High Quality Plan Sets and Laser Cut Partial Kits for Radio Control
Aircraft
Page 5
Antonio Arria's San Josè
Using the front view drawing of the left
wing on the plan the right wing panels were set up on their leading edges
and trued up with triangles pinned to the plan. More
stuff from the building store. I used balsa stick spacers tacked to
the feet on the ribs, as the triangles are 8 inch and the ribs are of course
longer. Rubber bands hold
the wings tight. Make sure the ribs are aligned
with the plan.
Using a 1/8 shim to check centering of
polyhedral plate before tack gluing. It is better to use clamps to
hold the plate during fitting as I did on the second
polyhedral joint and the dihedral joint.
How accurately the ribs next to the
polyhedral and dihedral joints were located will have an effect on the fit
as you join the wing panels. Make any necessary changes to the spars so
they fit well at the angle in the center of the polyhedral brace.
You can check that fit on each wing panel before you start the joining
process. Get them close but be careful not to take too much if you
see a need to change them. The
final fit is better done when the wing is at the final fitting stage. Mine fit very well on both sides except in one
case where a small bit of filing was required.
If you come up short on the spar ends just trim both ends of the polyhedral
brace equally until the fit comes together. If you aligned the spars
properly when you assembled the wings and the spars were machined to the proper lengths
everything should fit well. The polyhedral brace was clamped in on one side and then the leading edge was trimmed in steps
as the other panel was brought in to meet
the end of the polyhedral brace. At this point the
trailing edges were overlapping. Keep adjusting until
the polyhedral brace is against
both adjacent ribs. You will have to keep working on the leading edge as you bring the panels together. Keep checking that the wings are in
position and square with the triangles
and building board.
To get the center point to trim the trailing edge to I used
the 4 X 18 sheet of basswood I use as a cutting board as a square. The trailing edge was trimmed and glued
together.
The
upper
outer main spar was slipped in to position from the center. 30
minute epoxy was used to glue the polyhedral brace to the spars.
The polyhedral joint with clamps
removed. Upper aft stringers are overlapped prior to cutting at an
angle. They will not be glued until Rib 5 is installed.
Rib 5 is installed as two parts.
