the wing

Thanks for posting your build CDL. i find it very interesting. Have you made a choice of covering systems yet?

I flipped the wing over to install the reinforcing pieces and start on some of the plywood strips.

aeronut your welcome for the thread thanks for letting me post it here. I am leaning heavily in favor of the stewart covering system. I like the idea of no fumigating the work area.

the wing flipped over

Saran wrap is slowly making a comeback, the weight savings from no glue can be huge! Raining cats and dogs!

I finished the plywood on the left wing all that's left is to varnish and attach the ailerons before covering. Speaking of ailerons i glued on the plywood to the rib ends of the ailerons hopefully they will be ready to attach to the wing soon.

the aileron

progress is slowing down with the better weather we've been having but am still working on the aileron

The work shop looks impressive, as well as your build. Thanks for posting.

got some more parts glued on the aileron today the 1.5mm ply strips glued to the bottom of it

The angle braces were installed and the plywood strip on the other side of the ailerons was completed today. the aileron is now ready for varnishing and the hinges to be attached. I had a little more time so i fabricated a brake peddle out of aluminum angle. We will see how it works as a heel brake.

Lookin good CD, I hope.to start covering pretty soon, I am making and rigging the controls.

I glued the ribs to the spars starting to get the second wing assembled. I also cut out another brake peddle, but i forgot to reverse the dimensions and when i was done had another left one, so cut out one more this time it was a right one so now i have 2 lefts and a right. oh well.

since the rainy day wasn't good for much else i got the drag and compression braces glued into place on my wing. I think i checked hundreds of times for squareness.

I also put the final touches on my brake peddles, I think i will mount them to cheep scrap plywood to test them before installing them on my good floorboard.

spent a good part of the day in the shop. I moved some things around the fuselage is out of the little room and the nearly finished wing was moved into it. The second wing is off the table and ready for nose ribs and the fiddly stuff. I cut out nose ribs and did a good sweeping and some organizing. decided i needed another tool box. Its amazing how many tools have been bought or migrated to the airport during this project. I also got some primer on some of the steel fittings.

I did spend a little time sitting in the fuselage dreaming too

rained today so to the shop I went. the nose ribs are glued on and i made a template and then used that to cut the plywood for the leading edge wrap for the center section. It was then soaked, strapped and clamped in place to form.

more pictures

Is the diagonal bracing strut between the cabane struts on the left side in the plans? It seems redundant.

yes Bob the aluminum tube on the left side is per the plans.

the leading edge strip is installed and got the aileron spar glued in. I also glued the wingtip down in place.

I unstrapped the center leading edge plywood and put a coat of varnish on it and the area it will cover during lunch today, I forgot to take pictures though

i got the second coat of varnish on the inside of the leading edge plywood and the area around where it goes on the center section. I also had time to get the first coat of varnish on the area where the leading edge plywood will go on the wing.

mixed some t-88 over lunch and got the leading edge plywood glued to the center section

Looks good. I am glad you are keeping on and hope all goes well with the build. The first flight in something that you have created with you own hands is so satisfying and you will not be able to wipe the grin off your face for at least a week.

Thanks aeronut.

The little piet hasn't gotten much attention as work and such is getting into summer hectic gear. I did find a few minutes to get the plywood gusset strip cut and glued to the top of the center section.

I’m really glad you created this thread and keep us up to date from time to time. I’ve had a bunch of R.M.’s plans for many years. Obviously plans quality opposite end of spectrum from max plans 🙄; but it’s good to see someone working through them.

Thanks RedBird. the RW plans aren't as good as the minimax plans most of the time but there are some things easier to read on them. I have the minimax plans too and have looked there to solve a few things as well as the real pietenpol plans. Roger is also good at answering e-mail questions too. There are even a few of TEAMs products in my build as well, like the wing trailing edge. (yea i cheated a little)

Anyway i got the bottom ply strips on the center section wing today.

I installed the trailing edge to the wing. The leading edge plywood was soaked, clamped, and strapped in place to pre-bend it.