I know what you all are thinking. I promised you a screw up, and I haven't delivered it yet. Don't worry, I always live up to my word. If I promised you a screw up I'll definitely deliver a screw up. In fact, it was in this next step where I screwed up. Before we get into the step (and the screw up) I'll let you know what caused the screw up. That's easy, trying to hurry a step while I was tired. This is one of my cardinal rules, don't build when I'm tired. I know better but I let myself get into a bit of a panic because I wasn't getting anything done on this build, so I sat down to work when I was tired. And I was quickly rewarded with a mistake. Luckily it was an easy mistake to recover from, but not all of them are. I've had mistakes that the only way to fix them was to buy new wood and cut out new parts. So here is my advice, don't force yourself at the building table. If you're tired, or you just don't feel like sitting there to build, trust your instincts and get away from the building table. Go spend time with your family, read a book, watch tv, surf RCU (my personal favorite), just do anything but build. Trust me on this one, personal experience speaking here.

The next step is preparing and installing the Center Section Trailing Edge Pieces. These extend back from the trailing edge and contain the torque rods that move the ailerons. The pieces themselves come with the groove for the torque rods already cut into the pieces, but you will need to cut a notch into each one for the torque rod to exit and also give it room to move back and forth. First take the 2 pieces and label “left bottom” and “right bottom” (picture #1). A lot of you might think that you don't need to mark the pieces Left and Right because you can keep them straight, and it seems a bit silly for someone as smart as you to label the parts. Trust me, mistakes happen. It's easier in the long run to just mark them now. If you look at picture #6 you will see that I also lightly marked the trailing edge with left and right. Why did I do that? Because when you are working on the wing in this step you will be working with the wing upside down and it's very easy to get mixed up and get your left and right backwards. Hopefully a few of the other experienced builders watching this thread will speak up and point out that they too mark thinks like this as they build (Bruce? Paul? You guys watching?). Use the dimensions that are provided in the instructions to mark the notches for the torque rods (pictures #2 & #3). The instructions call for using a razor knife to carve out the notch. Although it's possible to it that way, I much prefer to use a dremel (trust me, this is a must have tool for any builder) and a routing bit to carve out the notch (picture #4). If you don't have a Dremel you can still use the razor saw, hobby knife, or razor blade to cut the notches. Whatever you use to cut the notches just take your time and do a little bit at a time. Getting into a hurry is probably the biggest cause of mistakes when building a plane. Picture #5 shows the finished notch. Picture #6 shows test fitting the parts to the wing, I'm not gluing anything in place at this time but just testing.

The next step is to prepare the torque rods for installation. Identify the correct sides to install these on. Picture #9 shows a test fit of the torque rod. Notice the brass rod on the outside of the torque rod, this is used so you can secure the torque in place and it can still rotate inside the brass rod. To prep the torque rod for installation use a piece of sand paper to “rough up” the outside of the brass rod. This give the glue something to “grab” to when you glue it in place. Picture #10 shows using Elmer's glue to glue these in place. What?? You can use Elmer's to glue to metal? Actually, no you really can't glue metal with Elmer's. That's they lucky part because I used the wrong glue. You guessed it, we're to my screw up. Although you can't see it in picture #10, I installed the torque rods in the wrong sides. I didn't realize that I had done this until I was at the next step, which was gluing the Center Sections to the wing. When I was gluing them in place I checked to make sure the torque rods didn't have any glue on them and that's when I discovered that I put them on the wrong side. So I quickly removed them and wiped all the glue off before it set. So I lucked out. I was also lucky that I had used the wrong glue, because it was pretty easy to get the torque rods out of the parts (picture #11). Picture #12 shows the remains of the Elmer's after I removed the torque rods, this needs to be cleaned up and removed before re-attaching the torque rods.

Ok, that's all the pictures I can post at a time, so I'll take a break here and continue the posts this afternoon.

Pictures
1. Marking the parts “left” and “right” as per the instructions.
2. Marking the notch for cutting.
3. Marking the notch for cutting.
4. Using a Dremel tool and a routing bit to cut the notch.
5. The finished notch.
6. Test fitting the parts in place.
7. Preparing to install the torque rods
8. Rough up the brass rods with some sand paper so the glue has something to “grab”.
9. Test fit the torque rod.
10. Opps, using the wrong glue for the torque rods
11. Cleaning up after a mistake. Digging out the torque rods after putting them in the wrong side.
12. Need to clean up the glue after the mistake.

Until next time

Ken