23. If you have moved bulkhead #1 back, you will have to trim the fuel tank compartment bottom block to length.

24. I skipped this as I already had the blind nuts in bulkhead #1.

25. I removed the carb from the engine to make doing this cutout easier.

After getting the cutout done and the engine installed, I removed them all and fuel proofed bulkhead #1 and the fuse sides in the engine compartment where nothing is going to be glued on. I put Vaseline in the pushrod tubes and blind nuts to keep the resin out.

26. I skip this step until later.

27. The plans show these pieces as blocks. These parts are now triangle stock as stated in the instructions. I cut them back to butt up against the nose block instead of cutting angles on the nose block. Don’t get too obsessive about all these blocks, just build up something that you can carve away. You’ll carve and grind most of it down anyway.

Then I did the balsa chin block from step 26. If you moved bulkhead #1, you may need to lengthen this piece. Make cutout for nose wheel gear and relieve the interior floor for the nose wheel steering arm. Then glue chin block in place making sure to pull the sides back in to a width of 2 3/8” as in step 19.

28. The spinner block provided in my kit was a bit undersized. I was just going to add a little sheet stock to it but I cut it wrong when fitting it between the sides so I wound up making a new, larger block.

29. At this point I fit the engine without the carburetor or the muffler. You just want to be able to mark the spinner ring location. I think completing the fit around muffler, carb and needle valve is easier after the nose is shaped. I also think that shaping the nose is easier without the ply spinner ring. So once you’ve got the engine mounted, mount the spinner and determine if you need to trim the nose block or sides back. Once you’re happy with the nose block, mark the location of the spinner ring on the front and round the nose down with a razor plane to the marked nose ring location. Then mount the nose ring as described. I rounded the nose before mounting the nose ring as on my first Dirty Birdy I split the nose ring while carving the fuse down. Final shaping of the nose will be done later when the rest of the fuse is shaped.

Don’t be tempted to carve the fuse to shape yet. You can use a razor plane and then a sanding block to bring the top and bottom blocks down even with the sides making everything nice and square but don’t round anything at this point.


Stab, Elevator, Rudder and Fin

There is an error on the drawing of the stab. The right stab half is 1/8” shorter than the left. This bit me on both of my Dirty Birdies. Doesn’t sound like much but it’s easy to fix so just mark one side of the plans to match the other side.

4. Check the ribs closely to determine the front. Stack each pair of ribs and switch one end for end to figure out which end is which. Mark the ribs!

7. First sentence should be: Add the 1/16” x 3” x 12 1/2” balsa TOP SHEETING.

8. Before sheeting the stab bottom, add hinge glue blocks if desired.

9. I remove stab from building board and razor plane LE and TE flush with sheeting before adding tips. Protect sheeting from razor plane with blue masking tape.

10. I did this step after step 11

11. Don’t sand to shape!!! Nothing beats carving with a razor plane.