Midwest products: Little CAP 232

Model Airplane News, Nov 2001 by Post, Roger Sr

When you come up with a great design of a large-scale, aerobatic model but want it to appeal to modelers who fly average-size planes, what should you do? Why, simply what Midwest Products has done with its Mike McConvilledesigned, 1.20-size CAP 232: scale it down to a .91-size sport plane. The result is the Little CAP 232-a 62-inch-wingspan, sport-size, scale-aerobatic model.

INSIDE THE BOX

The quality of the kit's materials was quite good, and the cut-out parts weren't "die-crunched." The full-size plan is well-drawn and quite clear, and the instruction nal contains concise directions and drawings. The supplied hardware is topnotch and contains almost everything you will need to complete the model. There are, however, several items you'll need, including 2?/4-inch wheels; a 1-inch tailwheel; a 2B/4-inch spinner; an engine mount; a 12-ounce fuel tank; 18 plastic hinges and four solder clevises.

CONSTRUCTION

This model is for builders with advanced building experience. 'I ail surfaces. The horizontal and vertical stabilizers and the rudder and elevator halves are built up from balsa sticks. To ensure their fit, I cut all of the required pieces and pinned them into place over the plan before I glued anything together. When the assemblies were completed, I sanded them to shape.

* Fuselage. This is of the interlocking-box, self-aligning construction method-extremely strong and rigid, but a method that requires you to follow the assembly instructions in the order they appear: also, as you proceed, you must follow the important construction notes. The fuselage is built upside-down, as its formers are glued to its top piece and then the sides are added. lie sure to build a right and a left fuselage half.

Once the main box has been built and the longerons have been added, the supporting landing-gear mounting blocks, their triangular stock supports and the one-piece landing-gear mounting block are epoxied into place. At this time, drill the holes for and then install the landing-gear bolts and blind nuts. Drill the holes for your engine mount in the firewall, and finish the front of the fuselage. I powered my Little CAP with a Saito FA .91 GK 4-stroke (see the sidebar) and used a Dave Brown 90FS engine mount to attach it to the firewall. It is a solid mount and can take quite a bit of punishment. Sand the front to shape and then turn over the fuselage.

The fore and aft turtle decks are now built and sanded to shape, so add the two balsa rails to the sides of the cockpit area. Temporarily place the horizontal and vertical stabilizers into their positions and install the tail blocks per the instructions. Remove the stabilizers and carve and sand the tail blocks to shape.

Trim the canopy and place it on the fuselage; trace the front line of the canopy onto the aft portion of the forward turtle deck, and cut this out as indicated in the manual. The cowl is now assembled. Although the supplied cowl is fine, I used a fiberglass cowl from Aeroglass. It is much stronger than the supplied styrene cowl, and in my opinion, it will be more durable. You can now fit the cowl to the nose of the model and cut out all of the necessary holes.

The installation of the servo tray completes the fuselage's construction.

* Wing construction. Each half is built upside-down over the plan, and each rib has a jig tab on its top aft area. These tabs help to keep the wing straight during assembly. Note that the dihedral brace has an arrow on it that should-as it is used-- point toward the wingtip for the installation of the first eight ribs and toward the root for ribs nine and 10.

Build the wing halves as indicated, and note that the added piece of scrap balsa (which acts as the top of a false rib) should be flush with the top of rib W-9, and that the dimensions for the balsa face should be 1/8 x 1 7/8 x 2 11/16 inches. That was the size I had to cut it to so it would fit between ribs W-9 and W-10A. This piece, however, is not yet glued into place. The shaded part of the drawing in this section of the manual is incorrect; the balsa face should butt against rib W-10A, not go into it.

Finish the wing halves' construction-- shaping and sanding as indicated-and note that the ailerons are built into the trailing edge. They will be cut out before the halves are joined. After you join the wing halves, drill the holes for the wing bolts and add the two scrap lite-ply pieces that protect the balsa sheeting around the holes. Add the two balsa face pieces between ribs W-9 and W-10A, and complete the wing by securing the center section with fiberglass tape, as shown.

* Mounting the wing and tail surfaces. This is not difficult, but check to ensure that the wing and tail surfaces are properly aligned. With the wing aligned, drill the two 3/16-inch holes; then remove the wing and redrill only the wing holes using a %inch bit. The fuselage wing-bolt holes are tapped with a 1/4-20 tap.

At this point, you should check the wing and horizontal stabilizer's incidence requirements. It would be wise to set this up before you glue in the horizontal stabilizer, and check the wing's incidence to see whether it needs shimming.