FX-61 Removable Wing Mod

For those of you that have the Zeta FX-61, you probably know how big this plane is. For me, transporting it is a hassle as i have a small car. Some of you may have seen a similiar mod like this on Youtube, and i have seen alot of questions regarding how to do this, so i have made this article to show you how.

Step 1:
Gather your materials, you're going to need these items:

• Scrap Dollar Tree foamboard
• Old gift card
• Neodymium magnets
• Hobby plywood or basswood
• Nylon washers 7.9mm
• Razorblade
• Kitchen knife
• Pen
• Hot glue
• Wing screw (x2)
• Nut (x2)
• Metal Washers (x2)

Step 2:
 To start off, make sure your Nuts, Wing screws, and washers match up. I'm using 8x32 size wing screws and nuts for this project. You can use different sizes and use whatever you have lying around, but i went to Home Depot to buy mine. You can find these at most hardware stores. The Metal washers' size doesn't matter much, as they are only used for reinforcement purposes. The shafts on my wings screws are 9mm long. Also, cut your hobby ply to fit. my hobby ply is 25mm wide. The length doesn't really matter right now. Drill some holes in the wood so that your wing screws fit.

Step 3:
You're going to want to glue your washers over the holes. I used hot glue, but again any glue will work as long as it keeps these on:

 In the picture above, this piece is cut down to size. Cut your pieces down to about 86mm long or so.

Step 4:
With your razorblade, notch the foam out to fit your wood pieces, and glue them in.

 Step 5:
 For this step, cut 3 rectangles of some Dollar tree foam, and take the paper off of it. If you don't have access to this foam, then you can use a different kind, as long as it's rigid. Dimensions of the foam pieces are 37mm by 22mm. Cut your old gift card up and make a notch in it so that the washer and wood will fit through it. I used a dremel tool for this step. 

Step 6:
Dig a hole into the fuselage of your FX-61 with a kitchen knife, so that the wood will fit through it. after you've made sure the wood will fit through, glue the gift card pieces over the holes to protect from wear and tear. It should look like this when finished:

Step 7:
After you've made sure that your wing fits on correctly with the hole you just made, it's time to make the part your wing will fasten to. This step is very simple, glue your 3 pieces of foam together on top of one another, and cut a notch for your nut.

 
Step 8:
Glue the nut in place in the foam. After it is glued, slide your wing into place on the fuselage. Make sure the  Holes lineup, and glue the foam piece into place.

 Lining it up..

It lines up!

 Glued into place!

Step 9:
Your wing now fastens, but not good enough! It's still very weak right now, and this tiny piece of wood isn't going to hold the weight, but don't worry! We aren't done yet.
 
in this next step, i marked the foam where the vertical fins are going to be with a pen. These marks are for the Neodymium magnets. These magnets are VERY strong. I bought these at Home Depot as well, they were right above the wing screws in the hardware section! anyway, mark where you will put them on both the wing and fuselage, and notch out the foam. It is crucial that they lineup perfectly. I put a magnet in both the fuselage and the wing. Make sure when you glue them into place, that they attract eachother, not repel, otherwise the magnets are useless. Once done correctly, this will make the wings snap together quickly at the field, help with alignment and give your wings a stronger connection.

  My magnets are about 12mm in diameter.

 Mark where i will put the magnets.

 Magnet in the wing glued into place. Repeat this on the fuselage so you now have 2 magnets that match up.

Step 10:
 This is probably the simplest step. Take your vertical stabilizers and glue them onto your fuselage in the allotted grooves. 

You can see The fuselage magnet in this step. This is where the wing magnet meets up at.

Step11:
The wings are now removable, but what about that glass fiber rod? For this step, you will need your plastic, or nylon washers. I had a few lying around in my garage, but you can also find these at the hardware store. the inside diameter for these should be around 7.9mm. This is the exact size of the rod, and it should fit pretty snug inside the washers. Mark where the washers will go in the fuselage, and notch them out so they fit flush with the wing. Then go about a half an inch away from where the rod ends when placed in the wing, and make a notch so you can slide a washer down into the wing. This step makes the glass fiber rod removable, and forces it against the top of the fuselage and wing, making an extremely stong hold.

 The washers.

 Marking where the washer will go in the fuselage. the rod is for alignment.

 The notch is made.

 Glued in!

 Marking the diameter of the washer, about half an inch (12.7mm) from the end of where the rod will go.

 The hole is cut out.

 The washer is glued in! Note, the inside hole of the washer lines up with the bottom of the notch.

I also used a small aluminum tube for the front part of the wing, this made the wing extremely solid and i couldn't be happier. Just make a hole, glue the piece of aluminum rod in, and make a hole in the fuselage for it to fit into surrounded by a plasic washer. 

Aluminum rod inserted (the diameter i used is the same as the Glass fiber one)

Nylon washer on the fuselage, ready to recieve the wing.

This tutorial is now complete. Just repeat all of this with the other wing, and you're finished! To assemble the wing, slide the rod into the fuselage, slide both of the wings on, and Screw your two wing screws in! 

 Complete!