spirit elite wing question

[dwoel]

I'm hoping someone here may be able to shed some light on my problem. I'm coming down to the end of construction on a spirit elite kit that was given to me as an xmas gift. I've done a search and I guess this is not everyones favorite plane, but I've enjoyed building it so far. Here is the question. When I mount the wing dowels into the fuselage former and bolt down the trailing edge, I see a gap between the bottom of the wing and the fuse top near the front of the wing. Of course the trailing edge sits down flush because of the bolts. The fuse former is seated down flush with the bottom of the fuse, and the former tabs are centered in the slots in the fuse sides. I haven't bought an incidence meter to see how this is affecting the incidence. My concern is for support under the leading half of the wing. If the incidence is right (+2 degrees on plans ) should I glue and sand a shim to the wing saddle on the fuse? Sorry this is so long, but wanted to be sure I was being clear. Thanks for any comments

[Ollie]

I suggest that you finish the model except for the gap under the wing and fly it. As you gradually remove nose weight until the plane has the minimum stability that you can tollerate, it may be necessary to shim up the trailing edge to get pitch trim. When the adjusting process is complete, cover the bottom of the wing near the center section with kitchen wrap as a parting film. Use bits of masking tape around the edges to pull out all the wrinkles. Mix a batch of epoxy and add micro balloons to a soft peanut butter consistency. Apply enough of the epoxy mixture to the wing saddle area to fill any gaps. Be careful not to epoxy the dowels into the former. Bolt the wing down to any shims you may have added and keep the epoxy away from the wing bolt. When the epoxy has cured enough to be firm but not hard, remove the wing and trim off any excess epoxy leaving a perfectly fitted wing saddle.

[dwoel]

Thanks a bunch for the advice, sounds like a plan to me. I've never seen a kit do this before. All of the wing stress will be taken by the two dowels. I'd just feel better with the support of the saddle. Thanks again

[giheli]

That is a great way to custom fit the wing saddle area. Nice post!

I think for the money, the GP kits are great. This is partly because there are just not many options for 5 and 6 channel gliders out there. FYI if you inadvertanly damage the fuse bad on acrash or landing the fiberglass fuse supplied in the ARF kit is availible for 40 bucks from GP. Search this thread for the part number. It comes with the servo tray-mount plywood pieces in precutt form.

Post your experinces with it once you get out and play with it.

--Gi