GREAT PLANES Shoestring ARF Instruction Manual page 10

5. Stick a pin into the top of the fuse centered in the
middle stringer at the front of the wing. Tie a small loop in
one end of a 42" piece of non-elastic string such as K & S
#801 Kevlar thread (K+SR4575). Slip the loop in the string
over the T-pin.
6. Fold a piece of masking tape over the other end of the
string and draw an arrow on it. Slide the tape along the string
and align the arrow with one end of the stab as shown in the
photo. Swing the string over to the same position on the
other end of the stab. While keeping the stab centered from
side-to-side, adjust the stab and slide the tape along the
string until the arrow aligns with both sides. Be certain the
stab remains centered from side-to-side during this process.
7. Use a fine-point felt-tip pen such as a Top Flite Panel
Line Pen (TOPQ2510) to mark the outline of the fuse onto
the top and bottom of the stab. (Disregard the elevators, fin
and rudder in the photo - they should not be mounted to the
model yet.)
8. Remove the stab from the fuse. Use a sharp #11
hobby knife or use the Expert Tip that follows to cut the
covering from the stab along the lines you marked. Use care
to cut only into the covering and not into the wood.
How to cut covering from balsa.
Use a soldering iron to cut the covering from the stab. The
tip of the soldering iron doesn't have to be sharp, but a fine
tip does work best. Allow the iron to heat fully. Use a
straightedge to guide the soldering iron at a rate that will just
melt the covering and not burn into the wood. The hotter the
soldering iron, the faster it must travel to melt a fine cut. Peel
off the covering (see the photo at step 11).
9. The same as you did for the wing and fuse, cut the
covering from the hinge slots in the stab and elevators and
the fin and rudder. There should be three hinge slots in the
rudder and in both elevators and two hinge slots in the fin.
There should also be a hinge slot in the fuse that aligns with
the bottom hinge slot in the rudder. Drill 3/32" holes through
the middle of the slots.
10. Cut nine more CA hinges from the CA hinge strip.
Temporarily join the elevators to the stab with the hinges.
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