Marske Pioneer Wing Construction Online Builders Manual 1

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Most persons starting the Pioneer wings should start with the ribs. This takes up the least amount of storage space. At least at this point there is no need to tell the wife the living room is out of commission for the next year or so.-Mjr

Ribs : First airplane parts! Used two pieces of ¼" aircraft grade ply and a 1/8 piece of fiberboard, in a sandwich. Glued the plans sheet with the rib patterns to each 1/8" fiberboard piece and bandsawed out each rib. Used jig saw, drum sander and disk sander to cut and shape inner and outer surfaces of each rib. When complete, pulled each sandwich apart and had two identical ribs and a pattern to make another rib, in case I screwed up later on. -Mike Hostage

Photo by Mike Hostage

 

The ribs on the wall in the workshop for building the Pioneer of Lloyd Watson.

The Shear Webs are the next best thing to think about. And getting the scarf joints correct goes a long way in making a safe aircraft. This is not a place to feel insecure! Try a practice piece first..... then break it just to see that the joint is stronger than the wood being used. Use good marine grade plywood here.-MJR

Skarf, Used rotary rasp in a bench mounted motor and set the feed table to angle which gave the 15/1 slope required for skarfing of structural components. Note parallel and equally spaced layers of ply. This shows accurate angle of the skarf. Rotary rasp left clean glue-ready surface. Using sander to do skarf can contaminate glue surface with bits of residue from the sanding surface. -Mike Hostage

Photo by Mike Hostage

 

Spar Jig : Once spars were trimmed in width and height, jigged them with correct sweep and dihedral, in relation to the carry through structure. Used temporary ½" bolts to bolt spar fittings (through the as yet unreamed taper pin holes) to the carry through structure. Then, C-clamped spar fittings in place on the spars. Finally, removed ½" bolts and used drill press to drill spar fitting mounting holes.

Photo by Mike Hostage

The spar caps of Sitka Spruce are next. They have a double taper and can be done in many ways. Note the upper spar cap is thicker since this is in compression and the sitka has less strength in compression. The caps may also have to be spliced. Again do a trial piece first. The spar caps may be made up as one thickness and width and later palned to thiskness and width after being glued to the shear web in the correct place to allow for the taper.-MJR

Spars : Once spar-fitting mounting holes were drilled, I varnished surfaces inside holes and underneath where the spar fittings rested on the spars. When spar fittings are bolted in place and ribs are glued on, you can't get at these surfaces to seal them. Has to be done early! -Mike Hostage

Photo by Mike Hostage

 

Nose Ribs : First glued in place one triangular brace for each nose rib. Once dry, used angle jig to set nose rib in proper place, then stapled temporary lathing strip to hold at correct angle while glue dried. Came along afterward and glued second triangular gusset in place to strengthen rib-to-spar joint. Make sure to place root, tip and middle ribs first. Then, string sight line and align remaining ribs with string. Saves a lot of sanding and filling of ribs!

Photo by Mike Hostage

 

Nose Spar : Cantilevered spar/rib assembly off edge of table. Then clamped leading edge spar in place, gluing in gussets at the same time. Used same cantilever setup to hold assembly while gluing trailing edge ribs in place.

Photo by Mike Hostage

 

Trialing Edge Ribs : Used root rib, tip rib and middle rib to rig sight line and provide alignment of all remaining ribs. Used same lathe strip and angle jig to set ribs in place. Same glue sequence as nose ribs.

Photo by Mike Hostage

 

Here is a photo of the Lloyd Watson Pioneer showing the spar, rear spar and ribs in the spoiler part of the wing.
Drag Spar : drag spar gets capped top and bottom, to mate with the top and bottom surfaces of the ribs. This allows the skin to bind the spar and the ribs.

Photo by Mike Hostage

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