iowaboy
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- Joined
- Feb 21, 2008
- Messages
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Hi Guys and Gals,
I am hoping for your support to complete my first homebuilt airplane! I have lurked on this forum for a while and see all the good advice. I need it!
Long story but my second chance to build a Great Lakes is a reality! I had a project 10 or so years ago. It was a real nice one. But I thought there is no way I can afford to finish it on my salary. Well I sold it, big mistake. 2 Months ago I aquired a welded up Great Lakes fuselage with some other parts in New Mexico.
Last week I purchased a set of plans with a bunch of the hard to make parts for the compression end fittings and compression tubes for a very reasonable price. A fellow in Oregon had bought the plans and the fittings and compression tubes in the 1970s.
I had asked a month or two ago on this forum if anyone had a wood truss wing drawing for a Great Lakes. NO one had one. I emailed Harvey Swack the Great Lakes Guru who is in his 90s now. He got the plans for the Lakes put together and started selling plans to homebuilders in the late 60s or so. He said there was a wood truss drawing that he had drawn up. Havey said he sent out about 5 or 6 of the drawings. But when Cliff Liesey a GL engineer, who helped design the Lakes heard Harvey had the wood truss rib he ripped into Harvey and said don't sell any!
Today I got a chance to open up my Great Lakes drawings...and about the second sheet I saw was the wood truss rib drawing with all of the directions on how to build all the wood ribs in lengths etc! My jaw must of hit the floor! I was so excited! I can't believe the Lord would help me find a set of plans that had the wood truss rib!!!! WOW! Now I can start making wood ribs. I have some spruce to cut up in strips. SO I Have some Questions
1. Does the 1/4 X1/4 spruce or fir strips need to be aircraft grade wood?
2. The wood rib drawing shows mostly rounded 1/16 gussets. Do they have to be round or can they be square or rectangle?
3. Does the grain of the 1/16 plywood gussetts have to go a certain way on the rib?
4. What plywood did you use for your nose ribs? Someone used 1/4 in 5 ply birch plywood Menards lumber sold for sub floor...anyone use that?
5. I am going to use T88 glue. I have some ordered. How warm does the shop need to be for it to cure right?
6. What did you put on the bottom of your rib jig so the glue would not stick there?
I am going to try to show some photos. But I don't know that I know how to do it yet
If this google link worked in my google photos this should be the fuselage on trailer in New Mexico when I was bringing it home to Iowa
.
Below is the fuselage in my garage
Below should be a photo of the wood truss rib
Thanks for your help.
Mike Townsley
in Iowa
I am hoping for your support to complete my first homebuilt airplane! I have lurked on this forum for a while and see all the good advice. I need it!
Long story but my second chance to build a Great Lakes is a reality! I had a project 10 or so years ago. It was a real nice one. But I thought there is no way I can afford to finish it on my salary. Well I sold it, big mistake. 2 Months ago I aquired a welded up Great Lakes fuselage with some other parts in New Mexico.
Last week I purchased a set of plans with a bunch of the hard to make parts for the compression end fittings and compression tubes for a very reasonable price. A fellow in Oregon had bought the plans and the fittings and compression tubes in the 1970s.
I had asked a month or two ago on this forum if anyone had a wood truss wing drawing for a Great Lakes. NO one had one. I emailed Harvey Swack the Great Lakes Guru who is in his 90s now. He got the plans for the Lakes put together and started selling plans to homebuilders in the late 60s or so. He said there was a wood truss drawing that he had drawn up. Havey said he sent out about 5 or 6 of the drawings. But when Cliff Liesey a GL engineer, who helped design the Lakes heard Harvey had the wood truss rib he ripped into Harvey and said don't sell any!
Today I got a chance to open up my Great Lakes drawings...and about the second sheet I saw was the wood truss rib drawing with all of the directions on how to build all the wood ribs in lengths etc! My jaw must of hit the floor! I was so excited! I can't believe the Lord would help me find a set of plans that had the wood truss rib!!!! WOW! Now I can start making wood ribs. I have some spruce to cut up in strips. SO I Have some Questions
1. Does the 1/4 X1/4 spruce or fir strips need to be aircraft grade wood?
2. The wood rib drawing shows mostly rounded 1/16 gussets. Do they have to be round or can they be square or rectangle?
3. Does the grain of the 1/16 plywood gussetts have to go a certain way on the rib?
4. What plywood did you use for your nose ribs? Someone used 1/4 in 5 ply birch plywood Menards lumber sold for sub floor...anyone use that?
5. I am going to use T88 glue. I have some ordered. How warm does the shop need to be for it to cure right?
6. What did you put on the bottom of your rib jig so the glue would not stick there?
I am going to try to show some photos. But I don't know that I know how to do it yet
If this google link worked in my google photos this should be the fuselage on trailer in New Mexico when I was bringing it home to Iowa
.
Below is the fuselage in my garage
Below should be a photo of the wood truss rib
Thanks for your help.
Mike Townsley
in Iowa
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