seric

Late last night I finished gluing the fuselage together. I realized as I was gluing it some of the mistakes I made when building it. In pic2 you can that left side(top red box) I cut the back doublers from a longer piece of balsa with the grain, but I ran out that night and constructed the other side(bottom red box) out of leftovers, and glued it crossed grain. Then, when I glued the fuselage together on the back one side was more rigid than the other, so I think the fuselage may be a bit crooked (1, or 2 degrees). Will this affect the flying capabilities? When glues the bulk heads on, I marked off all the lines where it should go, and then glues the bulk heads to one side of the fuselage, and then after they had dried, tried to glue them onto the other side. The problem was that I glues the 90 degree vertical on the first side(Green angles on pic1) and then when pulling them over to the other side to glue I really had to bend the bluk heads so they would be flush with the other side (red and angles on pic1). What is the proper way to glue the bulkheads where it tapers down to get maximum strength when its glued? Maybe I should scrap it and rebuild it again, and mark this up to experience.[X(]

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

seric, the best way is to cut out the top sheet and pin it over the plans and draw lines where the bulkheads go. Then, glue the bulkheads to the top. You should be building the fuselage upside down, in other words. Be sure the top sheet is pinned down good so it doesn't move. Draw lines on the inside of the two sides where the bulkheads should touch and glue the sides TO the top and the bulkheads. Glue the sides to the two bulkheads at the front and back of the wing saddle first, and then pull the sides together at the tail and nose. This will ensure that the fuse is straight and that the bulkheads are parallel to each other.

I've attached a pic of another plane that used the same technique. Notice how the sides have not been pulled together at the tail yet. The top - which is pinned to the board - will make sure the fuselage is straight when the sides are pulled together.

seric

Thanks rainedav,

Tthat makes sense now that I think about it. When you pin them down, do you pin through the balsa? After taking off the clamps and looking down it length wise it looks pretty even on both sides so I'm going to go ahead an use it.