|
Click on any
picture to see an enlarged view |
|
1. |
 |
Here are some tips for getting
good results installing the graphic stickers on your top wing.
Do NOT try to install them in one piece.
Because of the compound curves on the wing surface, they will
wrinkle if you do. Rather, cut them in half first as shown
here. Install the first half with the center of the
sticker right in line with the top of the simulated
second-from-the-tip wing rib. Rub it down carefully with
your fingers. Now add the second half of the sticker so
that it just barely overlaps the first half. Rub it down
carefully with your fingers. Now your sticker will lay
nice and flat and will look great! |
|
|
2. |
 |
When hinging your control surfaces, we recommend
first cutting them apart as shown. Then you can place a
metal straight edge flush with the hinge line and cut the
desired bevel with an X-Acto knife.
Add tape to the control surface first as shown.
Then line up the control surface with the fixed surface and
press the tape into position. We use and sell Blenderm™
tape for hinging control surfaces. It's very sticky and
works extremely well. Also, we cut the 1"-wide tape into
1/2"-wide strips before using it... you can do twice as many
planes that way, and save weight to boot!
Here's how your hinged stab/elevator should look
from the bottom after hinging.
After applying tape to the top surface, fold the
elevator completely back over the stab as shown. Then
apply small strips of tape on the bottom surface to lock the
surface in place. The edges of one bottom tape strip is
outlined in black here for clarity. |
|
|
3. |
 |
To improve the aerobatic
performance of your Pico Moth, cut away a bit more of the
elevator opening in the rudder as shown. This will enable
you to achieve more elevator travel and will enhance your
model's inverted flight and tail-spin capabilities. |
|
|
4. |
 |
You can cut away a bit of the
elevator as shown to increase rudder travel. This will
enhance your model's capability to do snap rolls and tail spins
which are a lot of fun! Nothing detrimental results from
this simple modification. |
|
|
5. |
 |
If the
bottom wing cover is applied in standard configuration, your
wing will either have too much dihedral or the cover will
"pucker" at the outside edges when affixed to your wing.
To solve this problem, we cut some cross-slots in the cover with
scissors as shown. Then when the cover is epoxied onto the
wing, the slots allow you to overlap the cut edges and the cover
will lay flat against the wing. Before
applying epoxy, be sure to roughen the plastic cover with
Scotch-Brite™ or fine sandpaper. Since we're building the
painted Pico Tiger Moth here, we also removed the paint from the
wing in the area where the cover is glued. |
|
|
6. |
 |
Here
we are preparing the wing struts prior to painting and mounting
them to the wings:
- First drill the small
holes for the wing rigging that will be added later.
- Dull the plastic with
Scotch-Brite™.
- Sand a flat edge on the CF
strut stiffeners (if used).
- Run a thin bead of medium
CA for each strut stiffener.
- Be sure to make a left and
right set of stiffeners.
- Paint the struts and
stiffeners. We used acrylic craft paint (brown).
|
|
|
7. |
 |
To
mount your MAE "Slo-Fly" brushless motor, first glue the plywood
laser mounts to the motor's 8mm bearing tube using these
INSTRUCTIONS. Position the motor assembly on the
motor stick as shown. Adjust fore-aft location so the prop
shaft protrudes from the cowling. Finally, secure motor to
motor stick as described in the laser mounting instructions
referenced earlier in this paragraph. |
|
|
8. |
 |
Here is a neat
tail-skid that will turn with your rudder and greatly enhance
your ability to taxi your Moth. I simply used a scrap
piece of 1/32" music wire to bend the skid itself. The
1/32" ply guide-plate is about 1/4" wide and is drilled for the
wire as shown. This assembly can easily
be added to a completed model, as the rudder is already in place
before you attach the skid and guide-plate. Simply align
the components as shown and then glue the guide-plate to the
bottom of the fuselage. The "steering arm" is held in
place by the rudder control horn, so place it between the
control horn and the rudder as shown. |
|
|
9. |
 |
Wing
rigging (flying & landing wires) is very functional and
extremely important! Resist the temptation to skip these.
Use dental floss or any non-stretch thread.
I use "Spider Wire" 40-lb kevlar fishing line. A bent
needle is helpful for installing the wires through the holes you
drilled in the wing struts earlier.
Where the wires go through the bottom wing at the fuselage,
drill small holes in the plastic wing cover and loop the wire
through the wing, out the bottom, through small plastic
reinforcements as shown, and back up through the wing cover.
You can make the plastic reinforcements from scrap plastic in
your kit. These are important to prevent the flying wires
from cutting through the foam wing under flight loads.
This last photo shows our finished rigging.
Since the wires start and end at the same position (see
supplemental instructions), you can simply pull the wires snug
and then tape the loose ends to the wing strut. This will
enable you to adjust them if/when necessary. |
