Rich Porter

BODY PARTS. Construction of the rest of the airplane is really quite simple. The tail boom (monoboom) is built-up from four pieces of soft or medium 3/16 or 1/4-in. balsa with nylon string reinforcement glued along the side joints. Bevel the joining edges of the sheets to make a left and a right side. After these are dry, use a sanding block and bevel the top and bottom edges of each side-assembly, where the wood will touch, until you have a well-fitting, diamond-shaped box. Glue the two side-assemblies together; the forward and aft "corners" will require some pressure to pull them into contact. After the glue has set, sand the assembly to a smooth and pleasing shape. Try to take off as much excess wood as possible at this point, sparing only the areas which will be glued to the wing and to the stab mount. Boom weight should be less than 1/2 oz.