Hi Mike, I built my wings in my basement, also in a jig. ?I also have an article in one of the KR Newsletters about it. ?I'll try to dig that out this weekend and send it to you. ?I do have less authority than some as I never finished my project. ?It is in a hangar next to a SkyRanger that I built in '07. ?Unfortunately, the SkyRanger is a big distraction for me from finishing my plane. ?(I get all of my KR motivation when I'm along the interstate and watch a semi truck pass beneath me.) ?I tried selling my project last fall on Barnstormers, but had very few people interested in it because it was a KR2, not a KR2S. ?I may still finish it one day, just to get back at those semis on the interstate!
On the wing thing... I will argue with anyone that building the wing separately is by far the best way to build the wing. ?One difference in my technique from the gentleman from CT is that I didn't need to cut the longerons. ?What I did was, I built the outer wing panels, but left the center spars separate. ?My jig clamped the center spars in place, as if they were in a fuselage. ?After the wings were built (not the stub wings), I removed the wings, inserted the center spars into the fuselage, re-installed the wings and controls, glued the spars to the fuselage & then built the stub wings on the fuselage. ?About the only non-plans part of the wing is that I had to glue the plywood ribs to the outer panels (at the joint), rather than on the outboard part of the stub wings. Advantages of using the jig include: 1) You can build in much less space. ?For me, the warm, well lit basement was much better than my cold, dim, garage. 2) No fuselage in the way when leveling the wings, ?setting washout and incidence. 3) You can have the wings in 4 different orientations. ?level, upside down, climbing 90% to ground, or descending 90% to ground. ?Glassing the leading edges was a piece of cake as the wings were pointing upwards. ?Installing the aileron spars was also easy as the wing was pointing down. 4) I was able to install the sling seat and controls in my basement, before disassembling everything and installing the center spars into the fuselage. 5) I was able to carry the completed wings through a 36 inch door when I got done! I'd be happy to give you more information if you want it. ?Unfortunately, I just cut those jigs up this winter. I needed the steel for another project, and figured no one would want to use them as they were getting pretty rusty. Kerwyn P.S. ?If you happen to have the newsletters on CD, you can search my name for that article. ?I'm the only Kerwyn... and I've never met another. On Friday, January 31, 2014 1:21 AM, Mike T <mctaglieri at gmail.com> wrote: I'm still trying to decide whether to build a KR-2 or a Thatcher CX4, a recent single-seat aluminum LSA design.? These two designs aren't as far apart as they seem, because a KR-2 can also be LSA compliant.? It already makes the LSA stall speed if you keep it light, and I could use a smaller VW engine (or just adjust the throttle so the carb doesn't open all the way) to get it down to the LSA top speed someday.? I think the LSA law would le me fly the plane fast for now, then slow it down to make it LSA compliant if I ever get sick of getting medicals. By contrast, he CX4's top speed is 135 mph and the VNE is 155, so it's not even as fast as the fastest LSAs. But whatever plane I build, I want to build it in the living room of my house. As I mentioned here before, I have woodworking and metalworking machines in the basement, but that doesn't leave room for the plane down there.? Also I have a garage, but it has no heat and limited electricity, and sometimes it's wet.? So for much of the year I'd be unable to work there, or I'd have to come home from work and fire up a heater for hours to warm the garage.? But with the plane in the living room, it would be warm, dry, and staring me in the face whenever I came in the door, so I'd have an incentive to keep working on it every day. But there's a problem doing this with a KR: The center spar is so long I'd never be able to get it out again after the spar was installed, so I'd have to move it to the garage after the boat stage.? The spar is so long is to allow for flaps and wing tanks, which I don't want, but trying to change the design of the spar and wings would be way too complicated. So I was all set to give up on the KR2 (and I even bought plans for the CX4) when I saw this article in the KR Newsletter of October, 1984 (#112, p. 3).? This is a guy who built his wings entirely off the plane. He was doing it to make a better wing (and I think he's right).? But doing this would also solve my problem of getting the plane out the door when it's done.? And it would make it easier to build the wings exactly alike by clamping the center spar to the worktable and building both wings at once. (And of course you could flip the spar upside down easily, so you could foam, glass, and finish both sides easily).? Here's the guy's article, between the dotted lines. ----------------------------------- Here's a controversial one!? I am building my wings *out* of the fuselage, on a separate table, in a jig.? I believe I will get a guaranteed true wing, with the correct washout.? This again steals from model-building techniques. To be able to do this at all requires a way to remove the wing from the fuselage, and to reassemble it to the fuselage after construction. You can't obviously, *slide* the wing back into the fuselage spar slots. Here's what I'm doing.? I completely installed the center spars in the fuselage *except* that they *aren't glued.*? Turning the fuselage onto its top, I cut a slot through the bottom of the fuselage so the spars can be lifted out, rather than slid out through the sides.? When the wing is finished, I'll just drop it back into the spar slot.? I'll replace the lower longerons, which had to be cut to replace the spar slot, by gluing a new 5/8 square sub-longeron alongside the one I cut, with a healthy overlap, scarf, and plenty of reinforcing glass cloth. Once the wing is separated in this manner, I can mount the spars on a work table and be sure they are jigged perfectly into the correct dihedral, washout, etc. This technique was worked out by my good friend Charlie North, who is a licensed A & P, and who feels the end result will be a stronger, more accurate finished product.? I'll keep you posted on its success. Bill Thomas 9 Pine Acres Drive Canton, CT 06019 -------------------------------------- Me again. So what do people think of this idea, and do you know if anyone else has ever done it?? Adding longeron and plywood reinforcements after replacing the spar would add some weight to the plane, but I don't think it would very much. Unfortunately Bill Thomas didn't keep his promise and never wrote anything else about how this worked out.? He later had an ad in the Newsletter for some unused parts, and years later on KRnet he parted out a KR200 he said he finished in 1989.? He said this was because he was buying an RV and didn't want the liability of selling the KR, but it sounded as though he flew it a couple of hundred hours and there was nothing wrong with it. I'd be interested in hearing people's opinions about this idea, especially the opinions of any A&Ps here.? (Also, of course, if Bill Thomas or the A&P who designed this setup 30 years ago are here, I'd like to hear from you, but that seems pretty unlikely at this point). Mike Taglieri _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to KRnet-leave at list.krnet.org please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options
