You are currently viewing The struts of the aircraft

The struts of the aircraft

I was able to finish the shrouds which are profiled and effective on this model, as I did not put any reinforcements between the spars. So the adjustment to keep a dihedral and a 0° twist, were delicate.

I first based myself on the documents of the time

I had the choice to make them out of commercial aluminum teardrop profile or out of wood. I chose the latter option, because it is lighter and easier to install, but more work to prepare. My shrouds have to be 8 mm wide and 16 mm long.

So I traced and cut an 8 x 19 mm rod in an 8 mm samba wood board. The extra 3 mm is needed to reach the 16 mm required after sanding.

Once shaped, I made a slot on one end of each strut so that I could assemble them in a V shape by inserting one strut into the other

They are then adjusted and glued.

For the attachment to the fuselage, I cut out ferrules from a 1 mm aluminium sheet. I inserted them in the joint of the struts and glued them with epoxy.

On the fuselage, I use a split fastener glued in place on the fuselage. The ferrule is drilled to the diameter of the screw and inserted into the fuselage lug

A ferrule is also placed at the other end of the shrouds and fixed in a piece of hardwood provided in the wing.

The next steps consisted in the scale details with the gluing of a piece of balsa wood to mimic the bottom sheet metal.

Then comes the realization of the rivets with white glue, the coating, the primer and the paint

The main struts are done. The smallest ones (on the central part of the wing and at the stabilizer) remain to be made

eol37

Scientific and passionate about aviation and aeromodelling for 45 years, I am here to share with you my models, my techniques, my achievements and what I have learned over the years.

Leave a Reply