ORIGINAL: Viper Driver
Once the stringers are in place, the turtle deck is sheeted with 3/32'' balsa. The sheeting is first glued together into one sheet, large enough to cover the deck. Next, I pre-mold the sheeting so I can start fitting it. To mold it, I wet the center of the sheet with water and pulled it around a wrapping paper tube ('tis the season) to form a shape that is close to the shape of the turtle deck. Once it is dry, it is taped to the turtle deck and pulled to the final shape. As with the nose section, I lightly misted the wood and left it to dry. Once dry, I removed the tape and the sheeting maintains nearly the exact shape of the turtle deck. This is a bit more difficult than it sounds as the turtle deck is a compound curve shape and the sheeting requires some finessing to conform.
Jeff, two questions... First, I noticed on the fuse sides you've inletted in two places with another piece of wood... is this ply or something else where the incidence adjuster and wing tube go? Second, what method are you using for tail feather actuation? If it's pushrods/deps/whatever, are you going to install them after the top turtledeck is sheeted (access from bottom?)