AJ Aircraft Laser 230z User manual

73” AJ Laser 230z
Assembly Instructions

Congratulations
AJ Aircra thanks you for the purchase of this airplane. Top grade materials and precision assembly has gone
into this to make this a top quality aircra. Following the direcons closely, will assure you many hours of
thrilling ight. 2 years of design, development and tesng has gone into this airframe. We hope you’re as
happy with it as we are!
WARNING!
AJ Aircra’s extensive tesng ensures a high quality kit that has gone through many stages to provide you
with a safe, reliable, airframe. Poor assembly will lead to an unsafe model and therefore the instrucons
must be followed closely. Should you have any quesons, please do not hesitate to contact us. The safe op-
eraon of this model is your responsibility and yours alone. If you are a beginner or have never own a model
of this size and power, you should aempt with the help of an experienced pilot. This product should not be
considered a toy, but rather a sophiscated, working model that funcons much like a full-scale airplane. Be-
cause of its performance capabilies, this product, if not assembled and operated correctly, could cause inju-
ry to you or spectators and damage to property.

Components
 DA-35 or equivalent gas engine
 Hacker A60-5S Motor or equivalent
 Castle Ice 100 Amp ESC or equivalent
 4x 250-oz minimum Metal Geared servos
(Hitec HS-7955TG are recommended)
 1 standard throle servo (if gas)
 Heavy Duty Servo Arms
 1x 1.5”
 2x 1.25”
 1x 3” Double Arm
 2x 4-6s 3300-4400mah lipos
 21x10 Prop (Falcon recommended)
 Servo Extensions:
 2x 6”
 2x 12” (3x if electric)
 2x 18” (if gas)
 1x 24”
 3” / 76mm Spinner
 5 channel receiver
 Flight or receiver/ignion baeries
 Powerbox smart switch Ignion cut-o (if gas)
Tools
 Blue Painters Masking Tape
 Denatured Alcohol & Paper Towels
 Blue Locte
 Metric & Standard Allen Wrenches
 Hobby Knife & Fresh Blades
 Thirty Minute Epoxy (or Gorilla Glue)
 Fieen Minute Epoxy
 Thin C/A
 Electric Drill w/ Assorted Small Bits
 Small Flat & Phillips Screwdrivers
 Sanding Block & Sandpaper
 Needle Nose Pliers
 Measuring Tape & Ruler
Recommended Items
For Completion

Tips for Success
 Before starng, read through the enre set of instrucons to familiarize yourself with the process.
 Take a few minutes to go over all of the covering, especially the seams and decals, with a covering iron on
low to medium heat.
 Inspect for any interior joints that may have loosened as a result of shipping & handling, and apply a cou-
ple drops of thin CA.
 Pre-center your servos before installing using a servo tester, or by plugging them into your powered re-
ceiver.
 ALL METAL BOLTS should get a drop of blue Lockte, even when using nylon lock-nuts.
 Do your best to mechanically center all ying surfaces, so lile to no sub-trim will be required in the radio
setup. Use a piece of tape to hold your surfaces level and thread the ball links in or out unl it’s perfect.
 Take the me to properly balance and trim your aircra.
 Use the suggested throws at the end of this manual as your starng point, and then ne tune to your y-
ing preferences aer your rst few ights.
 You may noce that some pictures in this manual may be of a dierent size Laser. In this case, the dier-
ences did not make a dierence in explaining that part of the build.
 If there’s ever a queson, post on an RC forum or contact AJ Aircra to verify before doing anything.

Tail Gear
1) Remove tail gear from its package.
2) Remove the 3 pre-installed bolts in the tail and mount the tail gear with provided bolts and washers.
Section 1
Fuselage — Landing Gear
Tip: It is a good idea to put a drop of thin CA in the holes aer inserng and removing
wood screws to harden the wood & threads.

Main Landing Gear
3) Open the landing gear bag and sort the bolts, axles and other parts.
4) Place the landing gear onto the fuse with the THINNER ANGLED edge reward (the gear is shaped like an airfoil). Secure with 4
bolts an washers into the pre-installed blind nuts in the fuselage.
5) Place the wood ller block over the landing gear. Pay aenon to the t as it is direconal. While the cus will hold this in
place, we suggest using a piece of clear tape, or white Ultracote for extra security.
6) Install the landing gear cus using the 4 phillips head bolts and washers provided. Note you can also use a silicon glue to se-
cure the cus.

