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Make sure you build a left and a right wing !
If you break any of the ply spars (easy to do if not careful), when you reglue them, use the frame from which the spars were extracted to ensure the correct alignment.
Extract the main ply wing spar 3 (2 parts) from the sheet and glue together - use a rule to align.
Extract the rear ply wing spar 18 (2 parts) from the sheet and glue together - use a rule to align. You may like to veneer the join on one side with some thin ply (1mm) as the spar is a little fragile.
Extract the 3mm ply leading edge 2 (2 parts) from the sheet and glue together - use a rule to align.
Pine spars
10x4 mm (not 15x4 mm as the schematic states)
There are two of these (one top and one bottom) ahead of the main ply spar. There are six 1m lengths of 10x4mm pine (for both wings). Use these to fashion two approximately 1.5m lengths for this wing using a splice joint (there is just enough length to make a reasonable length splice joint).
8x2 mm
There is one of these at the bottom rear. There are three 1m lengths of 8x2mm pine (for both wings). Use these to fashion one approximately 1.5m length for this wing using a splice joint (there is plenty of length to make a reasonable length splice joint as this spar terminates at rib B2).
Extract the 2 decks from the sheet.
Extract all the ply ribs from the sheet.
Note that the wing schematic has left out two ribs. It is rib A17 (not A15) that is joined to tip-rib B1
Note that rib A4 is partial (front) only
Glue together ribs A17 and B1 ensuring correctly aligned.
Glue together ribs A1 and A2 ensuring correctly aligned.
Make sure now that the wing joining brass tube fits through all of the holes in ribs A1-8. Use a hole reamer to widen slightly as needed. You need just enough slop to get it through the holes and allow some epoxy to get in there as well.
Test fit (no glue) main structures
Insert the ribs into the main notched spar and make sure all seated correctly.
Make sure the joined A1&A2 are rotated 7 degrees per the angle in the spar notch (for dihedral). You may have to adjust, very slightly, the notches to ensure this.
Insert the decks (rotate the ribs at the base to just fit) from below.
Insert the leading edge ply. Make sure it is seated all the way into the notches leaving room for the dowel to come later
Insert the rear ply spar and make sure its seated correctly in all ribs. Adjust any notches if needed.
Insert just the top 10x4mm ply spar and make sure it is seated correctly in all ribs. Adjust any seats as needed.
Check all alignments
right angle at wing root
leading and trailing edges straight
decks fully inserted in slots
the rear part (behind the front ply spar) of the ribs should be flat on the building board
there is gentle washout in the tip for the horizontal main ply spar from rib B1 (that is, B2 and B3 are not flat on the board).
Glueing together the main spar and rib structures
Some glues set quite quickly (e.g. glues like TiteBond). For this reason and because there are a lot of components, I did the glueing one section at a time (and I use TiteBond).
Glue the ribs (except root and tip) into the main ply spar. For the decks, join them to the two appropriate ribs, and glue them in as a pair.
To ensure alignment, insert (but don't glue) the rear ply spar, the top pine spar and the curved ply leading edge. Use a square to double check the ribs are perpendicular to the main spar.
Weight down the rear sections of the ribs (which are flat against the building board) as far as rib B1 (as the tip section rises)
Glue in the rear ply spar.
Now carefully glue in the root rib, making sure that it is set at 7 degrees for the dihedral (this is made easy by the shaped notches in the ply spars).
Now glue in the top 10x4mm pine spar (except for the tip rib) and secure with largish spring clamps if needed.
Turn the wing over
Glue in the front pine spar - this is the time to glue in the tip rib B3 and also to glue it to the top pine spar. This is because you can clamp the top and bottom pine spars together (so there are symmetric forces across the fragile rib). Make sure of course that the tip rib is seated correctly in the vertical ply spar notch - you need a clamp on that and a clamp on the top and bottom spars. It helps to also have the leading edge ply inserted when you do this as it makes sure the tip rib is correctly vertical. You can secure the main length with largish spring clamps if needed and light clamps for the end.
Glue in the rear pine spar and hold with light spring clamps.
Finally, check the fit of the ply leading edge and glue in. If needed, use elastic bands to hold tension on the leading edge to ensure it remains fully in its rib slots.
Because the root rib is rotated 7degrees, the bottom (and top) of that rib is not flat compared to the other adjacent ribs. You can help the upper/lower sheeting fit better at the root rib by carefully sanding the top and bottom of the rib to make it flat compared to the adjacent ribs.
