Sheet The Top Of The Wing Panels - Top Flite P-47D Thunderbolt User Manual

Sheet the top of the wing panels

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1. Use a bar sander with 80-grit sandpaper to
sand the top of the ribs, shear webs and spars even
to accommodate the wing sheeting.
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2. If you haven't already done so, return to page
31 and make the wing skins.
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3. Trim one edge of a forward skin to fit the LE.
You'll have to cut a little "step" at the end to
accommodate the 3/4" x 3/4" balsa tip LE.
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4. Trim the aft edge of the skin even with the
middle of the top main spar. Since the forward skin
isn't wide enough to reach the LE near the root end,
glue the piece you just cut off back onto the aft edge
of the skin.
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5. Sand the skin flat and smooth. Remember, if
you sand the skins before gluing them to the wing,
the only sanding you should have to do after you
glue them to the wing is final sanding. This avoids
sanding the skin too thin.
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6. Glue the forward skin to the wing. The way we
prefer is to apply aliphatic resin to all the ribs and to
the top main spar, then glue the front of the skin to the
LE with CA. If you find it necessary, wet the skin with
window cleaner or water, then bend it into position
using weights to hold it down until the glue dries.
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7. Trim the aft skin to fit the wing. The aft skin
extends from the main spar to the middle of the inner
TE (refer to the cross section on the plan) and past
the outer TE by approximately 1/8" (to allow for
trimming later).
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8. Sand the aft skin flat and smooth, then glue
it to the wing. Sheet the TE of the wing between ribs
1 & 2 with leftover 3/32" balsa.
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9. Use the top and bottom flap skin patterns
on the plan to make the top and bottom flap skins
from two 3/32" x 4" x 24" balsa sheets. The bottom
skin doesn't quite fit on a 4" sheet, so you'll have to
add a little piece of 3/32" balsa to the corner at the
trailing edge. You can make just one top and bottom
skin now, or make all four at the same time.
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10. Use the aileron skin pattern on the plan to
make two aileron skins from a 3/32" x 3" x 42" balsa
sheet (or go ahead and make all four aileron skins
from two 3/32" x 3" x 42" sheets).
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11. Position the top flap skin on the wing. Align
the TE of the skin over its location shown on the plan.
Mark the tops of the ribs as shown in the photo
where the LE of the flap skin passes over them.
Remove the flap skin.
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12. Cut two 1" x 20" strips from the 1/32" x 2" x
24" plywood sheet. Use medium or thick CA to
laminate one of the ply strips to a 1/16" x 2-3/4" x 24"
balsa sheet. Trim the balsa sheeting to make a 3/32"
x 1" x 20" balsa/ply strip. This will be the inner TE
sheeting that goes in front of the flap on the top of
the wing.
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13. Trim the ends of the inner TE sheet to fit
between ribs 2 & 7. The ply side goes up. The front of
the sheet joins the wing sheeting already in position.
The TE extends to 1/16" in front of the marks you
made that indicate the front of the top flap skin