Wing Tubing

[Tony j]

Hi all

So I am in need of a replacement wing tube 27 mm o/d. Its for a new project build, where do you guys get such things from? any help is as always much welcome. Have so far been looking on the internet but not having much joy, if I find the right o/d then the wall thickness is too thick and will most likely be too heavy in steel at a 3 mm wall thickness, and aluminium seems to be all imperial. Just had a thought will try a search of thin walled tube but any thoughts would be welcome .

Kind regards

Tony

[Broken Prop]

I bought a suitable tube for use as a wing joiner recently from metals4u.co.uk. It arrived the following day.

[John Tee]

Tony you could try Richard at www.falcon-aviation.com

John

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

Anything of interest here?

[Ronaldo]

I found a carbon one on ebay from a composites supplier. Wasn't too expensive either.

Ronaldo

[Robin Colbourne]

Tony, Can you tell us the length and wall thickness you need? Could you go slightly larger or smaller? Also where are you geographically?

27mm O/D is 1 1/16", which is a bit of an odd size in the UK. Hang glider tubes were often 17swg as that gave 1/16" wall thickness which made sleeving easy where additional reinforcement was required. As 17swg is 1/16" on each side of the tube, they would go 1", 1 1/8", 1 1/4" and so on Depending on the length you want, a broken upright might yield what you need. This Blackburns Aluminium catalogue shows the standard tube sizes: **LINK**

The once booming British hang gliding industry has more or less gone now, but you might find Simon Murphy has some bits (see the bottome of the page: **LINK**

Microlights also use these sizes: **LINK**

I have some thin wall aircraft quality alloy tube which was used for airliner fuel measurement probes (capacitance & ultrasonic systems). I think the size of which I have most is 1" OD, but I will have a look tomorrow. Its quite thin wall, maybe 18 or 20swg. Lengths are up to about 70". Boeing 777s use about 60 per aircraft!

Robin

[Robin Colbourne]

Tony, Can you tell us the length and wall thickness you need? Could you go slightly larger or smaller? Also where are you geographically?

27mm O/D is 1 1/16", which is a bit of an odd size in the UK. Hang glider tubes were often 17swg as that gave 1/16" wall thickness which made sleeving easy where additional reinforcement was required. As 17swg is 1/16" on each side of the tube, they would go 1", 1 1/8", 1 1/4" and so on Depending on the length you want, a broken upright might yield what you need. This Blackburns Aluminium catalogue shows the standard tube sizes: **LINK**

The once booming British hang gliding industry has more or less gone now, but you might find Simon Murphy has some bits (see the bottome of the page: **LINK**

Microlights also use these sizes: **LINK**

I have some thin wall aircraft quality alloy tube which was used for airliner fuel measurement probes (capacitance & ultrasonic systems). I think the size of which I have most is 1" OD, but I will have a look tomorrow. Its quite thin wall, maybe 18 or 20swg. Lengths are up to about 70". Boeing 777s use about 60 per aircraft!

Robin

[Robin Colbourne]

Tony, Can you tell us the length and wall thickness you need? Could you go slightly larger or smaller? Also where are you geographically?

27mm O/D is 1 1/16", which is a bit of an odd size in the UK. Hang glider tubes were often 17swg as that gave 1/16" wall thickness which made sleeving easy where additional reinforcement was required. As 17swg is 1/16" on each side of the tube, they would go 1", 1 1/8", 1 1/4" and so on Depending on the length you want, a broken upright might yield what you need. This Blackburns Aluminium catalogue shows the standard tube sizes: **LINK**

The once booming British hang gliding industry has more or less gone now, but you might find Simon Murphy has some bits (see the bottom of the page): **LINK**

Microlights also use these sizes: **LINK**

I have some thin wall aircraft quality alloy tube which was used for airliner fuel measurement probes (capacitance & ultrasonic systems). I think the size of which I have most is 1" OD, but I will have a look tomorrow. Its quite thin wall, maybe 18 or 20swg. Lengths are up to about 70". Boeing 777s use about 60 per aircraft!

Robin

 

Edited By Robin Colbourne on 30/11/2016 00:46:20

[John Stainforth]

F3aUnlimited have 25 mm and 30 mm carbon fiber wing tubes and sleeves. Expensive but very good and light.

[Tony j]

Hi all thanks for your comments so far

Robin The length is going to be around about 600 mm , I feel that I am stuck with 27 mm dia or a fraction less but it is to fit into a wing I already have so a change in size is not really an option . Ref. the wall Dia not to sure, it more of a weight thing really.I got hold of a 27 mm pipe but this had a wall thickness of 3 mm making it heavy. One option I have considered is a slightly larger aluminium tube and then turn down the o/d as this is something I am able to do. My location is in the Worcs area.

I will look at all the suggestions that have been given and see where I go from there thanks to everyone for your input

Kind regards

Tony

[Denis Watkins]

Any weight from the wing tube Tony, will be spread over 2 feet, right over the C of G

[Simon Feather]

I've bought ally tubes for wings from these people before:

**LINK**

no problems, does just what I need.

[Steven S]

If you search for PVC schedule 40 water pipe you will find a direct replacement for the metal one you found in the OP. It is very common here in Canada, we buy it at our local DIY stores and a 10 ft length is $2.01. It weighs 0.21 lbs per foot and has an OD of 26.67mm. It’s white in colour and is very rigid and quite strong.