Top Flite Antares - Manual (Page 14)

26. Re-position the wings back onto your work surface—
your flat work surface Secure the panels firmly in
place Using the two remaining pieces of 1/16" x 3/8" x
2-1/2" ply spar box "fillers", trim them to fit within the
spar box, above the main wing tubes Once satisfied,
glue each of these in place on the bottom end of the
top spars
Mix another small batch of Formula 2 epoxy and fill-
in the remaining space in the spar box above the
main wing tubes Glue the top spars of each panel in
place—hold this spar firmly in place, wipe-off any
oozing epoxy from the spar box, weight or tape firmly
in place and allow to dry.
27. Once again use your sanding block—carefully—to
smooth-out the top of the wing, as needed before
sheeting Carefully fit and cut the top leading edge
sheeting in place Note from the cross sections that
the rear edge of this sheet is trimmed to fit only half
way across the top spar, leaving a "shelf" for the rear
sheeting Carefully glue and pin in place this sheet-
ing, wipe-off any excess glue from the back edge.
We have found it best to make-up the entire balance
of the rear sheeting into one pre measured, cut and
glued piece before applying it to the wing Once you
have cut the center section sheeting (3" wide) to fit the
trailing edge sheeting (4"), join them at the gluing
seam with one complete length of tape (we use thin,
cellophane-type) Turn this sheet over, bend the seam
open, apply glue, close the seam and wipe-off excess
glue and apply another complete length of tape to the
joint. Place the sheet on a flat surface and place
weights along the seam being glued, allow to dry.
When the top wing sheets are dry and useable,
remove the tape from the seams Use your sanding
block and light sandpaper to smooth the seams.
These wing "skins" can now be carefully glued in
pace—pin and or weight as needed and allow to dry
completely before removing from the building board.
28. Remove the wing panels from the building board.
Inspect your work carefully, remove any dried adhe-
sive that has gathered in the corners Work on the
trailing edges with the sanding block, get them down
to the cross sections shown From the bottom of the
panels, run a 5/64"dia or #42 index drill bit through the
aileron and flap horn holes and out the top sheeting.
Note that these horn boltsare flat-heads and need to
be counter-sunk intoitresurfaces Use a Dremel bit
(45° chamfer-type) to accomplish this, see cross sec-
tions. Use a sanding block to sand all excess sheet-
ing, leading edge and spar stock flush with W-20 at
the tip in preparation for the wingtip blocks Lastly,
use a pencil to mark the top and bottom "cut lines"
for the ailerons and flaps at both the tips and the roots
(these can be plainly seen when viewed end-on).
Insert an X-acto #11 blade into the slice made earlier
in the bottom sheeting, between the aileron and flap
#12 "riblets" to mark the cut line location of these
two surfaces on the top trailing edge sheeting
29. Without gluing them to the ends of the ailerons, glue
the two shaped balsa tip blocks in place to W-20.
When dry, use a hobby knife to first rough carve them
down to shape and then use your sanding block to
match them to the top and bottom tip profiles. Next,
use a razor plane to work the leading edges down to
their approximate cross section—see sections on
plans Follow this with your sanding block to finish
the j o b — a v o i d " w a v e s " and " d i p s " — t h e entry
should be clean, straight and consistent Carefully
round the tips in the same manner, rough-carve fol-
lowed by final sanding Frequently compare the two
panels to make sure that they are uniform.
30 Note on the wing plans and cross sections that we
recommend backing and supporting the wing sheet-
ing with scrap 1/8" x 1/2" x 2 balsa, underneath, at the
tube exit points Working from the bottom of the wing
panels, cut, fit and glue these pieces in place next to
the inboard sides of W 8B and W-16, as shown Use a
straight edge and d pencil to connect the outboard
and inboard aileron and flap hinge line marks made
earlier—this gives you a point to measure from for
drilling the tube exit holes As shown on the plans
and cross sections, the aileron and flap tube exit
holes are drilled at 1 1/4" above the hinge line, at the
shallow angles shown A sharpened length of 1/8" dia.
brass tubing is perfect for this operation Once the
holes are drilled, Carefully route them through, from
the underside of the wing panels Once in place,
apply a slower-type CA adhesive to the outside and
inside joints, secure with tape and allow to set Use a
single-edge razor blade to slice them off flush with
the wing sheeting Use a small sanding block and
light sandpaper to finish the job.
31. Use a straight edge and a sharp #11 blade to cut the
ailerons and flaps free from the wing panels and then
part from each other Use a sanding block to smooth
the trailing edges of the wing panels Using the plans
and cross sections, sand the leading edge chamfers
into the ailerons and flaps Sand the ends of these
surfaces l i g h t l y to bring the sheeting flush with the
root "riblets' of each
Remove the tack-glued F-10 ply ribs from the W-1's
and glue them in place on the fuselage sides.
Perform a final inspection of your work At this point
the wing panels and their control surfaces should be
final sanded and ready for covering.
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