Zephyrus from down under

[VinceC]

It is all built, but I have a wing joining problem to overcome

[ARUP]

How about these Snap Latches? https://www.mcmaster.com/#1872A71

[ARUP]

Vince- if you'd like a set of these or two then PM your address and I'll send them.

[VinceC]

Here is my problem.

The cabin of the Zephyrus is almost totally glazed on the sides and top offering little in the way of strength.

The wing leading edge is raked back almost to the spar.

My first idea was to fit a mechanical locking system halfway along the root rib, but with the weight of the wings it just bowed the root ribs on the fuselage and would have pulled it apart on a landing

I then resorted to non scale and visible rubber bands across the fuselage which I would later box in and although they held the wing, the leading edge had a tendency to open up by the wing swivelling on the struts. Maybe the gap is made worse by the fact the hooks are behind the line of the strut

I think I should go back to a mechanical connection, but I am reluctant to secure the wing to the fuselage. One idea is to pin the outer ends of the wing joiners through the wing using nylon bolts tying both wings together, but I am open to suggestions on this one

[Christian Baron]

Vince,
maybe you could use a 3mm steel rod with both ends bended 90 degree. This steel rod should be reach from one wing half to the other inside the fuse.
I would make steel connectors like the original has at the main spar that goes into the fuse area between the wings. Into these connectors you could press the steel rod and secure this with a screw, that the steel rod can't be remove by vibration or and move.
Hope that my english could explain what I mean.

[Christian Baron]

Made a simple drawing by hand.

[chris williams]

Vince, IMHO, a rigid wing mounting set up may be fine for aerotow, but much more liable to damage on the slope. The system on the Spalinger, with a similar wing configuration works a treat, with the wings springing out and pulling back in again. Of course, the top of the open cockpit puts a spanner in the works, but I think if it was me I'd just paint it silver and hope the Scale Police aren't watching...

[Tom Pack]

Vince.....this is what I have done in the past. Use a piece of aluminum flat stock that goes thru the fuselage and is secured in each wing with a nylon bolt from the underside of the wing.....in the wing you put two pieces of ply wood front and rear with a gap between them for the aluminum stock.....blind nut on the top side and bolt thru the bottom......that way the 2 wings are held to each other and not to the fuselage so the wing will never slide off unless you remove the bolts or “arrive” hard enough to break a bolt! The aluminum and easily be hidden with a few pieces of wood in the fuselage.

[VinceC]

I thought I would bump this thread up a bit and show I am still alive. Because of the good summer, I enjoyed working outside on the model, but I am beginning to wonder why I took on this project as it has proved to be one of the most builder intensive models I have worked on. The end is in sight, but it keeps trying to get away from me. All the coverings are finished and the fuselage sprayed. Next up is the addition of the alluminium window surrounds, then on to the glazing and cockpit finishing, but still plenty of detail to do.

The more I work on the model, the greater respect I have for the designer for all the thought and clever techniques he put into the design. It is an incredible piece of work and almost impossible to make an exact model to his standards

[VinceC]

On the back of the wing section on the fuselage you will see a 'metal' panel. To create the rivets I used a syringe filled with PVA glue, preferably aliphatic (yellow) in case you need to sand any bad ones off and re-apply. On the end of the syringe I added a nozzle from a bottle of instant glue for a narrow exit and with light pressure on the plunger added dots of glue.