Full Wing Build

[Brandtmeyer]

Hello,

My scheduled delivery for my S7 Super Sport is March of 2021. I have not purchased the quick build wing and pre rig. I have built many RC aircraft wings and I am looking forward to the challenge on the Kitfox. Are there any others that have taken on building the wing completely and if so what tips/tricks/recommendations do you have.

Thanks,

Brandt

[Dave S]

Brandt,

1) follow the build manual explicitly
2) use the same measuring tools for everything (two tape measure tools may not be identical)
3) pay explicit attention to the spacing of the ribs at the trailing edge - it absolutely has to match the spacing on the flaperon arms.
4) measure everything more than once before bonding/riveting etc.
5) glue your wing sawhorses to the floor
6) follow the build manual explicitly

I thought the wing build was both interesting and fun, as well as saving a few bucks

[Brandtmeyer]

Great! Thanks Dave, I just wanted to make sure that I was not crazy for going this route. I will adopt the measure twice, cut once rule to the measuring. I would have never thought to have the saw horses immobilized. It is very similar to the models where you pin everything (spar, ribs, leading and trailing edge) down until it is done. I really appreciate the info and look forward to the build.

Take care,

Brandt

[alexM]

I'm faced with a complete wing build on my series 5 project. I've been messing around with the fuselage but have built my saw horses and should be starting them soon.

I too have built many models and think the framing up of the wings should be fairly straightforward. It's the rigging of the wings including the wing strut attach fittings (where the former builder of my project messed up) that is causing me to sweat it. I plan on taking my time with that part before I drill all those holes.

[ken nougaret]

Look at tropicaltuba.com. Tom did his wing build and illustrates it nicely.
Brandt, I guess you dont live far from me.
Ken

[alexM]

Bonding the feet of the saw horses to the floor is in the manual for the series 5 (back when building your own wings was normal). You also shim the rear spar to incorporate the washout. You also need to decide if you are going to do the 1 degree forward sweep.

I was just reading the manual yesterday regarding the flaperon attach fittings and agree that those should definitely be used to fine tune rib spacing before mixing up the hysol.

[Brandtmeyer]

O.K. Great, I forgot about the tropicaltuba guy. Thanks Ken and yes we are close. I will most likely keep the plane at Tampa North when the time comes. Great to have all of yall as resources. I appreciate the quick response.

Brandt

[jiott]

I built my wings completely and agree with the tips already given. Fixturing is all-important. Make sure your glued down sawhorses are both level chordwise or at least exactly the same. Most garage floors are not level and may have humps and bumps; I had to do some shimming under the sawhorse legs to get things right. Some extra care at this stage is well worth it and will produce good accurate wings. There is an extra level of satisfaction when you do the maiden flight and the all-important wings that you built and rigged work perfectly. It becomes more of a "build" project than an assembly project. I figured it added about an extra 500 hours to the project build time, but was not difficult, was enjoyable, satisfying and saved money.

[Brandtmeyer]

Thanks Jim, I appreciate the encouragement.

[n85ae]

Buy a laser level, a hot glue gun, and get a bunch of scrap mdf. Make improvised jigs
as you go with the scrap and the glue gun.

This is a simple system I use a lot for making things, and generally I use mdf for making
jigs since it is very stable. You can build very precisely once you figure out using the little
red line from the laser.

A hammer, and a solid whack will unglue mdf which is hot glued very quickly. A sharp
chisel will remove glue quickly also

I generally shim something into position with reference to the laser line, and then
cut some mdf on the bandsaw, and then hot glue it to the bench such that it supports, or
holds the piece in place that I am working on.

Jeff