Top Flite Elder 40 - Manual (Page 13)

adhesive will work well. The fin should now be quite im-
mobile on the stab.
Use 1-hour epoxy to now glue the hinges required into
the trailing edges of the wings, stabilizer and rudder.
Next, mount the elevators to their hinges followed by the
rudder and ailerons. A little acetone or CA debonder on a
clean paper towel can be used to clean-off any glue that
has oozed out of the hinge slots.
Mount the landing gear assembly to the fuselage with
the screws and clips provided. Mount the clips securely
but do not over-tighten.
Now install the motor mount to the firewall. Use one or
two washers behind the top two motor mount bolts to
give about 2 to 3 degrees of down-thrust. Mount your
engine to the motor mount; we suggest 4-40 Allen-head
bolts into pre-tapped holes. Cut two lengths of fuel tub-
ing with sharp angles at one end. Insert the angled ends
into their holes in the firewall and use a pair of long-nose
pliers to reach into the fuselage and pull them almost
through the tank compartment. Trim the ends of the tub-
ing and connect them to the appropriate tubes on your
tank. Now pull the tubes back through the firewall while
moving the tank into the fuselage. Trim the tubing to
length and make the connections to your engine and
pressure tap.
The triangular-shaped "flying-wire post" that is shown
sitting in front of the cockpit can now be glued (epoxy) in
place by first positioning it on the top of the wing to
determine its final position.Once satisfied, presson the
top of it, indenting the covering slightly. Remove the
covering material within these indentations, exposing
wood and glue the post in place. If you have decided to
add the optional flying wires (20#-test fishing line), drill
small holes (1/32" dia.) into the tops of the spruce upright
posts that you installed during wing construction. We
used very small cotter pins for the flying wire anchor
points, these can now be epoxied into the holes. Before
adding the flying wires, apply any decoration or mark-
ings to the wings, then add these wires.
As shown on plans, the exposed framework of the aft
fuselage is shown with bracing wires and tubes in each
joint corner for their attachment. If you have decided on
this as an option, now is the time to add them.
The 1-3/8" x 2-3/4" windscreen is now trimmed to shape us-
ing the outline provided on your plans and glued in place
just ahead of the cockpit opening. Position the bottom
edge of the windscreen in place on the wing center sec-
tion and press down to leave an indention. Use an X-acto
knife to cut through the indention and wood beneath it.
The windscreen can now be inserted into this "slot" and
held in place with a small amount of adhesive. If you are
using a "pilot," he should now be epoxied in place in the
cockpit (assuming that he's all painted and ready to fly).
At this point you might well be considering detailing
your Elder with a few "goodies." We have used a few
items that were "off-the-shelf" in most well-stocked
hobby shops. Williams Bros. makes some nice 2-1/2"
scale machine guns, WW I type, both German and
British. We used one of their Vicker's guns on the model
shown on your box label. Simply glue a couple of dowels
into the bottom of the gun and it can then be glued right
into the center section of the wing, beneath the "king
post." As shown on the plans, we also used a Williams
Bros. "vintage" pilot (the one with the leather flying cap
& goggles) as well as their wheels. On a couple of the
prototypes we detailed the cockpits with instruments
from Lou Proctor and a genuine hardwood, stained in-
strument panel (veneer). All kinds of neat looking flying
wire clips and little metal parts can be easily made from
light aluminum. Detailing the Elder is up to you. No mat-
ter what you choose, it'll look great.
With the possible exception of additional final detailing
such as outlined above, your Elder is now essentially
finished, needing only the installation of the radio.
RADIO INSTALLATION
The method of installing your radio in theEIder is shown
on the plans. Note that we have provided you with a 1/8" x
2-7/8"x4-7/8"ply servo tray. Use a pencil and straight edge
to lay-out the positions of your servos on this tray. Note
that we show the rudder and elevator servos at the rear,
side-by-side with the throttle servo just ahead, mounted
sideways. Drill a 1/4 " dia. hole into each of the servo pen-
cil marks and use a Dremel saw or a jig-saw to remove
the servo cut-out's required (3). Test-fit the servos into
the tray and the tray into the fuselage—it is meant to rest
atop the two 1/4" x 1/2" balsa bearers that were built into
the fuselage frame earlier. Note that the tray can be slid
fore and aft a little to provide some C.G. change, if need-
ed, later when it is permanently glued in place.
The receiver and battery pack are meant to be installed
forward of the servo tray, as shown. These components
should be installed using foam rubber. The receiver
antenna on our prototypes was simply routed out
through the fuselage, internally, and tied-off at the tail
post of the rear fuselage framework. The switch harness
may be attached directly to the fuselage side, away from
engine exhaust.
Next, make the rudder and elevator pushrods using the
remaining lengths of the 1/4 " dia. dowel provided. These
will be cut to about 22" lengths. Locate the two 12"
threaded on one-end, wire pushrods supplied in your kit.
Cut 5" off of each of these pushrods; leaving two 7"
threaded one-end pieces. Save the 5" pieces and, as
shown on the plans, attach the non-threaded ends of the
7" pieces to the ends of each dowel with epoxy and
tightly-wrapped thread. Now attach the two remaining
5" wire lengths to the opposite ends of the dowels. From
the inside of the fuselage, slip the pushrods in place
through the rear of the frame and out the pushrod exit
guides. Some small amount of bending of these control
wires may be needed to provide free, unbinding move-
ment. Avoid hard or abrupt bends.
Locate the two nylon horns provided for the elevator and
rudder. Mark the locations of these on the rudder and
elevator and drill the two required holes for each. Mount
the horns. Thread two clevises onto each end of each
pushrod and attach the clevises to the nylon horns. Now
test the movement and action of the rudder and elevator
by moving the pushrods by hand. It is essential that the
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