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Do it nice do it twice

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don january

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2015
Messages
3,361
Location
Midwest
rudder elevator.jpg For those builders who are considering building with wood you should in some areas be ready to build twice as in the rudder and elevator of a Taylor mono plane. After the main structure is built per plans you are in a spot of do I go for smooth lines or just let the fabric lay as it may. I have chosen to try and level all plains out to get a smooth clean airflow so I in a way have to build the structure twice and if a person was to know this it could be done with the first pass of the construction but would be rather tricky with the support gussets being glued in place. I think with a good program and pre -cut parts it would be not to much of a challenge but in this case you don't have a kit to build from. I have started the process of filling the low areas of the elevator as I did the rudder with good Balsa. A person needs to remember that the strength of the part is built into the first part of the build with aircraft grade wood and per plans and the balsa is a helper in strength but is mainly just for shaping and unfortunately adding some weight. I pre-cut the balsa needed for the filling of the rudder and weighed them and it added 6 ounces of wood to the rudder not including glue but at a estimated 7-8 oz. gain in total weight I believe it is well worth the extra work and strength not to mention the finished product looks once covered. One great thing I find in a wood aircraft build is your not limited in how high/wide you can go with the wood as long as you start the part according to plans. I usually just post My plane build in project logs but it is nice to hear comments from fellow members of the Forum so I got my head gear and knee and elbow pads on ready to hear from you all:).:pilot:
 
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