This fuselage is engineered to build straight even without heroic effort by the builder. The #1 way to maintain straightness is to always keep the fuselage square and level every time you add an important component. If you want to be extra diligent you can mark all of the fuselage formers with a center line before you start construction, and draw a long straight line on your table to check alignment as you build. You can also use the straight line on the edge of your plan sheet.
The fuselage sides are parallel from the firewall back to the cockpit instrument panel. This means that F2 through F5 are installed at 90 degrees to the fuselage sides. F3 is first. Make sure the reinforcement strip F3B goes on the front side so it ends up inside the fuel tank compartment. If F3B is pointing toward the wing, it’s backwards.
While you’re holding it square, glue it in place with a light application of thin CA. It will be reinforced with triangle stock later, so we don’t want big gobs of glue in the way.
Once that’s in place the fuselage needs to be flipped over so F3 can be glued to the other side. To make sure everything stays square, set the firewall in place temporarily and weigh it down to hold it. Also place F4 and F5 in their notches temporarily to help hold the top side up. Check for square as shown in this photo.
When everything is square, glue F3 to the fuselage side.
Pick up the fuselage gently so it doesn’t fall apart and put a clamp on the firewall temporarily. Set the assembly upright on the table and weigh it down so it contacts the table at four points and is held flat by the weight.
Pull the sides together with one hand at F4 and F5 to make sure they are seated correctly in the little slots, and use the other hand to glue them in place with thin CA.
When that’s done, pull the firewall (F2) out. Apply ample Titebond or epoxy to the front of the triangle stock and to the fuselage sides in front of the triangles. Press the firewall into the glue while applying clamps. Keep the plane flat on the table, weighed down with a heavy weight. Make sure F2 is all the way in its place, correctly aligned, and clamped firmly. Check the fuselage for square again.
Leave it flat and square on the table overnight to cure.
You can see in the following photo that the blind nuts did not interfere with the triangle stock. Engine mounts differ significantly, so if your blind nuts interfere you should relieve the triangle stock to allow a proper fit.
Add F5B as a doubler at the bottom of F5.
Attach 3/8″ balsa triangle stock at the bottom of the fuselage between F2 and F3.
Make sure the doubler and triangle stock are flush with the bottom of the fuselage sides. Attach one layer of F12 to the bottom of the fuselage. The reason for attaching F12 in two individual layers is because if you laminate them first you’re not going to get them 100% aligned, so you would have to do some trimming before attaching the part. So just put the first layer on. Make sure it’s well seated all around so it contributes to the fuselage being square.
Once you get the first layer in place, apply some glue and put the second layer on. Clamp it to the first layer if necessary.
3/8″ triangle stock is added to the front of F3.
Do not add the balsa chin yet. Leave it open because you’ll need to drill into the wing from the front.
Install F6. Make sure it’s pressed forward against the rear edge of the fuselage doublers. Hold the fuselage sides tightly against F6 while you glue it with the other hand.
Put the Cockpit floor in place. If it’s too tight you may have to sand it slightly. You want a snug fit, but you don’t want it to crack joints as you slide it into place. Align the edges of the cockpit floor with the outside surface of the fuselage sides at F4, and glue the joint between the cockpit floor and F5. Then align the floor at F6 and glue it to F6. If you plan to color the inside of your cockpit with a Sharpie marker later, you’ll want to avoid letting CA glue coat the inside of your cockpit joints because it doesn’t take ink like bare balsa does. That’s why I glue these joints from the inside.
After it’s attached at F5 and F6, glue the cockpit floor to the fuselage sides. It’s best to glue these joints from the inside of the fuselage.
Put F7 through F10 in place, top and bottom.
Once they’re in place, put the fuselage upright on the table and weigh it down to make sure it sits flat and square. Pinch the sides together at F7 through F10 while applying thin CA. Glue the fuselage sides together at the tail post. If you sanded the angle a little bit too deep, so now you have a gap at the tail post, you can add a sliver of balsa and re-sand it if necessary. When you stick the tail post together, bring the sides together evenly so one side isn’t farther forward than the other, and use a square to make sure it stands up 90 degrees to the table.
Make holes for the tail pushrods. My favorite tool is a brass tube that’s sharpened on one end. The Dubro push rods supplied in the kit have an outside diameter of 7/32″.
I like the rudder push rod to be slightly lower than the elevator rod to allow them to cross without interference. Put the holes far enough forward so the push rods don’t have to be egregiously bent to reach the control horns. Roughen the outside of the outer tube at one end and install it in the hole so the rough part is the part that’s embedded in the balsa. Secure with CA, trim the end flush with the fuselage side, and sand it smooth.
Attach the 1/4″ balsa stick in the notches on top of F7-F10.
Use F14 push rod brace to secure the push rod tubes at F8. There are two ways you could install F14. If you put it in one way the push rods will be too high in the fuselage. Install it the other way, so the push rods are lower. Add little scraps of 1/4″ balsa stick on either side of the push rod tubes to keep the tubes from sliding sideways.
Cut a couple of pieces of 1/16 balsa 16″ long, 2 3/8″ wide at one end and 3/4″ wide at the other end. You can cut two of them out of a piece of 1/16 x 3 with only about an inch and a half of waste on the little end of one piece.
If you want to be extra cautious you can make it a hair over 2 3/8″ wide at the big end to make sure it reaches the middle, then trim off any extra.
If you never noticed the practical design of the turtle deck on the original Cloud Dancer, both the front deck and the rear are cone sections. This means you can make a piece of sheeting with a straight edge, glue it to the top of the fuselage side, and roll it over the formers smoothly without worrying about compound curves and non-straight edges. I have retained this feature in the Boogie Man 60.
Glue one side on. Make sure it’s attached to the top edge of the fuselage before you start rolling it over the top. If it’s reluctant to bend, wet the outer surface and let it soak in for a few minutes, then slowly roll it over.
If it hangs over the center line of the 1/4″ balsa center stick, trim it straight down the middle. Then add the other side. We’re doing the top first so you have the option of turning the fuselage upside down and dropping glue into the joints if necessary.
Place a piece of 3/8 balsa triangle on the front of F6 to make a shelf for the wing bolt block F11. A line is etched on F6 to mark the location of the bottom of the triangle stock.
Add the 1/8″ plywood wing bolt block F11 in two layers, using plenty of glue. Add small pieces of 3/8″ triangle on top of each end, using plenty of glue. This is one of those spots where you don’t want voids.
Use a sanding block with sharp sand paper to make sure F6 through F10 aren’t hanging out the bottom of the fuselage. When everything is flush attach 1/16″ balsa sheet from F6 to the tail wheel mount, with the grain crosswise to the fuselage. Then add the 1/8″ ply tail wheel mount. This is another one of those spots where you ought to use plenty of gap filling glue to make sure the tail wheel mount is attached without voids.
Now it’s time to set the fuselage aside. The top deck is left off in front so you can fuel proof the inside of the fuel tank compartment from the top, but the floor isn’t on yet because you need to drill through F3 from the front to install wing dowels. Set the fuselage aside and build the wings.
