Ironwing

Greets All So, the carbon fiber rods arrived. They are just what the doctor ordered. Theyre stiff, very stiff, and very light, especially after theyre build into the structure they support. I couldnt find tubes in the diamter I wanted so I opted for solid rods. So do I try to drill out the existing ribs or make new ribs? If you look back in the fuselage post, youll see the new ribs hiding in the background. So.... The brass dihedral brace will have to stay Preparation for the gear has started. A mounting plate, set to sixteen degrees forward rake has been installed between ribs three and four. All made from .030" stock.

Craig..Im glad you like. This build is undoubtedly the most fun of any. Scratch building, despite its difficulties, is just a hoot. In response to your statement about the prop...I spent a day some time back playing around with it. It was more an experiment than anything else having never done a prop before. I think it can be better The result...

Derek Thanks much Bud. Im enjoying too! Stay tuned... Geoff

Thanks Kev!

So, a brief update is in order. Work on the wing has stopped. Im waiting for carbon fiber rods to replace the brass tubes. Wing work will resume as soon as the carbon fiber replacements arrive. Attention was given to the fuselage and cowling. The fuselage and cowling dont articulate with each other. Rather, at the fuselage front is a fairing which closes off the fuselage front. Im assuming the cowling panels attach to the engine bearers. After trueing up the fuselage and matching the cowling, since they have the same cross section, a mold was made up for vacforming to close the front of the fuselage. Now that Ive made the form, I can see is a bit to chubby and will need to be touched up around the edges. It fits the cowling cross section but it hits the cowling on its inner diameter which it shouldnt do. Might alsp have to double shoot the mold to make up for thickness difference. This is how it should fit... A lesson in ..dont touch the wet primer All in all, the fuselage is ready to go forward. Forms for the nose piece and spinner are also underway. Thats it for this episode..time to get back to summer. Be safe everyone... Best Geoff

Dude It aint the end of the world but I appreciate your sympathy :0 ..That big corsair is looking mighty good ole boy..keep her going Regards Geoff

Thanks Anthony!

Pete Thanks! Coming from you, that puts a smile on my old school face. Best Geoff

Jim Im not saing my work is beautiful, but I understand the sentiment about covering it up. IVe always enjoyed seeing the structure under an airplanes skin. Geoff

Thanks Oliver. Clearly no more impressive than the things you do. Geoff

Derek Thanks for your kind and experienced sentiments. I know you understandfully what this is all about. I hope youll continue to stop in. Geoff

Hi Craig Having the wing warp wasnt super frustrating. Its just one of those things that happens in development. It can always be worse and it was a good learning experience. Thanks for stopping in. Best Geoff

Oliver Another hard to comment on build. The quality level is just too far up the pole. This is really nice. Geoff

Indeed..what shark said. No idea what it is, but that is world class work. It takes a special skill to do the things you do. Thanks for sharing. Regards Geoff

Dude You raise the bar every time youpost. The gear set you cooked up is gorgeous. As a matter of fact, this entire project is gorgeous. My hat is off to you. Really, really cool. Best Geoff

Peter Coming from you, the finished product is no surprise. If I didnt know better, I would say that is a full size airplane sitting on display in an all white room. Absolutely stellar job, but then, your work always is. I look forward the the jorney you next take us on... Best Geoff

Greetings All As the title implies, Im looking for a source of carbon fiber tube..2-2.5 mm OD. I know I can google it, but prefer your opinions and suggestions Thank you Geoff

This is the current state. Ill probably trim the control surfaces off next and build them as a separate structure in the wing then add a TE spar to stiffen things up, then do the tips. Thats it for me for this go around. Hope youre all well. Be safe... Best Geoff

