Some wing progress

[cbcfly]

Re: Some wing progress

Now that is some useful information. Thanks Mark. Amazon - 20 yards of it, to my house in two days, $8.96.

btw.. should be wrapping up my Bonanza annual shortly. My shipment of new spar blanks from Spruce is scheduled to arrive this Friday. Hopefully progress is right around the corner.

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Some wing progress

No, it will spread the wires, just wrap each wire with 1-2 wraps of cloth tape and tie together with nomex string. The tape is where they have electrical tape at ace hardware. That is what they used originally and is pliable enough to not deform or chaff the drag/antidrag wires. tim

Cotton Friction Tape -- 3M product number 1755

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Some wing progress

Drude, you are remembering a different plane. I have seen several wing tanks that the wires cross through like the Taylorcraft main (so don't worry, you are not joining me in Old Timers Disease). The difference in those is the wire ENDS are raised and lowered to provide the clearance.

Hank

Re: Some wing progress

I was wrong about that, the cross over is outside of the tank.

Dave R

Re: Some wing progress

Take a look at a wing tank installation and see how much wire spread they have there.

Tanks are usually near the root where the wire tension is the greatest.

Tanks often have two aluminum tubes that go thru it, one for each wire to provide a path for the wire.

I bet that spreads the wire quite a bit.

Dave R

[astjp2]

Re: Some wing progress

No, it will spread the wires, just wrap each wire with 1-2 wraps of cloth tape and tie together with nomex string. The tape is where they have electrical tape at ace hardware. That is what they used originally and is pliable enough to not deform or chaff the drag/antidrag wires. tim

[cbcfly]

Re: Some wing progress

Thanks for the pic Rob. I see what you mean now. Right now I'm thinking a two inch length of nylon tubing on each wire, laced like you've pictured with rib lacing cord, would have the same effect, and be a lot faster/easier. Thoughts?

[astjp2]

Re: Some wing progress

Nomex string or rib lacing chord only.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Some wing progress

Only because it seems to be the first thing many guys reach for. Not pointing fingers at someone here. I have just seen some really strange things on the wings I am breaking down. Stuff that would make me shiver if I saw it on an annual. Same with the fuselage I was breaking down that had so many problems we ended up cutting it up. I don't want to loose a friend again and a lot of the guys are starting to do a lot of their own maintenance. What looks insane to someone with experience often looks perfectly normal to a new guy and our A&Ps and IAs can't catch everything.

Hank

[Robert Lees]

Re: Some wing progress

I would NOT use safety wire!!!!

No-one is suggesting that, so why bring it up?

Rob

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Some wing progress

That is neat. Last time I saw them was on a WW-1 plane! LOTS of them on a Jenny. Never thought of using them on ours, but much better than the factory tape wraps. I would NOT use safety wire!!!! DO it with rib cord or shoe laces (from "official" FAA approved flight boots of course) NOT wire that could cause corrosion too.

[Robert Lees]

Re: Some wing progress

...I'm having a hard time visualizing your thin plywood circle Rob, a pic would be helpful.

Hello Brian,
This is the sort of thing I meant (these are square, and not on my aeroplane. They are also not very neat, and should be varnished of course :rolleyes2.

The purpose is to spread any load, or potential load, or potential chafing along that short length of each wire, rather than promoting a single point of contact where they cross.



The above photo is from a Pitts that I am helping restore, and upon complettion these will be a little better presented.

Regards,
Rob

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Some wing progress

Tim, drop me a line and maybe we can work together. I'm going to need a whole set + of stick ribs so one way or another I may have to make some from scratch. Maybe we can work together. Two sets at once will be easier than two sets independently. Several of us have been looking at a run of the "T" stock and using a good rib to make a fixture.

Hank

[cbcfly]

Re: Some wing progress

Tim - Hank beat you to the punch with a pm about the stick ribs. I'm gonna hold on to them for a little while though, just to see if I have any parts needs that pop up that I might use them to trade for.

Thanks for the pointers about the wires. I'll definitely check for clearance with washout applied. They originally had some friction tape wrapped around them where they cross. I'm having a hard time visualizing your thin plywood circle Rob, a pic would be helpful. There were no signs of wear or damage underneath the tape. Seems to have worked pretty well for the first 70 years. That's probably what I'll go back with.

I did pick up four welded steel aileron hinges - 2 bell crank hinges, and 2 of the plain hinges. After bead blasting and inspection, my magnesium ones really aren't in bad shape. I planning to use the best two. Each wing will have one Magnesium and two Steel hinges, unless I run across two more steel ones pretty soon.

[Robert Lees]

Re: Some wing progress

As an additional comment, don't use lacing cord to tie the two wires together where they cross. Make a 1/32 thick plywood circle, about 1.5 inches dia, with four holes, that sits between the crossed wires, and lace it snugly in place (but not tight), to prevent any potential chafing, but which still allows a small amount of movement. A square one will do also.

Unprotected and tightly wrapped (even with electricians tape or similar), the crossed wires will eventually make a single-point-of-contact, which might create a stress-raiser, and if tied tightly together, there is no flexibility allowed due to flight loads, wing flexing and temperature changes.

I'll try to remember to get a photo in the next few days.

Rob