X-15 CG Location info
CG is 7.25” from the tip of the nose cone with no motors installed.
Download the PDF for instructions with Pictures.
Read all steps before beginning. Always dry fit the parts on every step that requires glue. And always add a reinforcing bead of glue to all joints the required glue and wipe off excess glue with your finger.
Always wear safety glasses and mask when cutting or sanding or using powder. TC.
Instructions, photos and build done by Steve Neill the owner and designer of the kit.
X-15 instructions
This is a pretty simple build. The BT ends might be a bit rough from my cutter. We are looking to improve this but in the meantime all the BT’s are slightly oversized on all our kits so you can lightly flat sand them.
You can pretty much build this plane in any sequence you want.
The Body Tubes are all pre-marked for fin and wing locations.
Build the two vertical fins from the supplied pre-cut balsa parts.
The first thing to do is build the wing tunnels. These are comprised of several balsa parts and line up and capture the wing as shown in the pictures. Once the 1./16 x 1/2 balsa strips are close over the sandwiched internal balsa parts and glued you can then contour sand the tunnels as shown.
Be sure before you glue the wings and tails in place to shape them to an airfoil shape.
After this is done you can glue the wings and tunnels in place to the body tube.
Next up is to use the 1/32 tunnel skins and starting at the back of the plane lightly tac in place and then line up the forward section at the LE and tac again making sure it aligned properly. You’ll have to bend and hold the front to maintain the contour.
From there trim off the excess and sand to shape. Use thin CA to glue the skin thoroughly to the body tube. I also taped off the wings and tails so I could sand the tunnel to a more scale like shape without score the wings and tails. Later on I balsa filled and sanded again before sealing the wood.
For the motor mount I don’t use engine blocks and the engine tube is long enough to accommodate D-E engines. You’ll need to notch the forward CR for the engine clip to move enough to insert a motor. You can use electrical tape for the retainer in the middle of the engine tube.
You can download this decal sheet and print them on water slide decal paper if you want the extra scale decals or email me for the larger file and I’ll send them to you.
Important instruction for the tail cone
Many of you might be confused with the vacumformed tail cone as it has webbig as a result of the deep draw on the vacumforming machine. Only a small part of the part provided in your kit is used.
In this sequence of pictures you will see how I cut the part. Make sure you cut the exact edge at the base to be level.
Place on a flat surface and using a piece of wood elevate a pen as shown and turn the tailcone.
Next cut the opening to fit your engine retainer.
When placing your engine mount in the body tube bring the aft centering ring within a quarter inch of the end of the tube. The cone should just fit as shown. Once you have things correct mark and glue in place.
Another Update My laser cutter mistakenly cut the upper vertical fins in 1/4 stock. They should have been 1/16. The balsa is light so just sand the LEs the same and fill the top and back with the included 1/16×1/2 balsa strip.