building wings on rods

Stuka Stunt Main Forum · 10 of 10 known posts recovered

mkedave · Oct 24, 2001 11:21 AM

I used to build RC wings on rods and liked it. I see people talking about using rods for controline too. I have a few questions about using rods for controline aircraft. My 2 sons and I are building 3 of the same planes this winter, and having everyrhing held firmly in a jig without lots of pins is attractive when little helping hands are involved. It also keeps old eyes from building warps into the wing.

1) cutouts for the belcrank and leadout wires on kits are right where I would drill holes for the wires. How does one deal with the cut outs on kits and scratch build plans. Cut them out later? I would like to build my twister kit on rods too, but don't know how to deal with the front leadout and rod hole.

2) I purchased 48 inch 5/16 rods cold rolled steel from the local hardware store. Can you get longer ones? What diameter rods work well?

Thanks

Dave

Scott Riese · Oct 24, 2001 12:35 PM

#1 source

I use the single rod when making my wings. I use 3/8 drill rod or 3/8 brass tubing. Local hardware store can get drill rod for you. I like to cut out my ribs and then drill the hole for the rod. Sand to shape then cut out for the lines and to lighten. As for the last rib I ALWAYS make it 1/32 ply, cut ONLY for the rod! Build the 1/32 into wing, OR remove it and make a new LAST rib for your adjustable lead out. This works for me and have had good results. There are 1001 ways to build a wing.
ONLY one way is right,......Straight, Light, and Strong!!!

PS..I build my wings in HALVES.

Scott

Scott Correa · Oct 24, 2001 05:46 PM

#2 source

This is another place where I use Kite Spar Tubes.
Light, Straight, Cheap. You can also use them on fuselages
if you plan to build them up "on the spit".

Scott

Randy · Oct 24, 2001 09:51 PM

#3 source

I've never been happy with rods, though some can make them work consistently. I use a floating jig based (very loosely) on Tom Morris' Millinium Wing construction. Very, very easy to make straight planes when coupled with an intregral fuse jig.

Randy

Steve Helmick · Oct 24, 2001 10:20 PM

#4 source

Cold Rolled Steel rod in suitable sizes should be available from any metal supplier in 10' lengths. Minimum order size may be a problem. Drill rod is ground, probably a bit straighter, but much more expensive, and usually comes in short lengths of about 2-3'. Both would probably sag under their own weight. You will find that there are a lot of opinions about how to build a wing. I don't see a reason to put holes for rods or tubes into the ribs. My thought is that the jigging needs to be done at the LE & TE of the wing, to reduce the angular effect of slight errors. Putting holes inline in the ribs seems far more difficult than building the wing some other way. To me, the cute way is to laminate the LE & TE with a spline on the CL. This can be done with tabs of 1/64" or 1/32" ply or hard balsa, with the filling between tabs being lighter stuff. Gaps can be left in the TE to build in slots for hinges. Then all you need is a series of wood or metal blocks all the same height, or strips of 1x2 wood (the stuff made from shorts glued up with finger joints is straight, consistent size and cheap). Finally, try using the search function to find similar threads on wing building and alignment. Steve

Steve http://www.nwskyraiders.com/index.html

Al Rabe · Oct 25, 2001 12:23 AM

#5 source

I have been building wings on jig tubes for the past 35 years or so. I prefer tubes so that I can "bore sight" them at various stagres of construction to assure myself the wing is remaining true. I build wings with dihedral mostly but have built a number of wings without dihedral. In any case, it requires a seperate template, best made from clear plastic which shows the location of the jig holes relative to the wing centerline and leading/trailing edge. Try to space the jig holes about 3" apart. With a clear jig punch template you can see on each rib just what your tubes are likely to interfer with. The actual jig holes are cut with a sharpened piece of 3/8" sharpened brass tubing right through the plastic template. Aluminum tubes are a bit expensive and probably only last forty years or a hundred airplanes. In major cities it can be bought ftom a company called The Metal Superstore. 12' x 3/8" x .035 (or .049,.058) cost about $25. Photos from my various articles show jig tubes in use.

Larry F · Oct 25, 2001 08:34 AM

#6 source

Dave --

Leonard had a nice thread on building wings a while back. You can search the archives. As I recall, the consensus was a flat surface and shims rather than rods. Most used plate glass and a pinnable surface atop the glass.

The trouble with steel rods is that they make the airplane real heavy.

Larry F

Nils · Oct 26, 2001 01:09 AM

#7 source

The trouble with steel rods is that they make the airplane real heavy.

Larry F

Well geez Larry, didn't you know that you have to stack magnets on top of the wings when you're done to keep lift working on the rods while you're flying!

Nils

Scott · Oct 26, 2001 12:29 PM

#8 source

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH Take the rod out BEFORE you cover....THAT'S your Problem NILES,......LOL

Warren · Oct 27, 2001 01:55 PM

wing jig#9 source

LAST EDITED ON Oct-27-01 AT 01:58 PM (CDT)

Here is another wing jig for your consideration.

It avoids your concern #1 as it doesn't interfer with the ribs, and there are no rods or shafts to buy. You probably already have the materials in your shop....i.e. 1" x 2" pine wood.

I have used various wing fixtures in the past, such as the Adjust-O-Jig, and fiberglass rods, and they work great, but I much prefer the current jig made from 1" x 2" pine blocks which are glued with CA to a flat glass surface.

Here is a picture of the templates used for the jig blocks which were made from a rib cut-out from an Oriental.

[photo not recovered: 3bdafb3536a8aa78.jpg]

I used 6 blocks for the leading edge, and 6 for the trailing edge. These need to be clamped together and sanded to be identical. Their accuracy determinds the final accuracy of the wing.

I have the plans underneath the glass but only as a general reference as all the rib locations are marked on the spars, LE, and TE stock.

[photo not recovered: 3bdb01d63c013b29.jpg]

A construction tip. I build the lower trailing edge sheet and the tapered trailing edge piece on the glass work surface before placing it in the jig. This contributes to making the whole trailing edge of the wing straight.

Note that the leading edge is locked into the jig, but the jig blocks on the trailing edge are open on the top so that the wing can be removed and inverted for doing the bottom half. Pin the trailing edge to the jib blocks during construction.

A nice "plus" feature of this jig, is that it holds the wing very securely. When you get to the final sanding step, you can leave the wing in the jig, and grab your 44" sander with BOTH hands and sand to your heart's content.

[photo not recovered: 3bdafd263848d929.jpg]

Give it some consideration...I think you would like this process.

Cheers,

Warren