Jack,

I wouldn't be put off the Impact because of the need to set up the incidences etc. Afterall if you were building a model from scratch you would have to do it. Adding wing and tail incidence adjusters certainly gives you some insurance because if you get your measurements wrong you can almost guarantee getting a flyable model by making some adjustments.

Don't take the centre tube markings as gospel. Here is my method: start by opening up both marked centre holes slowly until the wing tube (not the socket) is a tight fit in the holes. Assuming you have the gear formers in and the gear bolted on set the model on a level surface and use a laser level to get the fin vertical by shimming under one gear leg end. Now fit the wing tube and use he laser level to check if it is truly horizontal and perpendicular to the fin. If it isn't, keep your best fitting hole as it is and gently open out the other hole at the top or bottom as required until the tube is level. To take up the gap, remove the tube and run some medium cyano onto the edge of the hole and hit it with kicker. Repeat this until the gap is taken up and the tube is a snug fit and perfectly perpendicular to the fin. It might take a few goes cyanoing and removing material to get this right but it is important.

Now slide on the wing panels and begin adjusting the roots for a snug fit against the fuz sides as per the kit instructions. You need to keep the wing pretty much at the correct incidence by reference to the incidence marks while doing this. Once you have the panels snugged against the fuz sides you can now check for correct fore and aft wing tube alignment by measuring from the wing tips to the top front edge of the fin using a length of non stretching material such as kevlar kite string or even thin wire. If the tube has to be adjusted use the sand and cyano method this time on the front or rear of one hole. I must emphasise that the amounts of material that have to be removed are very small to make a significant change out at the wing tip. Once you are happy bond in the tube sleeve and reinforcing rings as per the kit instructions. I fit two Gator wing adjusters on liteply plates in the fuz on the rear incidence pin positions. I then fit the matching sleeves in the wings using small pieces of carbon tube to fatten up the Gator sockets to fit in the premade holes in the root ribs. If you do this it is essential to install the original incidence tube and load spreading rings inside the fuz just forward of the adjusters to brace the fuz at this point.

Fitting the tail tube is as per the above but use the wing tube as your datum. I made my own incidence adjust setup using old type Gator wing adjusters. The pics show my first model which used two adjusters but the second model used one spaced out on a balsa block. It works just as well.

Malcolm