Help!!! I am building a large biplane but the plans only show one left bottom and one left top wing panel. This is not a simple flat-bottomed wing but a complex wing with spars and splices etc. What a pain to transfer all the measurements backwards. There has to be an easier way.

One method is to lightly oil the plans with cooking oil in the area of the wing halves. Then it's a simple matter of turning the plan over and working off the back side. This is an old method kit manufacturers used many years ago and they used to tell you to do it this way in their instructions. It doesn't take much oil and if you put waxed paper or something else over the plan, the oil won't get on your built surfaces. Also, the oil will not harm the paper - it will tend to dissipate over time. Your plan will still be usable later if needed.

If you don't like this idea, you can also take your plan to a copy service and have them make a "reverse copy" of the wing plan.

The oil method works great but if you don't want an oily plan, just get a brand new Sharpie marker and a ruler and go over all the lines on the wing plan and turn it over. You hould have no problem at all. Hope this helps, Dave

Another dandy little trick is if you have access to a glass-top table, place a light under the table, and you can easily see through the plans to trace the lines on the back side.

I wonder if a Kinko's with an engineering scanner couldn't scan the plan and reverse it? My local shop only charges a few dollars for a scan. Depends on how you feel about saving your plans.
Kelvin

Thanks you guys!! I believe I will take my plans to a blueprint place and see what they can do. The oil business sounds kinda messy. Do you put the oil on the back of the plan or on the lines? I can't believe it could cost that much to include both wing panels in the plans.

Kinkos can do a reverse scan and spit it out......I do it with my Bridi plans......

It doesn't cost that much. It is just a lazy kit manufacturer. My new plane is like that, they include one wing, and the other is just a mirror image of the first and all the lettering is backwards. At least they included that so I don't have to mess with it.

It is much easier for them to do it with their blue print right when they make them. They just flip the orig and blue print that side.

Put a sheet of tracing paper on the plan and trace over it with a pencil and straightedge. You can do this very quickly as you only need the rib and spar positions. Then flip the tracing over and build upon it.

I am sure some one will dispute this ,but..I just built a Japanese kit..No english- ducted fan -tapered wing-tapered chord .I was faced with the same problem--Only right wing shown-I found out you can use the right side view --just build it - left wing (upside down).Just keep in mind its upside down.Ie- top spar goes on the bottom ,etc.I am sure there is a reason why it won't work--sounds too easy

Thats actually the easiest way to do it.

If the ribs are evenly spaced you can get away with building the missing panels over the existing drawing using the spar as your reference. Just remember that the beefier materials go to the root of the wing, not the plan and the tip will obviously be on the opposite end of what is shown on the plan. This will work for tapered wings as well as constant chord.

John