How To - Plug In Wings
12-14-2004, 04:53 AM
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How To - Plug In Wings
Hello,
I am building a pattern airplane designed to have plug in wings. The airplane will have foam wings and a balsa fuselage to start with and later on I plan to mold the fuselage. The design also shall have a plug in tailplanes. Could somebody please refer me to some article and/or step by step guide on how to install wing tubes in foam wings and attach the same to the fuselage maintaining proper incidence. Also, how would I do that for the tailplane.
My next question would be that when I do convert the fuselage to fiberglass and make a couple of airplanes for the same design, how could I ensure that each wing has the tube set in the same spot, so that the fuselage and wings are interchangeable. Would I required to make any sort of templates or plain measurements would do.
I have installed wing tubes in airplanes before, but would request help form all you guys so that I get it absolute right. A photo guide would be awesome!!!
Thanks.
Jack
I am building a pattern airplane designed to have plug in wings. The airplane will have foam wings and a balsa fuselage to start with and later on I plan to mold the fuselage. The design also shall have a plug in tailplanes. Could somebody please refer me to some article and/or step by step guide on how to install wing tubes in foam wings and attach the same to the fuselage maintaining proper incidence. Also, how would I do that for the tailplane.
My next question would be that when I do convert the fuselage to fiberglass and make a couple of airplanes for the same design, how could I ensure that each wing has the tube set in the same spot, so that the fuselage and wings are interchangeable. Would I required to make any sort of templates or plain measurements would do.
I have installed wing tubes in airplanes before, but would request help form all you guys so that I get it absolute right. A photo guide would be awesome!!!
Thanks.
Jack
12-14-2004, 06:03 PM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
I bet if you search the Pattern forum, you'll find that info in several of the construction threads.
Here's how I did it on my sport jet.This link ( http://www.nextcraft.com/j47_sportjet04.html )is in the middle of the article, which begins at http://www.nextcraft.com/j47_sportjet01.html It's a pretty typical method. Dihedral can be calculated beforehand, and you can make a jig to bore the wing tube hole while the wings are still in the shucks.
When you're ready to mold your fuselage, just fill the holes for the wing tube almost, but not quite, flush with the fuselage sides, leaving small depressions. When molded, these give consistent marks for cutting the holes for the wing tube, alignment pins, servo wire holes, or whatever.
It's best to be really attentive when doing this, but it's not very hard. Just use your normal tools... squares, bubble levels, incidence meter, etc., and don't glue permanently until you're convinced it's right. That's the best part of molds. You only have to do these things once.
Here's how I did it on my sport jet.This link ( http://www.nextcraft.com/j47_sportjet04.html )is in the middle of the article, which begins at http://www.nextcraft.com/j47_sportjet01.html It's a pretty typical method. Dihedral can be calculated beforehand, and you can make a jig to bore the wing tube hole while the wings are still in the shucks.
When you're ready to mold your fuselage, just fill the holes for the wing tube almost, but not quite, flush with the fuselage sides, leaving small depressions. When molded, these give consistent marks for cutting the holes for the wing tube, alignment pins, servo wire holes, or whatever.
It's best to be really attentive when doing this, but it's not very hard. Just use your normal tools... squares, bubble levels, incidence meter, etc., and don't glue permanently until you're convinced it's right. That's the best part of molds. You only have to do these things once.
12-15-2004, 03:17 AM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
Thanks Mike your Jet looks great...waiting to get my hands on one...i have not had much luck in the pattern forum..did look earlier..before I posted this thread...you talk about a jig to bore the holes in the wing..will it be come kind of a rib..say two at a distance of 6"...with the hole drilled and that could be placed alongside the wing and the tube could be inserted therough that into the wing ?? any other ideas...also while on this..though somehat related...for composite molded wings do they have separete molds for the ailerons or is that they lay the wing up and then cut the ailerons...
some photos from C-Arf suggest that they lay up the entire wing in the mold...but looking closely at a wing..it can be seen that the ailerons are molded separately..cause no marks can be seen and it is a nice round hinge surface...i want to know how they do it..cause my next step would be to also mold wings for the airplane....i am attaching a photo of the type of wing I want to make...
Thanks..
some photos from C-Arf suggest that they lay up the entire wing in the mold...but looking closely at a wing..it can be seen that the ailerons are molded separately..cause no marks can be seen and it is a nice round hinge surface...i want to know how they do it..cause my next step would be to also mold wings for the airplane....i am attaching a photo of the type of wing I want to make...