Happy Summer All, Its dreadully hot at the moment(95+)perfect for staying indoors and building; or breaking depending on your tack. Surely it has its share of disturbances; the grand boy being here, defending the pool against all those things that like to grow in there and all the summer honey do's that I make believe I didnt hear her tell me about. I digress, like an old man..which I am. So, Im hear with news of the Ryan. Theres good news and bad news which, brought about the good news.After taking a break, I returned to the bench and found that the Ryans wings had twisted out of shape Im guessing that having removed a long thin strip (.100") of balsa from the underside and having to cut thru one of the ribs to accept the dihedral brace uncoupled the wing and allowed the inherent stresses to take charge. I probably should have installed the brace and back filled the clearance trench with epoxy to keep things connected. My bad. However, it was a good learning experience which, drove me to do what I probably should have done in the first place. You can see the solution laying under my disfigured component. Following the age old principles of the flying model boys, the Alcorn,Lee,and Cooke publication, and looking at what Peter did, a new wing now is in process(again) I wont bore you with the process. Peter covered it in his Fury thread and I do recommend the previously mentioned publication. If nothing else its an interesting read. As has been described, two brass masters were made up(see above photo). Two were made so one could be placed on either side of the rib stack while the ribs were being block sanded. The brass ribs were bolted together to ensure uniformity while they were being made. Both were cut from .062'' (1/16) brass sheet. All holes were drilled while they were bolted together and matched to the drawing. This keeps things very accurate and extremely well matched. The ribs were cut from .015" sheet stock. I would have much prefered using .020" stock but didtnt wasnt to use what I have on hand. Since my LHS closed, materials are hard to come by. A balsa stip was notched at the rib locations and for the initial build up. There are a few ribs missing as well as the dihedral brace. This is with everything in its proper place waitng for the leading edge. The next step was installing the leading edges which recycled from the wooden wing and helped to stabalize the rib positions. The brass rods add quite a bit of weight . I hope to replace them with appropriately sized carbon fiber rods. The dihedral brace might have to remain a brass tube. The top and bottom of the LE differ, in that, the top side comes further back on the wing. The upper surface in the foreground. I must say, I was very pleased at how the vacform LE's fit the rib noses.

Peter Good heavens man... Best Geoff

Jay Get bored and go away?" Whuts da matter wich you boy? This one of the best threads going. No one is going anywhere so keep going. Your investigation and the skills youre demonstrating have been a pleasure to follow. I cant wait to see your build on its gear. Its a pity that anyone looking at it, who isnt aware of the work youve done, will miss all the effort behind it all. I for one applaud you. Best Geoff

Greetings All Hope everyone is well...I was happily lunking along when things got a little sideways in Ryan Land. I fitted the wings to the fuselage. They acually fit rather nicely, but something didnt look right. As it turned out, the wngs were mounted too far forward. Some dumb guy, who shall remain anonymous, had measured form the edge of the leading edge fairing rather than measuring from the leading edge itself. Unfortunatley, moving the wing forward couldnt be done because of insuffiicent wing cord depth. No place to put the wing mounting tab. Fortunately for the dummy, who measured incorrectly, seems he ran off with the circus before I could get my hands on him . The question became how to get the wings mounted now that the space was dramatically reduced. Fortunately for me, I came across a CAD rendering done by Timber Tigers. They produce Ryan ST-A kits or complete airplanes (I think). This is the first reference found that actually shows how things fit. It looks like I can get a brass tube thru the fuselage and hide it under the front seat. It have to be cut into the wing but that seems to be the only option. The rest of the attachment will have to be JB weld directly onto the fuselage. So, what positive things have happened...The wing seats have been done and fitted to the fuselage. The fuselage was wrapped with 220 paper and used as a sanding block to shape the wing seats. There are two large fairings that span the wing undersurface and the fuselage. Hence, the wing undersurface was built out to span the distance to provide surface to attach the litho. The nose has also been taken off and a jig built to aid in alignment. Thats about it for this update. Hopefully there will be more to show next time. Hope everyone is well..be safe. Best Geoff

Jay Its always good to hear from you. Youre quite the craftsman yourself. I dont comment much on your corsair rebuild but I always check on it and always enjoy your narratives. Keep it going. With applause... Geoff

Chuck Always good to hear from you. The wings actually were fun to make. I dont think I would have enjoyd it so much if Id have had to do it with a sanding block You have more than enough skill to do a scratch build..give yourself a chance. Your fastidious pristine way would see you thru it for sure. Thanks Bud Geoff

Thank you Troy! The ST-A is cetainly a pretty one. Please stay tuned... Best Geoff