P.O. Box 875638, Wasilla, Alaska 99687, USA

Kit #001, Fairchild model 71

CONSTRUCTION PHOTOS - PAGE 7

The elevators are almost always seen hanging when parked, so I cut up the tail feathers accordingly:

Assembled & basic clean-up done. The vertical stabilizer still needs a triangular cutout and solid clear insert at its base, to represent the elevator cable and horn inspection windows:
The elevator sections will be drilled and joined by a short length of wire.

The wing halves glued together, using the wing fold panel/aileron divide line and a happy compromise between leading and trailing edges as the guides:

The tips are closed after the long edges have dried. After the liquid cement had another day to dry, I reinforced the leading edges by running a large drop of super glue down the inside of each from the open inboard end:

After all was dry and cured, the edges got a rough trim and fitting of the inboard end could proceed. I carefully trimmed the edge of the bottom half and trailing inboard end of the folding panels (they're not flaps) until the center section seams could touch again; just a little more to go here:

This is what it looked like when a good fit was achieved; leave the center section seams & front inboard corner of folding panels unaltered:


A pair of P6 floats in preparation. Black annealed wire was chosen to fit flush in the mounting troughs as tightly as possible, cut longer than needed and rolled out straight between a steel straightedge and some scrap countertop (this last is Standard Operating Procedure for wire fabrication work).

Holes were drilled just inboard of the centerlines in each trough to fit the spreader struts, and the wires were carefully measured and bent to achieve the correct width (45.5mm between float centerlines, measured at bow and stern). The alignment rectangle drawn on the work surface is my cheap substitute for a grid-printed work mat. Later, smaller holes will be drilled at the centerlines to pin the mounting struts securely in place:

After carefully checking and adjusting alignment upside down, I turned the assembly over, stabilized it with a rusty nut and popsicle stick, and applied plenty of CA glue:


Now I could celebrate with another taped-together "configuration check":

The front edges of the resin "crankcase" need a little trim with a knife before the faceplate will fit close:
 

Needs a few struts & things yet, but it's gettin' there!
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