Camel replica
This is a Sopwith Camel look-alike (if you stand back 100yards and squint) with a welded fuselage.
He has come across a bit of an "issue": where the lower wing attaches (and what looks like flying wire attachment) there simply is no crossmember to carry the load across! It is simply missing. The spar fitting is simply butt welded to the upright. It is one of the scariest and stupid things I have ever seen on a kit aircraft. The longeron is already flexing from the load of a half built wing. Even the rear spar, which does have a crossmember, is attached so far off the centerline, it's going to bend the upright it's attached to. And eventually break. If the butt welded fitting doesnt come of first. Apparently the designer (whom we all know) also told this customer it's rated for "everything" when asked about the aerobatic capabilities.
I'm seriously shocked at this. Airdrome kits have some questionable design features but they seem to hang together alright. But this? This is unbelievable. My first thought was someone simply forgot to weld in the crossmember white it was in the jig and it left the factory without anyone noticing. But the builder called the designer and was given some advice about cobbling up a fix, so he clearly knew there wasn't any kind of carry through structure there.
This is a Sopwith Camel look-alike (if you stand back 100yards and squint) with a welded fuselage.
He has come across a bit of an "issue": where the lower wing attaches (and what looks like flying wire attachment) there simply is no crossmember to carry the load across! It is simply missing. The spar fitting is simply butt welded to the upright. It is one of the scariest and stupid things I have ever seen on a kit aircraft. The longeron is already flexing from the load of a half built wing. Even the rear spar, which does have a crossmember, is attached so far off the centerline, it's going to bend the upright it's attached to. And eventually break. If the butt welded fitting doesnt come of first. Apparently the designer (whom we all know) also told this customer it's rated for "everything" when asked about the aerobatic capabilities.
I'm seriously shocked at this. Airdrome kits have some questionable design features but they seem to hang together alright. But this? This is unbelievable. My first thought was someone simply forgot to weld in the crossmember white it was in the jig and it left the factory without anyone noticing. But the builder called the designer and was given some advice about cobbling up a fix, so he clearly knew there wasn't any kind of carry through structure there.
