Aviation Concepts 1/3-scale Schweizer 2-33 ~ Build Thread by JimD

[ARUP]

Nice work and I like that quilt in the background!

[JimD]

Now that the wings are mated up and the struts made, we can move on to joining the wing inner and outer panels and to adding the keel parts to the fuselage. We are using the scale tow releases, so the keel parts need to be modified. Gunny supplies templates for use as a cutting guide. We used some scrap basswood stick inserted into the notches of the keel parts to keep things aligned as they were laminated together.

[JimD]

With the wings in place, time to make the struts. Gunny supplies these cool little spacers to assist with inserting the steel end pieces into the aluminum wing struts. 16 of them get are glued onto the steel ends using thin CA. These then fit snuggly into the ends of the aluminum wing tubing. Once you are sure about the length, these parts get epoxied into the wing struts and then they are drilled through and retaining bolts installed.

[JimD]

Before going forward with joining the inner and outer wing panels, the inner panels were joined with the wing rod and mated to the fuselage to check fit.

Masking tape was added to the wing root ribs and the wing saddle to account for the thickness of the wing covering material.

Careful measurements were taken to check alignment of wings and then a 3/16" hole was drilled down through one of the wing bolt plates. Bolt plate has a 3/16" laser cut hole and it was used as a guide. A 3/16" diameter bolt was dropped down through this first hole, and then the other side was drilled and a second bolt was dropped in. Alignment measurements were rechecked before going forward.



One side was now drilled out for the tape size of a 1/4-20 size bolt. Threads were cut and a 1/4-20 bolt screwed in. Alignment measurements were rechecked and then the second bolt hole was drilled out and tap used to cut threads. Second 1/4-20 bolts screwed in. Bolts were then removed and clearance holes drilled into the wing. Threads in wings hold-down block were hardened with thin CA and, once CA cured, tap run through again.



Scrap plywood shims were used to center the forward section of the wings. With the rear wing bolts installed, holes for the wing dowels were drilled using a Fostner bit. Be careful about the depth, don't want to drill into the wing rod.



Wing was removed, depth of wing bolt holes were deepened as much as possible and then dowels were glued into the holes. Once glue cured, wing was again mated to the fuselage and alignment checked.



Now the structure for the upper cabin area was added using scrap plywood as spacers.

[JimD]

Shear webbing added along main spars



3/32" balsa wing sheeting prepared. The length of the outer panels requires joints to add cord and span. Careful cutting and sanding will yield excellent results.



Sheeting placed on outer wing panel jig and wing rib structure is glued onto it with weighs added to keep ribs, spars, LE and TE in contact with the sheeting.



Once glue sets, weighs are removed.



Outer panel can now be lifted out of jig to inspect the underside. Nice smooth sheeting...jig is a great idea Gunny, I love it!!!!



Here is a closer look at the wing skin joints, very happy with results.

[JimD]

Time to move to the outboard panels. These panels are longer than 4', so the spars must be spliced to get the necessary length. The top and bottom main spars are also laminated to get the necessary thickness. We started by making the cuts for the splices and laminations.





We like to use pieces of aluminum angle as clamping supports.






Laminated section added.



Ribs and drag spars added.



Drag spar planed and sanded to rib contour.

[lenb]

That looks great Jim, the jig for sheeting the underside seems to really speed up the process and make the job more accurate and enjoyable.
Kudos Gunny for doing that.

[JimD]

Finished product after trimming off excess sheeting and cutting out spoiler and servo pocket.

[JimD]

The structure can now be removed from the jig.

Sheeting for the bottom of the wing can now be glued together and placed onto the jig.

[JimD]

More progress...using jig to support wings as additional stringers and leading edge are added.





Once everything on top side was completed, wings were flipped over to finish out spoiler bays.

[gunny11]

Go Jim, Go! Your going to love the jiggy Mc-Thingy...

[JimD]

Last step in this phase of the inner wing panel build is to install the wing joiner dowel and add triangle under the wing bolt plates.



At this point, Gunny instructs the builder to assemble his wing jig (included in the kit). This jig can be configured for building either a right or left wing. Thanks to Tom M, I have a second set of jig parts. He kindly gave me his set after completing his model.

[JimD]

1/8" Balsa shear webs are added to both sides of the main spar and at the inboard 2 bays and last outboard bay of the drag spar.

[JimD]

Wing strut mounts need to be angled correctly.









Top Spar clamped in place at root.



Time to mix epoxy!







Then add the last two ribs to the main wing panels and then the top drag spar.

[JimD]

Got all of the ribs and other wing parts separated from the carrier sheets and organized. Shimmed the spars over the plan as Gunny suggests and we were off to the races! Excellent laser cutting and perfect parts fit on this kit, having a great time watching the wings come together.