Tips & tricks

Model Airplane News, May 2003

PROPELLER SAFETY

It's always a sound practice to balance your propeller before you Install it on your airplane. With today's composite props, it's a good idea to add weight to the lighter blade instead of removing material from the heavier blade. A dab or two of white or yellow enamel paint works well as extra weight, and It also makes the prop tip highly visible while it's spinning-an Important safety plus. Michele Spirito, Casagiove, Italy

PERFECT HINGE SLOTS

The Great Planes Slot Machine makes It easy to cut CA hinge slots, but if it wanders, the hinge slots won't be centered in the piece. To consistently center the slots, glue a hardwood block to the Slot Machine; make sure it's parallel to your work surface. After you've marked the hinge locations, prop up the piece you plan to slot to the proper height. You'll now find It easy to cut the hinge slots exactly where you want them. Charles Reich, Franksville, WI

IN TOO DEEP

If you cut hinge slots using a hobby knife, you know that making slots of the correct depth is a hit-and-miss operation. Here's a solution: using a straightedge or a tape measure, lay the knife-blade point to the depth required (the blade must be parallel with the straightedge), and use a permanent-ink marker to draw a line straight across the blade where It enters the wood. The line on the blade indicates when It's at the correct depth.

Ben Davis, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada

GRAB THIS!

Carrying a fuselage from your workshop to your car can be hazardous, especially if it's large or particularly long. You usually have to support it under the nose and at the tall. Why not make a simple handle and mount it on the fuselage? Make It of plywood that can be plugged into the wing hold-down dowel holes and then secured to the fuselage with the wing bolts. You'll also find the handle great for moving the fuselage around during its construction. Walter Grabinsky, Barrie, Ontario, Canada

SMOOTH LANDINGS

Full-size airplanes use shock absorbers to smooth out bumpy landings, so why not use shocks on our models' landIng gear to do the same thing? It's easy to add an RC car shock absorber to your wing's landing gear simply by attaching it to the gear's axle and removing the torsion bar from the landing gear so that the gear will still be able to pivot. Add a second wire from the top of the shock to the rear of the wing; make sure that it's mounted on securely. This system will work on models of all sizes.

Jim Finn, Damascus, MD

COPPER WIRE TO THE RESCUE

Fuel tanks must be removed from time to time for maintenance, or they may develop a leak that must be repaired. Removing the tank from the fuselage Is rarely a problem, but reinstalling It and snaking the fuel lines through the firewall can be. Here's an easy solution: fold a couple of Inches of approximately 2 feet of soft copper bus-bar wire (0.050 to 0.060-inch diameter) back on Itself. Slide the wire through the firewall and Into the fuel tubing. It easily bends to go around obstacles. Then pull the wire back through the firewall-and the fuel line along with it. Nicholas Galetta, Wilton, CT

IDENTICAL TWINS

If you're into scratchbuilding your models, you know that they sometimes have a tapered or elliptical wing. This means that the ribs will be of different shapes and sizes, and you won't be able to stack them and cut them all out at once, as Is usually the case. Here's a way to make pairs of ribs. Trace the rib patterns onto the appropriate sheet balsa and then stack two sheets. Staple the sheets together, putting two staples In each rib pair. While they're stapled, cut out each pair of ribs and sand them to their final shape. Remove the stapies, and you'll have pairs of Identical ribs. Jim Silva, Portland, OR

EASY CLEVIS RETAINERS

Most modelers use a short piece of fuel-line tubing as a retainer over the end of a clevis to ensure that it stays closed. After a hard season of flying, the tubing may be fatigued and break off. It can be very difficult and challenging to stretch a new piece of tubing over the clevis. Why not slip a couple of extra pieces of tubing onto the pushrod before you install the clevis on it? Then, when your tubing breaks off, you'll have a replacement on hand and ready to go. Greg Gavit, Freeland, MI