Raven Gallery » Eric's S2 Wings

The journey begins - I worked out a deal with the Mini	First parts arrive from Raven Aircraft	These jigs will clamp onto the lower and upper spars - the tables are leveled	Lower wing spar and rib placement	Spars are level to the chord line
Preparation for rib gluing	Push pins keep the ribs from floating	Trailing edge is held straight during the gluing process	Gluing corner blocks and drag/anti-drag wire blocks	The I-strut area is completely boxed in with plywood for strength
Clamping and gluing the corner blocks	Laying out lower ailerons	Truing the trailing edge before laminating with plywood	The joys of a $160 plane	Laminating the trailing edge
Gluing corner blocks	Lower ailerons are ready to mount	Fitting the lower ailerons	Slave strut is positioned behind the I-strut	Lower plates handle the landing wires and bell crank
The root ribs will be glued while the wings are mounted to the fuselage	Bell crank and aileron control tube	Bell crank and control tube placement	Idler arm is angled down to meet the aileron control rod	Idler arm detail
A little crowded but everything fits nicely	IMG 2636	Lower wings are ready for mounting	Lower wing attach points	Truing the scarf joint on the top front spar
The upper wing overhangs the washer/dryer a bit	The tables are leveled and bolted together. Washing machine is leveled too	Small rib pinned into position against the doubler plates	I-strut box doubler plates are pre-cut to accomodate rib spacing and angle	Spar joints are shaped to the inside ribs. Fuel tank will mount in this section
Looks like a wing	Gluing the upper aileron ribs	This arrangment worked out well while working on the ailerons	Wings are ready to fit on the fuselage	Balancing the geometry takes a lot of perseverance
Drag/andti-drag wires are adjusted to square the wings with the fuselage. The dihedral was almost completely eliminated, requiring new i-struts and landing wires	This rig makes it easy to track wing position as the drag/anti-drag wires are adjusted	I-strut detail	Fitting the I-struts	Welded struts
These ribs are built in place to hold the fuel tank	I built these gluing jigs to keep the trailing edge straight	Laminating the trailing edge	Cap strips for the leading edge	Support for hand hold area in case I bail out and change my mind
Aerial view	Tank will be sandwiched between 1/8" ply top and bottom with RTV securing it all around	Aileron bay cap strip is clamped to a straight hardwood board and glued into place	Final framing before plywood components are added	The three leading edge pieces were precut and fit prior to gluing
1 mm birch plywood bends easily into the aileron bay	1/16" plywood boxes in aileron bays	Gluing the plywood cap strips	Gluing 1/8" plywood center section	I made the hand hold out of 1/8" plywood and feathered it into the 1/16" trailing edge ply
The aileron leading edges are clamped to the table top to keep them straight while gluing	I glued one side at a time to minimize the clamping pressures	I-strut box and wing tips are boxed in with 1/16" plywood	Always good to rehearse these glue-ups	The anticipation of flying is overwhelming at times
Fine adjustments are made to control the gap between the aileron leading edge and wing surfaces	Completed underside center section.	Underside of the top wing ready for filling and sealing	The gap at full deflection should be as small as possible. The hinges will be screwed out to accomodate extra covering thickness	The underside provides access to the hinge bolts. There is a 5/16" copper tube imbedded into the leading edge for lead counterweight
West Systems clear coat is a special cataylst which works with their standard resin	West Systems makes a bondo-like filler for their epoxy which I used to fine tune some of the plywood transitions	Finish will be rubbed out with wet/dry paper prior to doping	It will be nice to have clear access to the washing machine again when these wings go into the living room	One wing covered!
Aileron Gap, trailing edge alignment and counter weighting all n the zone.	Quite a different view when I look out to the wing tip.	Finished upper wing. Transforming the garage into a spray booth is next.	Finished upper wing - another view.	The booth is completed sealed with a 20" exhaust fan pointing out the garage window through a furnace filter. The compressors put out 13 CFM to power an HVLP gun.
I used Stewart Systems waterborne process wih Cecontite 3.2 oz fabric.	It took many coats of paint and sanding to produce this finish	I am very pleased with the result although it took considerable practice.	Aileron detail	This hand-hold is a little closer to the pilot's seat than the stock S2B. I'm still considering a suitable grip material
I had a change of heart about caulking the fuel cap. Instead I made an 0.0625" aluminum ring and 0.035" rubber gasket which is glued down. There's a 3/32" ring under the cap to bring it level with the surface.	MOVING VAN	IMG 5534 small	The wing root fairing has 2 pieces instead of the top, leading edge and bottom of the stock Pitts	I used 2 layers of electrician's tape to protect the fuselage panels until the root fairings are painted and the rubber seals glued on.
The back edge of the wing root fairing tucks under the wing instead of the traditional "sandwich" joint.	Underside of the wing root and idler inspection cover.	I used a Bosch jig saw, dremel tool and hand files to fabricate the fairings. They will eventually be acid-etched, primed and sprayed with two-part polyurethane.	Making fairings is a time consuming process - a good time to think about the structure in preparation for the test flight. I used 0.025" 6160-T6 aluminum and #6 screws for most of them.	I still have some areas to cover after the test flights: aileron hinges, drive arm, etc.. I will also have to decide whether to install spades.
I received an email from the Oakland FSDO this morning giving me the green light for the test flights. It will take a few days to finish up and recalculate weight and balance	I took my first flight finally on June 18. I was very pleased :)

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