Top Flite TOPA0135 - Manual (Page 14)

❏ 4. Cover the rudder and vertical fin portion of the
plans with waxed paper. Lay the leading edge on
the plans and mark the exact location of rib V-1
directly on it with a pen. Pin only ribs V-1 and V-5
to the building board over the plans. Vertically
center the LE on the front of the ribs and glue it
in place.
❏ 5. Laminate the two fin trailing edges to each
other with thick CA. Place the remaining ribs in the
notches of the fin trailing edge, but do not glue
them yet. Fit the assembly to the parts already on
the building board.
❏ 6. With all jig tabs contacting the building
board and the ribs vertical, glue them to the
leading edge and the trailing edge.
❏ 7. Use a sanding block and 150-grit sandpaper
to blend the LE and TE to match the ribs on the
upward facing (right) fin side.
❏ 8. Make a skin for each side of the fin using the
1/16" balsa sheet left over from the stab skins.
Make them longer than required so they extend
past V-1 about 5/8"; this will allow fitting to the stab
later. With the structure flat on the table, glue on
the right skin.
❏ 9. Trial fit the rudder LE to the notches in the
ribs and make adjustments if necessary. Glue the
rudder LE to the ribs.
❏ 10. Trial fit R-1 to the notch in the rudder leading
edge. Make sure it is square with the rudder
leading edge and in line with the other rudder ribs,
then glue it in position.
❏ 11. Use the templates provided on the plans to
make two Rudder Skins from a 1/16" x 3" x 36"
balsa sheet. Use the bevel gauge to mark the
lines on the inside of each rudder skin, then
sand the bevel just the same as you did on the
elevator skins.
❏ 12. Glue the left rudder skin to the ribs and
leading edge of the rudder.
❏ 13. Glue the right rudder skin in position.
❏ 14. Remove the assembly from the building
board and use a razor saw to separate the rudder
from the fin. Remove the jig tabs from the fin and
blend the leading and trailing edge to the ribs to
prepare for the left side sheeting.
❏ 15. Glue the left fin skin to the fin.
❏ 16. True up the edges of the sheeting on both
the fin and rudder with a sanding block. Shape the
LE of the fin to match the cross section on
the plans.
❏ 17. Glue the shaped balsa Rudder Base and
the 1/4" x 1" x 11-7/8" Rudder LE Cap to the
rudder. Trim the LE cap to the length shown on the
plans and roughly shape the rudder base to blend
it with the rest of the rudder. Don’t completely
round the bottom of the rudder yet as this will be
done when it can be fitted to the fuselage.
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