Top Flite TOPA0300 - Manual (Page 23)

❏❏
7.
W
o
rking quic
k
ly
, apply a bead of
thic
k
CA
to the str
ucture that the skin will touch. Don't
glue hatch r
ails y
et. Apply glue to the Spar last.
P
osition the skin o
v
er the fr
ame
, then press it
into place
.
Impor
tant:
Bef
ore the CA kic
ks off
,
w
eight do
wn the center panel and the TE of the
wing at W
-14 to set the
washout angle
. Repeat
steps 6 and 7 f
or the other outer wing panel.
❏❏
8. After the CA has cured, tur
n
the wing
o
v
er and apply a bead of thic
k CA to the inside
of the LE / Skin junction and an
y other areas
that need a little e
xtr
a glue
.
❏❏
9. Cut tw
o 14-1/2” pieces from a 1/16” x 3”
x 36” balsa sheet. Sa
v
e
the off-cut piece f
or use
in a f
e
w min
utes
. Cut the 14-1/2” sheets to the fit
the unco
v
e
red area of the flaps
. Use a lefto
v
e
r
piece of 1/16” balsa sheeting to mak
e tw
o
tr
iangular pieces to fill in remaining un-sheeted
area. ❏❏
10. T
u
rn
the wing o
v
er and place it on f
oam
ru
b
ber or a soft surf
ace to a
v
oid premature
hangar r
ash.
NO
TE: if y
ou are not installing flaps, don’t
mark or cut the tw
o inboar
d openings.
❏❏
11. Use a shar
pened piece of wire or long
T
-pin to bore small holes through the skin from
the
inside
to mar
k the location of the flap and
aileron ser
v
o
hatches
.
❏❏
12. Rough cut the hatch openings on the
inside of y
our guide holes
, then use a 1/16” ply
Hatc
h Co
ver
to mar
k and cut the full siz
e
opening.
Remember
, it’
s f
aster to enlarge a hole
that’
s too small than to shr
ink one that’
s o
versiz
e
.
After enlarging holes
, use thin CA to glue the
skin to the hatch r
ails
.
❏❏
13. Use a shar
pened piece of wire to bore
through the e
xposed side of the Wing Bolt plate
to mar
k the holes in the
bottom
wing skin f
or the
wing bolts
. Mar
k these holes
no
w
, as it will be
difficult to find the location after the top wing skin is applied. T
o
a
v
oid splitting the balsa, bore the
holes in the skin with a g
rinding stone and moto-
tool r
ather than going through with a dr
ill.
❏❏
14. Y
ou can simplify the job of “fishing” the
ser
v
o
wires through the enclosed wing with a
little prepar
ation. T
ape one end of a 30” length of
str
ing to the inside of the wing sheeting just past the aileron ser
v
o
hatch opening. Thread the
str
ing through the lightening holes in the r
ibs into
the center section. Bore a 1/2” hole f
o
r the ser
v
o
leads to e
xit through the bottom of the wing.
Secure the str
ing ne
xt to the hole with another
piece of tape
. Repeat this procedure f
or the
other wing panel. When the time comes to thread the ser
v
o
wires
, just tie them to the str
ing
from the hatch end and pull them through to the center compar
tment e
xit hole
.
If y
ou plan to install na
vigation lights on the wing
tips
, use the str
ing technique descr
ibed in the
The best balsa filler is
no
balsa filler! T
a
k
e
y
our time fitting all sheeting and skins in place
.
With a little bit of careful sanding y
ou will be
re
w
arded with perf
ectly matched joints and a
lighter
, stronger airfr
ame
.
23