Good day to all,

I am in the process of finsishing my second kit build which is a Goldberg Tiger 60. My first build was a Great Planes PT-40.

When I built the PT-40, the plans had me glue the stab and fin in place before covering. Ifollowed the plans and all worked out great.
Now with the Tiger, the plans are having me cover the stab BEFOREIglue it to the fuselage. Is there any reason for this? Iam not happy about covering the stab, then having to cut off some of the covering (without going into the stab itself) and then glue it to the fuselage. Is there any harm in gluing the stab to the fuselage before I cover it like I did with the PT-40? I am not seeing any reason why this should be an issue.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Brad

Personal preference. Do whatever works for you.

G'day

You can do it any way you want. But .... I usually build the basic bits, then cover them then assemble them. In effect, I build an ARF then assemble it as I would an ARF.

So long as you are happy to cover the tail feathers in place then there is no reason you should not. It is generally easier, though to cover the parts before assembly particularly the hinged bits. I would not hinge the elevator, ailerons and rudder and then try to fit covering round the hinges. I think it is easier to cover the moving parts before fitting the hinges. I also fit the horns before hinging too. It is easier to drill the mounting holes with the part flat on a bench.

Se for trimming some covering off to glue things in place, If you use a really sharp knife then it is fairly easy to just cut the covering without cutting the wood. Use a finger to stop the knife digging in. Also, you can cut covering like this by using a soldering iron with a fine point and a steel ruler. It will melt the covering but not damage the wood. Good for opening up holes in the covering too as it seals the edge as you go.

Have fun. What ever you choose will probably work. Just take your time and think it out before you act.

Cheers

Mike in Oz

I prefer to assemble first and cover second, but as cfircav8r said, it's up to you.

I have done both and prefer to build first and add small fillets of covering in the corners then cover the large areas next.

Ditto

It's up to your personal preference and the configuration of the plane. I usually find it easier to cover the assemblies then finish the construction. But some planes don't allow for this if they need filets usually around the tail. In the case of the Tiger, I'd cover everything first.

You've made a good choice for a second plane built from a kit.

As the others have said, it's a personal preference on how you to it. Personally I prefer to assemble first and then cover.

Ken

I prefer to cover on the bench. Not hard to avoid cutting the wood if you use a sharp blade. If you do score it a bit. a line of thin CA will fix you right up.

Tom

One reason I prefer to cover last is that it hides the seams - which to me are a dead giveaway that it's an ARF

I also like to assemble first. I do, however, cover the ailerons, rudder and elevator first and then I put a strip on the trailing edge of the wing, stab and vertical stab after I have cut the hinge slots.

I completely cover control surfaces before installing them

[quote]ORIGINAL: MinnFlyer

I completely cover control surfaces before installing them
[/quote}

If I am building with CA or nylong hinges then I prefer to attach the control surface and then cover. I like to do this so I can seal the gap. It's like you said earlier, I like to hide the edge of the covering.

But if I am building with hinge points I will usually cover first and then attach them after they are covered. I can usually get very small gaps with hinge points and I don't feel like the gap needs to be sealed

Boiled down it comes out to a "toMAYto" - "toMAHto" argument!!!

Ken

Tanks to all for your advice. Ido cover all control surfaces before install the hinges.
I thought it would not be a problem to complete building and then cover, just wanted to make sure it as it is only my second kit.

Iappreciate all the feedback and the pic - thanks.

I assemble first then cover. I like to install all my control surfaces before covering unlike most people. I cover in one piece so I have no hinge or surface gaps. It works for me but that too is a choice thing.

The options are not always so clear cut and there are some rather complex structures that will not allow precovering of the fin or stab and the order of hinging is not always the same, The order of assembly and covering must be thought out for each airplane. Granted the majority of aircraft can be precovered, and in some cases partially pre hinged or completly prehinged.

Given the opportunity I will pre cover all surfaces on the bench where the best covering job and the best surface tensioning can be done and then assemble and that includes covering before hingeing.

On many especially if it a simple restoration or refurbishment I may even go so far as to remove the tail feathers for recover as well as cut off the hinges for the recover, hingeing later. Yes more work but the results in most cases make it worthwhile for me.

Now here is an example of a design that does not lend itself to precovering of any of the tail feathers because of the structure and the covering order stab assembly order and hingeing order must be carefully thought out.

John

One note on covering after the control surfaces are installed. If you choose to cut the covering at the hinge line be very careful to not score the hinges. It can be...bad. Don't ask me how I know.[:@]

If you want the best covering job my mentor suggests covering before assembling. Then the covering seams can be finished off with epoxy the dries clear (not finishing resin that dries amber) and an "alcohol wet" finger tip. This will ensure that the seams are fuel proof. Also, there won't be a multi-layer seam.

I happen to prefer gluing up the horizontal stab & fin before covering so that a complete pre-covering assembly can be performed to ensure that all of the control rods, control horns, servo installation, radio installation, control surface setup and lateral balancing, etc. can be completed before covering all of the guts with film. I manage to catch a control / former interference (or something) during this test assembly. Once it's completed, cover with confidence that the final post-covering assembly will go like clockwork.

Good luck and show off your work!