Top Flite TOPA0500 - Manual (Page 19)

photo. Be careful not to get any glue between the fin
hinge and the rudder hinges and don’t glue the rudder
sheeting to the fin sheeting.
❏ 25. Glue the rudder ribs you cut earlier to the left side
of the rudder core. Shape the ribs to match the cross
section on the plan and lightly sand the rudder sheeting
to match the fin.
Looking pretty good aye? All you have to do now is
finish the other side and add the tip blocks!
❏ 26. Carefully remove the fin and rudder from your
building board. Turn the assembly over and cut the jig
tabs from the ribs and trim the LE and TE sections to
match the airfoil and the cross section on the plan (the
same way you did with the other side of the fin and
rudder before you sheeted it).
❏ 27. Sheet the right side of the fin with the other fin
skin you prepared earlier. Use leftover 1/16" sheeting to
sheet the right side of the rudder leading edge sections
as well.
❏ 28. Add the 1/16" and 3/32" balsa rudder ribs to the
rudder. Sand the ribs to match the cross section on the
plan and to match the left side of the rudder.
❏ 29. Use a 1/8" drill or a 1/8" brass tube sharpened at
one end to cut a small groove in the bottom fin TE
section so the hinge tube can pass (and the rudder
torque rod later on).
❏ 30. Push the brass hinge tube down into the rudder
until the top of the hinge tube is even with the top of the
fin. Use your bar sander and 80-grit sandpaper to sand
the top of the fin and rudder flat and even.
❏ 31. Make the fin tip and rudder tip from the 5/8" x
1-1/4" x 13" balsa block. At this time, the only parts of
the tips you have to cut accurately are the opposing
ends at the hinge line. The outline of the tips only has to
be rough. You can final shape and round them later.
❏ 32. Glue the fin tip to the fin and the rudder tip to the
rudder with an approximate 1/16" gap between them.
❏ 33. Use your razor plane and your bar sander to shape
the fin LE and the rudder and fin tip to match the plan.
DC-3 Fact
In the early 20's the airline industry giants
announced that
the call was out for an airplane
that could satisfy the demands of the growing
airline industry. Boeing was first to answer that
call with an all metal, twin engine monoplane
named the Model 247. United Air Lines ordered
sixty 247's locking up the entire Boeing assembly
line. The result was that other airlines would have
to wait until the United contract was fulfilled
before they could “get in on the action.”
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