Thanks..
12-15-2004, 11:04 AM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
Looks like the control surface is molded separately. If you go to the Composite-ARF site and download some of their instruction manuals, you'll find more information than what's out front on the site itself, including photos of the inside of some of the wings.
For the wing tube, I would use a block with a hole bored in it to create a jig, and adjust the angle of the wings as needed. Some of the expensive kits, like the ZN Line Pattern planes have this done by CNC machines, early in the process, but you can achieve the same accuracy if you're careful.
For the wing tube, I would use a block with a hole bored in it to create a jig, and adjust the angle of the wings as needed. Some of the expensive kits, like the ZN Line Pattern planes have this done by CNC machines, early in the process, but you can achieve the same accuracy if you're careful.
12-31-2004, 03:24 PM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
ORIGINAL: N2EC I am building a pattern airplane designed to have plug in wings. The airplane will have foam wings and a balsa fuselage to start with and later on I plan to mold the fuselage. The design also shall have a plug in tailplanes. Could somebody please refer me to some article and/or step by step guide on how to install wing tubes in foam wings and attach the same to the fuselage maintaining proper incidence. Also, how would I do that for the tailplane.
Jack
Jack
12-31-2004, 03:41 PM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
ORIGINAL: My next question would be that when I do convert the fuselage to fiberglass and make a couple of airplanes for the same design, how could I ensure that each wing has the tube set in the same spot, so that the fuselage and wings are interchangeable. Would I required to make any sort of templates or plain measurements would do.
- make the socket stub slightly larger than the width of the fuse
- make 2 plywood donuts with an ID just a smidge larger than the socket OD & maybe 1/4" ring width
- slide the spar tube into the fuse, thread it through the socket stub & donuts which are now in the fuse, attach the spar to the end blocks so its all set up
- then just apply some epoxy adhesive to the donuts & a small fillet on the socket
- when its all cured, remove the alignment tube, trim the protruding socket ends flush with the fuse
12-31-2004, 03:46 PM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
And here is what the plug-in stab adjuster setup looked like. If you search the web on pattern sites you will find more detailed pics & tips like this. Good luck.
12-31-2004, 03:53 PM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
When it comes to boring the cores to accept the spar socket tubes, I came up with this drilling jig....
01-02-2005, 08:09 AM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
Peter,
Thanks for the help and great pictures which has helped me a great deal. If only you could post the picture for the fuesaleg jig..it woud be absolutely perfect learning...once again great work..also a top view photo of inside the fuselage of the wing installed to the fuselage and bolted on would be of great use..
thanxs..
Jack
Thanks for the help and great pictures which has helped me a great deal. If only you could post the picture for the fuesaleg jig..it woud be absolutely perfect learning...once again great work..also a top view photo of inside the fuselage of the wing installed to the fuselage and bolted on would be of great use..
thanxs..
Jack
ORIGINAL: ptxman
I dont have a picture of my jig handy, but use the attached pic & this (from memory) description to visualize how I aligned & glued in the socket stub into the fuse. I had a base board jig which basically held the fuse into a repeatable position. My pattern model had a removable belly pan so the fuse had a nice flat datum to sit down & align things like this. I made had a simple locating template which slid up against the fuse & showed where to cut out the holes for the socket on each side of the fuse. Outboard on the base board jig were 2 endblocks that accurately held the ends of the same aluminum spar (1" od or whatever). IOW it maintained the spar perpendicular to the fuse C/L & also perfectly horizontal. So to install:
- make the socket stub slightly larger than the width of the fuse
- make 2 plywood donuts with an ID just a smidge larger than the socket OD & maybe 1/4" ring width
- slide the spar tube into the fuse, thread it through the socket stub & donuts which are now in the fuse, attach the spar to the end blocks so its all set up
- then just apply some epoxy adhesive to the donuts & a small fillet on the socket
- when its all cured, remove the alignment tube, trim the protruding socket ends flush with the fuse
ORIGINAL: My next question would be that when I do convert the fuselage to fiberglass and make a couple of airplanes for the same design, how could I ensure that each wing has the tube set in the same spot, so that the fuselage and wings are interchangeable. Would I required to make any sort of templates or plain measurements would do.
