6
HARDWARE IDENTIFICATION
GLOSSARY OF MODELING TERMS
ARF:
Almost Ready to Fly
AILERON:
the control surface on the wing that rolls the
plane
AIRFOIL:
the shape of the wing as seen from the end
ANGLE OF ATTACK:
the angle at which the wing meets
the air flow
BEVEL:
to sand to an angle shape
BURR:
the rough edges on a piece of wood or metal after
it is cut
CAP STRIP:
a thin strip glued to the edges of the ribs to
shape the wing
CONTROL HORN:
a device attached to each control sur-
face to provide an attachment point for the pushrod
COWL (COWLING):
the nose section of the fuselage that
encloses the engine
DECALAGE:
the difference between the incidence of the
wing and stabilizer
DIHEDRAL:
the upward angle of the wings, as seen from
the front
ELEVATOR:
the moveable part of the horizontal tail,
which controls pitch
EMPENNAGE:
the tail of the plan
FIN:
the fixed vertical part of the tail
FIREWALL:
the hard wooden former at the front of the
fuselage, to which the engine is mounted
FORMER:
a piece which shapes the fuselage; and to
which the sides of the fuselage are attached.
GUSSET:
a small triangular piece glued into a corner to
strengthen it
INCIDENCE:
the angle of the wing or the tail in relation
to the thrustline
LAMINATE:
to glue two thin sheets of material together
to form a thick sheet
LEADING EDGE (L.E.):
the edge of the wing that first
meets the airflow
LONGERON:
a stringer that runs the length of the fuse-
lage
OUTPUT ARM:
the piece that attaches to the servo and
connects it to the pushrod
PITCH:
an up and down movement of the nose of the
plane, which is controlled by the elevator
PROTOTYPE:
the full scale airplane from which the
model design was taken
PUSHROD:
the long, stiff dowel, plastic or wire piece that
connects the servo with the control horn
RTF:
Ready to Fly
RIB:
the airfoil-shaped piece that connects the leading
edge, spars and trailing edge of the wing together
and holds them in shape
RETRACTS:
devices for extending and retracting the
wheels on command
ROLL:
tilting of the plane as viewed from the front, con-
trolled by the ailerons
RUDDER:
the moveable vertical tail of the plane, which
controls yaw
SERVO:
the part of the airborne radio system that
moves the control surfaces
SHEAR WEB:
wood sheeting that connects the top and
bottom spars to stiffen the wing
SHIM:
a thin piece of wood inserted between two other
pieces to improve their fit
SPAR:
a wooden stick running lengthwise through the
wing that serves as its backbone
SPINNER:
the rounded cone that fits over the propeller
hub
STABILIZER (STAB):
the fixed horizontal part of the tail
STALL:
a situation in which the plane is flying too slow-
ly to move sufficient air across the wing to produce
lift
STRINGER:
a long piece of wood attached to the form-
ers to shape the fuselage
THRUSTLINE:
a line drawn from the center of the pro-
peller hub straight through the airplane
TORQUE:
a rolling tendency caused by the spinning
propeller
TRAILING EDGE (T.E.):
the edge of the wing that faces
the rear of the plane
TRIM:
small adjustments made to the control surfaces
to cause the plane to fly straight and level by itself
WASHIN:
a twist in the wing that makes the trailing
edge lower than normal
WASHOUT:
a twist in the wing that makes the trailing
edge higher than normal
WING SADDLE:
the shaped part of the fuselage in
which the wing rests
WHEEL COLLAR
: a metal ring that holds the wheel on
the axle
YAW:
a right-to-left movement of the nose, controlled by
the rudder
BLIND NUT
EYELET
PUSHROD CONNEC-
TOR WITH SNAP NUT.
NOSE GEAR BLOCK
SNAP LINK
LANDING GEAR
STRAP
STEERING ARM
CONTROL HORN
SOCKET HEAD
SCREW
WHEEL COLLAR
PAN HEAD
SCREW
SHEET METAL
SCREW
SET SCREW
WASHER
