Top Flite J-3 Piper Cub - Manual (Page 8)

Cut two fuselage sides. Note that at the furthest aft point the
fuselage side ends at F-4 on the top and angles forward to the
bottom as shown on the plans. At the nose, the sides extend
past the first upright to the ends of the top and bottom long-
eron. The firewall fits inside of the fuselage sides.
With the fuselage side frames laying face down on the work
surface, remember that the right side contains the door, glue
the 1/8" sheet fuselage sides to the right and left fuselage
frames. Pin in place. Glue die-cut pushrod exit sheets F-23R
(for right side) and F-23L at the end of each fuselage frame.
Pin in place. Glue the 1/8" square top longeron doubler in
place between the end of the fuselage side and the front edges
of F-23R and F-23L. Locate position of, and glue the
"center" 1/8" square stringer in place along fuselage framing
between fuselage sheeting and F-23R and F-23L.
When the fuselage side assemblies are dry, place them accur-
ately together and sand their edges with a sanding block to
assure uniformity.
With a hobby saw or a razor blade, score the longerons of
each fuselage side just behind the second 1/4" square up-
right, both the top and bottom. Turn the fuselage sides over
and score the 1/8" sheeting along the same line represented
by the back edge of the second fuselage upright. Do not cut
all the way through but enough to allow the fuselage sides to
be "cracked" inward along the scored lines. Place the fuse-
lage sides down on the edge of a table, longeron side down,
with the scored line just above the table edge. Carefully
press down on the section ahead of the scored line and crack
it. Do the same for the opposite fuselage side.
8. Glue F-5A to F-5B to form former F-5. Glue all 1/8" x
1/4" braces to F-5, F-6, F-7, F-8 and F-9. Allow to dry.
Cover bottom view of plans with Monokote backing or Saran
Wrap. Carefully cut, glue and pin all bottom 1/4" square
and 1/8" x 1/4" cross-pieces and diagonals over plan.
Position rear landing gear block over plan with the slot facing
down and the widest area of the block toward the rear.
Secure with pins.
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9. Pin and glue the right and left fuselage sides over the plans
and to the cross-pieces, diagonals, the rear landing gear block
and to each other at the rear tail-post. Use a triangle to keep
the sides at 90° to the work surface.
Glue, position and pin formers F-4 (PLY), F-5, F-6, F-7, F-8
and F-9 to top rear of fuselage sides using the pencil marks
made earlier for location. NOTE: these formers do not sit at
90° to the top of the fuselage longerons, they "lean" slightly
toward the rear of the fuselage as shown on the plans. Allow
glue to dry.
Bevel the ends of the forward landing gear block to match
those shown on the plans. Glue forward landing gear block
in place, slot down. Note that the edges of this block will be
beveled later to match the fuselage bottom.
Trim notches of former F-3 slightly to allow it to sit at the
angle shown on the plans. Glue former F-3 in place.
Trial-fit former F-11 (PLY) in place, referring to Section D-D
on plans. F-11 (PLY) must fit between the two 1/4" square
uprights in this section and directly on top of the 1/4" square
top longerons. Trim if necessary to fit and epoxy in place,
centered on the uprights.
Using the location marks made earlier, trial-fit forward former
F-10 (PLY) in place. Note that the installation of F-10
(PLY) requires that the bottom nose area of the fuselage be
pulled in slightly. Glue the 1/8" x 1/4" tank supports in
place using earlier marks. Epoxy F-10 (PLY) in place and
secure with tape until dry.
Glue F-19 stabilizer supports in place at the rear of the fuse-
lage. They glue to the top of the longerons, against F-9 with
the outer surface flush with the top 1/8" stringer — see
Sections J-J and K-K on plans.
Cut and glue 1/4" square nose cross braces in place between
top and bottom longerons. Glue the last two nose formers
F-1 and F-2 in place. Glue the top center length of 1/8" x
1/4" stringer in place in slots in F-1, F-2 and F-3.
When dry, remove fuselage from the building surface, inspect
joints, clean them up as required, double glue if necessary
and proceed to next step.