Great Planes Spirit of St. Louis ARF - GPMA1152 - Manual (Page 12)

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14. One at a time, unscrew each of the struts from the
wing and use a drop of thin CA to harden the “threads” of
the final hole that you made while adjusting the wing. Allow
the CA to cure, and re-secure the struts.
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1. Hold the fin/stab assembly up to the tail of the fuselage
and mark the top and bottom edges of the rudder hinge.
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2. Cut a slot between the two marks you just made,
following the centerline of the fuselage.
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3. Glue the stab and fin to the fuselage using 6-minute
epoxy. Coat the saddle area on the fuselage with epoxy, as
well as the rudder hinge. As you fit the tail to the fuselage,
be sure to insert the rudder hinge into the slot on the back
of the fuselage. Make sure the fin is centered on the
molded-in seam on the top of the fuselage, and that it is
parallel with the centerline of the fuselage. If necessary,
raise or lower one side of the stab until it is parallel with the
wing. Use pins to hold the stab into position until the epoxy
has fully hardened. Fill any gaps between the stab and fuse
sparingly with additional epoxy.
Attach the Tail
If either of your wing panels has any twist in it, don’t
panic! We can take out this twist by adjusting the struts’
positions on the wing. If the wing panel has wash-in (the
tip of the wing is twisted so that the leading edge is higher
than the trailing edge), then follow these steps:
1.
Unscrew the front strut from the wing panel.
2. Reposition the strut so that the screw contacts it a
little closer to the fuselage. Start with about
1/16" [1.6mm].
3. Screw the strut to the wing in this position. This will
pull the leading edge of the wing down and reduce
the wash-in.
4. Check your wing panel for twist. If it still has wash-in,
repeat the procedure. If it has wash-out (the
opposite of wash-in), then go to the wash-out
procedure below. If it’s straight, you’re done!
If the wing panel has wash-out (leading edge lower than
trailing edge), then do the opposite:
1.
Unscrew the front strut from the wing panel.
2. Reposition the strut so that the screw contacts it a
little further from the fuselage. Start with about
1/16" [1.6mm].
3. Screw the strut to the wing in this position. This will
push the leading edge of the wing up and reduce
the wash-out.
4. Check your wing panel for twist. If it still has wash-
out, repeat the procedure. If it has wash-in (the
opposite of wash-out), then go to the wash-in
procedure above. If it’s straight, you’re done!
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