Fiberglassing wings complete!

On Saturday morning, we completed fiberglassing the tops of the wings!  The bottom of the wings were completed 7 days earlier and were done in 4 sections per side.  At 4 sections per side, it was not bad at 70 degrees.  As the day got warmer it got harder and harder to work with.  By the final piece, it was a race against time.

This Saturday, the low was 58 degrees and the high was 70.  We completed each side of the wing in just 2 pieces of glass each!




 We were very fortunate to get almost the same crew as the first wing. Jeff + his son Josh, John and Rama.  We did a great job together and it is probably just as well we had one extra person with how big the layups were.  The top came out really nice.  I'm very pleased with how it all turned out.  There is some filling to do, but most of it is due to a little miss shaping in the foam skins.  Thanks to all the volunteers that made it happen.  Jeff, Josh, John and Rama.. And of course Dad, but he's always a key part of the process!

Soon we will be creating the wing tips and cutting out the ailerons.

Bottom of wings fiberglassed

This memorial day weekend we had 3 great volunteers help early Saturday morning to fiberglass the bottoms of the wings.

The first wing went great, but by the time we started working on the second wing, it was clear it was getting too hot.  Both wings came out fine, but the second one will take a little more cleanup and sanding that the first.

We found that 5 people seemed to be the right number of people to accomplish this.  We had 1 person pumping epoxy and making Micro, 2 people wetting out cloth on the templates we made, and then Dad and I placed the fiberglass and applied the peal ply.

I have heard very differing amounts of how much Epoxy was needed.  We decided to start with fresh cans to see what it took.  When we were all done, we had about 1/3 of a gallon left of Resin.  It took roughly 2/3 of a gallon for the bottom of the wing.  10 Yards of KR Cloth and 10 yards of Peal Ply seem to be about right for each side.

Thanks to all my helpers!  Jeff, John, and Rama (and of course Dad!)

Way behind again

We managed to complete the sheeting on the bottom of the airplane at the end of last season, however, we missed the last opportunity to fiberglass the wings.

This winter, we didn't do much with the plane.  We made some decisions, but that's about it.

We were planning on using the Corviar engine we had, but after yet another crank failure, and the rising cost of all the modifications, we have abandoned the Corvair.  I have always wanted to build a Zenith 701, so the corsair will sit in the corner awaiting the next project where it will have a redrive system and the crank should not be a factor.

As it's getting warm out, we are coming around to Fiberglass season.  The bottom and top of the wing are prepped, the templates of the fiberglass to cut out has been made, the majority of the fiberglass is there.

We need one more weekend to cut out the fiberglass and plan for the fiberglass day, and then we are ready!

May 21st - Starting the bottom sheeting

 Today we glued in 1/2" square strips at the join between the spar and the top sheeting.  This creates a lot more surface area to adhear to and also pulls the sheeting down tight on all edges.

We also started on the bottom sheeting.  The inboard panels for the center and front sections are in place, but not all glued down.

As we were about the glue down the bottom leading edge sheeting, we realized that we hadn't installed a Pitot static system yet!

Dad had ordered the tube a while back, so we had the material.  We started uncoiling the tube and making the pitot tube.  We then decided to add the static tube next to it.  We followed plans we found to create the static tube and installed it.

April 29th - Flip Day!

Today, after finishing all the Top wing sheeting, we flipped the plane over to start sheeting the bottom. Here it is just outside the hanger with the flipping jib attached where the firewall will be.

And to the right is the plane in the hanger after the flip.  It only took 2 of us, be it probably would have gone smoother with a little help.

April 9th - More top skins and wing walk

Worked on the pilot side wing walk and glued in the cross braces.  Glued on leading edge ribs.  Next week we will be ready to cover the remaining top skins on the pilot side.

The Passenger side was closed up today after we completed floxing the gear leg to the bracket.  The landing gear is all glued and tightened up.  The top skins are completed other than the trailing edge.

I may go to the airport tomorrow to work on the trailing edges.

April 3rd - More top skin work

Glued in the top foam skin on the passenger side and started gluing in the leading edge ribs.  Discussed canopy options and purchased paint to mark all the bolts.  We will paint a stripe on the bolts and nuts so when we inspect the plane annually, we can tell if anything has come loose.