My 301 assembly is moving, yet very slowly. This weekend I have assembled the wing and the winglets. I have installed the navigational lights and the white strobes (facing back at the wingtip). Also the landing lights (halogen) have been installed. The lights have their own reflector and are focused forward but the cylindrical holes are also covered with chrome to enable the lights to illuminate sideways also.

Since I have extended the wing length, I thought I might as well shape the new wingtips, go thinner as I move towards the end, add a 105 degrees bend and blend it with the foam-board winglets. Of course the new section is reinforced but still flexible. The wires for lighting go through aluminum pipes which double as reinforcing struts inside the foam wing extensions.

A big part of the mid-section has been removed and the carbon plates have been re-shaped to make room for the retractable gears. Naturally the aluminum chassis for the gears can not be used, but a newly shaped aluminum part will be used.

Next is the assembly of the flaps, ailerons and applying the wing skins. I will use brushed chrome all through the wings (same material in the kit is for the leading edges of the wing). I have also experimented with real aluminum (kitchen wrap) and got outstanding realism. I used a special plastic spray (water based) which makes styrofoam solvent proof, which is essential if you want to use real aluminum. This requires extreme care (it is easy to wrinkle aluminum) and a lot of time, which I do not have. But if you like to learn more, please drop me an email at [email protected].

More to come...

Serdar