Owner manual

FINISH FITTING THE LANDING GEAR Even though retractable landing gear are shown in the photos, this section applies both to fixed and retractable landing gear. ❏ 1. Cut the landing gear rail shear webs from the
remainder of the 1/16" x 3" x 30" [1.6 x 75 x 760mm] balsa sheet used for the shear webs for the center panel. Glue the shear webs into position.
❏ 2. Determine how close you can position a piece
of leftover 1/8" [3.2mm] balsa across the rails to the retract unit while still allowing the unit to be removed from the wing. This piece of balsa will support the sheeting. Glue the support into position.
❏ 3. Build a
box
around the retract mount with
leftover balsa strips. Sand the edges of the box even with the contour of the ribs. After the bottom of the wing has been sheeted and the opening has been cut for the retract, the opening will be nice and neat and the sheeting will be supported.
❏ 4. Optional: For a durable, finished appearance, the top sheeting inside the wing over the wheel openings can be coated with lightweight (3/4 oz.) fiberglass cloth and resin.When sanded and painted, this will make the inside of the wheel wells fuel and weather proof and look great. First, cut four strips of cloth (two for each wing) to fit between the ribs, then lay into place. Use a soft brush to coat the cloth with finishing resin or 30-minute epoxy. Before it thickens, use a business card to lightly squeegee excess resin from the cloth. This will remove wrinkles and bubbles making the cloth lay flat. After the epoxy has fully hardened, lightly sand with 400-grit sandpaper. Now the wheel wells may be painted. An airbrush will provide the most even coverage and allow you to get paint into all of the little corners without over spraying the rest. See page 61 on how to spray LustreKote
®
through an airbrush. Note: Should you decide to add
the cloth later, be certain to do so BEFORE covering the model. Otherwise, epoxy and paint will soak into the sheeting and show through the covering.
If you will be “glassing” and painting the inside of the wheel wells, get the other wing panel to this same stage of completion. That way both wheel wells can be treated at the same time.
- 24 -