Fuselage Pictures - 7/28/2001

	The fuselage- ain't she pretty!
	From the front, looking at the formers F1-F4.  Note, the instructions refer to the front of the engine mounting box as the firewall.
	F1 with engine box opening.
	F1, F2, and the wing tube guide.
	This is one thing that I wasn't crazy about.  The longerons (stringers) between F4 and F5 are jointed.  While the joint looks tight, I will probably add some reinforcement here.  Update 7/28/2001 - Bill Mavey from Ladera Ranch, CA responded - "The spliced longerons are common on the big Edges and have not been a problem on any of the 3 or 4 dozen that I have personal experience with (fellow pilots here in SOCAL). I know of several that have literally thousands of flights on them with no problems to date."
	OK, here's some of that suspicious glue.  You make the call.  Maybe Rocco or Kevin will provide some insight here.  The joint seems to fit well and feels sold.  Either way, a section of tri-stock will be glued on the other side of the former.
	Kind of messy here...!  The wing tube appears to be a fiberglass composite of some sort.  Other than the gobby-glue-joint, it seems to be secure and straight.
	A little cleaner glue joint on F2, and the front wing alignment hole, with reinforcement.
	Looking down the fuselage.  You can hear quite an echo!  Everything seems to be fairly straight and no gaps.  The bright spot at the top is the light from the flashlight I was using for illumination.  The flashlight can be seen at the bottom of the picture, so that is not some sort of deformation you are seeing.
	Another view down the fuse.  That's a pencil on the left that I'm using to position the flashlight.
	Cut outs in the side of the fuse.  This was the only discolored wood that was noticeable.  The glue joints appear to be fair here, but will still get a section of tri-stock just for grins.
	One of the rear wing alignment holes.
	Here's the "bowed" longeron (stringer) section.  As you can see, it is quite bowed.  From what I am able to tell, there seems to be no structural failure, just really tight covering that seems to have pulled the stringer inward.  The fuselage does not appear to be distorted as a result, so as mentioned above, I will probably repair this when I open the bottom of the fuse to install the smoke tank.
	The chin of the fuselage.  The landing gear mount is basically this whole section between the firewall and F2.  Notice the nice smooth covering.  Nice job!
	The empennage section.  Seems to be very solid and straight.
	Another view of the tail section.  You can't see it here, but the cutouts for rudder servos are on both sides of the fuse.  I will be installing a pull-pull system for the rudder.
	Nice smooth covering!  Check out the straightness of the stripes.  Nice job!
	The warped F4 former..........
	Another view of the wing tube guide.
	This was the worst of the wrinkling in the covering - right around the rear of the cockpit area.  I guess if I was going to expect wrinkling it would be here.  I think it will smooth out OK.  Aeroworks recommends using an iron versus a heat gun due to the potential of melting the styrofoam with a heat gun.  However, I think it will work if used carefully.
	Notice the nice smooth cuts of the covering overlaps.  This is pretty consistent throughout the plane.  Another nice job.