Hello,
I am looking to build a wooden wing (just one L/R) and use as a bookshelf (bookcase) hung on the wall of my home. My questions are (I am not smart enough to just "wing" it);
1) Does a wing kit exist out there that I can just buy from a manufacture or
2) Do I have to purchase plans and build from scratch
Thank you for your time
-King
I have Volksplane plans which I could scan some wing drawings from for you so you can get some references. Built from Home Depot materials you could probably build a panel for $100-$200.
Well...I think I get what you want to do: An aviation version of the bookcases that are shaped like small boats, with the thwarts as shelves.Originally Posted by kinger
The trouble is, a *real* wing...like a real boat...would make a lousy bookshelf. The wings are big. My Fly Baby is a small single-seat airplane; its wings are 13 feet long and five feet wide. Hang them horizontally, using the spars as the shelves, and you've got basically two really long shelves. Hang them vertically to use the ribs as shelves, and you'd need 13-foot-tall ceilings. You'd have about twelve shelves, but they're 1/8" thick and won't be able to support more than a couple of books.
A better plan is to build a bookshelf, and add cosmetic features to make it LOOK like a wing. Here's an example:
The basic shelf area uses 3/4" wood like most homemade bookshelves. One uses the same 3/4" wood to make a semi-round "Leading Edge" and a long triangular "Trailing Edge." You could even vary the length of the "trailing edge" pieces to make the wing tapered...even do both sides for an elliptical Spitfire wing. I'm showing cross-bracing between the "ribs" like airplanes have, but you'd bias them towards the back. Personally, I'd skip the cross-bracing and attach a sheet of 1/8" or 1/4" plywood on the back, like it's the aircraft skin. But the cross-braced wires would give more of an aircraft look.
You'd need some sort of a wingtip on top...either a wooden framework with a fabric or thin wood covering, or a full-up scratch-built fiberglass wingtip. Easy enough to put a Nav light in.
You could put a bit of wood more metal at the "trailing edge" like a real wing (trailing edge material can be bought from Aircraft Spruce). On the "leading edge", I'd do a half-wrap of metal or wood for a background for nick-knacks on the short shelves. Might even put a "landing light" in.
If you make the "ribs" and "spars" from plywood, use iron-on laminates to hide the edge of the plywood.
Instead of separate ribs, leading edge, and trailing edge pieces, you could make them one piece with deep notches to fit the "spars". That way, you could put pins in and have adjustable shelves without making it look funny when the center parts of the ribs get adjusted up and down but the leading and trailing edges stay fixed.
This is just a rough idea...there's a lot more you'd have to consider, design wise. But you could have a lot of fun with it.
Ron Wanttaja
Last edited by rwanttaja; 02-02-2015 at 01:49 AM.
That's fantastic, Ron, you should develop it a bit and it would make a great project article for one of the magazines. I would include a bottom rib/shelf for stablility and use a saber saw or band saw to cut a curve into the top/front edge of the main ribs, maybe even some optional "lightening holes." Good fun!
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Yes, there are a lot of structural details I left out of the sketch. There'd have to be a fixed rib a couple of inches up from the bottom for stability. If I were building this, in fact, I'd "cover in" the first ~12 inches off the floor as a "wing walk" area (similar to what I show for the trailing edge). This would give it some stability and strength, and you could put some doors in for enclosed storage. You'd need a fixed rib at the top, of course, too. In my own woodworking, I've always put a "face frame" on the front of the box structure for appearance and strength. Tough to do, with the leading and trailing edges on the outside.
Curves on the edges of the shelves could be done, though for the low-average skill woodworker, it'd be a bit tougher to get them even. But this is how my one piece notched ribs could come in...they'd look a lot more like real ribs, though the shape would be rather exaggerated if you wanted some strength for the LE/TE.
Ron Wanttaja
Actually, I'm thinking this would be perfect for the little hallway between my workshop and the hangar. I actually do have very tall ceilings there (17' just as in the hangar) but I'd have to collapse the width a bit as I don't think I have five feet I believe....hmmm...
Haha now come on chaps don,t be distracted from a real wing and what goes with it,namely the other one.but still,a good idea.lol
A Pitts S-1 lower wing is small enough to mount with the spars horizontal, and it looks great. (I don't have one, but a friend does.) If you can get a "flat wing" with the M-6 airfoil, it tends to be flatter on the wall and, therefore, a better shelf.
BJC
Well, shoot. If you've got a two-story house (or one with a basement), install one bookcase as normal on the upper story, and hang the other one vertically on the wall next to the ceiling on the floor below. That way it'll look like the wing goes right through the floor. :-)
Ron Wanttaja
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