Leading edge wing tips.

[Peter Collin]

A friend of mine is in need of a left and right leading edge wing tip. Univair, Spruce or Wag don't have them. Any ideas? New or used.

Thanks.

Peter

[astjp2]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

Pre or post war? I have a mold for fiberglass prewar ones...Tim

[Guest]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

A friend of mine is in need of a left and right leading edge wing tip. Univair, Spruce or Wag don't have them. Any ideas? New or used.

Thanks.

Peter

What is a leading edge wing tip?

I know I am going to regret asking this.

[astjp2]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

Dave, its the curved one that transitions from the bow to the regular leading edge. The prewar ones were like 5 pieces of metal that were screwed together to form the curve. Tim

[Guest]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

okay thanks Tim!

I think mine are formed from two halves of aluminum and welded.

I forgot about that part.

Thanks, Dave

[Peter Collin]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

Thanks guys. He needs the 2 piece units. It's a post war model.
I guess he could make some sort of mold from the old ones, and make new fiberglass tips or try to repair the them. There is a lot of corrosion from mouse urin.

Thanks

Peter

[freightpilot27]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

I had only one set from the right wing tip. Since they are unavailable or nearly impossible to find, I made a mold from bondo and used that to hammer out 2 new sets. Quite a bit of work, but done in less than a day (after the bondo cured overnight).
I'm also doing this with a borrowed set of engine baffles.
I used 3003H-14 .020 for the tips and .040 for the baffles.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

Hammering onto a Bondo buck is not that hard. Just use SOFT aluminum and go SLOWLY. When we say it will take a day, it takes A DAY. Rush it with hard blows and you will harden and tear the aluminum, crack the buck and convince yourself only a master metal worker could do it. NOT TRUE! With patience and a soft touch you can make almost anything from a flat sheet.
It took a couple of tries to make my panel, but it was done from a flat sheet of aluminum, a leather shot bag, an MDF form and a few plastic hammers. IT ISN'T THAT HARD!
Hank

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

And it doesn't hurt to anneal the metal from time to time. How? Glad you asked!

Go to your welding supply store and purchase Tempil Sticks for 490 degrees F. That will be about right. Mark on the area to be annealed with the Tempil stick and then heat it with a torch - a wide flame on a Mapp Gas torch is plenty good, you don't need acetylene. (Yes you can use the carbon black method if you prefer, but I'm not going into that here.)

When the Tempil marking melts or changes to a brown color then that is enough heat. Let the metal cool and then keep tapping on it. Like hank said, it isn't hard to do, but it takes time.

[Pearson]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

Are you planning on using a male or female bondo buck? Will you then have it heat treated afterward?

I have been thinking about trying to do something like this for my heat muff. I think Univair want over $700 for a new one. From your experience would something like that be best done with a female buck?

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

I made the instrument panel parts on three male bucks, I guess. The main panel had the top corner areas recessed, so I guess you could call that a female buck part on a male buck.
I have used male and female bucks, depends on what you want to do.
Hank

OK, I have left a weeks worth of openings there for the low thinkers in the group. Have fun.

Yep, I bang both ways (with sheet metal).

[astjp2]

Re: Leading edge wing tips.

Are you planning on using a male or female bondo buck? Will you then have it heat treated afterward?

I have been thinking about trying to do something like this for my heat muff. I think Univair want over $700 for a new one. From your experience would something like that be best done with a female buck?

they are almost dead soft....no heat treat needed maybe annealed at most. TIm