intermidiot
Posts: 85
Joined: 10/11/2005
From: Westfield,
NJ, USA
Status: offline
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Hello m2,
In regards to the joining of the wings. What I normally do is prefit everything.. then I leave it there for a day and make sure that I also am not forgetting anything and how I will progress. What I mean by this is that once you dry fit it together and make sure it lines up and should be as it should be then just take some time to say to yourself.. Ok, where am I going from here. ( not that I need to tell you this, just how I do it ), then I consider where I am going to tak glue things together so that it holds while I epoxy. In this case of the wings there is ( in my case ) was a lot of tension to hold it together. But I held it for like 5 minutes, which is not a long time unless you are doing the holding. heh.. Once in place, and perfectly aligned I then mixed my epoxy and dripped it inside the hole and let it settle. I used the 30 minute epoxy so that it would settle and cover everything pretty well before it set.
Then I just slowly started to position the wings on their edge, bottom, side etc and evenly distributed a fillet of epoxy around the points of contact. I can honestly say I take my time and make sure that the fillet is only about a 1/16 in thickness. The bond is strong and it keeps the weight down. Once that dried over night I then started getting ready for my retracts. I am using the robart 605's with the robostruts. I will say this. try to dryfit your retracts cause if you drop in the retract wood pieces and epoxy them you will not get an idea of if the wheel will be completely covered by the sheeting or not. I had to shim the right retract a little so that it would be completely covered by the sheeting when I decide to sheet the wings.. I then dry set my retracts and measure them up so they are the same distance from the w-1a assembly.. I mark the retract screw holes on the wood.. ( even the retracts out as best as possible.. make them identical. really eye it up and then measure if needed. drill your holes and then screw them in but not to tight. pick up the wings and from the bottom over your head so the bottom is the bottom make sure you can see from the front that the sheeting will cover your wheels. If not then shim the retract a little until it WILL not be seen once the sheeting is applied.
Then hook up your air system and test test test and retest until the retracts work perfectly. Realize that when the retract go up they will be a lot smoother then when they come down. But fine tune the screws on the air system to get them as best as possible. Once that is done and you have run your air cables behind the aileron servo tray, test them again.. Now, at this point make sure that they air lines will not interfere with the flap servos when they are installed. The air lines will connect really well to their contacts.. However, you still need to use the retaining nuts to ensure that the pressure to the retracts does not escape.. I even used a little ca+ ( thick ). Now wait a day.. and then pressurize the system. Now wait another day and come back and check the pressure.. I usually crank it up to 80lbs. If it leaks out severely... I mean there is no air.. then start to use the water and soap on a swab test and check the connections for the air. See where it is leaking out.. even check the variable rate control valve. Make sure there are no leaks...
At this point you can move on, but be sure to think about WHERE you are going to mount the fill valve. I did mine under the cowl like in the manual at the back of the book, along with the fuel filler. You can see it in a picture in the book at the back.. page 43
Hope that helps.. I have passed that area, so I cannot think of what I was doing at the time anymore.. if I think of anything else I will post it..
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Kind Regards,
Intermidiot
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Printable Version
All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> Kit Building >> RE: Top Flite 1/7 P-51 Build 
RE: Top Flite 1/7 P-51 Build - 
In regard to your first question.. What I did was just put 2 blocks of wood under the wings themselve that were high enough to just lift the plane off the ground about 1/2 inch. This allowed enough of a push on the wings to keep them together as well as keep the CLE snug. Yeah yeah the epoxy should be dry from the brace, but its how I did it. 
