Use
the lightest possible wood for all of the tail parts (and all the
verticals and crossmembers aft of the wing) as the Simplex's nose moment
is very short.
I usually strip my
own wood from sheets of the appropriate thickness. Almost always better
quality, straighter, and lighter than what you will get
if you buy it as
stringers. I use a small table saw or my band saw unless the wood
is 1/16 or less, then I use a stripper with an exacto blade in it for
the cutter.
On the saws I use a
1/4 X 4 X 18 length of basswood as a fence, held in place with clamps.
I set the dimension with sheet wood of the proper dimension
on its side between
the blade and the fence. That wheel in the upper right is from Top
Notch Products (who do my laser cutting) and
the notches are for
checking wood sizes. Very handy
On to the finish.
The nose has been assembled, and servos have been installed before
covering.
The servo plate is
made from 1/32
ply, a template is provided on the plans and there
is a laser cut part.
Glue some small 1/16
ply doublers underneath where the screws are located
Kevlar pull-pull
lines routed out of the top of the fuselage.