SE5a Wing Panels rev 1.0 The top and bottom wings are different. They might look the same but the bottom wing has one less rib and some rib spacing difference. This is due to where the wooden interplane struts attach to the bottom wing and general structural design. Make sure you notice the difference in the wings before you start building them. Just follow the plans and these instructions. Note the top and bottom ailerons are different as well in that one of the hinges is slightly located different. It would be prudent to mark the assembled wings and ailerons top and bottom before you cover them. There is no specific order to build the wing panels. You can start with either top or bottom. You need to repeat the below instructions four times. You re your time as the wings are very visible. Eventually, you will need to decide how you want to control the ailerons. The kit offers the cable and pulley hardware. The prototype SE5a used pulleys to activate the ailerons. Take some time to consider your solution as you do not have to use the included pulleys. Top / Bottom Wing panels The top and bottom wing panels use the same building process. A lot of components interact with these wings so it s important the ribs and related parts are located properly. The wings might look a little delicate but after adding rib capping, fabric and flying wires they become very sturdy. Try to build the wings straight and flat. Although any warps usually can be resolved with the flying wires. The spars come in one piece which is a very nice feature. They also have the proper areas routed out as well. Plus, they have pre-drilled holes for the pulley and aileron hinge locations. The top wing uses front and rear spars, #5.159 and #5.160 and the bottom wing uses front and rear spars, #5.161 and #5.162. Make sure you are using the correct spars for the wing panel. These spars might need a little sanding to clean up after the CNC routing. The ribs should snuggly slide onto these spars. Place plan sheet 3 or 4 onto a flat clean building surface. Decide on which wing panel you want to build first. Locate all those wing panel ribs. The ribs are underchamber like the original. All rib outlines are per original dimensions. See photo below
Slide the full length ribs (not nose ribs) onto the spars per the plans. Using wood blocks to secure the spars into position which will help keep everything straight. The spars will float above the building table. See photos below
Use a triangle to keep the ribs vertical. Use a wood glue such as Titebond to secure the ribs to the spar. Don t get too happy with the glue. Work your way from the root to the tip. Keep the ribs straight and vertical. Take your time. See photo below
Position and glue the nose ribs. Use the leading edge dowel and wood blocks to help secure them in place. Everything should line up well. See photos below
Insert the stringers #5.93 into the ribs. They might need a little sanding to fit properly. Wood sometimes expands or is not cut exactly to fit the laser cut holes. You can butt join the stringers. The stringers should go pass the wing tip slightly. See photos below
Add the trailing edge piece #5.163 now. Note that it will lay flat onto the table and the rib end will go on top. The bottom rib cap will butt join the trailing edge when installed. Use a wood block to secure the rib in place as the wood glue dries. See photo below
To help assemble the wings at the field hard tubes and music wire have been added to the wing design. The hard rod tubes #4.19 and pre-formed music wire #4.20 are the extra pieces used. The music wire is bent at 5 degrees which is the dihedral required when you set your flying wires. The hard rod tubes are predrilled as well. The music wire will also help you align the wings when you assemble the plane. You will notice two holes in the root rib and the two following ribs. Install the hard tubes into these holes making the hard tube end flush with the root rib. The tube will extend past the third rib. Glue these tubes in place. See photos below
The wing tip consists of several wood pieces that are glued into place. Wood parts #5.154 and #5.155 are the main pieces that join the leading edge to the spar. Wood parts #5.156 are supports that go on top and bottom of #5.155 in front of the spar and wood parts #5.157 and #5.158 are glued to the stringers helping them connect to the wing tip. Note that the main piece #5.155 goes into the slot at the end of the spar. Assembly and glue these pieces in place for the wing panel. Once the glue dries sand a taper in #5.156. Reference the plans and the photos below
Wood blocks #5.105 need to be added for the interplane strut fitting #6.14. See plan sheet 2 side view of the interplane struts. On the bottom wing panel this block would go on top of the spar in-between ribs #5.145 and #5.144. On the top wing panel this block would go on the bottom of the spar in-between the same two ribs. At this time cut wood #5.105 to a block that will fit in-between these ribs gluing it into place. Each wing panel gets two blocks; one per spar. Make sure you put them on the right side of the spar. Top wing should have them on the bottom side of the wing and the bottom wing should have them on the top side of the wing. See photo below
Each wing panel, top or bottom wing, has three plywood box rib covers. They are at the root ribs, ribs before aileron and the set of ribs sort-of in the middle. The plywood pieces are 5.42 and 5.43. These covers can be glued in place now. Using clamps and tape secure these covers in place. Reference the plans and see photos below
You can add the rib capping now. The goal is to keep the rib capping straight and evenly secured to each rib. It is suggested you start on the wing panel bottom side then do the top side. There is only one rib that has a wider rib cap than the others. This rib #5.148 is the most outer rib which uses a 1/4-inch wide rib cap #5.122 whereas all the other ribs will use the 3/16-inch wide rib cap #5.227. You should use the rib capping material wisely as you don t have a lot of scrap. The easiest method to add the rib capping is to put the wing on a 45-degree angle securing it to your building table. You would start at the leading edge working your way to the trailing edge. The rib cap butts up to the trailing edge on the bottom side. On the top side the rib cap goes to the end of the rib over the top of the trailing edge. Use wood blocks down by the leading edge and clamps the remaining way to the trailing edge. You do not need to soak the rib cap wood in water. Remember to keep the rib capping straight removing any extra wood glue. Once done with the bottom side flip wing panel over and do the top side. Do all four wing panels. See photos below
There is one aileron hinge per each wing panel (top and bottom) that the interplane bolt #6.14 will go through. This hinge is the most inner one or the 3 rd from the wing tip. It is in the rear spar where you added a wood block. You will need to insert the hinge and then drill thru the block / hinge making room for the interplane bolt. Yes, this is per the original SE5a design but it works well and no need to be alarmed. The side view on plan sheet 3 has a good drawing showing the bolt and hinge on the spar. There is a rather large gap between the wing and ailerons. Again this is the SE5a design which incorporates aileron / wing gap covers, sort-of weird but it s 1918.
First, you need to install the hinge #3.1. These are Robart hinges that will fit snuggly into the pre-drilled holes. You can use either Monster glue or Zap hinge glue to secure the hinge in place. Use the glue of your choice and secure the hinge into place. Then using a 1/8 diameter drill bit drill a hole thru the block / spar / hinge centering the hole in the spar. You can then add the blind nut 6.49 into place. The blind nut goes on the bottom side of the bottom wing and the top side of the top wing spar. See photos below The trailing edge in the aileron area will need wood supports in-between the ribs. This filler will support the fabric when it is added. Using #5.182 and #5.183 wood pieces add these supports on the top and bottom side. They should be level with the rib cap height. See photos below
Each wing panel has pulley inspection windows. The top wing panels has those windows on the bottom side and the bottom wing panels have them on the top side. Reference the plans for locations. Use wood #5.99 for the cross brace as well as the under support used on the rib. You will have to notch the filler block to allow room for this support. See photos below