Great Planes Super Decathlon 40 Kit - GPMA0185 - Manual (Page 31)

D 5. For scale realism, the landing gear should be white;
therefore, you may now sand the gear with 320-grit sandpa-
per, clean thoroughly with alcohol or thinner, then paint the
gear with fuelproof paint, such as K & B Superpoxy.
OPTIONAL: You may add a balsa fairing block to the bottom
of the landing gear, and sand to blend with the fuselage;
however, you must drill 3/8" holes in the fairing block for
access to the screws.
INSTALL WHEEL PANTS
this opening smooth with a Dremel sanding drum (or a piece
of sandpaper wrapped around a dowel). Make sure the
opening fits your wheel!
NOTE: While they do decrease drag somewhat, the
wheel pants are included primarily for scale realism;
therefore, if you will be flying your Super Decathlon 40
from a grass and/or rough field, we recommend that you
do not install the wheel pants.
D 1. If you examine the inside of the wheel pants you will
notice a raised trim line near the base. Using a scissors, cut
away the excess plastic near the trim line. Use a large sanding
block (or a sheet of sandpaper lying on a flat table) to sand the
pants down to the trim line.
D 2. Clean the wheel pant halves with a tissue dampened
with alcohol.
D 3. Lightly sand the inside of the wheel pants with fine
sandpaper.
D 7. Using thick CA, glue one of the 1/16" x 1" x 1" ply
wheel pants doublers to the inside of the pant, centered over
the axle "dimple." NOTE: Make a RIGHT and a LEFT
wheel pant!
D 8. Cut the strip of 1"-wide fiberglass tape into l"-long
pieces. Glue four pieces of this tape inside the pant at the
center joint in the locations shown in the above sketch. A
good method of doing this is to lay the glass cloth in position,
apply thin CA glue, and press down with a piece of waxed
paper until the glue sets.
D 4. Hold two wheel pant halves together, carefully lin-
ing up the edges, and apply thin CA to bond them together all
the way around.
D 5. Use a piece of 150-grit sandpaper held in your
fingers to sand the pants along the joint, blending the two
halves smoothly together.
D 6. Cut the opening for the wheel, using an Xacto knife
or a Dremel Moto Tool with a pointed bit. Sand the edges of
D 9. Drill an 11/64" diameter hole through the wheel pant
and the 1/16" ply doubler at the axle "dimple" location.
Drill only through the side of the pant that has the ply
doubler, making a LEFT and a RIGHT pant.
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