46 stringers

[at7615]

Getting to work on the 46, there are no stringer mounts on the side of the fuselage, could somebody fill me in on this?

[Ragwing nut]

safety wire in place, notch where needed. later post war got metal stringers and set on a wood block and retained with a spring

[at7615]

Great, I did not tear this one down, have a complete 41 setting next to it but it is different, hence the questions. saw a resto on you tube had hat channel and rib lace. Not building a showplane, building a goplane!

[Hank Jarrett]

Pre war planes had wood stringers that went into welded "U" sections with a cut out for the base of the wood T to fit in. After the war in 45 and early 46 there were a BUNCH of different things tried. The final solution seems to have been the hat section metal stringers with springs. The stringers are just to give form to the fabric and all the methods seem to work pretty well. Many used strips of cotton fabric wrapped around the stringers with wood pieces for spacing. Once the fabric is on it is hard to tell which method was used, and I doubt it matters.

[3Dreaming]

Pre war planes had wood stringers that went into welded "U" sections with a cut out for the base of the wood T to fit in. After the war in 45 and early 46 there were a BUNCH of different things tried. The final solution seems to have been the hat section metal stringers with springs. The stringers are just to give form to the fabric and all the methods seem to work pretty well. Many used strips of cotton fabric wrapped around the stringers with wood pieces for spacing. Once the fabric is on it is hard to tell which method was used, and I doubt it matters.

Hank, the 41 deluxe had the "U" mounts for the stringers, the other pre-war airplanes had the stringers notched and tied to the tubes with lacing cord.

[Hank Jarrett]

I guess I haven't seen other than a Deluxe pre war. The 40 I had we found out had a 46 fuselage with pieces from various years welded into it. It was a mess. Safe and usable, but a STRANGE collection of parts.

[at7615]

Thanks for all the inputs, I like the idea of the hat sections, would like to replace all the wood as there is not much there, going to look at it and see if that is feasable.

[Scott]

Stringers make a big difference to the shape, appearance of the fuselage. Some areas benefit from wood shims, and it's worthwhile spending some time figuring out where contact with the fabric begins and ends so you can reduce the potential for obvious bumps.

I had wood top and bottom and aluminium on the sides. Some pics and info here: http://c-fclr.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_98.html?m=0
Scroll about 3/4 to the bottom of the page under the subheading "Stringers"

[Ryan]

Remember that the stringer pattern also changed in 46 when they converted to the metal stringers in May 46. Most prewars and early 46s with wood had two long stringers with a short one down the fuselage. when the metal came they switched to two short ones with a long one down the fuselage. Top and bottom was also affected. Gives the cabin a much more boxy appearance on late BC12Ds and on...

[Scott]

Good points
there's also a third ( short) side stringer if the D windows are installed.

[at7615]

Stringers make a big difference to the shape, appearance of the fuselage. Some areas benefit from wood shims, and it's worthwhile spending some time figuring out where contact with the fabric begins and ends so you can reduce the potential for obvious bumps.

I had wood top and bottom and aluminium on the sides. Some pics and info here: http://c-fclr.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_98.html?m=0
Scroll about 3/4 to the bottom of the page under the subheading "Stringers"

Awesome, I saw your Tcraft at Oshkosh, it was beautiful!