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

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15. Center the right aileron and securely tape it
to the wing. This will help with alignment and shaping
of the wing tip.
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16. Glue one of the shaped 1-1/4" balsa wing
tip blocks to the right wing tip. Use a razor plane or
a carving knife followed by a bar sander with 80-grit
sandpaper to shape the tip to match the wing, but do
not round the tip yet. As you proceed, view the tip
from all angles to be certain it matches the tapering
angle of the top and bottom of the wing.
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17. Round the wing tip and sand to its final shape.
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18. Glue the other balsa wing tip block to the left
tip and shape it the same way.

Build the flaps

We'll build the right one first...
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1. Sand the front edges of the top and bottom flap
skin and the front of the flap ribs of the right flap even.
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2. Place the right flap over the plan and temporarily
insert the die-cut 1/16" plywood flap horn into the flap
where shown.
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3. Cut the 7/8" x 1-5/8" x 24" balsa flap LE into
a 5-7/8" long piece and a 13-1/4" long piece. Securely
glue both flap LE's to the flap, but not to the flap
horn. Note that the top of the flap LE's should be even
with the top of the flap, while the excess extends
below (as seen in the following photo).
-40-
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4. Remove the flap horn. True the ends of the
flap LE's even with the ends of the flap.
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5. Cut a flap root template and flap tip
template from the wing plan, then attach them to the
ends of the flap using 3M 75 repositionable spray
adhesive or something similar.
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6. Use a razor plane followed by a bar sander
to shape the flap LE to match the templates on the
ends of the flaps. It's easiest to first shape the top
and bottom of the flap LE even with the top and
bottom of the flap, then shape the LE to match the
templates on both ends.