Top Flite TOPA0290 - Manual (Page 54)

will lea
v
e
mater
ial f
or adjusting the fit of the co
wl to
the fuselage
.
Cut the co
wl
fr
ont
1/8" [3mm] outside
the molded-in cutline as w
ell.
❏
3.
Cut out a small cor
ner from the molded-in lip on
the left side of the front of the co
wl top and from the
right side of the front of the co
wl bottom.
Use a bar
sander with coarse sandpaper to tr
ue the edges of
all three co
wl par
ts
.
Securely tape the three pieces of
the co
wl together with masking tape
.
❏
4.
Cut eight 3/4" [19mm]
co
wl mounting b
loc
ks
from the 3/8" x 3/8" [9.5 x 9.5mm] bass
w
ood stic
k
lefto
v
er from the tail cone mounting b
loc
ks and the
ser
v
o
mounts in the wing.
Securely glue the co
wl
mounting b
loc
ks to the front of the fuselage 1/16"
[1.6mm] from the outer edge to allo
w f
or the
thic
kness of the co
wl.
❏
5.
P
osition the co
wl and slip the spinner o
ver the
cr
ankshaft.
Note the small balsa stic
ks that ha
ve
been
tac
k glued to the front of the fuselage to align the co
wl.
See ho
w the co
wl fits the fuselage and spinner
.
There
are three things to look f
o
r:
1) whether or not the spinner
is centered in the front of the co
wl;
2) the spacing
betw
een the spinner bac
kplate and the co
wl;
3
) the fit of
the co
wl to the fuselage
.The fit should already be
“pretty
close
,”
b
ut no
w y
ou ha
ve
to tr
im and fit the co
wl as
necessar
y until y
ou get a finished fit.
Star
t b
y
noting
where the aft edge of the co
wl needs to be tr
immed so
the spinner will be centered.
If the spinner is off to the
right side of the co
wl, the co
wl will need to be shifted
o
ver more to
w
ard the r
ight.
T
o
achie
ve
this
, tr
im the r
ight
side of the aft edge of the co
wl.
Remo
ve the co
wl and
tr
im as necessar
y—if m
uch mater
ial has to be remo
ve
d
use cur
ved-tip scissors
, b
ut when y
ou star
t
“z
eroing in”
on the fit use a bar sander with 80-g
rit sandpaper
.
❏
6.
Once the front of the co
wl has been centered on the
spinner
, it is time to tr
im the aft edge of the co
wl front to
get an e
ven gap betw
een the bac
k plate of the spinner
and the co
wl.
Use a bar sander to tr
im the co
wl front as
necessar
y to achie
ve
the desired fit.
Note that tr
imming
the bac
k of the co
wl top and bottom (as done in step 4)
will
“steer”
the co
wl in the correct direction so the spinner
is centered, b
ut tr
imming the bac
k of the co
wl front will
change the spinner gap (betw
een the bac
k plate of the
spinner and the front of the co
wl).
T
a
ke
y
our time and
proceed slo
wly to get a good fit.
❏
7.
Once co
wl alignment has been achie
v
ed,
remo
v
e
the co
wl and separ
ate the three pieces
.
Use
coarse sandpaper to
thor
oughl
y
sand the inside
and outside of the co
wl around the seams so glue
and filler will adhere
.
T
ape the co
wl bac
k together
.
Use thin and medium CA to per
manently glue the
par
ts together
.
❏
8.
Remo
v
e
the masking tape and refit the co
wl to
the fuselage
.
Mak
e an
y final tr
im adjustments
necessar
y f
or a good fit betw
een the co
wl and the
fuselage and betw
een the co
wl and the spinner
.
❏
9.
Use coarse sandpaper to thoroughly roughen the
inside of the co
wl along the seams betw
een the three
pieces
.Use an epo
xy br
ush to apply 30-min
ute epo
xy all
the around the seams
, then la
y str
ips of 3/4" [20mm]
fiberglass cloth along the seams
.
B
rush the epo
xy
through the glass cloth while br
ushing the glass cloth
do
wn to the plastic.
Allo
w the epo
xy to harden.
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