WINGS
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At this stage I hadn't really started the wings yet - just making ribs when waiting for tail and fuselage
parts to dry.
The result is very strong but still reasonably light.
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24-09-05 Spent a pleasant Saturday afternoon outside drawing up the Port Top wing building board.
I am hoping to get started on this in earnest over the next week or two. I also spent this week making
up the rib jigs for the root and lower ribs.
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Made up the former and laminated the first wingtip.
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Spent a fair bit of time this week cutting up the timber for the wing spars. Here are two pieces for
the top forward (largest) spar being laminated ready to be put through the thicknesser and bench saw
tomorrow.
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Glued up the ribs, spars, leading edge, and riblets for the upper port wing.
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On the left is the second(starboard) top wing under construction. I almost have it to the same stage
as the Port one now. On the right are the two laminations for the top wings centre cutouts.
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Have now fitted the spar root metal fittings and root ribs to both top wings. Here, the centre section
cutout laminated bow is being glued in place.
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Here are the not far from completed top wings and the mostly finished centre section.
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Well you may have noticed that things on this page have been a bit quiet of late. The reason is that
I have been busy building the bottom wings and ailerons and to be honest, they look pretty similar to
the top wings so I wasn't about to waste space or time (yours and mine) showing pics of stuff that looked
the same as previous. On the right is a pic of both top and bottom wings nearing completion. I only have
some more metal fittings (including hand made turnbuckles), hinges, aileron pulley wheels and bracketry,
the drag and antidrag wire bracing, and the ply sheeting to go before covering! It doesn't sound so much
if you say it fast.
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Above and to the side you can see the metal fittings are on the top wings and the drag/antidrag wires
are installed. Am I glad to see the back of them!
I used a slightly different method of fitting
the wires than Lynn's plan and copied Dudley's idea of fitting shackles to the looped ends to lessen
the chance of the thimble being cut by the fitting. I looked at a restoration being done at my airfield
and the drag wire loops were noteably worn at the fitting after some 90 hours of flight so I think it's
worth the extra work/expense.
I had the arrangement destruction tested by a company near my work.
Want to know the results? Check out the "Metalwork" page.
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These are three of the wings(the other is on the tressles out of picture) almost ready with the drag/antidrag
wires installed.
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If a drag wire is in conflict with a rib strut, this is the accepted way to fix the problem - cut away
the strut and add a 'splint' to it so as to keep the wire free from conflict but to keep the structural
integrity of the rib. It is apparently OK to have it touch - but not to have it deflect the wire. Luckily
I only needed to do this in about 3 places.
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Above are the two top wings ready for covering. On the left is the leather disc used to protect the
drag/antidrag wires from touching. The leather is hydroscopic so I coated it with the epoxy varnish I
used on the airframe. They are then drilled in four places and held in place with ribstitching cord.
below is one of the wings covered and being ribstitched - it's fun!
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On the left are the ailerons with the 1mm ply being fitted.
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On the left are the ailerons covered and ready for rib taping as well as the underside of one top wing
showing the inspection rings and reinforcement patches.
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On the left is the handle that is made in the lower wingtips. On the right are extra inspection/access
holes I put in to the root area of the underside of the lower wing.
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On the left is the lower port wing painted and finished with the nonslip walk attached. All of the
wings are painted now and ready to be refitted to the fuselage for fitting of the aileron control cables.
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On the right is the test of how the interplane strut looks in place on the wing with the Pitot Head
fixed. The white plastic tubing will have to be dealt with, but the aged/weathered look I tried on the
interplane struts seems to work well.
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Here is the masking up of the Registration letters on the underside of the port wing. I could have
gone for transfers but it didn't seem right for an aircraft of this supposed vintage. Consequently I
had masks made up for spraying paint on. I have scratchbuilt so much of this project that I almost feel
guilty for not cutting the masks out myself by hand! I think I'll get over it.
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