It is very difficult to give an assembly time for the HotSpot. A fast builder can get a model into the air in 40 hours, but most people seem to take 60 hours spread over 6 weeks.

It is possible to dry assemble the kit straight from the box and it look like the completed version. It is worth doing this with the wing tubes placed on the wing spar and the fins fitted as this will prove that the wing/fin/fuselege gap can be maintained at the leading and trailing edge of the wing. The Wing tube hole in the root rib is pre drilled slightly over size to allow for some adjustment when gluing.

It is best to start with the wings as it is possible to complete them without doing much work to the fuselage shell.

The HotSpot tail fins have been strengthened since the original balsa/foam fins and as a consequence are much heavier. The plan view of the HotSpot provided (in the german language manual) shows the Receiver and ECU batteries behind the U/C position. This is no longer the case and the typical position
will be one either side of the fuel tank.

The Cof G position is 130-135mm back from the wing root leading edge, tank dry.

On Turbine deltas like the HotSpot and Kangeroo 2 we recommend splitting the elevons in half and using a servo on each. This is purely for redundancy. If a single servo was used and it failed you would crash! This loses some of it's worth if you don't use individual extension leads to the Rx.

Before cutting the servo hatch in the underside of the wings for the servos, it is worth checking that each servo lead extends out of the root rib a minimum of 20mm without using extension leads. JR 8411 servo leads reach with the hatch approx 200mm from the root.

If fitting rudders do not make the them too large. 250mm long and 50mm cord is plenty. Larger rudders risk flutter.

The Elevons are top hinged-ensure that the is no gap when the hinges are glued.

When making up the wing retention tube leave the wooden insert 3mm inside the wing root face so that a piece of fuel tubing can be placed over the M4 retention screws to stop them falling out of the wing.

Fuselage

When cutting the clearance holes for the main wheels enlarge the rear of the opening to allow the wheels to cleanly retract even if the legs are were slighly bent rearwards (I.E. flying from rough ground) Our HotSpot takes off in approx 50 meters on short grass.

Keep the nose wheel steering push pull quite loose, The model will still track straight as there is built in castor on the nose unit.

As the HotSpot uses a std Coke type bottle as a fuel tank we find the best way to fill it is to put two nipples into the stop and fill in one and vent the other-This allows the feed tube to the turbine to be unbroken reducing the risk of air leaks.