| 59 | Another Rib Done | 7/1/2006 |
| | Went out to my work shop and started in on another rib. I started at about 6:00AM since my wife and son are weekend late risers and I would never hear the end of it if I spent any holiday weekend time on the plane. Did all the cutting, sanding, leveling, vacuuming, T-88ing, gussetting and waiting. Its amazing how fast you can proceed once the groundwork is laid.
Man hours: 4 |
| 58 | Rib Building Process | 6/29/2006 |
| | I now have a procedure to efficiently plow through the ribs.
- Pull completed rib out of flipside jig
- Pull half completed rib (gussets one side only) from main jig and put into flipside jig and secure.
- Pull dried capstrip from bending jig and place into main jig.
- Start steaming a capstrip.
- Cut, fit and file ragged edges on all pieces and secure in main jig.
- Level all joints with coarse sandpaper and vacuum dust.
- Remove capstrip from steamer and set in bending jig.
- Apply T-88 to all capstrip surfaces to be covered with gussets.(main jig)
- Repeat previous step for rib in flipside jig.
Flipside jig is a lot simpler than the main jig. Pictures of the jig...
Man hours: 4.5 |
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| 57 | Flipside Rib Jig | 6/12/2006 |
| | One thing I keep in mind as I proceed with the project is that I want to achieve consistency in process. I want to ensure that all ribs are built with the same procedure and that changes are introduced mid-process. This will hopefully provide ribs of equal strength and reliability. When my first rib came out of the jig I thought about how the backside gussets should be applied. The simple answer was build another jig. That required building another jig and that's what I did. I measured everything out so see if the rib removed from the first jig relaxed into a different shape. It did not. It fits right into the profile as drawn from the plans and as drawn on the first jig. Now to continue with the exact same clamp system. I predict being done in a day or two. Then I will be able to make better progress with the project.
Man hours: 4 |
| | | Hardware | Building Materials | $25.00 |
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| 56 | Happy Pre-Bending Medium | 5/5/2006 |
| | Trial and error process of zeroing in on the right process for steaming and bending.
- Bending Jig Profile Identical to Plans Rib Profile
- Jig Bend Steepened Significantly
- Capstrip snapped at the bend
- Jig Bend Slightly Reduced and Moisture Increased in Steaming Process
- Inserted a wine bottle full of water into the dryer vent pipe steam tube to fully soak the wood
- Cut back a very small amount on the curve
- Very slowly eased the steamed/soaked capstrip onto the jig conforming to the curve careful not to overstress
I am repeating the process so this weekend I can get a rib completed and another started. Bending jig only holds 2 pieces at a time.
Man hours: 2 |
| 55 | America | 5/2/2006 |
| | While talking about my project with a fellow builder, my senior by 2 Air Campers and twice my age, he used the phrase "Old America" to describe the ideals of exploration, experimentation and self-improvement of the era the Pietepol grew up in. That really grabbed me as a great name for this project/plane. Old America FlyingWood I like it.
I ran into a friend who has a recording studio in his house (coolest thing I ever saw) and he helped me record my hack version of a great old Simon & Garfunkel tune, America, as theme background music for the site with a guitar I've had forever. It was a great experience to sit in a studio for the first time. To Corky: Thanks for the inspiration! To Steve: Thanks for helping with a piece of this dream! |
| 54 | Bad Wood Replaced | 4/29/2006 |
| | Yesterday the UPS man was making his way up the driveway and carrying a triangular box about 6' long. I knew what that was. I was pretty surprised how quickly it arrived. No hassles either. I immediately inspected the pieces and only had 1 "iffy" piece. I suppose it is good enough. It will probably end up as a bunch of truss pieces. Anyway, I feel much better now. Make sure that you get what you pay for. Quality matters here like it never did before! |
| 53 | My Wing is FLAT! | 4/24/2006 |
| | While coming to terms with my first building problem I held the useless waste of capstrip in my hands and squeezed the rib back to the position the T-88 would have kept it in if I just let it cure. I noticed that the top of the wing, near or at the center truss, there was a place where the wing seemed flat. I checked, double-checked and triple-checked the points I plotted on the jig from the plans. From what I can see if I moved the block on the jig up about 1/8" it should make a nice smooth curve with no "flat spots". So, I will use a razor saw and cut out the pieces in question, file off the T-88 and reglue the bad rib in the jig. It's unusable bad wood so it only what I call the "proof-of-concept" rib. If how I'm modifying the jig sounds crazy, let me know. |
| 52 | Update - Unusable Wood | 4/23/2006 |
| | As of my last contact with my current wood supplier they have offered to replace all the bad wood. I gave them a count of the bad pieces and they said that was all they needed. No need to hassle with sending back the bad stuff. That was pretty painless. I won't need it for about 3 weeks to a month anyway. |