Progress has been slow, as it often is, but progress has been made nonetheless. I finally put another order in with Aircraft Spruce to get materials to finish making my spar fittings and remake the aileron control horns.
I cut, drilled, and finished the edges on all eight rear spar fittings. Four will be to attach the spar the the cabane structure of the fuselage and the other four will accept the upper end of the rear lift strut. I then chopped up two 6' lengths of .035 thickness steel, forming the blanks which will become the drag wire end clevises.
I then laid out and cut my aileron control horns out of the 24" square sheet of .090 thickness steel I bought. This sheet should be enough material to also make the rudder horns, elevator horns, and assorted other fittings throughout the rest of the build. The downside of such a large sheet? My little bandsaw doesn't have the throat depth to cut all the way through it. The picture to the right shows how I cut in from both ends and still couldn't get through it. The cut was finished by hand with a hacksaw.
I've been making an effort to accrue all the materials and hardware I will need when it comes time to assemble the wings. To this end, I have ordered all the nuts, bolts, washers, clevis pins, cotter pins, and screws needed to put the fittings onto the wings. As I mentioned before, I still need to find a source for the drag-wire stock, but I have the rest of the associated hardware and fittings. I did not purchase the aileron hardware yet, nor have I bought aluminum for the leading and trailing edges. These won't be needed for a little while and my wallet could use a break.
I cut, drilled, and finished the edges on all eight rear spar fittings. Four will be to attach the spar the the cabane structure of the fuselage and the other four will accept the upper end of the rear lift strut. I then chopped up two 6' lengths of .035 thickness steel, forming the blanks which will become the drag wire end clevises.
I've been having difficulty finding the correct material to make the drag wires, and will need to source them before I can finish the wing assembly. If anyone knows where to find 9/64" diameter, 1050 steel rod/solid wire please let me know.
I then laid out and cut my aileron control horns out of the 24" square sheet of .090 thickness steel I bought. This sheet should be enough material to also make the rudder horns, elevator horns, and assorted other fittings throughout the rest of the build. The downside of such a large sheet? My little bandsaw doesn't have the throat depth to cut all the way through it. The picture to the right shows how I cut in from both ends and still couldn't get through it. The cut was finished by hand with a hacksaw.
The last pieces I worked on today were the spar doubler plates. These are 1/8" thick plywood pieces that glue to the spars under the pulley brackets, strut fittings, and spar mount fittings. They will be clamped in place and drilled to match the associated fittings when it comes time to drill the spars.
I believe the final note, and a bit of an aspirational one at that, is that I've started playing with eventual paint schemes. I really liked the one shown below in green and cream. I'm planning to use the Stewart Systems waterborne paints to finish the airplane. When I got my color sample booklet I didn't really like any of the greens, but Curtiss Blue really stood out so Cheyenne and I have agreed that the plane will be finished in Curtiss Blue and Randolph White.
Current build time: 124 hours. Ancillary projects, like drafting patterns, laying out a proof sheet for paints, searching for materials online, fixing tools, and cleaning the garage (perpetually), are not reflected in the total build time.
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