1/10th scale Blackburn Beverley.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Lost some time today, had a phone call from the hospital, they needed an arm full of blood for some tests.

However, I managed to get the No. 2 aerofoils cut and one No. 3. The 3 and 5 aerofoils are similar as they accommodate the engine nacelle bearers, that is the long bit sticking out at the front. This will have a 1" x 1/2" beech bearer stuck to it that will be fixed to the main spar as well. The combined strength should be excellent. The No. 4 aerofoil will have the shape of the nacelle as part of it, all will become clear in a day or two. There is still a bit of design work for this, so the initial shape could be a bit wrong, but will provide a starting point, rather like the boom frames did! The No 3, 4 and 5 frames then have the nacelle bulkhead attached to them. The bulkhead you can see in the picture is just a blank, not yet finished to size. I will attach four m6 captive nuts to each bulkhead for the eventual motor attachments.

It is difficult to see in the photos, but the aerofoil frames are gradually getting smaller.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

More time gobbling work! I am reasonably pleased with this today. I have cut the remaining No. 3 frame and only one No. 4 frame today which has a small error to sort out tomorrow. I spotted this as I was taking the last picture!

The dry run gives a bit of perspective to the job and gives the opportunity to check the alignment.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Very repetitive and all that, but all aerofoil frames to No's. 5 are now cut. Still a bit of finishing off to do and will need some adjustments when fitting to the spar. The beech bearers turned up today, so nothing to hold up the progress.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Had a good day, made three and a half pairs of frames, the S9 to mark and cut tomorrow. Frame No's. 10, 11 and 12 are the outer engine nacelle positions. The nacelle frames are made from birch ply for strength. This stuff is more difficult to cut and therefore takes a bit longer to make.

The picture shows another dry run. The frames may not be in their absolute correct position, but reasonably positioned. A couple of them need slight adjustment to line up properly. I have to cut off the flap potion of some of the frames but first need to make sure of the exact sizes. Three flap frames each side will be replaced by fibre glass sheet for the hinges.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Made four frames today, S9, P10, S10 and P11. Not too sure if P11 is correct? I hope it is cos it is big and gobbles up the material! Perhaps it just needs a tweak? I'll check it tomorrow.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Made the No. S11 frame today but have not completed the back end of it. I appear to have developed an error. The front end of the frames are reasonably well lined up but do need some tweaking. The biggest problem seems to be at the rear ends. You can see from the first picture that the rear end of frame No. S6 is not in line, I need to investigate why this is. The datum and angles remain constant but these errors still show up? There are similar problems on the Port Side.

I am considering making the frames to the flap hinge positions, and then making the flap frames as a separate project? It may be prudent to make to frames No 13, build the wings to this point and then make the remaining six frames when the first portion is in order? These last six frames make up the outer wing mounting box, so need to be given special attention to ensure squareness.

[John Rickett]

Malcolm,

To ensure alignment, and that each wing half is the same, why not build the wings on a flat board. You can pack up the spar so that its level and the bottoms of the ribs just clear the board, then cut a tapered strip of wood which will sit under the rear edges of the ribs. This way all the rib tips will be in line and you can incorporate the desired washout at the same time.

By checking that the false leading edge is straight as you go along you will end up with a perfectly aligned wing. Use the same packing pieces (reversed) for the opposite side and you will have two equal, but opposite, wings.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thank you John. You are absolutely correct and I would hope to produce some kind of jig to assemble the wings. The problem I have at the moment is that I need to remove the errors. If I do not sort this out first, then there is no type of jig that would cause the ribs to line up! What I must do now is to work out why the errors have occurred, and then eradicate them!

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

All done to frame No's. 13 both sides. From here on I will be checking the frames for accuracy (some are not), when repairs are done, then prepare for assembly. I say repairs, but there are several other things to sort out, such as access for the flaps control. It is possible that when I start to look at these things, I may have to alter my planned strategy? It all seems like a good idea at the mo, but if it means firstly making the six remaining frames (each side), then I will do that.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Didn't do any work today, and I do not envisage doing any for another day or two. I have another Hospital appointment tomorrow (Tuesday) at Nottingham to have a shufty scope shoved down my neck to check my lungs and take samples? I need to get my head around sorting out the errors on the wings. The task seems quite daunting but I will sort it and have some fresh ideas in my head. I may have to re-think my strategy altogether and will use this break to think things through. I may be a bit groggy tomorrow after the procedure, so will be back on here when I've something new to tell you.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Whilst I am hanging around waiting to go to the hospital, I thought I'd have a play and assembled the model as it is. I had to do it this way on cos it won't fit across the workshop in its length. When the wings are complete I will need to fully assemble it outside. However, I think it is starting to look a bit impressive, if I am allowed to say that myself?

[stuart knowles 1611]

Yes you are, its all looking well.

