Showing posts with label gorilla glue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gorilla glue. Show all posts

Monday, February 20, 2012

Flaperon Build Manual Update

Please note: James' blog has moved to a Wordpress site. To access it, please visit http://jameswiebe.wordpress.com/. All posts have been transferred to the new site, and all new posts will only be accessible via Wordpress. Thank you for your interest!


Everyone is interested in reducing build time and building a better product.  I've been able to do that with flaperons, used on our Belite ultralight aircraft.  The time required to build a flaperon structure is now down to less than four hours per flaperon!

This assumes an easy to build wooden jig, which will hold all the ribs in place.

This is an update over our earlier manual, published just a few weeks ago.

These techniques may be applicable to building control surfaces (elevator, rudder, stabilizer, etc.) on your favorite ultralight aircraft.

At Belite Aircraft, here's how we do it.

Table of Contents
Section A.  Specifications. 2
Section B.  Materials. 3
Section C. Preparation. 5
Section D: Build Jig; Test Fit Ribs and Bushing/Droppers. 6
Section E: Glue the Main Spar. 8
Section F:  Glue the Leading Edge, False Ribs. 9
Section G: Balsa Parts. 11
Section H: Trailing Edge. 13
Section I: Trim aluminum placement. 17
Section J:  Trim and sand glue. 17
Section K:  Apply sealant to wood. 18
Section L: Covering. 19
Section M:  Check Fit to wing assembly; install control horns. 19


Figure 1.  Completed Flaperon on an ultralight plane.