Source for Spar stock?

[mhorowit]

Assume for a moment I"m going to need to replace my aileron spar.
Aircraft Spruce for sure is a supplier.
Anyother suppliers you'd care to recommend?

What's a "capstrip?

[VictorBravo]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

Wicks Aircraft Supply may have wood. A capstrip is a small spar or reinforcement that goes on top or below anothr piece that has the grain (and strength) running in a different direction. I. E. if you have a plywood wing rib that needs additional strangth in the lifting direction, you'd put a Spruce capstrip along the upper and lower edge. Basically it is the same principle as a "spar cap" on an I-beam spar, but smaller.

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

If you have a good harwood lumber store near you, they may have spruce. You could also use douglas fir with slightly different dimensions. CAM 18 and or AC43.13 1B will give the grain deviation requirements for spar stock.

Mike

[mhorowit]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

If you have a good harwood lumber store near you, they may have spruce. You could also use douglas fir with slightly different dimensions. CAM 18 and or AC43.13 1B will give the grain deviation requirements for spar stock.

Mike

Some of the discussions I"ve read concerning fibre compression occuring when the tree 'bounces' on felling tend to make me want to go to an a/c source, thinking they will be able to better judge the quality of the wood. - Mike

[Jim Herpst]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

Mike

I WAS a believer for WICKS. Then I found I could make the drive over to Atlanta and save the shipping charges from Aircraft Spruce and Speciality(I live in South Carolina) However your location I found better prices and comparabe quality. DO GET A GRADERS REPORT. Mine are on the clip wing (all 12 feet !!!! ) Good luck and yes stick with Aircraft stuff here !!!!!

[mhorowit]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

Mike
However your location I found better prices and comparabe quality. DO GET A GRADERS REPORT. Mine are on the clip wing (all 12 feet !!!! ) Good luck and yes stick with Aircraft stuff here !!!!!

Jim - you're confusing me. What about my location (DC)? No supplier of A/C quality spruce here as far as I know. - Mike

[VictorBravo]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

Mike, one thing to remember. For a given physical size the Douglas Fir is a little heavier but a little stronger. So if you choose to do the Fir spars, you will have a little extra strength, but you will gain a few pounds. If you are making a concerted effort to save weight like some pre-war restorations, then Spruce will help. If cost or ultimate strength is the biggie (i. e. you are eventually putting the 85HP engine in as you should be doing), then the Fir may be an excellent choice.

Of course this is related more to whole wing spars and not aileron spars...

[Richard Boyer]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

I have Fir spars (john h built them I think). I have yet to rip the wings off....

[N96337]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

My aileron spars are Douglas Fir... just a tiny bit heavier, but a bunch stronger! I keep the dimensions the same from Spruce to Fir... In a wing spar, you'd gain appreciable weight, but on the ailerons, it's not very noticeable. If you're not totally comfortable evaluating your own wood Mike, by all means get it from A/C Spruce and you'll know that it's good, and you can rest easy when you hit those bumps!
Richard, Mark and I gave those wings a really good test on the way up here from Vegas too... and they'll go alot further than I will when it comes to bumps!!!
JH

[melndav]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

Check with John at Big Sky Stearman in Oregon. He can mill douglas fir to your specs, and he does a really great job of packaging and shipping them to you. We installed douglas fir wing spars on our last Cub project and, as I recall, when we weighed them the fir spar was just under 2 lbs heavier than the original, so an aileron spar would be nearly the same weight as the original.

[Richard Boyer]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

John,

I flew back from Houston to Georgetown (usually takes around 1.4) once and got beat all to hell. Boy was was that a rough 40 minutes! I think my ground speed was around 130 to 140!

I really tested those suckers that day.

[high time cub]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

Mike, Try Sequoia Aircraft Corp....Just down the road from you!

http://www.seqair.com/

Jim

[N96337]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

John,

I flew back from Houston to Georgetown (usually takes around 1.4) once and got beat all to hell. Boy was was that a rough 40 minutes! I think my ground speed was around 130 to 140!

I really tested those suckers that day.

HEHEHE... on the very first flight, Mark got his headset knocked off by some shear out on that desert by Boulder City... he was still rubbing his head when he came back...they're plenty strong! We also got POUNDED coming through the "gap" from Utah into Pocatello, ID... the GPS "time to next" kept going UP!! She got to spend the night nestled along side a P51 in a hangar that night!
JH

[Jim Herpst]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

Mike if you are confused by the quote you quoted me on (and I could see why given you did not include the full context of my earlier post) Please RE-read my entire post. Earlier post. You see I explained that I could DRIVE to ASS (Aircraft Spruce& Speciality) and save the shipping charges from Wicks Also ASS had better prices (at least earlier in the year this year) There hope its clear now..... Dont srcew around with the local lumber yard unless you really know what you are doing.... Best to you in your re-building efforts

[mhorowit]

Re: Source for Spar stock?

Mike, Try Sequoia Aircraft Corp....Just down the road from you!

http://www.seqair.com/

Jim

Jim - thanks, but they just have enuf for their own use - MIke