Top Flite TOPA0704 - Manual (Page 21)

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6. Locate two metal “L” brackets. Center them on the
marks and glue them to the door with epoxy. Before
gluing them to door, roughen the door where they will
be glued and clean the “L” brackets with alcohol.
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7. Pull 1/4" [6mm] of the spring from each end. Twist
one end of the spring to the bracket on one of the doors.
Push the opposite end of the spring through the second
hole in the tail wheel bracket and twist the end of the
wire through the bracket on the other door.
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8. Make sure your doors open and close smoothly.
Add a drop of oil to the hinges if they bind. The spring
pulls the doors closed when the tail wheel is retracted
and keeps them open when the gear is extended.
INSTALL THE TAIL CONE
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1. Locate the fi berglass
tail cone. Test fi t it to the back
of the fuselage.
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2. You will fi nd two mounting blocks located on the
back of the fuselage. The fi berglass tail cone is secured
to these blocks. Measure from the center of the block
forward to the front of the fuselage 1" [25mm]. Make a
mark with a fi ne point felt tip pen. Do this on both sides
of the fuselage.
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3. Place the tail cone in place on the back of the
fuselage. Using your reference marks, make a mark
on the tail cone where to drill the mounting holes. Drill
a 1/16" [1.6mm] hole through the tail cone into the
mounting blocks. Secure the tail cone with two #2

3/8" screws and #2 fl at washers.
Did You Know?… Did You Know?…
The most prominent gang of Marine Corsair pilots
was squadron VMF-214, led by Major (later Colonel)
Greg “Pappy” Boyington. Boyington was a rowdy,
combative, tough, hard-drinking Marine who
had fl own Curtiss P-40s with Claire Chennault’s
American Volunteer Group (AVG) or “Flying Tigers”
in China and scored two kills. “Boyington’s Bastards”
or “Black Sheep” racked up large scores against
the Japanese in the South Pacifi c, with Boyington
claiming a total of 28 kills during his combat career,
22 of them in the F4U. He was shot down and captured
by the Japanese on 3 January 1944 and spent the
rest of the war in a prison camp. The Japanese
did not announce his capture and Boyington was
presumed killed in action. He would get the Medal
of Honor after his release from captivity at the end
of the war.