Great Planes Super Decathlon 40 Kit - GPMA0185 - Manual (Page 37)

the strut straps. Apply a generous amount of thin CA to the
strut ends and screw holes to harden the balsa and prevent
crushing. Re-drill the 1/8" holes.
D 5. Attach the front struts to the strut straps with #4 x
3/8" sheet metal screws.
D 6. Cut the rear wing struts to length. The end of the
rear strut closest to the fuselage must be cut off at an angle to
mate with the trailing edge of the front strut.
D 7. Drill a 1/8" hole in the rear strut where it will attach
to the strut strap in the wing, recess the strut end (as in step 4),
and apply thin CA to harden the balsa.
D 8. Attach the rear strut to the strut strap in the wing,
then glue the rear strut to the front strut.
D 9. For added security, it is recommended that you
apply lightweight fiberglass cloth around the struts in the area
where the front and rear struts join. If not, you may experi-
ence breakage at that glue joint.
INSTALL SIDE WINDOWS
D 1. Using an Xacto knife, cut the clear plastic side
windows from the die-cut sheet.
D 2. Carefully sand the edges of each window with #400-
grit sandpaper to remove any irregularities caused by the die-
cutting process, but use care not to scratch the surface of the
windows.
D 3. Thoroughly clean the covering material around the
window areas with alcohol, to remove all traces of skin oils.
Poke pinholes (1/8" apart) through the covering material in
the areas where the windows will be glued to the fuselage.
D 4. Holding a window in position on the fuse side, very
carefully apply medium or thick CA around the edges and
hold until set.
D 5. To hide the glue lines, you may apply 1/8" striping
tape around the windows.
BALANCE YOUR MODEL
NOTE: This section is VERY important and must
not be omitted! A model that is not properly balanced
will be unstable and possibly unflyable.
D 1. Accurately mark the balance point on the bottom of
the wing on both sides of the fuselage. The balance point is
shown on the plan (CG), and is located approximately 3-1/4
inches back from the leading edge. This is the balance point
at which your model should balance for your first flights.
Later, you may wish to shift the balance up to 3/8" forward
or back to change the flying characteristics. Moving the
balance forward results in a model that is more resistant to
stalls and spins but also may act sluggish and require more
speed for takeoff and landing. Moving the balance aft makes
the model more agile with a lighter and snappier "feel" and
often improves snap roll and knife-edge capabilities. In any
case, do not balance your model outside the recommended
range.
D 2. With the wing attached to the fuselage, all parts of
the model installed (ready to fly), and an empty fuel tank,
block up the tail as necessary to level the stab.
D 3. Lift the model at the CG marks. If the tail drops
when you lift, the model is "tail heavy" and you must add
weight to the nose to balance. If the nose drops, it is "nose
heavy" and you must add weight to the tail to balance.
NOTE: Nose weight may be easily installed by using a
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