Gerald,

Yes, just a basic nut tightly snugged up against the metal clevis. I would stay with the metal clevis at the speeds you want to go.

Regarding the glue: having seen these race engines seize causing the nose section snap off of other pilot's planes probably 3 or 4 times now, while you likely have enough glue at the joint, I always choose to go above and beyond to reinforce the nose section, and recommend you do as well. Like Skids, I prefer fiberglass; but I like to add tri-stock where possible to not only get more reinforcement on the joint, but it makes the fiberglass easier to lay down properly around that tight corner. (Two 45-degree angles, rather than one 90-degree angle.) All that glue on the back of the firewall and sides, however, means that tri-stock is not going to be a very realistic option for you on this one. One other option might be a U-shaped piece of plywood reinforcing the firewall's connection to the fuse sides. This is what the install looked like when I used one to reinforce the P-39 I detailed building the "Trinity-build" thread. This was in post #216 on page 9 of that thread. The P-51 build with the tri-stock I added to my firewall is pictured in some posts on page 15; and, I guess I am too late with the information now, but somewhere within a page or two of this is my steerable tailwheel installation on that plane.


I have seen some modelers pin the firewall, as you mentioned. Think of this as a dowel joint. The way I have seen it done is to drill holes (perhaps a half inch or so apart) through the fuse sides and into the firewall. Add epoxy and insert a bamboo barbecue skewer or small diameter dowel seated into each hole. Then trim, sand and recover.

I ALWAYS fiberglass the center section of ALL my wings. How much depends on other reinforcements . . . is there a dihedral brace & how substantial? . . . Are the spars spruce, or just balsa? How solid does the glue joint look at the center section? (Beings you are not the original builder, this could be important -- I've seen some horrible looking joints from other builders over the years, with large gaps and little glue, so definitely check this.) The WM Mustang ARF comes stock with a dihedral brace . . . the question is whether or not to assume the original builder installed it. If so, and all else looks good, my Mustangs have held together using two strips of 3" center section FG reinforcement tape, with each strip overlapping 1" on each side of the center section. This would likely be fine for Silver, but if you intend to go faster, and/or do not want to take any chances, definitely follow Skid's recommendation and go out further.

Hope this helps.

Ollie