willfann

My Feedback: (9)

Hi. I am looking for suggestions on how to glue the wing together on my Hobbistar 60 without dihedral. I know how to cut new joiners. What I need help with is a technique that will allow the two inboard ribs to be flush when glued together. Right now when the wing halves are butted together with no dihedral there is a gap between the two inboard ribs. Of course that gap is narrowest at the bottom and widens at the top of the ribs. In order to get a strong joint I need to come up with a way to fill that gap effectively. I know this is an ARF, but I figure the people with the most creative know how will be reading this forum. Thank you.

JWN

My Feedback: (42)

You will either need to cut a wedge to fill in the gap, or cut the root ribs off of both wings and glue in new root ribs. If you go with the second method, careful use of a radial arm saw would be excellent, but a band saw or table saw will work as well. Either method will require, at minimum, recovering the center section of the wing.

John

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

Just get a rectangular piece of balsa sheet as thick as the widest part of the gap. Sand it to fit into the gap. Don't worry about it not being shaped to the airfoil, just get it to fit the gap nicely. Once it fits, you can then trim it to shape along the airfoil The rectangular piece is easier to work with than a rib profile.

Once the shape's right, and there's no gap, just epoxy it thoroughly. Glue it to one wing half, and then glue the two wings together. You need to make sure it's well-glued, and that the wing joiners you made are also well-glued. No gaps allowed, and no dry joints. EVERY part of the wing roots that contact each other must be well glued. We let the epoxy drool all over and wipe it up. Rubbing or denatured alcohol will cut the epoxy so that you can clean it up.

bax