeron that forms the top part of the fuselage side is not straight but changes angles at F4 and at the stabilizer. Here the longeron is scored and glued to the correct shape. The piece that forms the cab- in top should be hard balsa or spruce. Join the fuselage sides by gluing F2 and
F5 in place, (they go inside the side frame) making sure the fuselage sides are aligned.
tail surfaces (above right). They are made from 3⁄16-inch balsa. The elevators are joined with a 3⁄16-inch hardwood dowel.
Once dry, glue F3 and F4 in. Again, they go inside the frame. The tail is then glued together. Before gluing the nose together, glue 1⁄8-
inch lite ply behind F1 and install blind nuts for the motor mount (T1 and F1 are one piece). To make it easier to bend the side frames at the nose, I scored K1 and the top longeron just in front of F2. A template was made from heavy cardboard that was fitted inside the side frames to get the sides bent correctly. Glue F1 in. Downthrust is built in for F1.
Right thrust (2 to 3 degrees) should also be added. You can do this by canting F1 3⁄32 inch to the right. Use tape or rubber bands to hold the nose together until thoroughly dry. The battery floor BF is glued in. The landing gear blocks are made up from
1⁄8-inch light ply. The base is 1⁄8 ×1 ×3⁄32-inch light ply, with 1⁄8 × 7⁄16-inch light ply strips glued on both sides of the gear wire, forming a grooved block. Once dry, sand the 1⁄8-inch strips down to 3⁄32 inch so they will be flush with the gear wire. Add 3⁄32-inch side sheeting at the nose. The
sheeting is in two pieces, fitting between the 1⁄8×1⁄4-inch upright and flush with the sides. Glue in 1⁄8 × 1⁄4-inch cross members where
shown on the plans. The one on top of F2 is 1⁄8 × 3⁄4-inch. Add top formers T2 through T7. T2 and
T3 are glued in at an angle, so they will have to be beveled. T4, 5 and 6 are scalloped
so they don’t show through the covering, which is the way it’s done on full-scale air- craft. The 1⁄8 × 1⁄4-inch stringers are now glued in. The 1⁄16-inch bottom sheeting is added at
this time. The plans show the bottom sheet- ing ending at F5, but on mine I sheeted the entire bottom, so you can do it either way. Top sheeting is also added at the nose. The battery hatch is cut out and fit in place. It rests on 1⁄8×1⁄4-inch strips that are glued in- side the fuselage. At this point the landing gear is made up.
It is bent from 3⁄32-inch (.093) music wire. Bind the gear legs together with copper wire and check the fit with the landing gear blocks before soldering it together. The wire that goes between the gear is .046 music wire. The landing gear is attached to the fuselage with landing gear straps. Cabin pieces C1, 2 and 3 are cut from 1⁄8-
inch lite ply. Drill holes in C1 for the hold- down dowels and glue C2, then C1 in place. Balsa is added in front of C1 and shaped to match the wing contours. Glue 1⁄8-inch lite ply under C3 and install blind nuts for the wing hold-down bolts. I only fitted C3 tem- porarily in place then glued it permanently in place after covering the fuselage. If you glue C3 in first, you will have a heck of a time covering under it. The 1⁄8-inch dowels that fit under the wing,
and the mounts at T4 are only for scale and can be omitted if desired.
Completed wing panels. The wing is built in three sections (above left) then joined together. The ailerons are only for scale but can be made to operate. To
FLYING MODELS
get the nose taper even, a cardboard template (above right) is made and the sides pull together with the template in place.
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