- Joined
- Aug 5, 2008
- Messages
- 313
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- 103
I'm starting to make the I-struts for my bolt and want to ask a few questions before I start. First, let me recount a conversation I had with Mac McKenzie a long time ago on this subject. His advice was to tack weld with the 1" square tubing bolted directly to the spars (no washers, and of course be careful not to burn anything). Small shrinkage during final welding could then becorrected with one large area washer between thesquare tubing and spar (eight places) so as to end up withproper dihedral and incidence. He went further to say that the finished airplane was likely to need some roll trim to fix heavy left wing. He suggested planning forthis by placing two washers under the sq tubing and right lower wing aft spar (one location only)when tacking the I-struts. The result would bea finished airplane that washed outa small amount of incidence (lower left wing outboard) but still had only one washer in each location to eliminate stacked washers. End of conversation with Mac.First I know there are many factors that can affect this, probably most important is how accurately the airplane is built and rigged. Has anybody experienced wing heaviness, and I assume the only place this makes any sense is in cruise? Is there any consenses that a properly built and riggedSkybolt (or any other biplane with a western engine and 0-0 thrust line) would tend to have a heavy wing? I have seen numerousbiplanes with either aileron tabs or stacked washers under the I-struts. Would this wing heaviness be a reaction to the torque produced by the engine or is it due to some other factor? Any opinions or advice from others with experience would be greatly appreciated. To all, thanks for a great forum. Happy Holidays!Best Regards--EdP.S. Not sure of correct place to post this question, so please feel free to move to another location if it fits there better.
