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Step 3 JIGGING AND BONDING THE CANARD SECTIONS
TOGETHER |
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My digital/smart level came in
very handy for many steps in the construction of the canard. Here I am
making sure I'm starting with a level table, after making and laying out on
the table all the K template. I made most of these from aircraft
plywood, some I made from leftover furniture grade plywood I made the jig
table top out of. |
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You can see that the canard,
once assemble with its 1/4" dowels, hangs over the end of the jig table once
the end sections are taped on. I wasn't real confident that the
alignment would be easy this way, so, I decided I needed to make some
extensions for the table. |
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Given that the K templates
would need to be flush with the top of the table, I wouldn't be able to make
an extension that bolted on the top. |
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So, I screwed a 2x4 onto the
bottom of the table and into the extension. For whatever reason, both
extensions (on both ends) ended up bowing upwards so I made some chain
adjusters to make them level. Screw the bottom screw in until the
level show 0.0 and I was in business. |
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I weighted the canard down as
it was assemble on top of the K templates to make sure it stayed in place.
When I did this, the aft section had a tendency to twist, given the channel
for spar cap, so I decided I needed to make some spacers. |
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I made some spacers of varying
thickness out of aircraft plywood. These I crazy glued to the K
templates towards the front and rear of the spar cap channel. This
preserved the spar cap channel spacing off of the K template preventing the
aft section from twisting down as it was assembled and microed together with
the other core sections. |
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The spacers in the middle,
where the spar cap is deepest, had to be pretty thick to support the aft
core section in a position that aligned it properly with the front core
section. |
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Check the canard, then check it
again. Once the surfaces were all microed, and the pieces weighted
down and taped together, I checked and checked and checked the alignment to
prevent twist. |
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The center core, for whatever
reason, has a slightly different cutout in the back than does the outer two
pieces. Given this is not a critical part of the airfoil, I'm not too
worried. I will true it up with the outer two sections before the
layup covers the foam. |
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There was also a small amount
of mis-alignment at one of the joints between the middle section and the
outer section on the RH side. No matter how hard you try, the cores
are just a little bit different size. I'll have to sand and blend this
once the pieces are assembled. |
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Microed, fitted, doweled,
taped, weighted, checked for level - don't go in the workshop until it
cures! Hope for no earthquakes! |
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Once it was all assembled, I
couldn't resist setting it on the front of the fuselage (with a couple of
towels under it for cushioning) to get a sense for what it would look like.
Won't fly like this (check the mailing list archives for someone that tried
- it rotated and flipped over - no forward moment from the wing to counter
the rotation/lift from the canard...) but it looks more like a plane than a
boat this way! |
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All assembled and cured and
back setting in the jigs. |
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Yep, it's pretty darn straight
alright. It will rest this way a while while I renew my pilot's
license. Sorry to take time and $ away from building, but I haven't
been at the controls in almost 10 years.... |
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That completes Step 3 - on to Step 4! |
