Aviation Coming Eventually

Warning: I have almost no pictures to supplement this installment. I laid out a diagram in CAD of all the gussets that had to be cut and how to best fit them on my two 4'x4' sheets of 1/16" plywood. From here it was just a simple matter of ripping the sheet down into strips, then cross-cutting those strips on my crosscut sled. There are a few triangle shaped gussets for the trailing edge that were made by cutting a rectangular gusset on the diagonal with my band saw. The leading edge of the rib has a custom gusset that covers the nose block made last time and butts against the forward spar opening. These were made much the same as the nose blocks, but were able to be cut 4 at a time. There are 50 nose gussets (part# 1), 50 Trailing edge gussets (part# 22), 50 long gussets (part#19), and 602 standard gussets (part# 18). All these gussets are 1/16" birch plywood. Birch plywood needs to be sanded to roughen the surface before gluing. I forgot this fact until after I ha...

Yes, I hate myself for it, but that pun was too easy to pass up.   The first step of construction isn't the cutting of materials, but the construction of the rib jig. This jig will be the template on which the 6 long ribs, 6 short ribs, aileron ribs, and butt rib of each wing panel are constructed. In total there are 26 ribs plus 4 end caps for the ailerons.   The pieces of each rib will be laid into the jig, gussets glued and nailed to one face, rib removed and flipped, and gussets glued and nailed to the other face. Repeat ad-nausea.  I'll be gluing with T-88 epoxy and so it's important that if I have squeeze-out I can still remove the rib from the jig. To aid in this I'm laying the jig out on a melamine shelf and coating the jig blocks in liquid floor wax.   The first step in all this is drawing out the rib full size on the melamine base. My copied set of plans are slightly undersized, so I had to use the originals. In an attempt to save them from any damage ...

So, where does one start when building an airplane?   The answer changes from person to person. The kernel of inspiration to build an airplane was there, as I mentioned in the last post, from the time and effort it took to build the Spirit. But what plane? I looked at the trusty Pietenpol, but the size of the cockpits and the useful load left me wanting for something more. I looked at the Double Eagle and the Airbike, but my girlfriend didn't like how open they were. Finally, I made a list of what I thought I wanted in an airplane, reproduced here.  -High wing monoplane (biplanes mean building 4 wings)  -Taildragger w/tailwheel  -Fabric wings and stab.  -Aluminum tube or wood construction, maybe steel  -Inexpensive to build  -Inexpensive to operate  -Single carb engine.  -Aircooled?  -Two seats  -Mostly enclosed cockpit (not a breezy)  -minimal systems  -AOA/reserve lift guage  -Amphibious a plus ...