Golden
Era Model Service
High
Quality Plan Sets for Radio Control Aircraft
Building photos of the Modelcraft
Commando
This
is the Thunder Bird 45 wing but I use the same method to join the
Commando wing halves. Alignment marks are on the plan (in
red).
I got the
right
triangles from Orchard Supply and drilled holes for T-pins on the base
flanges. You will get a lot of help from the ply wing joiners
if
you have accurately positioned the W3 ribs, they should butt up to
the joiners and establish the proper dihedral angle automatically.
You
will have to trim the W2 ribs to clear the joiners. The spar
ends
are tapered to 11.45 degrees or so. Once the wings are joined
you
can
accurately shape the center area of the leading edge. The name for the square is Swanson Speedlite
Square,
mine
are 8 inch but they also are available in 12 inch sizes. http://www.swansontoolco.com/product/speedlite-square-orange/
Rear spar
doubler construction
Completed
fuselage half. To ease construction I use a digital caliper
to
cut the crossmembers and verticals. There is a table on the
plan
giving all the dimensions. As you can see all the longerons
are
straight so it is easy to keep the fuselage true. When the
first
side is complete,
put
Saran Wrap over it and build the second half right on top.
Use
thin CA when assembling the halves, putting in on with the twisted wire.
If
the wire end gets clogged just cut it shorter, reform the
small fork and go again. When the entire fuselage is framed
up,
go over
all
joints with Sigment or similar.
Cutting
crossmembers to length on the 36 inch Playboy. Harbor Freight
has
the digital caliper at low cost. The saw is a JLC
saw
available from UMM USA. Link here: http://www.umm-usa.com/
The blade is very thin, resulting in very accurate cuts.
Previous Commando Page GEMS
Index Page John Eaton's
Home Page
Next Commando Page