Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Belay that

I kept looking at the taped-together wing cross section and thinking to myself, "Self, how do you know that the spars in your taped-together wing cross section are the correct distance apart?  I mean...for sure, for sure?"

And I had to answer myself, "Well, I *don't* actually know, for sure, for sure, yet..."

So I looked around on the Inter-thingy some, and it seems as though I'm not the first person to have this question.  The gist I am getting is that I should wait to measure the attachment points on the fuselage to make sure before putting together a whole bunch of ribs.

As a result, I'm switching my first project to be the tail section.  With any luck, I'll send off an order for some parts this weekend.

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Starting the wing-rib-making jig

Made a 1:1 copy of the wing rib diagram sheets and taped them together.  Verified they were 1:1 by overlaying the copies on top of the originals taped to a window (it was a bright, sunny day here in Pocatello, today).  Started work on a wing-rib-making jig.


Friday, November 2, 2018

Start

This blog will document my efforts to build an airplane.


Afton, WY (1988) - I'm sitting on the wing.
But perhaps a little bit of introduction is needed first.  In the spring of 1988, a friend and I finished our freshman year of college and headed to Rexburg, ID, where his grandparents owned a flight school.  We spent several weeks there and I ended up with a private pilot license.

Life continued (wife and kids) and I realized that flying was just too expensive to be doing with a family.

Fast forward to now.  Thirty years has gone by...flightless.  Rather than waste any more time, I decided to build something.

After a few months of looking around the Inter-thingy, I narrowed my decision down to a couple different planes: the Legal Eagle, and the Affordaplane.  Each has its pros and cons, but I ultimately chose the Legal Eagle based on the larger base of builders and (hopeful) availability of help.  (Mr. Homan's videos of his flights around Monument Valley didn't hurt, either...)

So, a few weeks back, I mailed a check, and today, the plans package arrived