Comet
Sailplane Project
Sometimes the smallest components require the
most attention. The two removable 1/8" balsa sub fins on the bottom of the
stab that required finishing are shown below.
During the day yesterday, three coats of clear
nitrate dope were applied to bare wood with sanding in between coats. Then
the sub fins were covered with Polyspan Lite and three more coats of clear
dope were applied as shown below.
During the afternoon today, both sub fins were
covered with orange silk and three coats of cleared dope were applied to the
silk as shown below.
16 gauge copper wire was bent to shape to fit the
contour the sub fin tip with 3/16" pigtails bent at right angles on the ends
to pin the wires to the edge of the sub fin. The wires were held in place
with rubber bands and CA'd to the sub fin tips as shown below.
This picture shows both sub fins fitted with skid
wires to protect the tips. These wire are for protecting the sub fin tips
when they contact the ground. I may have to increase the height of the tail
skid some in the sub rudder to help in preventing this from happening.
This is a close up of one of the copper wires
CA'd to the sub fin tip.
This afternoon before I quit, I went on and
applied the fourth coat of retarded clear dope to all eight of the silk
covered tail components.........................Tandy