Wings Finally Done!

6/16/2008

I-struts

To complete the struts, I needed to add the little 'sweeps' where the braces met the streamline tubing, this is done with balsa as per plans, but I decided to just throw a blob of Superfil in there and shape. They turned out great. I then coated them with a dose of rust kill and added them to the ever growing pile of parts ready for priming.

Cabane Fairing

I wanted to mount a cabane fairing at the center section. I purchased one from Steen, but didn't want to risk messing it up, so I made a sacrificial female mold of it and used that for hacking and templating. I had trouble trying to visualize where the cuts should be, since the fairing has to be mounted in sections in order to fit around everything, and I had trouble trying to find a reference picture to see where the cut is typically done on the rear end of the fairing. I finally went with a 4 piece fairing, having given up trying to make it a 3 piece. Of course, a week after completing it, I saw a bunch of 3 piece examples at the Biplane Expo :0( Anyway, the end result is very tight and snug around all the tubing, so I am very pleased with the overall outcome. The fixing method is done with floating clip nuts. Fixing to the ply above the ancillary tank is by 3/16 self tapping screws, blunted ground-down just a tad (the easy way out).

Lady Luck

Occasionally during the build, lady luck smiles down upon me: I was looking at buying an intercom system ($200-300). Then while rummaging through the oil/sawdust covered boxes that came with the salvaged plane, I found one just laying there. A local buddy then took it away, cleaned it up, and set it up to work with my Icom hand-held, which is what I have planned for comm's. He also wired in a PTT switch ready to mount in the stick, and has designed an internal co-ax antenna, and wired the Icom to work off of 12v. He charged me a big mac.

End of a Saga

So, there's only one word for it: WOW. After 2.8 years of slaving away on my wings, there is nothing else to do until covering. I can now store them away and forget about them and start to focus on the fuselage. There are so many sub-projects ahead that I really don't know which one to tackle first...