Top Flite TOPA0130 - Manual (Page 42)

FIT THE FIXED GEAR
DO THESE STEPS FOR FIXED LANDING GEAR
❏ ❏
1. Insert a 3/16" bent wire landing gear
leg into the hole in the torque block that you
drilled during the wing's construction. Press the
wire all the way into the landing gear groove.
❏ ❏
2. Refer to the plans for the location of the
Nylon Landing Gear Straps, then trace the
strap's outline onto the sheeting. Carefully cut
away balsa from the locations down to the
hardwood landing gear rails. This will allow the
straps to be recessed flush with the surface of
the wing.
❏ ❏
3. Mark the location of the screw holes
through each of the gear straps. Drill 1/16" pilot
holes through the landing gear rails at each of
these marks. Be careful not to go through the
top skin of the wing.
❏ ❏
4. Remove the landing gear. After
covering, the gear is permanently mounted
using the nylon straps and #2 x 3/8" screws.
FINISHING
FINAL SANDING
Nearly every imperfection in your wood
s t r uc t u re will s h ow t hr o ug h th e c over ing
material; therefore, before covering, you should
make a final check of the entire structure. Fix
any "dings," then sand the entire structure
smooth using progressively finer grades of
sandpaper.
FUEL PROOFING
Fuel proofing may be done after covering.
❏
1. Fuel proof the engine compar tment,
paying special attention to the firewall. Gray (mix
black and white) K&B epoxy paint or 30 minute
epoxy is recommended.
❏
2. Fuel proof any external exposed wood
( e.g. flap pushrod exits). Matching brush-on
Perfect Paint works nicely here.
BALANCE THE AIRPLANE
LATERALLY
SPECIAL NOTE: Do not confuse
this procedure with "checking the
C.G." or "balancing the airplane fore
and aft." That very important step
will be covered later in the manual.
Now that you have the basic airframe
nearly completed, this is a good time to balance
the airplane laterally (side-to-side). Here is how
to do it:
❏
1. Temporarily attach the wing and engine
(with muffler) to the fuselage.
❏
2. With the wing level, lift the model by the
engine propeller shaft and the fin post (this may
require two people). Do this several times.
❏
3. If one wing always drops when you lift the
model, it means that side is heavy. Balance the
airplane by gluing weight to the other wing tip.
NOTE: An airplane that has been laterally
balanced will track better in loops and other
maneuvers.
FINISHING REFERENCE BOOKS
The AT-6 does not require much painting
to obtain the scheme shown on the box, as most
of the finish is done with Top Flite MonoKote.
The only painting that is required is for the
plastic parts, wheel wells, and the inside of the
flaps. There are many other schemes used on
AT-6s, but the one shown on the box has proved
to be highly visible in the air and is "scale" for an
instrument flight trainer.
Here are two of the many books available that
have useful AT-6 information.
1. T-6 in Action, Squadron/Signal
Publication, Aircraft No. 94.
Good general AT-6 information. Has many black
and white photos and color illustrations of
various AT-6s. Very helpful.
2. T-6 Texan, The Immortal Pilot Trainer,
Motorbooks International.
More good stuff! Hundreds of great color photos
showing lots of details and a wide variety of
color schemes.
COVER THE STRUCTURE WITH
MONOKOTE
The technique we will describe here is
how the model pictured on the box was finished.
In general, it involves covering most of the
model with MonoKote, then priming and painting
the cowl and surface details.
Make sure the structure is smoothly sanded with
320 grit sandpaper. Remove all dust from the
structure so the Monokote will stick well.
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