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Sounded like a good plan, but I called AS for an update on shipping of my spar and learned that they don’t have any suitable spruce in stock. Not even small pieces or capstrip as you said. It would have been nice to know that when I placed the order.... So another question, if I go the...

I'm going to give AS another try. They said lead time now is only 1-2 weeks. I also got a discount. Getting another spar that I'll look at carefully....

Thanks. I'm a wood hoarder though, so I'll probably hang on to it no matter how it gets worked out. There's always that next project....

Thanks for the ideas, ragflyer. I didn't post the photo from the other side. The wavy portion is toward the bottom there, and the more I look at it, the more yucky it looks to me. I've lost confidence in trying to make it work, even if someone else could. I've laminated sailboat masts and...

I’ll try this morning. A large part is on me for not checking earlier. I still want to know of lead times for spruce. Either I buy more material to scarf or laminate, or try to get a new spar.

Two years ago I ordered some spars from Aircraft Spruce for my Wag 2+2 project. I built one wing a year ago, and then did some final work on the fuselage. Finally I got set up to do the other wing. I finished making ribs and then pulled the spars from the rafters. I started to lay things out...

Yes, scarfing is straightforward. The only thing I’d add is that the joint is stiffer than the surrounding plywood. On curved surfaces I like to bend so the joint is in line with the curve. Can’t always do that, but if you can it acts similar to a batten to make a fair curve.

That's unusual to me. Every built-up wooden wing rib I've seen has plywood gussets.

Made some more ribs for my second wing, Wagaero 2+2.

Don't have info on the J-4, but the disc linked below has almost every drawing for PA 15s and other shortwing Pipers. Piper Drawings CD – Short Wing Piper Club

That is pretty cool. Puts my fish scale and 2x4 balance beam to shame.

There are guys who modify super cubs to increase angle of incidence to shorten take off and landing rolls. The idea behind it has a couple things in support: 1. In regular configuration, a 3-point landing is still at a higher speed than level stall speed. In other words, a normal 3-point does...

If you can, look at brake pedals in most any older designed tricycle airplane, like a Cessna or Piper. Right and left independent brakes attached to rudder pedals. Independent brakes help a lot for steering into tight places with nose wheel steering.

One other thing to add, I don't know which one you are building, but compare Wag Aero's "Fuselage materials kit" for the model. At one time, the material kit was less expensive than buying materials in bulk, plus you got already fabricated brackets and assemblies.

I suppose I should be clear what I did too. I added up all those charts from all the drawings, compared the charts to the actual dimensions shown on all the drawings, and itemized the total length of tubes called for in each size. Then ordered the whole bunch in 20 foot lengths. The first try...

I agree with Chris. The charts account for bevels, but it is wise to order 20% over or even more. Big pieces first is very good advice. I built a 2+2 fuselage from one order, but ended up buying more tubes for little things I missed. Shipping these days is a lot higher than a few years ago, so...

The lowly Wag Aero Wagabond has an option for fold-down seats for sleeping. Not glamping, of course. But I have the plans and sometimes I’m tempted to start one more project.

Thanks for that info. For some reason I picked up 20% chord as a worst case scenario. I don’t recall which paper I got it from. I’ll stick with what you’ve set out.

The only thing I'd add is the PA 14 was designed for aluminum spars, at least according to the drawings I could find. It was certified to GW of 1850. In other news, I took the things into account that ragflyer and mcrae0104 straightened me out on. I think 200 pounds is a reasonable wing value...

Appreciate that, ragflyer. I'll go through the numbers again with your clarifications.