Frank- trying to make an 80 year-old retired pilot smile- a 50" span Tiger Moth

[Frank v B]

The interplane struts:

- Used the photo from the previous post to determine how far back from the leading edge of the upper wing the forward strut is fastened.  Marked two spots on the bottom of the upper wing. 
- Screwed in the bottom wing.
- Set the upper wing on the crooked cabane struts and used a clamp to hold it in place.  Sighted the wings from above and made the trailing edges of the upper and lower wings parallel.
- Measured the distances between the upper and lower wings at the wing strut locations.  The two measurements were different (crooked) at 7.25" and 7.75".  Cut two sticks out of 1/4" share balsa 7.5" long and placed them between the upper and lower wing.  Looked good.

Made two struts the length of the sticks.  Used brass airfoil tubing because it is much stronger than the aluminum one*.  Glued a pin hinge into the top and an adjustable clevis and threaded rod into the bottom.  The threaded rod has a 90 degree bend in it inside the tubing so it cannot pull out.  See photo.  After covering, the pin hinge will be glued into the upper wing (permanently attached).  The pin hinge is there so the strut can be folded flat to the wing for transport and storage.

The aluminum angle piece in the photo will be drilled to become the clevis anchor point on the bottom wing.

Frank

* I used the aluminum one on my Skywriter biplane project and it bent badly on a rocky but solid landing.

[RogMason]

The Tiger Moth is looking great Frank, such a thorough job that you are doing.

I looked through my Tiger Moth pics and the only aeroplane I have in Canadian livery is the one at Canadian Warplane Heritage.  I have several images of it from different angles if that helps with structure as well as colour? I've included a DropBox link below to a folder with the photos inside.

Hope these help?

Roger

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0znfs9sv8mnbji7/AACagDkyR0peEJPBHMZskesaa?dl=0

[Frank v B]

Roger,

Thanks for the picture.  i will use this one since it is more local. The one I showed was from Quebec.

Thanks for your help.

Frank

[RogMason]

Roger,

Thanks for the picture.  i will use this one since it is more local. The one I showed was from Quebec.

Thanks for your help.

Frank

Frank, check the DropBox link, there are nearly 20 photos there all at different angles showing structure details👍

[Frank v B]

Roger,

Thanks.  Interesting clip on the pre-flight walk-around.  Those guy wires on the wings have a lot of tension on them.  Surprising.  Reminds me of the large racing sailboats (48'-54') when we put 3,000 pounds of tension on them (via hydraulics) and could just about play a tune.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Gotta keep going.....

Photo 38- fibreglassed the top and bottom of the center sections of both wings.  Had to do this because the spars were butt-joined with little or no plywood doublers.  The glass holds the center section together.

In the photo, the top wing (top of photo) still has the waxed paper on it.  The waxed paper allows me to spread the epoxy with my fingers and it automatically makes the finish glass smooth after it has cured.

Next Step is final sanding and then start the covering.

Frank

[RogMason]

Frank, which hobby shop was it that the TCA captain 'Ray' left his Aeroplane at?  Any idea yet as to his surname?

[Frank v B]

It was John's Hobbies on Danforth just east of Woodbine in the city.  I am trying to drop by there today unless some customer emergency gets in the way.
He was going to try and find out his last name.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Start covering!  Yeah.

Started with the tail feathers since they came glued in place.  Found two rolls of Solarfilm yellow so will use it.
Will cover the fuse first because it is the most difficult.  Will also leave the back bottom of the fuse open so I can feed the pushrod to the elevator and rudder.

Approach:
Fuse covering
- top to bottom (turtle deck first, sides second, bottom 3rd).
- yellow first, black last  (always cover with lightest colour first, especially with Solarfilm because it is lower in opacity (lighter weight) compared to MonoKote (heavier).
- if there are any vertical joints in the fuse covering, start at the back so overlaps are down-wind.

Wings:
- first step: corners of the ailerons on the wing.
- bottom of the wing next
- top of the wing last
Wings are covered in left and right halves, joined at the center.  This is to accommodate the dihedral and sweep.

Note: none of the covering in the photos has been heat-shrunk yet.  Once I finish the covering I then heat-gun the covering and do my last quality inspections.

Frank

[RogMason]

Great Frank!  Starting to look like a Tiger Moth! Can't wait to see the finished thing.

It will be a great day when you invite Capt. Ray '?' to the field to stand beside you for the maiden flight. We'll have to make sure we record the event.

[Frank v B]

Taking shape!!

note; the covering has not been shrunk yet, just applied and sealed at the edges.

Frank

[davidk]

So pretty!

[Frank v B]

Wings next:
Note: cover the bottoms of the wing(s) first so that the covering on the top will curl over the leading and trailing edge and the seam will not be visible.

step 1- cover the inside corners of the wing tip where the ailerons end.  Photo 42
step 2- cover the wing at the edges.  See photo 44
step 3- do a 45-ish degree cut and fold and seal the covering to the trailing edge.  The covering of the inside corners in step 1 will now be covering the raw balsa.  See photo 45

Two bloody wings.  Arghh!

Frank

[GuyOReilly]

Very nice Frank!
Glad to see you are making the best of this bad weather. 

[bweaver]

Guy - Yes, very nice. 

What bad weather?