Mats Monarch Wings

October 1998

I met up with my Monarch after Douglas Carpentar took on the arduous task of fetching it from Howey Burr in Tehacapi California. Howey Burr had started it a number of years ago and it had remained unfinished for a couple of years. Howey had used a soft foam for the ribs which I didn't like so I took everything apart and started from the basic Monarch kit. In this picture I am just starting back to New York with the Dtubes on my truck. I left the fusleage to be retieved at a later date.
The first job was to clean the dtubes....Taht was very difficult removing the fabric cement!.Then on to the shear web stiffeners. At every rib location in the dtube there is a stiffner and every other one one will have a saw cut to accept the corrugated fiberglass rib. Late november through dec 1998. I was at the time also completing the windrose so progress was slow. Note the fuselage of the windrose off to the right.... minibat wings in the background and hang gliders behind that on the wall.


The to get the dtubes aligned as best as possible. I marked my dtube froms from the lofting and proceeded to line them up. I also set in a number of ribs just to see how they lined up. Around February of 1999 I started in earnest to build the monarch.

 


Early April,1999 New York

Finally we get something that looks like a wing. All the time taken to line things up and fit before gluing pays off!


This odd looking photo is in my plastic tent so I can keep the temperature above 75 degrees. Note the rear spar going in. The slack string just to the right of the spar will be drawn up tight to give a straight rear spar.


Here is a close up of the rear spar adn the taught string to align it.

Another fitting.... the wrench is for weight only.. note the taught string along the edge of the rear spar. note braces against the Wing alignment dtube holders at the far end.

Fiberglass re-enforcement for the spoiler pulley... a little sloppy with the epoxy!

Good look at the clamping of the rear spar fillers.... yes use tape! but be careful to get a good bond... do not pull too tight on the unsupported overhang on the inside.

Note the Dtube alignment jig against the rib. I used rubber bands to hold them well in place.

The drag wires install a lot easier than one thinks. There is no need for a turnbuckle if you take care to do the nico correctly under tension. Saves a little weight!

Drag wire compression strut test fit on glassed area previously done.

The addition of the rear spar fillers. note they sit on top of the spar and extend over the ribs slightly.

The gussets tie everything in together. Be very certain of a perfect bond. Make sure the temperature is at least 75 degrees adn the surfaces have been well sanded. Let them cure for a couple of days at a high temperature then test them. If any pop off start again. they are tricky to get correct so spend time on them.

The tape worked well for me! But it took a few tries.
This is the method I used to get good results at the root of the wing. gluing that gusset material was quite difficult without this 1/8 inch plywood and the sand bags.


Wingtips are added! Yes foam and 6 oz cloth... and lots of micro! In early May of 1999, I moved my shop to Marion Ohio to be a part of the Marske Flying Wings and it is here that I did some of the detail work such as making up the wing tips. The wing tips are really quite easy. Just glue on a chunck of foam and start carving. Fill a little here and there to get it smooth and then glass it with 6 oz cloth.

Well ... yes a wing finally! note the elevator and aileron. thsi is the time to make adjustments..... before the fabric goes on.

Now this is where it gets exciting! Covering the wings.... have lots of ventilation. Yes it looks all wrinkles here but a touch of the iron and it becomes smooth.

Having a little help with the wings made the process much easier! here is Dave Wells and Doug Carpenter gluing down the fabric! July 1999

Well there it is, suddenly we have an aircraft! August 15, 1999.

Well, August 20, 1999 was the first flight for Mat's Monarch!

 
THE DAY ARRIVED !.... so I volunteered Mike Couts as tow driver..... no cameras and caution prevailed. The first Monarch flight test was just a taxi test at 15 mph to see how the controls worked... see if the wings levelled. Well at 15 mph the wings levelled just fine with excellent control so I radioed to go to 20 mph to
get off the skid and on to the main wheel. Yep controls were better.....oh THE MAIN WHEEL IS NOT MAKING ANY SOUND..... ok ITS FLYING! I really did not
intend to fly it but it was so easy I tried four short hops to 5 ft.

Excellent.!! Over the next few days we flew at 15 ft where I accustomed myself to the flying speed and checked out the adverse yaw. There is
definite adverse yaw as on any aircraft but the rudder easily handles it and it may be needing more differential in the ailerons.

 


This was by far one of the most fun and interesting project I have done so far. This is an excellent glider to start building. One can obtain the skills necessary for building a glider and not have to get into complexities, never feel too far from being finished and have a very useful fun glider when you are finished.

I must say this was a real pleasure doing the test flying after my windrose which on any no -wind launch or circular flight is a handful!!!

Now yesterday evening I just wanted to check a few things.... Patrick offered to help. There was just the two of us..... so I put one wing down on the grass, slightly back..... yep in about 4 ft the wing was flying and I had levelled the wings. So two people can launch the Monarch easily.

So now to put the numbers on it and have it inspected. I also added some mylar gap seals and kevlar on the tips to avoid abrasion.

I have a video a flight from the rear of the truck and one from the ground. I will now take some pictures and publish them to the web so keep posted.

A Few days later Jim and I made some adjustments to the Ailerons to allow for more differential.... what a difference! That really took out most of the adverse yaw!

Goto Mat's Rudder, Elevator and Ailerons.