OK, continuing with the fuse build.

I decided to mount the engine inverted because I wanted to keep the lines as clean as possible. The motor mount I chose wasn't the best choice, but it was the only one I could find (and I was determined not to make a trip to the LHS just for a motor mount). The location of the spinner was about 1/8" low with this mount, but I didn't think this would be a problem because the nose of the craft is all hand shaped balsa. I was wrong... Once the nose is built up the location of the nose cone (centered) is important to keep the nose together (the pics below show my centered guide lines). Two of the mounting holes for the mount were as close to the edge of the firewall as I was comfortable putting them, so the next best thing would have been to trim the mount and relocate the holes in the mount. Murphy's Law kicked in... I couldn't move the holes in the mount because mount was raised between the holes, so the only area that made contact with the firewall was directly around the mounting holes themselves. After come contemplation, I resigned myself to turning the engine to the upright position. I misplaced my pencil and while looking for it in a spot I must have checked 5 times or more, there was another engine mount. This one was made perfect for my application. I just had to slot the holes in the firewall a little and presto, the engine could be mounted inverted.

I tried my best to use the bottom balsa block that is shaped to resemble an air scoop, but by the time it was cutout enough to get the engine in place just going in from the bottom, there wasn't enough of it left to matter. I ended up using some 1/4" balsa that I had laying around.

The sides of the engine compartment are supposed to get a 1/4" balsa doublers, but my engine/mount combination only left enough room for 1/8" doublers. I used some 1/8" balsa that I had and then the I added more 1/8" balsa in the front of the mount because it's needed for the proper shaping.

I tacked the front of the top block in place with thick CA to support it's length and to support the sides of the engine compartment while sanding. I rough cut angle in the top block with a hand held jig saw, then I sat down and watched Robin Hood Men in Tights and sanded... and sanded... and sanded.

Once I got the rough sanding of the nose section completed, I cut out and sanded the cockpit area.

That'll do it for now... Jerry