Top Flite TOPA0300 - Manual (Page 10)

❏❏
7. Pin the
left and right
S-3
and
S-6
ribs to
the b
u
ilding board o
v
er their locations on the
plans
. Adjust the height of the Stab TE to align it
e
v
enly with the aft edge of the r
ibs
. Glue the r
ibs
to the Stab TE and to the TE Center Br
ace with
thin CA.
❏❏
8. Align and glue all of the remaining Stab
ribs to the TE.
❏❏
9. Glue the tw
o die-cut 3/32” balsa
Stab
Gussets
into the junction of S-6 and the Stab
TE. The Gussets should be centered betw
een
the top and bottom of the r
ibs and Stab TE. Glue
the die-cut 1/8” ply
Forwar
d Stab Brace
into the
slots in the S-1 r
ibs and to the inside edges of
the S-2 r
ibs
.
❏❏
10. Sand one end of tw
o shaped balsa
Stab LE’
s to e
xactly match the angle at the cen-
ter of the Stab
.
Lea
v
e
the outboard ends long f
o
r
the time being.
Center the LE (v
er
tically) on the
front of the r
ibs
, then tac
k glue the Stab LE’
s to
the f
orw
ard edge of r
ibs S-1 and S-6 and to the
F
orw
ard Stab Br
ace (this will align the LE). Glue
the remaining r
ibs to the LE, chec
king f
o
r
str
aightness as y
ou proceed.
❏❏
11. Glue both S-7 r
ibs to the Stab LE.
❏❏
12. Glue the 1/4” x 1/2” x 7/8” balsa
Stab
Sub TE
to the aft edge of S-7 and to the side of
S-6. Mak
e
sure that the Stab Sub TE is posi-
tioned e
xactly 90 deg
rees to S-6.
❏❏
13. T
rim the Stab LE’
s flush with the S-7’
s
.
Reinf
or
ce all of the joints with medium CA.
Sand the tips of the LE, sub TE, and TE flush with S-7 and S-6.
❏❏
14. Remo
v
e
the pins
, then lightly sand the
top surf
ace of the stab fr
ame to b
lend all par
ts
and remo
v
e
an
y e
xcess CA.
T
ake care not to
c
hang
e the shape of the airf
oil.
HO
W T
O
MAKE WING AND ST
AB SKINS
A. Where
v
er pr
actical, pre-join the balsa
sheets to mak
e a “skin” bef
ore attaching them
to the str
ucture
.
B
. Man
y modelers lik
e to sor
t the w
ood so the
y
can put the
best
w
ood with the most e
v
en
g
rain str
ucture on the top of the wing and stab
.
C
. Mak
e y
our skin larger than needed to allo
w
Lightly sand a be
v
el along the front edge of
the Stab
ribs
to match the s
w
eep angle of the
LE. This will giv
e y
ou a better fit and a stronger
glue joint.
10