Sorry everyone, I sort of run out of steam today. Must be the nasty cold I have been fighting for the last four days. I did however get the left upper wing completely framed except for the control arm block, sheeting and cap strips. I actually did consider the torque rod from the upper aileron to the lower aileron on the same side. Unfortunately, I can't do that now as I did not put the control arm blocks in the same bays on both the wings. Sooo...I will probably just run an extension from each aileron port on the SF through the fuse near the cabanes up to the center wing section. Then a simple plug in from each upper wing panel servo to the extension on each side of the center section. I will just have to be very crafty to hide the extension or make it as in-noticeable as possible.
I'm probably going to take a short break from the build for a couple of days. But I will get back to it as soon as possible. Hate leaving you all hanging. In the meantime, here is the progress for today.
I started by protecting the sheeting of the center section and making sure it was securely affixed to the jig. Then protecting the TR4 rib with wax paper to keep it separated from the TR5 rib of the wing.
Next, to insure the TR5 rib of the wing was absolutely flat against the TR4 rib of the center section I "T" pinned it into place so that it could not move. As with the "right" upper wing, I want as close of a fit as possible. Next I slide into position the TR6, 7 and number 8 ribs and used the IC 2000 glue to attach them to the phenolic wing tube. After that, I slide the carbon fiber spars and the shear web into place and glued them all into place. I found this to be a much easier way to assemble the wing from the way I did the previous three. On those, I basically slide all the ribs on to the CF rods then slide them into position and lay them all on the jigs. I also used the angle jigs to set the ribs all at a 90 degree angle.
For the TR9 and TR10 rib doublers, I decided to use the jig extension piece that was used to set the trailing edge post for the fin. Since the fuse is basically done and I have no need for it any longer, I figured I could put it to good use. I basically traced, cut and sanded to shape the major portion of the doublers that will be used to strengthen the ribs that will support the aileron servos.
Next I set the angle for the interplane strut mounts and glued in place. Double checking the angle on the remaining ribs TR 9, 10, 12, 13 and TR 14 I glued those into place also.
Now with all the ribs in place and glued I could start placing all the 1/4" square wing spars and glue them into place. As with the previous three wing sections and the fuse, most of the gluing was done with CA to tack into place, then back gluing with the Titebond. Where I was able to glue wood to clean non-lazer gut wood I used CA to bond the parts together.
Last thing I did tonight was to once again make sure the TR4 rib of the center section and the TR5 rib of the wing was super tight against one another. I drilled the bolt down block holes and inserted the blind nuts and bolted the sections together.
When I return to the build, I will build the control arm block that will fit between TR9 and TR10. Then lay in the aileron sheeting into place then remove the bolt from the trailing edge of the wing and lay that sheeting into place. Last will be the leading edge and then finally the leading edge sheeting.
Normally I can frame up a wing or a fuse in just a couple of days. It seems that each of these steps is taking a very long time to complete. But then again, I am really taking my time to make sure everything fits tight. I want this Pitts to be amazing all the way through.
