Sir Peet,

Over the years I've found that the weakest part of any project has to be the distructions.(as I call them.) Usually, they are translated by someone in China whose sister knew someone that was married to someone that spoke English. Given that, they're really pretty good. All you can do is rely on your common sense, your experience, and the experience of others like you're doing here.

I've just perused the manual online, and don't know what someone told you regarding to the z-bend, however, usually the push rods are z-bent using a tool called a z-bender at the point of contact for the servo control arm, and threaded for a clevis at the other end. In this case they are using a single 90 degree bend with a keeper. ("Straper") This worx well, and there's no need for you to change it from my point of view. (I am not a fan of those connectors they're showing you attaching to the throttle servo, and might recommend changing that with a Z-bend.)

From what i can see, they may have been referring to the point wherein the push-rods exit the fuse on the way to the elevator and/or rudder. I vaguely recall (it's been 6 yrs) making a LARGE version of a z-bend with needle nose pliers to reduce the friction at these points. The manual just has them bowing on their way to the control surfaces, but I felt there was far too much drag on the rods and bent them. HOWEVER, this made them too short to reach both. It was an easy fix though, as I had a few spare 30" control rods, threaded on one end, and just cut and bent them to fit. This reduced the friction on the rods and provided more than ample length to reach all necessary points.

Take one of the old rods and put a standard z-bend in it to replace the throttle one, if you chose to replace that odd connector, that is...

Sorry, I can't think of any reason that the gear and the tank have to be done in any particular order. []

Good luck,
Joe