Sunday 13 September 2015

Algebra Build 4 - leading & trailing edges, spoilers, wing ballast tubes.

Well the leading edges were easy enough but the trailing edges proved more challenging!

The instructions just said to glue them on. Which I did. Then I noticed they did not follow the line of the wings at all. They looked as if the flaps were permanently down.
You can see in the photo of the lower wing that the trailing edge has a definite 'droop'.

It dawned on me that I should have sanded the rear edges of the wings to get the trailing edges to line up with the section. Hm. 

Not having anything with which to sand accurately I decided to use the gap-filling qualities of the glue to do the job for me.

So I decided to try a different way. I cut the trailing edges off and tried again.

I laid the wing on its back, weighting it down and pinning the trailing edge to the board.
I knew those old scuba diving weights would come in handy one day...
The idea was to keep a continuous line between the rear part of the wing and the top of the trailing edge.

Rather surprisingly it worked!

Before I did the main wing sections I fitted the ballast tubes and spoilers. 

The spoilers were straightorward - just cut big holes in the wings! The spolier casing will provide strength so I didn't make boxes.

The ballast tubes required making a jig to keep them straight.

This worked reasonably well - the second one went a bit close to the bottom of the wing but it was acceptable.

So, leading and trailing edges, ballast tubes, spoilers all fitted. Next job, wing tips and sanding to section.

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