Building warbird wings

[PIlot Error 2]

I wonder if anyone can help.

Im building my first war bird, a Zero. The fuse is all built but I'm having problems with the wings.

bascially I'm managed to build a warp in the wings so I've chucked them and decided to start again by cutting out new parts from the plans.

I wonder if there is any method in building war birds wings from plans without building in a warp.

When i first built the wings i glued them to the bottom middle spar which is where i believe the problem started.

The ribs do not have a flat bottom so I was thinking about glueing them to the trailing edge first to ensure they all lined up? Is this a good idea or is there's better method?

Thanks

[Mark Powell 2]

You jig up the trailing edge with a strip of balsa so it is well clear of the plan. Say a bit of 1/2 by 1/4 inch plaved vertically. Do the same with the leading edge. Check it is all square, and glue the ribs in. Slide the lower spar in when the glue is set, push it up into the rib slots and glue it. At the LE is usually deeper than the TE your LE packing may not be so tall.

Sorry, now I am going to complicate the issue. It is good on a warbird to have 'washout' on the wing. This means the wing is slightly twisted so that if the root rib is level, the tip rib is slighly up at the rear., so that it the root rib is level, the tip rib has about 2 degrees up at rear (or down at the front, its the same thing) Ifyou feel you need this, you make the rear packing piece deeper at the tip than at the root.

With or without washout, you should put the webs (if any) between the top and bottom spar in before removing the wing from the plan. Also, if the wing is sheeted, you should put on the top sheeting, keeping the above packing pieces in place, before removing it. That way it cant warp when you put the sheeting on. Re: the bottom sheeting, that way it will be rigid enough by then so it won't warp when you attach the bottom sheeting.

If you have not yet sheeted it at all you may be able to jig the existing wing, put the spar webs on, and put the top sheeting on. With luck, doing that you may be able to correct your existing wing.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Hi PE, can you name the plan/kit? You may get a response from others who've built same