Wednesday 22 June 2011

Starting the Top Wing

With the lower wings pretty much complete,
(they still need the leading edges, but I will leave them off for now) it is time to start the Top wing, as it is a bit behind schedule.
The Top wing is 21 feet long, and the chord is 42" but as it has no ailerons, no taper, and no dihedral, it is a pretty simple structure.

I still need to build the lower wing ailerons, but I am waiting for the aluminum spars to be bent and shipped, they are coming from Canada as I cannot find anyone in Dubai who has an accurate brake over 6 feet long.

As the second lower wing went together so much easier than the first, I will build a complete kit for the top wing first, and pre fit everything. This should make the final assembly very quick. On the lower wings, I worked out all the details on the first wing, and then built a "kit" for the second wing.

I have started by making all the parts for the ribs. There are a total of 40 ribs, 30 Truss ribs, 8 compression and two plywood.

as with the lower wings, the ribs are a quite time consuming to build, each rib has 14 parts, 10 spruce and 4 routed plywood. They require a total of 10 cutting, bending, and assembly fixtures, and are assembled with no nails.




I can build 1 -1 1/2 per day, so thats my July mapped out.

I am also starting to laminate and then scarf the top wing spars. The spars have a 15-1 scarf at the center, so I shall have to build a new scarfing jig for them, more on this later.

My shop (garage) building space has recently been cut in half, as we live in Dubai, UAE, and it gets pretty hot here in the summer, I have a deal with my wife;
Once outside temperatures reach 45 degrees C ( 113 F!) then she can keep her truck in the garage,

well it has reached 45 degrees. and next month it will be 50 (122 F)


Thats why all of my benches and tool cabinets are on wheels.
Unfortunately it does not start to cool down here until Mid September, so I have to watch I do not inadvertently stick a spar through her windshield.
Another issue with the temperatures is I keep the garage at a comforatble 20C with AC, but every time the door opens the temps soar to ambient, and it takes a while to cool down again.
It is quite a "dry" heat, so no real issues with humidity in the summer, but it does get extremely humid in the fall, and I would worry about unprotected wood.
(but by this time I shall have once again banished the truck to the driveway)

Anyway, this will not really impact on production, but it does illustrate one more of the "issues" building in this part of the world.
Even the walk from the house to the garage, about 30 feet, is quite miserable in these temperatures.

Ironically, even on the hottest days here, my primary mode of transport  lives outside.
The seat gets pretty hot.