I have never seen or heard of a wing being built while 'hanging in space' like that. I would look at Johns suggestion above, even if it means a special building board with gaps in to accommodate the nacelle ribs. get the bottom faces of the ribs all flat on the board and then use a long sanding stick to line up the top surfaces. Sheet over the top surface, Turn over - jig up - install all the ancillaries before closing the bottom surface.
your thoughts?
stu k

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Forgive my apparent bolshiness, but I AM NOT BUILDING WINGS! What I am doing is making components for the wings. Some of those components have errors that need eradicating, and all of them are unfinished anyway. Therefore, for a variety of reasons, I am nowhere near ready to build the wings. What you can see in the photographs is a DRY RUN. Dry run means there is no glue, it is merely assembled dry! This facilitates the ability to assess the fit of the parts in relation to each other, so as to work out any adjustments that may be required. I could not possibly imagine trying to build wings (with or without a jig) with ill fitting parts and then trying to put it all right at that stage. Once assembled and glued together, I want to have the minimal amount of fettling as possible.

However, I am grateful for your interest and I do absorb the ideas and suggestions that you give me, your comments are not wasted, but I do want to be clear about what I am doing.

[stuart knowles 1611]

OK mate, crack on!

[Phil Clark]

Without jigging the 'components' together on a FLAT surface as John & Stuart have suggested, you have no way of knowing if your components are accurate. Trying to make adjustments with them dangling in mid air will not guaratee a true flying surface

Stuarts suggestion of a flat building surface with nacelle 'gaps' is a perfect solution & one I have used to good effect.

[Steve Mansell]

I know it's a long way off, but give us plenty of notice when she is ready to take to the air. It's a facinating build thread and to see the Bev in the air would round it off nicely.

One question though, what is the foam filling for in the box spar?
Cheers
Steve

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Phil,

At no time have I suggested that I will not use some form of jigging for the wings. I have yet to work out the best way to do this. No doubt some of the suggestions that you have made will play a part in this. Meanwhile for the purpose of assessing the fit of the components, I am relying on the main box spar to provide the necessary datum. The main box spar itself will form part of the jigging arrangement in any case as these are reasonably accurate. It is now a question of deciding whether I construct the wings upside down or right way up.

I cannot express how frustrating it has been making the aerofoil ribs from my own drawings that use common datum and angles, and yet errors still occur! The drawings took months to prepare and I went over them time after time to ensure accuracy, and are basically very good and suitable for purpose, although some design changes are happening as I go. Conversion from a set of two dimensional drawings to three dimensional parts seems to gain or lose something occasionally. My most common error is in converting measurement from the drawings to the work piece, but these usually show up before I cut the piece, but not always! There are some errors that are a complete mystery; these are the ones that sometimes take many hours and even days to fathom out.

As I have already said, there is a lot of work to do before I even think about constructing the wings. This is the point when fear will grip me, the actual construction is the crucial part of the operation, and this is the point when I will need to take another look at your suggestions and those of others that take an interest in this project.

I will not disappoint you.

Steve,

The foam is merely to add to the integrity of the spar. The additional weight is minimal for the extra strength it provides.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thought I'd like to mention my latest cock ups! I made up to frame No's. 16, it was when I slid the 16's onto the box spar that I noticed frame No's. 14 and 15 were wrong. I checked them and notice that the spar mounts were 1/4 inch in the wrong place, which means the whole frame is 1/4 in in the wrong place. This could not be rectified for reasons I will not bore you with, but both these stations were re-usable as frame No's. 17 and 18, so I re-marked them and re-cut them as you can see in the picture. I now have to re-make frames 14 and 15 as well as No 19 which will complete these parts of the wings. Once I have done that, I will then set about fettling the frames to fit properly, removing the flaps portions and preparing to remove wood for the flap control mechanism. I will be able to assess this once all the frames are done. When I am happy with all that, I will then have to think about some sort of jig. This will have its problems as the frames slide to their stations along the spar and then spacers glued in place next to them to form the box, so the assembly will have to be removed from the jig for each frame. This is a very strong set up and is almost self jigging. I need to ensure the box remains square as assembly progresses, and not to end up a diamond shape, so progress will be necessarily slow.

[Phil Clark]

I strongly recommend building & at least sheeting on 1 side the flaps integral to the main wing panel. If you cut the flap ribs off now, building them separately to exactly match the wing & it's washout is NOT easy......build & sheet them as part of the wing, you almost guarantee a good fit.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

I have given that idea some thought, and may still do that. I will first need to cut the flap frames partially through because of the profile. This means lots of final shaping on the assemblies, which will be difficult. Even so, there are three frames each side that have the flap hinges on them and these will be made from glass fibre sheet and fitted separately on the partially assembled flaps.

I will not be building in any washout on this part of the wings, this will be just on the outer sections (about four feet) at about 4 degrees or so?