By the time you read this, it is a good time to go over your planes in your hangar. Time to inspect your planes thoroughly. Look at the structure for cracks and broken joints as well as a full inspection including the items in the IMAA Safety Inspection form. Check and cycle your batteries. When was the last time the batteries in your transmitter were changed? I like to replace batteries every 2 to 3 years regardless if they are still working or not. This should help prepare you for the coming flying season in a few short months. Happy Holidays!

I have seen antenna hung out on almost any location on an airplane. I have seen them hang out the bottom of the fuselage, dragging on the ground or held to the rear with a rubber band. I have seen antenna wire come out the side or top of the fuselage and attached to the rudder. I have even seen them come out the side of the fuselage and attach to the tip of one of the stabs. I think that the most pleasing method is to hide the antenna inside the fuselage.

A common method is to run a nyrod through the fuselage and then run the antenna wire through the nyrod. I have tried this a few times and always had a frustrating time trying to get the antenna wire to feed through the nyrod. I have found a much easier way. I make a small hook on one end of a thin 3 foot piece of piano wire (about 1/32 inch in diameter). On the other end I bend a ¼ inch to 90 degrees. This keeps the wire from pulling through the hole. Before the rudder is attached to the airplane, I drill a 1/8 inch diameter hole about one inch from the bottom of the fuselage and slightly to the right side.

It may be necessary to drill the hole at a slight angle towards the left. When it is time to install the receiver I run the wire through the hole by the rudder. Check to make sure the wire will pull out easily. Run the wire through the fuselage and attach the end of the antenna wire to the hooked end of the piano wire. Carefully pull the wire out the back of the fuselage. Leave about two inches of wire exposed. Next take a round toothpick and break it in half. Push one half into the hole so it fits snug. To remove the antenna wire, give it a small pull and the toothpick should come out.

When you look at a full sized aerobatic type airplane, pay attention to how the fin is faired into the fuselage. Most of the aerobatic models simply round the back of the fuselage to follow the contour of the turtle deck and the fin is kind of just stuck there. Why does a manufacturer choose this non-scale method? Because it is easy and doesn't take too lengthy of an explanation in the directions. I prefer to take the extra few steps and make it look like the full scale counterpart. You would be surprised to see what a difference it makes to the overall appearance to the airplane.

I am going to cover both flat and airfoil shaped tail feathers. Airfoil shaped tail feathers are easy to flair in. Usually the turtle deck is made of balsa sheeted foam. Hopefully the turtle deck foam ends up near the back of the fuselage. After the turtle deck is sheeted and the stab is glued on the fuselage, make a template that will allow the turtle deck to fit over the stab. The top turtle deck should run into the stab. The next step will be to cut out for the fin. Take special care to have a good fit over the stab and around the fin. When satisfied, glue on the fin and turtle deck.

Next cut and shape a small piece of scrap balsa that will make up the curve between the turtle deck and fin. The grain should run from the turtle deck to the fin for easier sanding. Also try to keep glue away from the edges of this piece of balsa so it will be easier to shape later. Using Red Devil light spackling compound and a plastic squeegee shape the turtle deck into the fin. Don't be afraid to add too much as the spackling compound sands easily. After about 24 hours of drying time you can sand the area to shape. I sand to shape by hand using 80 grit non loading sandpaper and finish sanding with the rest of the airplane. Flat tail feathers takes a little bit more time. I trim the turtle deck flush with the front of the stab.

After the tail feathers and turtle deck are attached I cut a balsa block (usually 3 inches high, 1 inch wide at the front (depending on the width of the turtle deck) tapering to nothing at the rear of the fuselage (following the contour of the fuselage, usually about 6 inches in length) so it fits over the stab and next to the fin. I mark the balsa block with the fin leading edge location as well at the turtle deck location and the desired curve from the turtle deck to the fin.

I then make one for the opposite side. I take the balsa blocks to the belt sander and start the shaping process using the round shafts on either end of the belt sander. After the shape is close, I finish shaping by hand. Then after gluing the pieces to the stab and fin I cut a small balsa scrap and fit between the turtle deck and fin as described above. After the final shaping spackling may or may not be needed to finish the shape. Finally sand along with the rest of the airplane.

Covering the front of the flaired in fin will take time and patience. A small piece of covering may have to be added to the curved portion between the turtle deck and the fin. Take care and you will be pleased with the results.

Have you ever had a screw or nut keep vibrating loose or even loose it during flight? There are several way to remedy this problem. A metal screw into a nut or metal is easily secured with Lock-Tite. But what about a metal screw into wood. A screw in wood has a tendency to loosen over age. A little C/A into the hole and the screw will stay secure for awhile. A better method is to drill a hole into the wood so you can force a nyrod into the hole. This will allow you to run the screw into a plastic sleeve. This will hold securely for quite some time.

There are several sizes of nyrod available. Always use the inner nyrod and not the outer sleeve. The outer sleeve is brittle and will not work. Nylon screws will stay secure longer, however they can vibrate out as well. And what about that cowl that seems to have holes that get bigger and bigger where the screws attach it to the fuselage? A neat little trick is to fiberglass a thin piece of Lexan to the inside of the cowl where there are screw attachment points. Lexan is a very tough plastic and will keep those holes from growing due to vibration. Muffler bolts seem to vibrate loose, even with Lock-Tite. I have found that this generally happens if the muffler gasket is used. Therefore, I do not use the muffler gasket, but rather use a high temperature silicon. This silicon is copper in color and a thin layer will do the trick. I have yet to have a muffler bolt vibrate loose using this method.

Several people have asked my how to apply adhesive backed decals and vinyl lettering. Vinyl lettering can come either with or without a low tack pre-mask. The pre-mask carrier is used to keep the lettering or design spaced and together. It also helps to handle the 2 to 3 mil thick lettering. I have found for small decals (1 inch high or less) that have the pre-mask attached over the upper surface can be applied by using your finger.

First, stick one end down and while holding the other end of the decal taught and off the surface, gently rub you finger in a back and forth motion along the decal. Take care to not create any air bubbles. If you do get any air bubbles, a new number 11 X-acto blade works well by gently pricking the bubble. You will find that the thin vinyl decals, when out in a hot sun will lay flatter and the small air bubbles will disappear. The vinyl decals are very flexible and easy to goof up, so be careful. Medium size vinyl decals and larger that have the pre-mask carrier are best applied with a nylon squeegee (the type used for bondo auto body filler).

After I layout the location on the plane, I fold back the backing and cut off about 1to 3 inches of the backing. I lay the decal back on the plane, taking extra care to insure the exposed decal does not touch the plane (once stuck, it stays), and use a couple small pieces of masking tape to hold it in place. Now I squeegee the end that had the backing cut off. The decal should stay aligned because the pre-mask carrier doesn't flex from side to side.

Now I pull up the other side of the decal and pull back the backing about 10 inches and work the decal down using the famous 'wax on, wax off' technique (squeegee left, squeegee right). Now I wait about 10 minutes for the decal to take hold and then pull back the pre-mask on itself, similar to masking tape. Polyester decals are those that have the design screen printed on the top surface. I cut out the decal close to the design with a new X-acto blade. It is not necessary to cut through the backing. I then pull the decal off and spray it with glass cleaner as well as the location on the plane. The nice part about the glass cleaner is you can slide the decal around to the proper location. Now I squeegee out the glass cleaner and all air bubbles. Let it dry for 24 hours and it should be very transparent.

Contact Kirk Gullach #5004 with your tips at:
16367 138th Terrace
Olathe, KS 66062
(913) 764-1260
E-mail: geebees@sound.net