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Royal Staggerwing Build Problem

Old 07-23-2015, 06:17 AM
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jimmycas
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Default Royal Staggerwing Build Problem

I am building the Royal Products Staggerwing Beech and am posting this thread for anyone who has built one of them. I am at the point where I am about to construct the lower wing, which calls for a two degree dihedral. The directions state that the parts are "machined" to this angle. Not only can't I find anything that can incorporate the angle into the bottom wing construction, but all the parts for the lower spar construction are absolutely rectangular. For anyone who has the plans, these are the LW-12 parts consisting of the central spar supports, the central rectangular structure and the two strengthening elements, also labeled LW-12. Does anyone know how you are to incorporate the dihedral into the lower wing? It also seems the central element of lower wing in the fuselage, labeled F4A and is rectangular, is illustrated with some dihedral in the plan drawings, but actually does not appear can be fitted if you assemble the airplane with retracts -- which I am going to do.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
Old 08-01-2015, 08:27 AM
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mgnostic
 
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There are old building tricks that will get you where you want to go. The plans call for 2 degrees or 2 and 1/16 inches total dihedral. I am presuming you haven't joined the lower wings halves yet. The LW12 clamp the spar between them to set the angle. You can set your root rib angle by propping each wing tip up to the desired angle 1 and 1/32 inches and then using a square to set the rib at vertical. glue it in place and trim any projecting spar material. This will allow the wings to meet at the desired angle. I have heard of Royal kits as being a case of carve and sand away wood until it looks like the desired airplane. In this case you will set the dihedral angle by measuring the wing tip height as shown on the plans and then trim off any projecting LW12 material until it is flush with the spar. Dry fit everything before you commit to epoxying the wing halves together and be careful that you don't introduce any twist into the wing, It may be necessary to trim F4A and build the wing with a single dowel rather than two dowels in which case you could also add extra material to the center ribs to give material to drill into.
Old 08-06-2015, 06:46 AM
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jimmycas
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Thank you very much. This is very helpful. Your are also very right, there sure is a lot of sanding to this kit.
Old 08-14-2015, 08:20 AM
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FlyerInOKC
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Jimmy, are you building from a kit or just from the plans? I knew an old retired engineer who has since passed and he built a lot of Staggerwings including several Royal/Maratuka kits. He would curse the airfoil on the Royal kit something fierce as being too thin and flying lousy. He scratch built a number of airplanes from their plans and found a 14% increased in airfoil improved the flying and control considerably. He loved the Ziroli design but didn't think much of my little Ace Simple Series Staggerwing. I am planning on building a Royal/Maratuka in the future but I think I'll follow his lead and increase the airfoil thickness just so I can fit retracts better
Old 08-20-2015, 11:27 AM
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jimmycas
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I am building from the kit. I found the answer to my dihedral question, but I AM concerned about the wing thickness. I am using Robart retracts and they are thinner than the retracts that Royal offered when they were in business -- but it looks like they will just fit. I already have built the upper wing, so I really can't change the depth of just the lower wing at this point without making it look strange. Such a change would require a lot of custom cutting of new wing ribs in any case. Getting the section would not be difficult as there is an online site that will plot out the outline for any chord length you want, but there are probably 40 ribs you would have to make and cut out. The thickness and size of the wheels are also an issue. The correct size wheel for this kit is really 3 - ½ inches, but you have to reduce the wheel you use to 3" to fit in the space forward of main spar, but behind the leading edge cap to fit the Robart retract mechanism.
Old 08-21-2015, 02:35 AM
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OldScaleGuy
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I have a set of Royal Staggerwing plans if any one needs them, please send a pm.

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