Goldberg "Gas Bird" Construction Project Session #8

By Tommy Gray
AMA 17063

This session will be a short one as I have been very tied up at work repairing storm damage from recent lightning storms which are so typical in the late summer, here in Louisiana.  In the last session I was working on the wing sheeting.  This time, I continued with the sheeting of the center section of the wing.

Since the wing has the dihedral joint exactly in the center it was necessary to put a "bend" in the center sheeting.  I also always include some little fillets on the corners as an integral part of the sheeting as you can see.  I do this both on the front and rear. Not only does it make it look a little nicer, it adds a lot of strength to the joints.  It is hard to see in the picture above, but the center sheeting is one piece with a bend in the center.  I make the bend by cutting partially through the sheeting on the bottom side where it cannot be seen. I then carefully bend it until it cracks slightly and this makes a nice bend.  It also eliminates a joint to have to mate up in the middle.   The cut is glued together once again by virtue of it being right on top of the center rib.  When you glue it to the rib, you are also gluing it back together, so no strength is lost.

I took another picture from an angle so you could hopefully see the bend a little better.

I get tired doing one thing for a long period of time, so while the glue was setting on the wing, I started filling in the fuselage bays on the top side.  This will help provide something to mount the pylon to once I start assembling it in a day or two.

I used some very light 1/8" balsa and cut it and sanded it for a very tight fit in between the bays.  I left it sticking up slightly so that when it is sanded flush there will be a very smooth joint that will look good under the covering.

Here is the top side.  For now I am only sheeting in the top as the bottom will be for radio and ignition access so it will be a set of hatches that I will build later.  Right now I just need a pylon base.

This picture is from the bottom, showing how tightly the pieces fit in between longerons and the cross pieces.

Well that is all I have time for tonight.  I will pick up there tomorrow after work. 

Gotta hurry...the Champs are only a couple of months away!

More to come....Tommy!

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