Anyone else building a wood airplane?

DaleB

Final Approach
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DaleB
Having spent some time on an RV-7 project, I wasn't really enthused about building with aluminum again... but I missed having a project to work on. I don't weld, and I'm not sure I want to learn and practice welding until I get to the point where I would trust an aircraft fuselage that I welded. So... I'm working on an all-wood airplane now. There aren't a lot of them out there. Fisher products, Pietenpols and a few others. Anyone else here working on a flying wood project? It seems most of the dedicated builders of lightweight spruce creations are building boats.
 
I spent a lot of time at the Fisher booth at Osh last year. If I build another plane it will be wood & fabric, for sure! Years of building rc planes with balsa, plywood and spruce make me want to head down that path. What are you building?
 
A Celebrity. I was leaning toward the Tiger Moth, but after talking to Dave at the Fisher booth at OSH a couple of years ago decided on the Celebrity. He said the TM would be a one-person airplane with me in it. Right now I'm still building wing ribs, but hope to move on to the tail feathers this spring.

Honestly, the gedodetic ribs are light and strong but slow to build. 24 braces, no two alike, and they have to stay in the jig until the glue is completely set. I was cutting the braces in batches with my band saw, but now just cut each one individually with a razor saw. Probably about the same amount of time spent per rib. I think stick and gusset would be a lot faster.
 
Very nice! Post a few pics here if you get a chance.
 
Having spent some time on an RV-7 project, I wasn't really enthused about building with aluminum again... but I missed having a project to work on. I don't weld, and I'm not sure I want to learn and practice welding until I get to the point where I would trust an aircraft fuselage that I welded. So... I'm working on an all-wood airplane now.

There's a surprising amount of welding in a wooden airplane. Landing gear, engine mount, wing and tail fittings. My Jodel has less than the average but there are still a bunch of welded things. Good spruce is also getting hard to find and it's not cheap.

Watch the weight. Every coat of varnish adds up. Adding a bit of dimension "to make sure it's strong enough" adds up. Using oak or some other hardwood because it's stronger gives an airplane whose empty weight is over the gross weight.
 
At some point down the road I'd like to build a Piet.
 
Our youth are building an Ultra-lite Piet and a full scale Piet. youth.eaa690.net
 
If I ever build an airplane I promise the deciding factor will not be what I can't do right now. Part of the reason you do it is to learn stuff.
Well, those of us who are doing it are learning stuff. :)

I am learning to weld, but have simply decided not to build a welded steel fuselage. Since I have never built a wood fuselage either, nor wings for that matter, it's still educational as well as recreational. I'm really sorry that my choice of construction is somehow less aapealing to you.

Really just yanking your chain a little Steingar.
 
I've never built a wood airplane, but built plenty of other things in wood. It's just such a beautiful and satisfying material to work with, to craft things out of.

Look forward to seeing some pictures as you progress.
 
Not a lot to show, since I'm just building ribs at this point... but here are the most recent two. The top one is the last of the full ribs. The bottom is an aileron rib. After the wings are assembled, the aileron spars and other parts will be installed in the assembled wing, then the top & bottom capstrips cut to form the ailerons. That's why the bottom rib is missing two of the geodetic braces. 15 more of those to go, then 34 false ribs. As a side note, the two blue clamps were 3D printed in PLA. They work better than I thought they would.

IMG_0316-768x576.jpg
 
If I were to build a wood airplane, I'd build an SD-1 Minisport. Despite the collapse of the SkyCraft, there's nothing wrong with the airplane itself. Note, however, that it uses a composite spar, so it's not strictly 100% wood.
 
Starting the restoration of a wood based airplane. It's more like new construction due to the amount of work involved. Looks like it's going be somewhere between 17 and 36 jigs just to build the ribs for the flaps.. Have to finish some garage organization and then I can get on to building jigs.
 
202AF54A-CA89-443E-A819-E17873DC4A2E.jpeg
Getting ready to fabricate the cabanes

I was/am a looooong time RC builder. After finishing my RV, I was lost not having a project. Always had a soft spot for biplanes, so now I’m quite a way down the road building a Hatz Classic.

The wings, being wood, were totally like building a model. Just larger scale and no balsa. Tried to keep the “build it straight, build it light” philosophy.

Building the welded fuselage has been the real learning phase of the project. I had no prior welding experience, so I did a ton of practice welding before I did the real thing. The guys at Airgas got to know me real well since I was coming in for Argon refills often. Once I got the hang of TIG, it has been a lot of fun. My very humble advice is not to let welding scare you off. It’s not some zen voodo skill that only certain anointed ones can perform. Certainly don’t grab a torch and have at your fuselage right away, but do as I did and practice practice practice.
 
For years, I salivated over the thought of building an F.8L Falco. I even bought the Sequoia plans, but life got in the way and I settled for a C-172.
I still think this 1950s Stelio Frati design is one of the most beautiful single engine designs ever; it looks like it's doing 200 knots sitting on the ramp.

