Build The Ailerons - Top Flite P-47D Thunderbolt User Manual

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7. Cut the 5/16" x 15" dowel into two 6-7/8" wing
dowels. Round one end of both dowels as shown on
the plan and temporarily fit them into the wing. If the
dowels fit tightly, don't force them into place, but
sand them as necessary for an easy, yet snug fit. Do
not glue the dowels in yet.
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8. Assemble the die-cut 1/8" plywood wing jigs
as shown. The shorter "jig feet" are for the tip jigs.
Refer to this photo for the following three steps.
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9. Place the wing upside-down on your workbench
and position the wing jigs under the wing. The
forward center jig fits on the wing dowels. The aft
center jig is positioned above the 1/8" ply wing bolt
braces. The middle jigs should be positioned near
ribs 7, so that they contact the top sheeting and
support the wing. The tip jigs are positioned under
ribs 12. If necessary, lightly tack glue the jigs to the
wing to keep them from shifting.
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10. Sheet the bottom of the wing the same as you
did the top of the wing with the forward and aft wing
skins. Do not apply glue to the ribs and the hatch
mounting rails around the aileron and flap servo
hatch openings. This will facilitate cutting the hatch
openings and trimming the sheeting when it's time to
fit the hatches. Use your weight bags or magazines
to hold the sheeting down until the glue dries.
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11. Bevel the inside edges of the bottom aileron
and flap skins, then glue them into position. Avoid
gluing the ends of the flap and aileron skins to each
other. Use leftover 3/32" balsa to sheet the center TE
between the flaps.
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12. Remove the wing from the jigs. Trim the ends
of the wing sheeting even with tip ribs W-12.
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13. Use a razor plane followed with a bar sander
and 80-grit sandpaper to trim the top and bottom of
the leading edge even with the wing sheeting. Refer
to the cross section on the plan to get the correct
shape of the LE.
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14. Using the holes in the top sheeting and the
wing bolt plate inside the wing as a guide, use a 1/4"
drill (or a 1/4" brass tube sharpened on one end) to
cut 1/4" holes through the bottom wing sheeting.

Build the ailerons

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1. Use a razor saw to separate the ailerons from
the wing by cutting through the ribs.
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2. Sand the wing sheeting and the remainder of
the ribs even with the outer TE's.
Even though we're working on the ailerons right
now, let's go ahead and remove the flaps from the
wing as well...
-38-
Refer to this sketch for the following two steps.
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3. Place the wing upside-down on your
workbench. Use a razor saw blade to cut through
ribs 2C through 7 on both wing panels just ahead of
the top and bottom flap skins as indicated by the
dashed lines in the sketch. Remove the flaps from
the wing.
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4. Trim the remainder of the ribs on the wing in the
flap area as shown in the photo and the previous