Wagabond build

[Glen Geller]

I thought about it. But I don’t mind the occasional short cut.


Sent from my iPhone using ShortWingPipers.Org

If Mr. Piper wanted our feet to be comfortable on long flights, he would have made the pedals flat.

[todd2391]

I got the left and right side door frames welded in, I added a 1/2 square tube across the top that fits in the mild steel channel. I did this for support of the gull wing doors that I am planning to mount. The tabs for wires and fuel lines was also welded onto the front top door posts and then everything was cleaned and epoxy primed.

[tdfsks]

Hello,

I have a set of Wagabond plans and have been looking at them closely with the idea of building one. I have a question about the plans.
The fuselage drawing on Sheets 3, 4 and 5 shows the rear fuselage longerons as a series of straight lines between each joint.
Is this how the fuselage is actually built, with the longeron kinked at each joint, or is the longeron a more gentle curve through the centre of each joint ?
Is this the way Piper built the PA-15/17 or did the longerons have a continuous curve ?
Does anyone have a copy of the PA-15/17 fuselage drawing and, if so, what shape does their longeron have ?
I am just worried that if I build the longerons as per the drawings, the fuselage shape will not have a nice curved shape ....
Thanks
Steve

[Wag-builder]

Hi Steve,

The longeron does have bends in it, they are not sharp bends or kinks and yes the PA-15/17 are built the same way. You can also get a CD with Piper drawings from the SWPC. Just copy and paste the link into your browser.

https://www.shortwingpiperclub.org/product-category/reference-books-cds/page/2/

Steve

[tdfsks]

Steve, Thanks for the response. Perhaps "kink" was too harsh - more like a localized bend at the joint - the worst bend is about 4 deg. It just looked strange to me as some other homebuilt designs I am familiar with (Bearhawk / W8 flex the longerons into place with more gradual, continuous bends. If that's the way Piper did it, I shall follow the Wagabond plans as drawn. I think the CD with Piper drawings might be a good investment. Thanks again.
Steve

[todd2391]

For the bends in the fuselage longerons I started at the front and pulled them back and together with turn buckles and safety wire as I put the cross tubes in I tack welded them to the longerons. Then before I moved on to the next cross member with every lined up I welded the full weld bead on the rear part of the cross member, this will assist in putting the bend in the longersons, as heating the rear with the weld pulls the longerons in.

I picked up my wing kit from wag aero and inventoried everything, it was all there. I got the cross tubes welded in for the jackscrew mount, along with the bearings for the screw. The vertical fin front mount was tacked in and the front and rear of the vertical was drilled for the mounting bolt, with the rudder on. The rear brackets for the horizontal I still have to line up. The inter connect tubes I made and check the fit on the horizontal tubes front and rear.

[todd2391]

It's been awhile since I updated this page, been a busy summer so far. I got the last 4 fairlead tubes mounted for the rudder cables, mounted the rudder and trimmed the stops to get the right amount of left and right deflection. I mounted the horizontal stabs and got the rear brackets and tube aligned for the horizontal rear spar mount to fuse, which took a long time and about 847 different measurements to make sure it was straight to fuselage. I then finish welded this and the rudder fairlead tubes. I then added the tube from the lower jack screw bushing to the tailwheel leaf spring mount and welded in the elevator spring pulley brackets and fairlead tubes for the elevator cables. Next was the bracket for the jack screw indicator wire pulley and the pulley guards for the jack screw pulley. I mounted the elevators and made the top and bottom elevator center plates for the cable ends. I then made up and welded the bracket for the 2 small pulleys infront of the jackscrew pulley, welded this in and the bushing for the tension pulley for the trim cable. Everything was finish welded, cleaned, and epoxy primed.

[todd2391]

rest of pics.

[todd2391]

I made a wing jig from spare spar ends I had and using the end ribs from wag aero from the wing kit so I could get the wing mounting brackets aligned and welded in. I then cut this wing jig in half after getting wing brackets welded in so I could get all the U channel for skylight and fairings aligned. I also got the top windshield strip with U channel supports welded in, along with the left top corner bracket for the elevator trim pulley tensioner. I used a wood rib pattern and bent the top U channels for the skylight, I got the left and right side front ones welded in as well as the trailing edge bracket.


So here is a question about wings...... When you are building wings do you build them up on saw horses, on table, or vertically on jig? Just curious as to what is easier to get access all around are you are assembling them. Thanks for the advise.

[todd2391]

rest of pics