I spent most of yesterday taking care of mini projects for the Flitfire. Once they are completed, I can prep the major components for covering and painting.

First, leveling the wing:


Lateral angle measured on stabilizer plate.


Wing lateral angle. I think a difference of 0.1 degree is acceptable. I only lightly sanded the wing seat.

Installing the wing hold-down bolts:



I thought briefly about using 1/4" nylon bolts instead of the steel bolts and blind nuts supplied. However, with the scant width of mounting blocks, I though the larger holes might weaken them unacceptably.

Installing the wing locating dowel:


Using a long 1/4" bit, I drilled through the fuselage and glued in the appropriate length stick.

Tail wheel mount:


A large cut-off wheel made the perfect size slot.


Tail wheel mount in place; to be permanently affixed later.

Fuselage pushrods:


I also considered replacing the kit pushrods with more modern versions. Then I remembered how long my Eagle 63 flew without any control problems. Here, I have bent the aft wires to the shape on the plans.


Here, the tip of the 3/8" square bass rod has been drilled, grooved, and sanded, ready for wire insertion and fastening.


The pushrod end is finished: glued in, wrapped with carpet thread, and glued again.


Both pushrods finished.

With the wing and fuselage wrapped up except for final shaping and sanding, it was time to finish as much as I could on the tail.

Control horn plates:


I don't particularly care for control horns that bolt directly through balsa. After awhile, they tend to loosen as the balsa compresses under load. So, I try to add plywood plates where the control horns fasten and use self-tapping screws that do not protrude through to the other side. Here, I was chiseling a recess at the base of the rudder . . .


into which I epoxied this plywood plate.


I did the same for one elevator half.

Joining the elevator halves:


Using my newly acquired grooving skills, I carved 1/4" diameter recesses into the leading edges of both elevator halves. Once I had epoxied the joiner dowel, I positioned the assembly against the horizontal stabilizer and weighted everything down.

I had hoped to bevel and hinge the tailfeathers, but I ran out of time (and steam).

This project will pause for a few days so that I can prepare for and attend a local flying event.

See you next week, and thanks for looking in.