Zroli 20 (?)year old 1/2A 42"span Jenny
 

Gentlemen:
I have the plan for Nick Zroli's old 42" wingspan TD.049 single channel Jenny. I want to build it for 4 channels with a Norvel .074 up front, and HS55 servos on the ailerons. My problem is that I have no idea how to make the wing struts. I want to make the top wing one piece, and attach it and the lower wings to ply tongues at the bottom of the fuse. The fact that there are 4 sets of wing struts complicates matters. Any ideas on the wing strut construction? Would appreciate any ideas. Thanks, guys!!

Vaughan Sharp

RE: Zroli 20 (?)year old 1/2A 42"span Jenny
 

Here's how I did the struts on my Bipe Stick. I glued a piece of piano wire, with hooks on each end, to the LE of a pieve of 1/16"X1/4" balsa and they attach to a small piece of Du-Bro hinge glued into the wing. They were an afterthought on this plane and I did them quickly, but I'm sure you could do a tidier job if you plan ahead.

RE: Zroli 20 (?)year old 1/2A 42"span Jenny
 

On my Sopwith Pup, I did something similar to Bipe but used a thin piece of brass sheet stock. I cut it about 1/4" wide by 3/4" long and bent it into an 'L'. I then cut a small slot about 1/2 way up the rib the struts attach to and then covered the bottom of the top wing and top of the bottom wing. Slit the covering just big enough to slide the long leg of the 'L' down through and then put the short leg in the slot in the rib. I put a small piece of balsa to sandwich the strut mount to the rib for reinforcement.

Duke

RE: Zroli 20 (?)year old 1/2A 42"span Jenny
 

Fellas,

Thanks for the suggestions -- both have given me some good ideas. One of the main problems I think will be getting the struts all the same length, and both of the suggestions will let me do this quite easily, and allow some flexibility to the wings. Not that I would ever break something ! (?) ;-)) This is a winter project, and I am old and slow, but I will keep you posted on progress -- I have wanted to try this design for years! Now tiny radios and Norvel engines
I believe will make this possible. This IS a winter project.

Thanks again,

Vaughan Sharp

RE: Zroli 20 (?)year old 1/2A 42"span Jenny
 

The struts I made can be flexed to fit into the holes with minimal flexing of the wings.

RE: Zroli 20 (?)year old 1/2A 42"span Jenny
 

Just another thought to build off of Bipe's idea, but if you had struts that needed to be at an angle (though I don't think the Jenny does) you could use an entire small pinned hinge. Trim the exposed side down some and then pin one side to the rib with the hinge line even with the bottom (or top) of the wing. Then no need to bother with bending to exact angle, just cut a proper length strut and let the hinge flex to the right position.

Never tried this of course, just a new idea.

Duke