Top Flite TOPA0150 - Manual (Page 24)

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7. Sheet the rest of the fuse bottom from F-4 to
F-1 with 1/16" sheeting left over from the preceding
steps. Do this in three strips to distribute the
compound bending that will be required of each sheet.
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8. Sheet the last section of the bottom of the fuse
from F-11 to F-12 using leftover 1/16" balsa sheeting.
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9. Sand the fuse sheeting even with F-1, F-8 and
F-12.
Mount the tail gear
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1. Cut the aft alignment post off the nylon tail
gear bracket.
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2. Use pliers to flatten 1/4" of one end of the 1/8"
x 5/8" brass tube. Slide the tube onto the tail gear
wire and place the assembly over the top view of the
plan to make sure it is the correct length. Silver
solder the brass tube to the tail gear wire. Drill a
1/16" hole through the end of the brass tube where
shown on the plan. From now on this portion of the
tail gear wire will be referred to as the
steering arm.
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3. Drill a 1/16" hole through the two front
punchmarks and a 1/8" hole through the aft
punchmark in the die-cut 1/8" plywood
tail gear
mount plate. Make a 1/8" x 1/4" x 3/4" doubler for
the screws that hold the
tail gear mount and glue it
across the two forward holes in the plate. Temporarily
mount the tail gear mount to the tail gear mount plate
with two #2 x 3/8" screws (you can see the assembly
in the photo at step 6).
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4. Use a tissue dampened with denatured alcohol
or a similar solvent to remove the oil coating from
one of the .074" X 36" pushrod wires. Cut twelve 3/8"
long
bushings from the 6" white inner pushrod tube,
then slide them onto the wire and space them as
shown on the
tail gear pushrod on the fuse plan.
Make sure you position the bushings at the ends of
the wire so they will not protrude from the rudder
guide tube, or the controls could become jammed
during flight. If the bushings slide onto the wires
easily, secure them with a drop of thin CA. Allow the
CA to fully harden before proceeding. If the bushings
are impossible to slide on, cut them to a shorter
length to provide less resistance.
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5. Slide the pushrod wire with the bushings on it
into the rudder pushrod guide tube on the left side of
the fuselage. Place a straightedge on the fuse and
align it with the wire. Use a ballpoint pen to mark a
line along the straightedge.
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