Well, it finally got time (after 1 year) to start my first "scale" Stearman. 96" wings, fuse longer than my building table, LOTS of - DOWELS.

This is my first experience building with dowels instead of square balsa sticks. I started by figuring out how to cut saddle joints into the dowels. The kind that you see on pipe joints (and on the full-scale Stearman). One of the reasons I chose this model is the review in High Flight magazine from 1981. The plan review praised the design highly and I wanted to do a showpiece that I could scale out with an interior.

I used 5/16" poplar (the only kind locally available)instead of spruce - a judgement call. They're both from the Spruce/Poplar/Larch family. A little heavy but a nice tight grain. I used a chainsaw file to notch, then dressed the saddle with 100 grit wrapped around a 1/4" dowel.

Gap-filling CA was tried and found sufficient to make strong joints, though they broke with lateral stress. I gusseted each joint after the fuse was framed with 1/16" poplar ply. For this I used slow epoxy.

Results - the frame is probably 10% heavier than using hard balsa, but with the gussets it takes much more of a load - won't bend at all with hand pressure.

Stab and rudder - no real surprises here except that the stab is a flat-bottomed airfoil AND had 3% positive incidence built into the stab seat. This is probably due to a combination of the weight projected for the full-castering, self-centering, shock-absorbing tail wheel, the average weight of the stab and the slightly heavier than I'd like elevator. It uses a 3/8" dowel for a front spar and has a nice 1/16" wrap around leading edge.

Of note is that the elevator uses an internal "horn". I'm probably going to go with aerodynamic boost tabs to help out the servo even though I'm going to use giant-scale servos for the flying surfaces.

Next phase - crossmembers and bracing. I'll probably gusset these too, and then paint the frame with "zinc chromate" to simulate the true finish.