Top Flite Antares - Manual (Page 6)

place Using a triangle, glue formers F 5, F-7, F 8 and
F-9 in place at 90 to the fuselage side, using the
pencil marks made earlier for location (please note
the "alternate F-7 location" note and the reason for it
on the plans) Moving to the rear of the fuselage side,
glue the previously marked (Step 13) fin skin to the
top, rear section Now glue the previously assembled
tailpost and stab pivot block assembly to the rear of
the fuselage side and fin skin Cut, fit and glue the 1/4"
x 1/2" balsa fin leading edge in place to the fuselage
side and fin skin (note that this piece terminates at the
bottom edge of the top, rear fuselage 1/8" x 1/4" longe-
ron) Cut, fit and glue the two top 1/4" x 1/2" balsa
horizontal braces whose locations were noted earlier
on the fin skin Cut, fit but do not glue the 1/4" sq.
brace Using the plans, note the location of the stab
cable housing tube and drill an 1/8 dia hole through
this brace at the point marked—now glue this brace
in place Cut, fit but do not glue the bottom 1/4" x 1/2"
balsa fuselage fin brace Again using the plans, note
the location of the stab tubing and the bend it takes at
this point Use an X acto knife or a Dremel tool with a
small router bit to carve a channel", at least 1/8" deep
into this brace to countersink and house the tubing,
o n c e satisfied, glue this last remaining brace in place,
half of its width on the fin skin and the other half on
the fuselage side Inspect your work carefully for
good glue joints, double glue if necessary O n c e a l l o f
this is sealed-up, you will not have access to it again
15. Take one of the 36", roughed-up cable housing tubes
and install it (without glue yet) in place, through the
slots in formers F-5 and F 9, the channel cut in the
bottom fin fuselage brace and through the hole in the
1/4" sq brace on the fin skin Note that this stab drive
tube is meant to fit from just inside of the rudder stab
servo compartment, F 5, along the fuselage side,
through the slot in F-9, all the way along the bottom
edge of the top, rear longeron, through the channel
cut earlier in the bottom fin fuselage brace and finally
through the hole drilled in the 1/4"sq brace We used a
thick CA adhesive, such as Pacer's Zap-a-Gap or Slo-
Zap to now glue this tube in place along its entire
length Be sure that it is firmly glued in place—we
don't want it moving Using the marks made earlier,
glue the short 1/8" x 1/4" balsa upright in place between
the stab tube and the bottom fuse longeron
16. Remove the right fuselage side assembly from the
building board. The left fuselage side is now pre-
pared for assembly to the right byfirstgluing in place
the two short lengths of 1/8" x 1/4" balsa that is the rear
upright — note the 1/8" wide channel that is left to
capture the rudder cable drive tube as it curves down
toward the rear, angled rudder tube exist hole, drilled
earlier. Trial-fit the left fuselage side to the right side
assembly Since all of the formers in place are the
same width, the left fuselage side should come in
firm, square contact with their left edges Once satis-
fied, carefully glue the left fuselage side in place
against F-5, F-7, F-8 and F 9, using the location marks
made earlier Take pains to be sure that the structure
is truely square
17. Install another 36" length of cable housing tubing
along the left fuselage side, from just forward of F-5,
through its slot, F-9, along the fuse side. through the
channel in the upright and out the angled exit hole at
the rear Leave some tubing exposed at the rear for
trimming (see plans) As with the stab tube, glue the
rudder tube in place completely along its entire
length.
18. Cut, fit and glue the 1 / 8 " x 1 / 4 " b a l s a cross-brace in place
on the fuselage bottom, just behind the towhook
location, as shown Use CA adhesive to glue former
F-4 in place while gently and equally bending the two
fuselage sides together at the nose, when dry repeat
the process while installing former F 3 Now glue the
shaped hardwood noseblock in place Note that this
block fits between the two fuselage sides, flush with
the bottom edges of each and up against the edges of
the two F-2 ply fuselage doublers Tape and/or clamp
in position and allow to dry Cut, fit and glue the two
lengths of 1/4" triangular stock in place behind the
noseblock As you proceed through this step we
strongly suggest that you continually check for sym-
metry and squareness of the assembly
19. Locate and glue the shaped balsa forward canopy
mount in place against the top rear of the noseblock
and the fuselage sides Sand the edges flush with the
fuselage sides Carefully remove ply former F-6 from
its sheet Clean up the inside edges with sandpaper.
With a sanding block, bevel the two bottom edges of
this former to match the fuselage sides when it's in
place Note that when in place this former stands tall
of the fuselage sides, this is to pick up the top 1/8"
sheet Glue F 6 in place and when dry, sand its outer
edges flush with the fuselage sides
20 Using about an 8" length of one of the 1/16" x 3" x 36"
balsa sheets provided, cut and f i t the canopy/hatch
base Use your sanding block to bevel each end of
this base to fit accurately to the forward canopy hatch
block and the angled F 6 rear former Lightly tack glue
this piece in place and sand its edges flush with the
fuselage sides Remove canopy formers C-2, C-3, C-4
and C-5 from their sheet Sand the required bevel into
the bottoms of C-2 and C-5 Carefully glue these two
formers in place on the canopy base being careful to
not glue them to the fuselage — their outside edges
should be flush with the fuselage sides Now center
and glue the C 3 and C 4 formers in place per the
plans (these fit directly over F-3 and F 4 respectively).
Remove the two C-1 canopy sides from their sheets.
Using a flat work surface, glue and pin the y4"tnangu-
lar stock piovided to the inside top edge of the C-1
canopy sides — be sure to make a r i g h t and a left
When dry, c a r e f u l l y fit these sides in place, trim as
needed to get a good fit and glue them in place With
the canopy assembly still tack glued to the fuselage,
use your sanding block to bring the sides flush with
the fuselage sides
21. With ready access to both the inside of the canopy/
hatch and the fuselage, now is the time to build the
canopy hold-down system Note the views shown in
the upper left corner of the fuselage plans These
demonstrate how the canopy is secured to the fusel-
age, at the nose with a ply 'lip' that is glued to the
bottom of the canopy base and fits beneath the
canopy hatch block, in the middle it is held to the
fuselage by two wire hooks and a rubber band and at
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