Leading edge dowel
There will be a small gap between the ply and dowel leading edges. You can close this gap by some very careful sanding of the rib notches, mainly the upper part.
Cut one of the 1m leading edge dowel lengths in half. If you have appropriate tools joing it to one of the 1m sections with a splice joint. If you can't do that easily, we will just butt join it when gluing in.
The dowel will bend easily as far as rib B2. To get it to bend further you will need to steam it, bend it and pin it as it cools. Although there is no notch in rib B3 to receive the dowel, it will abut the wing tip when you finally attach that and this will secure it.
Glue in the dowel from the root rib and hold in place with elastic bands. The glue attachment points are primarily the ribs, but possibly also the ply leading edge if you have opened the rib notches a little.
Tip trailing edge
Ply
Glue in the trailing edge ply seating it in the slots in ribs B1, B2 and B3. Trim off the excess ply.
Sheeting
The sheeting starts at rib B1.
Upper - the notch in the sheeting locates the sheeting in rib B2. I found with this locator that the sheeting extended over the top of tip rib B3 (which I don't think is consistent with the rest of the way the sheeting sits with the ribs). Adjust as appropriate for your kit and glue on.
Lower - the notch in the sheeting locates the sheeting in rib B2. Adjust where it meets the tip rib B3 as needed for your kit and glue on.
Trailing edge sheeting
Lower
Join the two pieces with glue. You may like to veneer some thin balsa (<1mm) sheet over the join for strength.
The sheeting extends only as far as the start of rib B1 (where the TE sheeting is already in place). Glue in the lower sheeting by placing it flat on your board and positioning the wing above. Hold down the wing so the sheeting gets good contact with the ribs.
I also dangled the root rib over the edge of my board and used clamps to make sure the root rib and sheeting mated as well as possible (because of the above mentioned rotation).
You will need to sand the join with the tip sheeting as the tip sheeting is a bit thicker.
Upper
Join the two pieces with glue. You may like to veneer some thin balsa (<1mm) sheet over the join for strength.
When you glue on make sure there is no gap between the lower and upper sheeting at the TE, so hold down as appropriate.
Tubing
Epoxy the brass wing joiner tube in place (you must of course do this before attaching the upper sheeting).
Leading edge sheeting
Lower
Join the two pieces with glue
Lightly and the edge abutting the spar as needed to make sure its a good fit
The sheeting in my kit was not long enough (about 2mm). I aligned it with the tip rib as there was a little overlap with the double thickness root rib. Then later after it was all glued in I added a 2mm strip at the root of the root rib.
The sheeting in my kit barely reaches the dowel, so it does not mate well with it. I made little feet (about 3mm wide) which I glued behind the dowel and sanded to the profile of the ribs (this took a long time!). The sheet would then mate well with those feet and be secure with minimal gap at the dowel.
Use a slow enough drying glue (e.g. PVA) as there is a lot of glue to get down
To hold it all down you can use masking tape (light stick) wrapped all around the front part of the wing tightly enough to hold the sheeting against the little balsa feet behind the dowel
Upper
Join the two pieces with glue
Lightly sand the edge abutting the spar as needed to make sure its a good fit
The sheeting in my kit was not long enough (about 2mm). I aligned it with the tip rib as there was a little overlap with the double thickness root rib. Then later after it was all glued in, I added a 2mm strip at the root of the root rib.
The sheeting in my kit barely reaches the dowel, so it does not mate well with it. As for the lower sheeting, I made little balsa feet which I glued behind the dowel and sanded to the profile of the ribs.
Pre-shape the sheeting by wetting and then holding roughly in place with tape. Leave to dry overnight.
Use a slow enough drying glue (e.g. PVA) as there is a lot of glue to get down
Glue on and hold down the sheeting as appropriate making sure it mates with the balsa feet glued in begind the dowel. I found masking tape (light stick) wrapped all around the front part of the wing provided enough force to hold the sheeting against the ribs and feet.
Gently sand the LE sheeting around the dowel to ensure a good shape. You will most likely need to use some light-weight filler along the dowel/sheeting join to make a good shape.
Wing Tips
The supplied wing tips are not thick enough. Cut roughly to shape some 3mm balsa sheet and laminate the tip with an extra layer. Trim and sand to shape.
Make sure the tip and rib mates well and glue on the tip. Just one clamp is sufficient near the centre.
Sand down to shape.
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