New month, new wing

Yesterday I made the call to stop work on the lower left wing and start on the lower right. The remaining things to do on the first wing are all attachment hardware and pre-fabric finishing. Some of those things, like attaching the N strut and landing wire brackets, would make it more difficult to store. I think it will be better to build the other lower wing, then varnish and add the attach brackets to both at the same time.

So, we put the wing on a storage rack in a corner of the shop, and I started laying out the parts for the right wing. We figured out the trailing edge pieces and got them clamped to the bench rail, then slotted in the five ribs I had over there and slid the main spar into place. I’ll need to take over another batch of ribs and get them modified as I did the other wing to clear the torque tube. I spent the better part of six months on the first wing, if you count the time spent on spars and wingtip bows. If you count just the wing assembly time, it was more like four months. A lot of that time was spent on the leading edge wrapping and aileron construction. I’m hoping I can speed that up quite a bit and have this one done quicker, even though this one will include the wing walk.

Mocked up, nothing glued yet. Need to take more ribs over!