ORIGINAL: Newc
I think that there's an error where the instructions stated "Drill a hole parallel to the long dimension near the end of the 1 x 2."
Indeed, that portion could use a bit of correcting, but I chose to leave the article as written by Jim Archer if for no other reason than to preserve his mannerisms of presentation - translating English to 'murriken is sometimes part of the fun !
It is suggested that the line holding the model be coiled around the dowel a couple of times to hold the model in position and that this also allows the dowel to be turned to allow easy movement of the model to achieve a level setting. I like that idea and think that another alternative that would accomplish the same thing would be to glue rough (say 80 grit) sandpaper around the circumference of the dowel. What do you think?
Wouldn't hurt a thing.
Finally, I think that another possibility to prevent damage to ailerons and/or flaps is to have the rope that is acting as a cradle for the plane to be inside foam that is used for pipe insulation. This is how I hang my larger models for storage as shown in the photo.
I use a couple of ply 'planks' cut to fit the chord + an inch or so, to serve as cradles on the larger models, like my 140" L-4. But yes, some flavor of padding is probably in order.
For fine tuning the lateral balance I would suggest having one of the ropes around the prop bolt of a single engine model.
Figure F will work for lateral balance, if the model is slung with the fuse parallel to the dowel.