Top Flite TOPA0155 - Manual (Page 25)

❏ ❏
R3. Neatly enlarge the opening just enough to
fit the retract. Mount the retract to the rails. Hint: For
a neat appearance, round the corners of the wing
sheeting as in the photo.
❏ ❏
R4. A little at a time, cut the opening in the
bottom sheeting for the wheel and strut until the gear
is able to fully retract into the wing. Be certain there
is enough clearance on the aft edge of the opening
to allow the gear to retract even if slightly bent back
during a rough landing. Usually at least 1/4" [6mm]
clearance is suggested. (There is a photo of the
installed CJM gear on page 26.)
❏
R5. Use curved plastic scissors to cut out the
molded ABS left wheel cover. If building the wing
with short struts, trim the wheel covers to fit the
struts. (One of the wheel covers can be seen in
following photos.)
Steps R6 through R9 are for the Robart gear. If
installing CJM gear, go to step R10.
❏ ❏
R6. Make two 1-1/8" [28.6mm] long wheel
cover mounting blocks from the 1/4" x 3/8" x 6"
[6.4 x 9.5 x 152mm] basswood stick. Drill 1/16"
[1.6mm] holes through the mounting blocks, then
mount them to the strut with the nylon straps and #2
x 3/8" [9.5mm] screws. The top block should be
about 1" [25mm] below the top of the wheel cover
and the bottom block should be about 1" [25mm]
above the bottom of the wheel cover. (The upper
mounting block is shown in the photo.)
❏ ❏
R7. Trim the mounting blocks to the correct
thickness, so that when the wheel cover is attached
to the blocks (by gluing with CA later on), the wheel
covers will contact the bottom of the wing when the
wheels are retracted. On the model shown in this
manual, the upper mounting block required
additional balsa to build it up to the correct thickness.
Note: The thickness of the lower blocks depends
upon how far inside the wing the landing gear wire is
when the gear is retracted. If necessary, remove the
landing gear wire and bend it in a vice until the
required thickness of the lower block is
approximately 1/4" [6mm].
❏ ❏
R8. Trim the bottom wing sheeting as necessary
to accommodate the upper mounting block.
❏ ❏
R9. Thoroughly sand the wheel cover so glue
will adhere. Glue the wheel cover to the mounting
blocks with medium CA.
Propeller:
Hydraulically operated, constant speed, left-hand
rotating, tractor Rotol propeller. 12' 9" [3.99m]
diameter, five duralumin blades with pitch from
29 degrees to 64 degrees.
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