Batch,
see stamped number on box

Comments

I have been advised that a very good reference for the Stearman is the following book.
Stearman - A Pictorial History   by  Jim Avis and Mark Bowman
Airlife Publications,    ISBN 1 853 108588

Various -
information from Andy Ward and Andrew Fogg

There may be insufficient closed loop/rigging cable.

If you do not have any handy to use, phone us we will supply extra.

I have had comments that the interplane strut length is defined incorrectly.
Subsequent checks have shown that this is caused by a 4 mm  error in the vertical positioning of the wing centre section.

Turn to page 42 of the 55 page manual and find the text    "....balsa spacers 172 mm long, (about......".   
Change this to "....balsa spacers 176 mm long, (about......".  

If you have positioned the wings using the 172 mm dimension don't worry just set the wings at their correct dihedral angles and make sure there is no wash in or washout and then cut and drill the interplanes struts to suit.

All

For those looking for advice on how much covering material is needed I have just finished covering a Stearman for Neil Tidey.  The fuselage is dark blue and the rest yellow.
I have used 2 m of dk blue and 10 m of yellow.

The fuselage is tight at 2 m so be sparing and think the pattern out before cutting.

Various

Some incidence variability has been experienced with the tailplane.  This needs to be +3 degrees as stated on the plan.  Anywhere in the range +3 to +3.5 will be OK.
Set the apex of the tailplane leading edge centreline 18 mm above the top of the main longeron and ensure that the rear underside of the tailplane sits down on the top of the longeron doubler.

Build the model bearing in mind the details herewith.  If you set the tailplane at less than 3 degrees you may end up carrying rather a lot of down elevator trim in level flight.

178, 184 and 193

The cross sections showing the structure of the wing spar roots are pictorially incorrect.  The photographs in the instruction manual show the correct structure and all parts supplied are correct.   See diagram herewith.

Build the spars as shown in the pictorial diagrams and ignore the cross section views on the full size wing drawings.

178  and  184

Drawing scaling.
We have found that the printing process for the full size plans in the Stearman has produced a shortening of the length.  This can be as much as 25 mm and can lead to some confusion over part positioning.

The printing company have been informed and have shown in subsequent print runs that this can be corrected by calibration of the print machine.

Builders should note that the cut parts for the Stearman are correct and that these should determine the position of components even if there is a slight mismatch with the plan.
Where there are no pre-cut parts to position a component use the plan.  This will build in a slight error but nothing to worry about. Your Stearman may be up to 1.5% short.

178  and  184

Firewall position.
Ref. full size drawing for the fuselage.
The firewall position in the side elevation is further forward than that in the plan view.
The side elevation is correct.
Reported by Mr Ivor Harris, 2/1/2002

Drawing corrected for subsequent batches. 
Build in line with instructions for batches 178 and 184 and ignore plan view.