Haven't been working on the Fun 51 as much lately, but have got some stuff done. The rudder seemed a bit on the flimsy side - probably because I enlarged it keeping the same structure. So, I added a little reinforcement to it as you can see in pic 1. I added some extra 1/8" x 1/4" to make the "X" in the middle, and also added more 1/8" x 1/4" to the trailing edge (in the longer bays). This stiffened it up quite nicely.

Also cut slots for the hinges in the vertical stab and rudder. And cut the slot in the fuse (for the plastic hinge piece) and the hole in the rudder (for the wire) for the rear landing gear. Oh yeah, had to groove the fuse and rudder to clear the plastic hinge too. Then covered the rudder in Cub yellow Monokote - you can see it test-fit to the fuse in pic 2.

I also started on the wing. All the sheet and stick for the wing comes in 36" or less lengths, but the wing is built in one piece and is 44" long. So, all these need to be spliced into the correct lengths. I spliced all the sheets/sticks first, except for the leading edge since this is used as a jig to set the trailing edge on while building the bottom of the wing. In case anyone is interested, I used 15 degree angles on the trailing edge sheet, sub-leading edge sheeting, and the main spars. I used 45 degree angles on the leading edge sheeting, and 30 degree angles on the trailing edge.

The wing has been slow building so far since the slots for the top spar (wing is built upside down) needed quite a bit of shaping as they wouldn't allow the ribs to sit at the right angle for the trailing edge. They were also not cut deep enough for the spar material provided. So, I made a simple sanding tool out of some scrap 1/4" x 3/8" balsa and sandpaper to help out with the task - pic 3. The bottom spar fit quite well with a minimum of sanding to a couple spar slots and the spar itself.

I got lucky on the bottom spar because I forgot that the splices should be at opposite ends of the wing until I had already glued it to half the ribs - it just happened to be in the right place - whew!! Pics 4-6 show where I am at the moment on the wing - just need to get the rest of the sheeting on so I can flip her over and do the other side. The 1/4" square basswood at the lower parts of some of the ribs is for servo mounting - I think it's really cool how all the servos and the rx/battery mount in the wing! Very clean.

I used CA for the wing, so far, since it is a lot easier to do than wood glue. Clamping wing ribs, especially ones this tall, is a pain. I will be using a new (to me) technique for gluing the leading-edge and other sheeting, so I'll let you know how that goes next time....