A quick update,

fin and rudder framed up. Lightening holes, rudder shaping and final sanding to be done after completion of fuselage.

Stabs sheeted with 1/32" balsa. Trailing edges installed and sanded to shape. These will be used as templates for the stab fuse sides cutouts followed by attachment of leading edges and stab tips.

The wing core prep is almost complete with retract pushrod routing to be finished. I think I finally settled on how best to do this - this is arguably the most complex aspect of this small scale scratch build (I'd venture). I anticipate that the nose gear will go in fairly easily and will be operated by a separate HS-55 servo mounted inverted on the fuse side in the gear bay.

Once the stab is finished, I'll be moving on to completing the wing. Elevators will have to wait until I find balsa stock of the right thickness. Empennage is coming in around 1.5 oz for the complete stab/elevators and 0.6 oz for the fin/rudder. I'm hoping to be able to end up with 16-18 oz airframe leaving me 22-24 oz for engine and gear. All still a bit of a guess at this point.

Happy new year to all!

David.