- make the socket stub slightly larger than the width of the fuse
- make 2 plywood donuts with an ID just a smidge larger than the socket OD & maybe 1/4" ring width
- slide the spar tube into the fuse, thread it through the socket stub & donuts which are now in the fuse, attach the spar to the end blocks so its all set up
- then just apply some epoxy adhesive to the donuts & a small fillet on the socket
- when its all cured, remove the alignment tube, trim the protruding socket ends flush with the fuse
01-03-2005, 04:24 PM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
ORIGINAL: N2EC
Peter, Thanks for the help and great pictures which has helped me a great deal. If only you could post the picture for the fuesaleg jig..it woud be absolutely perfect learning...once again great work..also a top view photo of inside the fuselage of the wing installed to the fuselage and bolted on would be of great use..
Peter, Thanks for the help and great pictures which has helped me a great deal. If only you could post the picture for the fuesaleg jig..it woud be absolutely perfect learning...once again great work..also a top view photo of inside the fuselage of the wing installed to the fuselage and bolted on would be of great use..
Sorry dont have a pic of the spar alignment jig anymore, I might be able to cad one. But basically visualize this view with 2 blocks, 1 for each end of the aluminum spar tube. They each have a hole in it to match the spar & of course they are positioned to yeild the alignment of the spar, both perpendicular to the fuse C/L & at the same height from the jig baseplate (so the spar is horizontal when viewed from the rear). Hope this helps.
01-04-2005, 08:00 AM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
ORIGINAL: macro-RCU
Great work ptxman....
why not a thread about your plane?
Great work ptxman....
why not a thread about your plane?
Thanks for the compliment. This stuff is pretty old actually, going back 4 or 5 years I think. Ive since moved the dark side to something outside my normal world, F5D (electric pylon racing). The euro-composites in that class have moved the bar up a few notches, so that will be fun to achieve & I have some ideas of my own..
A buddy of mine has a website with similar construction series pics on the F3A Enigma, a more modern design. Heres the website. And I know there are others if you search the net for pattern/F3A stuff.
http://members.shaw.ca/patternwestnews/
01-07-2005, 02:47 PM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
Thanks Peter for all the help...I shall post pictures once I have things going. Am presently building the plugs for a .46 size pattern airplane and shall use your methods for production.
03-15-2005, 12:58 AM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
Mike,
As of now the molds are curing and I shall be ready to open them tomorrow...pity I could not document the process as I was in a bit of a rush to get things going...shall start a thread soon as I plan to make composite wings and tail for the model...
Jack
As of now the molds are curing and I shall be ready to open them tomorrow...pity I could not document the process as I was in a bit of a rush to get things going...shall start a thread soon as I plan to make composite wings and tail for the model...
Jack
03-16-2005, 12:23 AM
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RE: How To - Plug In Wings
So here we go...the molds are done and are smiling pretty at me...the photos below show the two mold halves...the other close up of the fin shows the the alignment pin..fairly simple to do..I sharpened a few pieces of metal on the grinding wheel and put it in the mold...working well...
The second close up shows the manner in which I have installed the jack screws...I put a piece of stainlesss steel on the flange on one side when doing the molds...the corresponding side had a threaded nut right over the metal when doing the molds...What i did for the nut was fairly simple. The nut was drilled on three ends and 1" pieces of hard rod inserted in the nut on the sides which would help the nut to hold in the mold. I will post a picture of that soon...
The black stuff that you see around the seam is graphite mixed with the epoxy...I am also contemplating substituting this with aluminium for my next mold..
The first photo shows the outside surface..centre has the jack screw and the other two hold the mold together...they have blind nuts on each mold half which were incorporated at the time of making the molds.
I wonder, if there is enough interest, whether I should start a separate build thread for my airplane.
Jack
The second close up shows the manner in which I have installed the jack screws...I put a piece of stainlesss steel on the flange on one side when doing the molds...the corresponding side had a threaded nut right over the metal when doing the molds...What i did for the nut was fairly simple. The nut was drilled on three ends and 1" pieces of hard rod inserted in the nut on the sides which would help the nut to hold in the mold. I will post a picture of that soon...
The black stuff that you see around the seam is graphite mixed with the epoxy...I am also contemplating substituting this with aluminium for my next mold..
The first photo shows the outside surface..centre has the jack screw and the other two hold the mold together...they have blind nuts on each mold half which were incorporated at the time of making the molds.
I wonder, if there is enough interest, whether I should start a separate build thread for my airplane.
Jack