Issues 93 & 94 Centre section struts.

**wonwinglo** · 03-11-2005

ISSUE 93 & 94 CENTRE SECTION STRUTS.

At long last we have the parts to assemble the upper wing to the centre section,these come in 6 sections which consist of two wing brackets which fit into slots in the lower portion of the upper wing,the struts are made as separate assemblies and line up via two small pips which locate into the struts and the brackets.The lower ends of these struts are set at the incorrect angle and no allowance has been made either at the bracket ends to accomodate this,the best way around this is to set up the assembly loosely and once the angles are known make some small wooden blocks to fit between the strut and the bracket itself.
For the sake of doing a dry trial run I have just assembled everything loosely to check the rigging,this allowed me to juggle things into place and then when I need to do any work in the cockpit just break down the assembly again,for the time being the struts are just lapped together with tape which serves its purpose in the alignment procedure.
Hachette have not given any instructions as yet to do this job and seem to be dragging their feet,I wanted to see how things were going to fit so used my two sets of parts which thankfully are identical to get on with the job.
So here the pictures explain what has been done so far,the promised lower fuselage frames are now once more delayed to issue 97,mine are modified originals supplied in an earlier issue.
The supplied explanation sheet regarding these frames has you jumping back and forth on earlier issues,if you have not assembled your model yet then I suggest that you use the new parts when available,that is assuming they are better fit to do the job than the originals.

The upper wing in place with the centre section struts in position,for the time being everything is just loose and can be easily broken down.

The trial run ensures that everything fits into place,the centre section struts simply lap together at the top where they meet the upper wing brackets.Note that the engine tachometer has been shortened as per the original machine and is now well away from the control column.

Front view showing the Fokker Dr.1 Triplane assembled,remember nothing is glued rigid yet around the centre section,tape holds the strut overlaps until final assembly,work still needs to be done in and around the cockpit and I can see areas that will need access.

Internal rigging using rolled florists wire,the rigging is not yet complete as there will be work on the control cables needing access below.