Thane Mac
Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2020
- Messages
- 15
I apologies in advance for the following long-winded question, but please bear with.
Hi, new member here. I have been trying to learn everything I can about the construction of the Polikarpov I-16 aircraft. It's entire frame is made of wood, and is skinned with a wood veneer. I've recently come to a halt in my research, I simply can't quite figure out how the fuselage frames/ bulkheads are constructed.
I know that some of the frames (frames No. 1, 4 and 11) are made of solid birch plywood, but as for all the frames in between, I don't know how they're made. The original construction manual states that the frames are, "made out of pine and inner ash shelves, sheathed in 1.5 mm plywood on both sides)
Here is an image of some of the frames, the two on the left are what I'm concerned about. As can can be seen, under each picture of a frame, there's what appears to be a cross section of that frame. The one on the far right has a depiction of layers of wood, (plywood), whereas the two on the left have two dark pieces of wood, with a lighter colored wood in between, could this be the "inner ash shelf" as the Russian manual suggests? and if so, are these solid staves of wood, or laminated layers formed into a compound curve? The picture above seems to suggest that these are composed of 3 solid staves of wood, but this is where conflicting ideas show up.
The picture on the left is of a Russian factory worker holding a set of frames for a Polikarpov I-16 replication, if you look close enough, you'll be able to see dark blotches and spots on the perimeter of both of the frames he's holding, this seems to be the telltale sign of laminated frames, like the picture to the right, dark areas of adhesive can be seen.
So, the question is this, are these frame made by gluing three solid staves of wood together, (2 staves of pine, and 1 stave of ash in the middle) OR, the frames are laminated into a compound curve, consisting of laminated layers of pine, surrounding either a stave or strip of laminated ash wood.
A third answer comes to mind, in the original construction manual, there's a mention a "pine plywood, with an inner ash shelf". The reference to pine plywood could either mean that it's your standard plywood board cut to shape (I doubt it) OR "pine plywood" refers to laminated strips of pine, like in the image (above and on the right).
Here's a picture of the fuselage frame in it's entirety to help give you an idea of what the individual frames look like, and what construction methods they might entail.
If you have any ideas on how these frames are made, please share. I'm currently researching the construction of this aircraft in order to make a full set of construction plans in English for this aircraft.
Hi, new member here. I have been trying to learn everything I can about the construction of the Polikarpov I-16 aircraft. It's entire frame is made of wood, and is skinned with a wood veneer. I've recently come to a halt in my research, I simply can't quite figure out how the fuselage frames/ bulkheads are constructed.
I know that some of the frames (frames No. 1, 4 and 11) are made of solid birch plywood, but as for all the frames in between, I don't know how they're made. The original construction manual states that the frames are, "made out of pine and inner ash shelves, sheathed in 1.5 mm plywood on both sides)
Here is an image of some of the frames, the two on the left are what I'm concerned about. As can can be seen, under each picture of a frame, there's what appears to be a cross section of that frame. The one on the far right has a depiction of layers of wood, (plywood), whereas the two on the left have two dark pieces of wood, with a lighter colored wood in between, could this be the "inner ash shelf" as the Russian manual suggests? and if so, are these solid staves of wood, or laminated layers formed into a compound curve? The picture above seems to suggest that these are composed of 3 solid staves of wood, but this is where conflicting ideas show up.
The picture on the left is of a Russian factory worker holding a set of frames for a Polikarpov I-16 replication, if you look close enough, you'll be able to see dark blotches and spots on the perimeter of both of the frames he's holding, this seems to be the telltale sign of laminated frames, like the picture to the right, dark areas of adhesive can be seen.
So, the question is this, are these frame made by gluing three solid staves of wood together, (2 staves of pine, and 1 stave of ash in the middle) OR, the frames are laminated into a compound curve, consisting of laminated layers of pine, surrounding either a stave or strip of laminated ash wood.
A third answer comes to mind, in the original construction manual, there's a mention a "pine plywood, with an inner ash shelf". The reference to pine plywood could either mean that it's your standard plywood board cut to shape (I doubt it) OR "pine plywood" refers to laminated strips of pine, like in the image (above and on the right).
Here's a picture of the fuselage frame in it's entirety to help give you an idea of what the individual frames look like, and what construction methods they might entail.
If you have any ideas on how these frames are made, please share. I'm currently researching the construction of this aircraft in order to make a full set of construction plans in English for this aircraft.
