Top Flite TOPA0310 - Manual (Page 22)

❏ ❏ 28. Cut the cap strips for the top of all the ribs
from five more 3/32" x 1/4" x 36" balsa sticks and
glue them into position. The cap strips are most
easily and accurately cut with a sharp, single-edged
razor blade. Start with the longest cap strips first. If
you cut one too short, it may still be used for the next
rib down the line. Note that the cap strips on ribs 9
and 15 are offset for the aileron and the cap strip on
rib 7 is offset for the flap.
❏ ❏ 29. Take the wing off the building board.
Remove the spar wedge you tack glued to the
bottom inner main spar. Use 30-minute epoxy to glue
the bottom inner main spar and the die-cut 1/16"
plywood
bottom spar braces into position. While
you have your epoxy out, glue the joints around the
joiner box that you couldn’t reach earlier
(I told you
we’d remind you!).
❏ ❏ 30. Carefully trim the jig tabs off the outer and
inner TE spars. Sand the spars even with the ribs.
Use a razor plane followed by a bar sander and 80-
grit sandpaper to trim the bottom of the LE even with
the ribs.
❏ ❏ 31. Cut the bottom outer LE spar from a 1/8" x
1/4" x 36" basswood stick and the bottom inner LE
spar from the remainder of the 1/8" x 1/4" x 24" stick
that was used for top inner LE spar.
❏ ❏ 32. Sheet the bottom of the wing over the
leading edge the same way you did the top, using a
3/32" x 3" x 36" balsa sheet and the remainder of the
3/32" x 3" x 36" sheet that was used for the top tip
sheeting. If you’re building the second (right) wing
panel, use an additional 3/32" x 3" x 36" balsa sheet
for the last tip sheeting piece.
❏ ❏ 33. Use a razor plane and a bar sander with 80-
grit sandpaper to clean up the leading edge of the
wing by removing excess glue and trimming the top
and bottom sheeting even with the LE.
Just roughly
shape the LE for now. Do not final sand until
instructed to do so.
❏ ❏ 34. Use six more 3/32" x 1/4" x 36" balsa sticks
for the cap strips over the ribs and outer and inner TE
spars of the wing panel. Cut but
do not glue the cap
strips for ribs 3, 4, 10 & 11.
❏ ❏ 35. Cut the flap and aileron servo hatch rails
from leftover 1/4" x 3/8" basswood and glue them into
the slots of ribs 3 & 4 and 10 & 11. Glue the cap strips
cut in the previous step to the ribs. Note that the cap
strips are offset to accommodate the hatch covers.
At any time from this point forward you may set
aside the first wing panel and begin construction on
the second, or you may continue with this panel
until completion.
Build the aileron
The aileron is built directly onto the wing, then
removed after completion. This insures accurate
alignment which may otherwise be difficult to achieve
due to the built-in washout of the wing.
❏ ❏ 1. Cut the aileron LE from a 1/4" x 1-1/2" x 24"
balsa stick to fit between ribs 15 and 9. Temporarily
tack glue the aileron LE to the outer TE spar by
applying about three or four drops of thick or medium
CA evenly spaced along the outer TE, then pressing
the aileron LE into position.
❏ ❏ 2. Use a razor plane followed with a bar sander
and 80-grit sandpaper to shape the aileron LE to
match the wing.
❏ ❏ 3. Make the aileron tip rib from leftover 1/8"
balsa, then tack glue it to rib 15 with a 1/16" balsa shim
in between. Make the
aileron root rib the same way.
- 22 -