Tip: Install set screws in wheel collar and ghten on axle. Remove the set screws, wheel, and wheel col-
lar and use a le to create a at for the set screw to rest on. Place a drop of Locte on them prior to in-
7) Remove the axles, wheels, wheel collars, wrench and lock nuts from the bag. Slide the wheel on the axle and secure with a
wheel collar.
8) To install wheel pants, slide over re and align horizontally to t in the wheel pant recess. Using the provided wrench, secure
the axle to the landing gear with a washer and lock nut.

Section 2
Fuselage — Elevator/Rudder
9) Remove the fuselage and using a sharp knife, remove the covering from the areas to allow the an-rotaon pins, wing tube,
aileron extensions and wing capture bolt to pass through.
10) Also remove the covering exposing the horizontal stabilizer slot on both sides, and the hole for the elevator servo on the
LEFT side of the fuselage.
11) Test t the horizontal stabilizer making sure it is centered and aligned to the fuselage. Use a 12” ruler to get it centered in
the fuselage. Slide the wing tube in and look at the plane from the back forward to make sure that the horizontal stabilizer is
parallel with the wing. If not, sand or shim the fuselage unl level.

12) Loop a string to a measuring tape over the hatch latch. Adjust the stab unl you get equal measurements to both the le and
right corners. Extra me spent here will go a long way to improve the ight characteriscs of this airplane.
13) Once the stab is centered and squared up, secure it with thin CA on both sides, top and boom. You can go back and apply an
extra llet of medium CA along the joints for extra strength if desired.

Install the Elevator
14) Use a sharp blade to cut the 2 slots on each elevator half. Check to make sure you are cung the
BOTTOM of the elevator. The cut doesn’t have to be perfect, as we will be removing covering around this coming up.
15) Assemble the horn in the order of bolt, washer, control horn, ball link, control horn, washer, lock nut. Take note to use the ball
link that does not have the extra half-sphere here. The other ball-links are used on the servo arm end.

16) Test t the control horns into their slots in each elevator half to make sure they will fully seat down. Sand the corners or
boom edge if necessary. Trace around the base plate with a ne Sharpie.
17) Remove the assembly and use a sharp blade to cut approx. 1/16” in from your line and remove the covering. Use cauon to

only cut deep enough to remove the covering and not cut into the balsa! Remove your lines with a paper towel soaked with
denatured alcohol.
18) Scu the boom poron of each horn and the base plate with sandpaper. Thoroughly spread 30 minute epoxy or gorilla glue
on both sides & edges of both control horns, the boom of the base plate and some in the slots on the elevator. Insert the
assembly back in, making sure they are facing forward. Press down on the base plate to ensure a ush & ght t. Wipe away
excess glue with a paper towel and denatured alcohol. Keep the bolt & ball link assembled to ensure alignment & spacing as it
dries. Repeat for the other elevator half. Set aside to dry.
19) Slide the joiner into the other elevator half and mark the edge of the le elevator. Remove all covering that will be inside the
slot.
Tip: To save some me and glue, you can glue both ailerons, elevator and rudder control
horns at the same me. Be sure to read ahead and DOUBLE CHECK what side you’re cung
for each piece (the rudder gets cut on both sides). Test t all of the horns and glue all at
once.

20) Test t all hinges into elevator and horizontal stabilizer to make sure alignment and posion is correct. Make sure there is
enough clearance between the elevator joiner so as not to rub on the fuselage. Should there be clearance issues, you may
touch it up with a Dremel and a sanding drum.
21) Hold or tape one half of the elevator to the leading edge of the stab and ensure the opposite elevator half is also level with the
stab. If both halves are not level, sand or shim the elevator joiner unl aligned.

