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 Sailplane Construction Project Session #32

I spent a fair amount of time consulting with Gene Wallock over the phone to get a good understanding of how the bulkhead pieces and 1/8" stringers were meant to be installed on the fuselage frame as per the plan. It isn't so obvious, but there are a number details to be worked out in you mind before you start anything on this Sailplane as it is one complicated airframe to build and to modify for R/C.
 
I worked through most of this on the left side of the fuselage yesterday and today. As shown below, you see most of the bulkhead pieces glued on. I used the red thread to check the alignment of the stringer marks on each bulkhead piece down the length of the fuselage. The alignment was perfect, a testimony to how well these pieces were drawn up.
 
 
This is a view of the left side looking aft down the fuselage.
 
 
This picture is close up to show the 1/8" notch in the forward planking to receive the forward end of the 1/8" square stringer.
 
 
The side bulkhead piece No. 2 is the only piece that I found in error. It was the right length, but almost 3/16" too high. This can be seen in the picture below by white edge on No. 2 bulkhead piece.
 
 
After the left side bulkhead pieces were glued in place, I could then glued in the left side 3/32" X 3/16" diagonals in the aft part of the fuselage to provide the much needed additional torsional stiffness as shown below. 
 
 
I decided to go on and install the center 1/8" square stringer on the left side of the fuselage to stabilize all of the bulkhead pieces and prevent them from getting broken off in handling. Notice how straight the stringer is down the length of the fuselage.
 
 
In the picture below, I have extended the rear inclined 3/16" primary frame on the left side back to the location of the leading edge of the stab and squared it off. There are still have a number of details to be work out on the fuselage structure just in front of the stab and how to get it faired into the fin, but that will have to be a consideration for another day...................................Tandy  
 
 

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