Scale Soaring UK

Swindon Aircraft Company is a couple of £ cheaper than SLEC if you get the full sheet.
Peter

Peter Balcombe wrote: ↑16 Feb 2020, 12:29 Swindon Aircraft Company is a couple of £ cheaper than SLEC if you get the full sheet.
Peter

Not when you add on the postage !!

AEB

Rudder cable guides are from Bowden outers: the stuff from Gliders in nice and straight, and perfect for the job...
Due the sharpish curve at the rear, the lower ply sheeting is glued in the middle first, then, when the PVA has dried, the lower edges simultaneously glued in place with tensioned masking tape...

A quick look at the root and tip wing ribs shows just how tapered the Petrel wings are...! In its earliest stage, the wing is assembled flat on the board before being hoisted up on to the supports in order to add the top spar. The gentle angle of the gull break means that the 5mm sq spars aren't overly distressed at being forced into the correct angle.

Nice progress Chris!
The ribs (before assembly) look very fragile to me, guess I'd manage to break while testfitting!

Daniel

Med/hard 2.4mm balsa, Dan...strong enough!

With the basic wing structure taped to the gull supports, the top spar can be added, as well as the 0.8mm ply reinforcements to the rear of the ribs...

The wing joiner boxes are 16mm & 13mm respectively. The all-important sub spar is let in against the ply web plates on the front of the main spar (10 minute job per spar)
The sheeting will be 1.5mm hard balsa..

With both sub spars added, the lower sheeting can be glued in place. Thanks to the gentle gull angle, this can be achieved in one piece...

In a similar manner to the sub spars, the diagonal sheeting supports at the root are retro-fitted. The wing is weighed down on its jigging supports for the addition of the top sheeting. This, too, can be fitted in one piece, although it will put up a bit of a fight! After clamping the rear of the sheeting to the spar, masking tape at the front will force the sheeting into submission. As a precaution, the inner panel TE is clamped to a straight edge to preserve its integrity...

Time to close off the wing roots, now...BTW the long sanding block is a very useful tool: this one is simply a length of 6mm balsa sheet with 40 grit strips glued to both sides. This, and the 80 grit version, are good for many jobs, especially where a straight edge is required...