Top Flite TOPA0140 - Manual (Page 13)

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9. Use a razor plane and your bar sander
with 80-grit sandpaper to sand the elevator and
stab tips as shown on the plan. Avoid sanding the
1/16" [1.6mm] stab sheeting. Proceed slowly,
removing small amounts of material at a time and
inspect your work frequently.
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10. Return to step 7 and build the right elevator
the same way.
Note: It is more important that the elevator tips
match each other rather than match the plans
perfectly. As you proceed, compare the right tip to
the left tip to make sure they are identical.
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11. Use three 3/32" x 3/8" x 24" [2.4 x 9.5 x
610mm] balsa sticks to make the elevator ribs
and glue them to the side of the elevators where
you marked the locations of the ribs. Glue the ribs
to the other side of the elevators matching them to
the ribs you already glued. Shape the ribs to match
the shape of the root and tip blocks and the cross
section on the plan.
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12. Round the leading edge of the stab as
shown on the cross section of the plan, blending it
to the stab tips.
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13. Carefully break both elevators free from the
stab. Notice which elevator matches which side of
the stab. Remove any
glue bumps left from the CA
you used to tack glue the elevators to the stab.
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14. Mark the location of the hinge slots on the
elevators and stab where shown on the plan. Glue
pieces of leftover 3/32" [2.4mm] balsa to both
sides of the elevator bases over the location of the
hinge slots (see the photo at step 19). Cut the
hinge slots in the elevators and the stab along the
centerlines you marked earlier with a #11 blade.
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15. Using the sketch above, cut six hinges from
the CA hinge strip supplied with this kit. Snip the
corners off so they go into the slots easier. You
may cut all sixteen hinges now, or just cut them as
you need them.
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16. Test fit the hinges into the slots. If the
hinges do not slide into the slots easily, work your
knife blade back and forth in the slot a few times to
provide more clearance (it is really the back edge
of the blade that does the work here in widening
the slot).
1"
1"
3/4"
AND #11 BLADE
WITH HOBBY KNIFE
CUT HINGE SLOT
IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT CA HINGES
This kit is supplied with a CA hinge material
consisting of a 3-layer lamination of mylar
and polyester. It is specially made for hinging
model airplane control surfaces. When properly
installed, this type of CA hinge provides the best
combination of strength, durability and easy
installation. We trust all of our Gold Edition
warbirds to these hinges, but it is essential
to install them correctly. Carefully follow
the hinging instructions in this manual for the
best result.
The most common mistake made by modelers
when installing CA hinges is making the hinge
slots too tight restricting the flow of CA to the
back of the hinges; or not using enough glue to
fully secure the hinge over its entire surface area.
This results in hinges that are only
tack glued into
the hinge slots. The techniques for cutting the
hinge slots and gluing in CA hinges (near the end
of the manual) have been developed to ensure
thorough and secure gluing.
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