FAQs

How do get my plane to knife edge?

If your control lines are in the innermost holes on the servo arm, and the outermost holes on the rudder horns, that will give you the least amount of rudder throw. Moving the wires outboard on the servo arm and / or inboard on the rudder horn will give you more throw. A standard servo should have the torque to move the rudder far enough to hold knife edge flight.
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Mounting ailerons on hard wood ?

You're inviting flutter with hardwood ailerons. Once that mass starts oscillating, your wing will disintegrate. Light balsa damps much better, and is much less destructive if it should flutter.

I've heard you can dye canopies with Rit dye. Does it have to be the powdered type to work?

I had some black liquid Rit laying around and had no success with it. I washed the canopy thoroughly, heated the dye, and left it in for a long time, but it came out clear.
Answer:
No, it doesn't have to be powdered. I've used both with success! Your problem is the canopy material. Some plastics used for canopies will NOT take a tint, no matter how long you soak it in Rit dye, others will take a tint but will warp badly... ask me how I know! ;-)
By the way, I've discovered that if you add about a teaspoon of table salt to the water/dye mixture, it seems to help the plastic take the tint quicker... assuming it will take the tint at all. It's definitely best to test a scrap of the canopy plastic (that which is left over after trimming) to see if it will dye or not, and also whether it will warp in the hot water.

Why is my servo buzzing?

I would test by figuring out which servo(s) are buzzing, then work the control surfaces with the radio and by hand to see if I could make the servo stop buzzing. If you can make the servo stop buzzing by simply supporting the weight of the control surface, you might want a more powerful servo. If that doesn't help, pull the control horn(s) off the servo(s) and see if they still buzz. Replace them if they do. There's internal binding that might cause premature airframe death should the servo fail.

How do I make a canopy ?

1. make a master
2. make a plaster mould
3. make a plaster plug
4. heat some thermo-plastic (0.020" polycarbonate.)
5. lay the floppy sheet over the mould
6. form piece by mating the plug to the mould
7. cool, trim & enjoy...
I suggest you make a plaster mould of the canopy before you start trimming it.
(-: Think ahead " Gravity Works " :-)

How do I get that nice camouflage effect?

I am building my first war bird (Top Flite Spitfire), and am now ready to cover. How do I get that nice camouflage effect, where the 2 colours (olive drab & dove grey) seem to blend into each other?
Answer.
I cut paper to the camo pattern and lay it on the model. Do not use tape at the edges but rather only in the middle of the paper to hold it in place. When spraying make sure the spray is 90 degrees to the surface. What happens is since the paper is not taped down at the edge, the force of the spray causes a little over spray to slip under the edge of the paper. Takes a little practice but works well. The speed of your pass and distance from the work also play into it so try to be as consistent as possible. Instead of paper you can also use construction paper. Just make sure the paper lies against the surface as tight as possible without taping it. Another way is with a good airbrush. You can control those patterns down to a fraction of an inch. However, with a big model you could be painting all week.

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