WING
Cochrane, Alberta, Canada
Building A New Project Starting February 98
I am building my wing in the EX format 25' 8" long (26' 8" with
tips on) which means it is the longer wing by 4 feet over the SP
(sport) version. I am making my spar and wing in one piece rather than the 3 section method that allows builders to construct in a two car garage.
The spar is a box spar type. The center section is a box of 14 feet long with the outer
6' 8" sections being a "C" shape. Spar has a top cap of 23 layers of special S2 glass cloth and a lower cap similar but with 16 layers of this special S2
unidirectional cloth. The spar then gets foam shear webs front and back and has multiple layers
of fiberglass cloth on the inside and outside to finish it.
Below shows the angled table in the foreground that was used to build the angled top cap
lay ups and then after a angle change the bottom cap lay ups.
Here the table has been modified and is now the flat table for the
construction of the spar itself which will include the top and bottom cap and the forward and aft shear webs. The flat table allows for spar construction to exact dimensions.
Here the spar has the top cap on the right the bottom cap is on the left and the aft shear web is in place and glassed in. The clamps are holding blocks of wood 1.5" by 9" that have duct tape on the lower surface. A L shaped flange of 4 bid fiberglass has been
layer up under the blocks and will be the flange to later support the forward shear web panel.
Below the first group of L shaped flanges are in place and the internal
support blocks are glassed into place. The two Phenolic 3x5 inch hard points were installed where the wing mounting bolts will go through (not shown).
All L shaped flange surfaces are in place. I have bonded an end plate onto
the spar where the box ends and the C section begins to cap off any fuel from
getting into spar interior. These two end covers were bonded in with liberal
structural adhesive and then glassed over. A further cloth lay-up inside of the
tank for sealing will cover this end cover again and then fuel tank sealer.
Spar was inspected prior to closing on May 19, 2004 by one of our Canadian MDRA inspectors.
Front shear web is made up, glassed and custom shaped to a custom fit onto
the front of spar. Two Phenolic 3x5 inch hard points were installed into this
front face of the spar as well. Right photo shows the front shear web
bonded into place with structural adhesive. The stepped layers of bid were
then layer up onto the front of the spar wrapping over onto the top and bottom caps.
Update (without) photos. After glassing over the front shear web the spar
was flipped and the aft web prepared and glassed with the proper step layers of
bid on that side. Spar was post cured in heat box and then was outside for 7 hot
days in the sun with black plastic wrapped over it. Tips of spar were trimmed
and squared off preparing for the tip rib installation.
Final spar weight is 54.8 pounds. Total man hours to build spar including the building of the support tables was
171 hours. I had help for two days to lay up the unidirectional layers for top and bottom caps.
I have been working on the forward section of the wing which will carry fuel the full length. It has been a slow process as I take great care to ensure well sealed fuel bays. I am using the full length capacitance fuel sender units made by "Electronics International", the hole for these can be seen with the guide embedded into each rib.
Each hole through a rib was cored back 1/2 inch and filled with micro and then sealed over with a thin layer of structural adhesive. The inner two bays have a fuel anti slosh gate on them to stop outward flow of fuel from these areas. The gates have a 1/4 inch gap below them in case they were ever to become stuck, thus still allowing flow. The fuel bays will have a couple of coatings of fuel sealer in them before closing off the tops. Upper holes in ribs are the air passage holes.
October 15, 2006
Below shows the fuel bays and top skins coated in two coats of "Jeffco" Tank Sealant. The top skins are coated as well and are laying off to the left in photo. Top skins are bonded down using structural adhesive from Industrial Formulators in BC, Canada it is called "Powerfil 10EH".
With all top skins now on, it was time for the pressure test to see how many leaks I would have to deal with. The water tube has water in it and is connected to the tank vent on the outer end of the wing. The tank is pressurized with a small pressure so as to lift the water in the tube to a height of less that 3 feet. This is to take care to not overpressureize the tanks. The photo only shows the hand pump end of tank pressure line.
February 2, 2007 ***Not A Single Leak on either side Yahooo***
Below is the now completed 'Vision' built by Sean Ponsonby with a IO-320 Lycoming engine and now flying in Florida
Photos of my "Vision" aircraft construction will be posted from time to time
End Of Photo Log
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