Bottom Wing Alignment

This part always makes me nervous … no matter how many times I’ve done it, it still is one of those steps that, if messed up, can really bring a good build to its knees. Like always, I probably measure 5 times before I actually commit drill to balsa.

The instructions have you mount the wing with tape (picture1) and take measurements from the tail to the wing’s edges. The measurements need to be the same to ensure the wing’s square to the fuselage. Once the measurements are the same on the right and left sides, I marked the fuselage and wing so I could find that exact spot again (picture2). Now, onto the dowel insertion. Now I must admit to being very happy I had a hatch on the fuselage as I was able to get in and work the dowels from the inside to make sure they were situated perfectly. If I had not been able to get my paws behind the dowels, I would have had a devil of a time with this step. After bringing both dowels to a point, I inserted them into the holes in F2 till just the pointy end was exposed (picture4). Back on goes the bottom wing so the points make marks on the leading edge of the wing… this is where the drill goes. All that was left was to drill the holes and epoxy in the dowels. I set aside the wing while the epoxy cured.

I decided to move onto the Rudder and Fin assembly since that was already visible on the plans. It was very simple to pin down the parts and titebond them together (picture5). I decided to take a page from something I learned here on RCU recently, cut the CA-Hinge slots now, before gluing the fin together…

So before gluing on the back portion of the fin, I got out my trusty “Slot Machine” and cut the slots out perfectly. I am definitely going to do this again! Picture6 says it all, centered slots, just the right length – I attribute the success to 2 things; the easy to handle part and the “Slot Machine Cutting Guide”.

Next up, adding the bottom wing mounts and drilling the wing.

Picture1 – Bottom wing taped on for measuring
Picture2 – Centerline marked on Fuse and Wing – sorry, this is a really poor angle. I was originally concerned about the gap in the center, but after consulting the manual (picture3), there’s a gap in that photo too!
Picture3 – Picture from manual showing gap
Picture4 – Dowels inserted with pointy end sticking out. Note: this picture was taken before I pushed them all the way in. The points just barely stuck out when actually marking the leading edge.
Picture5 – Fin pinned and glued
Picture6 – Slots cut in the fin…
Picture7 – Slot machine, guide and balsa post
Picture8 – Completed fin glued and curing