It is highly recommended that you ulize a method to prevent the servo from disconnecng
from the extension. One recommendaon is to place heat shrink tubing over the juncon be-
tween the servo and extension and then shrink it to keep the connecon secure.
22) Take the le elevator and thoroughly spread epoxy or gorilla glue over the hinge halves up to the last knuckle and inside each
hole on the le stab. Put each hinge into its’ hole and slowly press in unl about 1/4” is le. Remove any excess epoxy with a
paper towel and denatured alcohol. Slide the hinges in the rest of the way and again remove any excess epoxy. Make sure the
center pins have no epoxy on them. Fully deect the surface up and down to make sure the hinge gap is not too ght.
23) Place some 15-30 minute epoxy into the slot for the elevator joiner on the right elevator control surface. Use the same process
as the other side to glue the hinges into the right stab side. Clean up excess epoxy from these hinges and the elevator joiner
with alcohol. You can use boards and clamps to hold the halves level.
24) Aach a 24” servo extension to your elevator servo and secure the connecon with shrink tube or tape.

Tip: Drill pilot holes for the screws and then install the screws. Remove the screws and
the ulizing thin CA, place the CA in the screw holes and around the screw holes and let
dry. This will harden the threads and provide a more secure mount.
25) Install the servo with the screws that came with it. Use a 1.5” heavy duty servo arm.
26) Thread the included turnbuckle rod into the ball link in the elevator, and then put a ball-link on the other end. Secure this end
to the servo arm using the provided bolt, washer and nylon nut. Adjust the turnbuckle in/out unl the elevator is at with the
stab.

Install the Rudder
27. Carefully cut the covering from both sides of the rudder exposing the 2 slots for the control horn.
28. Lightly sand the middle of both control horns on both sides and test t it into the slot. You may need to round the outside mid-
dle corners.
29. As with the others, place the horn base on and trace around. Cut inside the line to remove the covering on both sides.
30. Parally remove the horns to one side, and apply epoxy to the half nearest the rudder on top and boom. Only apply it to half,
so that when you pull it back into the rudder, it will spread the glue to the other half.
31. Measure the horn on each side and adjust unl centered. Also look at it from the top or boom to make sure both ends are
even with the hinge line of the rudder. Then, glue on the base plates on each side.
32. Clean up any excess epoxy with alcohol and let cure before connuing.

The pull-pull wires should cross in the fuselage. If you started with the le side of the servo,
the other end should aach to the right side of the rudder. If you crimped the wrong wire,
simply move the linkage to the other side of the servo before connuing.
Push-Pull Rudder Setup
33. If using push-pull, you will need to cut open the covering on either side of the fuse directly below the stab tube hole.
34. Mount the servo with the output sha towards the tail and a 1.5” servo arm. Use the supplied turnbuckle and ball-link hard-
ware to connect the servo to the rudder using the same process as the elevators. Lockte all bolts.
Pull-Pull Rudder Setup
35. Install the rudder servo into the tray in the fuselage. A 3” servo arm will be required.
36. Secure a ball link and pull-pull ng to each side of the servo arm, and each side of the rudder control horn.
37. Slide an aluminum crimp tube onto the end of one of the wires, and then loop the wire through the pull-pull ng, through
the crimp tube the other way, and then loop it into the crimp tube a second me. Crimp at least twice with a crimper tool or
side cuers. Be careful not to actually cut the tube or wire by using too much force with side cuers!
38. Thread another pull-pull ng into a ball-link and temporarily bolt it to the rudder control horn.
39. Slide an aluminum crimp tube onto the other end of the wire and thread it into the keeper and back around exactly as you did
for the servo end. Do not crimp yet!

40. Secure the rudder by lightly taping it to the vercal stab.
41. Make sure your servo is electronically centered. You’ll want to have the servo powered via a servo tester or the receiver unl
the pull-pull assemblies are completed to ensure accuracy.
42. Pull on the pull-pull wire before the crimp tube to take up any slack, and adjust the loops through the ng and crimp unl
most of the slack is removed. Crimp the tube and cut o any excess wire.
43. Remove the bolt holding the ball-link and twist the pull-pull ng in a few turns at a me and re-mount it to the horn. Adjust
in or out unl the wire becomes taut. Guitar string ghtness is not required, just enough to remove any slack. Secure the ball-
link with washers and a nylon lock-nut and Lockte.
44. Repeat with the other side. Remove the tape from the rudder and check operaon.