Make The Wing Skins; Sheet The Bottom Of The Wing - Top Flite Douglas DC-3 User Manual

DC-3 Fact
The 2,000 th C-47 Skytrain rolled out of the Long
Beach, California plant on October 2, 1943.
Determined to make this occasion a spectacular
one, Joe Messick, the Public Relations Manager
for Douglas, decided it would be good publicity
and boost employee morale if he were to
autograph the fuselage for everyone to see. By
the end of the day, hundreds of production
workers had done the same. Though the chalk
signatures and messages were rubbed off before
the Army Air Force would accept the plane, many
names, addresses and messages left by "Rosie
Riveters" remained in the wheel wells and other
hidden compartments. This led to several pen-pal
romances started by the mechanics who
discovered the messages much later.

MAKE THE WING SKINS

1. Start by making an aft outer panel wing skin which
covers the wing from the center of the main spar aft. Cut
22" from a 1/16" x 3" x 30" balsa sheet. True the joining
edges and glue the 22" sheet to another 1/16" x 3" x 30"
balsa sheet. Trim the front of the skin with a straightedge
along the dashed line shown in the sketch. Make the skin
oversize to allow for positioning and trimming.
2. Make three more aft wing skins the same way.
3. Make the forward outer panel skins by gluing the
four leftover pieces you cut from the aft outer panel
skins to four 1/16" x 3" x 30" sheets. After the glue dries,
trim the sheets to cover the wing from the center of the
spar to the LE—don't forget to make the forward skins
slightly oversize to allow for positioning and trimming.
The grain should run parallel to the LE of the wing.
4. Glue the forward outer panel skins to the aft outer
panel skins. After the glue dries, sand all four skins flat
and smooth.
5. Make two 3/32" x 6" x 15" forward center section
wing skins from two 3/32" x 3" x 30" balsa sheets.
Make two 3/32" x 6" x 22" aft center section wing
skins from four 3/32" x 3" x 24" balsa sheets. After the
glue is dry, sand the sheets flat and smooth.

SHEET THE BOTTOM OF THE WING

Do the center section first...
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1. Trim one of the 6" x 22" aft center section skins to
fit the bottom of the center section. The ends of the
sheet should extend to the center of both W3A ribs and
the front of the sheet should align with the middle of the
bottom spar. If you are building working flaps, the TE of
the sheet should end at the aft edge of the center TE
spar. If you are not building working flaps, the TE of the
sheet should end in the middle of the center TE spar.
Glue the sheet to the bottom of the wing but do not glue
the sheeting to the ribs of the servo hatch, the servo
hatch rails and the aft landing gear rail. This will make it
easier to cut out the servo hatches later.
2. Trim one of the 6" x 15" forward center section
skins to fit the bottom of the center section. The sheet
should fit between the nacelles and extend from the
leading edge to the aft sheet over the spar. Use leftover
3/32" balsa to sheet the sections between the outer
edge of both nacelles and the middle of both W3A ribs.
If you are installing fixed landing gear you'll have to
sheet around the forward landing gear rails so the rails
protrude below the sheeting as shown in the following
photo. After you glue the sheeting in position, trim the
front even with the LE.