F8L%20Falco%20NigelMoll01Large_zps4ysd7ist.jpg


F8L%20Falco%20wood%20structure_zpswrofsymz.jpg
 
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For years, I salivated over the thought of building an F.8L Falco. I even bought the Sequoia plans, but life got in the way and I settled for a C-172.
I still think this 1950s Stelio Frati design is one of the most beautiful single engine designs ever; it looks like it's doing 200 knots sitting on the ramp.

F8L%20Falco%20NigelMoll01Large_zps4ysd7ist.jpg


F8L%20Falco%20wood%20structure_zpswrofsymz.jpg

I saw a couple of those at Oshkosh last year. Agreed, it's a beautiful aircraft. :D
 
It’s not some zen voodo skill that only certain anointed ones can perform. Certainly don’t grab a torch and have at your fuselage right away, but do as I did and practice practice practice.

Eh TIG welding aluminum IS kinda a zen voodoo skill, but it IS learnable. I melted a LOT of practice aluminum before I got good at it.
 
Yup. A-lu-minium is a whole ‘nuther animal. I’m sticking to 4130 so far.
 
Eh TIG welding aluminum IS kinda a zen voodoo skill, but it IS learnable. I melted a LOT of practice aluminum before I got good at it.
It's just practice
 
I hesitate to say I'm "building", but I have a large, canoe-like structure in my garage, and with the vertical fin, and some squinting, it kinda looks like a fuselage of a Loehle 515. I'ts been a dormant project for quite a few years, 'cause I just didn't think the time commitment through. Likely will re-start this summer, as I move to part-time work in my golden years.

Anyway, having mucked with fiberglass when assisting with a Long EZ, my preference is wood over composite. Rag and tube a close second . . .
 
Gorgeous airplane! Looks like it's a pretty complicated build

It is. And goes a long way to explaining the popularity of the Vans RVs and Lancair Legacy's, their higher completion rates. ;)
 
“Boat” is actually the word KR-2 builders use to describe the lower part of the fuselage. My uncle built one, and it really does look like a wooden boat.

https://goo.gl/images/XDMYvu

Yeah, Van's builders call the fuselage the "canoe," and a big moment is "tipping the canoe" after construction so as to start wiring, plumbing, etc.
 
I'll take the opportunity to resurrect this old thread with an update. As many projects do, this one dragged along in semi-hibernation for a few years. I was building wing ribs, but not in any hurry since I knew I didn't have a place to actually build the wings once I had them all done -- let alone the fuselage.

So about a year ago, I ran across an ad from a guy who was selling a "Celebrity kit", which turned out to be a wing kit. Still in the crate, nothing had been done. It was a few hours' drive away, and I picked it up for much less than the wood for the spars would have cost me from Aircraft Spruce. I still had no place to build it, until I was talking to a buddy of mine. He's got a nice heated & cooled 24 x 36 shop beside his house and was winding down his cabinet business, so offered to let me build it there. He even stuck to that after I told him that this would be a project that would take a few years, not months. He's been a great help; not only an extra pair of hands, but he's a lifelong woodworker and I've picked up a lot of good tips and techniques from him (not to mention, he's got some pretty nice power tools).

I've got one wing complete, the next one about 80% done. We had to rack the wings so he could get a project done, but I'll be back at it in a few days. Since I'm no longer working, I can devote more time to it. I'm hopeful that I can have all the wings finished this year and start on the tail. Once I start on the fuselage, I'll have to make a decision about what to hang on the front of it and start engine shopping. I'm keeping modifications to a minimum and not planning anything that will bump the weight up any more than necessary. The only "extra" I have planned so far is a couple of wing tanks so I can carry an extra hour or two worth of fuel if needed.
 
Glad you're still working on it. I own a Celebrity and it's a fun little airplane.
 
Cool! I like the Fisher designs, had a lot of fun with my FP-404, didn't build it though. Good thing you started before Dave sold the company; the new (Chinese) owners are charging around $3000 for a plans set, though I doubt they're selling many at that price.
 
Glad you're still working on it. I own a Celebrity and it's a fun little airplane.
Nice! Glad to hear it. DO you have wing tanks? What engine do you have?
Cool! I like the Fisher designs, had a lot of fun with my FP-404, didn't build it though. Good thing you started before Dave sold the company; the new (Chinese) owners are charging around $3000 for a plans set, though I doubt they're selling many at that price.
It's insane, isn't it? "But it includes unlimited technical support"... from people who have never built one. Last I saw they were doing extensive repairs to a rotted out Celebrity they picked up somewhere. But hey, those Chinese clone Rotax engines look really good, amiright? I mean, what could possibly go wrong...
 
Nice! Glad to hear it. DO you have wing tanks? What engine do you have?

Mine has an O-235-L2C and no wing tanks. It burns about 5.5 GPH, leaving me with about 90 mins of endurance with legal VFR reserves. I'm ready to get out and stretch by then, anyway, especially if it's midday and I'm getting bounced around. Needs a pilot upgrade more than anything else. :biggrin:
 
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