Date: October 17, 2007

I got some good work done this evening. I managed to straighten a spar. The ammonia soaking method didn't work. I tried something else. Simply, I plugged in my coating iron and turned it to high heat. I layed the spar on a flat surface so the center bowed up. Then pressed down with the iron. While holding it down with the iron, I lifted the end about a half inch. I needed to bend the wood a little past where I wanted it to be. It took a few minutes, but I got it pretty close. The wing will help hold it to shape once all the glue is dry.

Next I could start gluing the TE/Aileron moulding in place. I had to wait for all the gluing to finish. Look at picture 10. That has a cross section of the moulding. Before I started cutting, I ran the glued stock through the saw to cut a little off the front and rear edges. This merely evened up the edges of all the glued stock. It wasn't necessary, but I think it will look better. The moulding took time. Each piece had to fit. Actually it was pretty easy. I measured the width between ribs and set a fence on the bandsaw to the widest measurement I found. Then I cut a piece, and moved down the wing until I found a place for it to fit. I cut another, if I didn't find a place it would fit, I went back and cut a little off an end. And fit it again. And so on. Once I had pieces fit for all the bays. I set to work and glued them all in place.

I finished the left wing as far as I can take it. I ran out of glued moulding for the right wing half. Top sheeting will need to wait until I have the wing halves joined. Once I have the dihedral set, I can continue on with the wing joiner tube, then I can finish the sheeting.

I still need to cut the leading edge. To do a good job with that, I will need to buy a router and a router table. But that's OK. I've come to learn the right tools are a good investment. The leading edge goes on after the #1 ribs are in place.

Picture 1: Left wing half. Top spar in place. The TE / aileron moulding set in place.
Picture 2: Left wing half. Top spar in place. The TE / aileron moulding set in place.
Picture 3: Left wing half. Top spar in place. The TE / aileron moulding set in place.
Picture 4: The TE / aileron moulding glued in place.
Picture 5: The TE / aileron moulding glued in place.
Picture 6: The TE / aileron moulding glued in place.
Picture 7: The left wing, the front spars glued in.
Picture 8: A block of TE stock set in place where bolt down reinforcement will be needed.
Picture 9: The TE / aileron moulding glued in place.
Picture 10: A cross section of the TE /Aileron moulding.