Airdrome Aeroplanes Nieuport 17

[Frank Giger]

And this is how much an aircraft is the builder versus the "kit" provided.*

My N11 is really a 7/8ths scale version of his N17, to the point that mine had all the N17 measurements crossed out and new ones for me written on top of them in the plans - and Dale's plane is way past basic function and into art.

I don't know if Dale mentioned it in this thread, but at every step he's talked to Robert Baslee, designer of the plane, about the changes and improvements on the basic plans....he's being very, very smart about deviations.

* "Kit" in the Airdrome Airplane world means a big crate with a stapled set of plans and all the items on the material list in it (but not the material list itself - that's a State Secret). The gussets are pre-cut, but every tube has to be cut down, bent, and coped. Every hole has to be drilled. It's a mixture between pure plans built and kits as we think of them today (CNC cut, pre-drilled, etc).

[bookmaker]

Finally, coming out of the closet - er - the crate.

Last evening my wife and I removed my Rotec R2800 from its crate and mounted it to the motor mount.







The frame is not ready for the engine yet, but I needed to attach it to the mount so I can get measurements for the cowling.
That is being made for me and the builder needs to know the length and where the holes need to be.

Dale

[bookmaker]

Latest tiny footsteps. Like all of the other areas of this build, I have to divert from the plans.

The entire cabane structure has been modified to, in my opinion, look more original. That includes fabricating forward cabane sockets and eliminating the added fore and aft cables that are needed if built by the plan.

I also changed the upper forward cabane brackets so the bolt that will be removed when removing the wing is outside the wing, rather than inside per the plan.

The final assault on the AA plan in this area is to reposition the forward cabane cross cables so that they will not cross right in the middle of a center mounted machine gun. This meant designing some form of connection point to move the cross.

Here is the result and the attaching points:









This arrangement will place the crossing brackets and lower ends of the turnbuckles just below for forward fuselage decking.

Dale

[bookmaker]

Started forming ribs;

Bending fixture:



Using it:



Result:



Reshaped airfoil:



Coping Jig:



In the drill press:



Result:



I formed and coped the leading edge end of all ribs for the top wing. I still need to clean the coped ends and cope the trailing edge ends.

Slow, but moving.

Dale

[bookmaker]

More slow progress. Fishmouth trailing edge or ribs.





Attach brackets for spar attachment:







Only 19 more upper wing ribs to format.

[bookmaker]

After getting this first rib "completed", my engineering supervisor (wifey) said I should check it on the actual wing spars just to be sure everything fit. That part of the project is at the airport. I intended to do some pattern practice with my Citabria this morning, so I took the rib with me.

Good thing. The space between the brackets is just a smidge tight and would cause a lot of grief mounting the ribs. I tried at various locations and the fit was about the same at each spot. I will open it up about 3/32" and try a second one before doing all. Also, I want to shoot some primer on the parts that will mate before I rivet the rest of them.

Dale

[bookmaker]

Still creeping along. Since I want to make left and right ribs (rather than all the same), I needed to make a mirror image set up jig. I got that done last evening. I took an upper and lower rib part that fit nicely in the first jig, transferred the measurements to a second board, then lined up both ends of the rib parts and set the blocks. It came out nice.

One critical aspect is the dimension between the leading edge tube and spar. I set them at close tolerance on the first jig, so the second side had to be exact. I spent some time with a sliding set of metal sticks to assure the distances were equal.



I will shoot some self etching primer on the ribs where the brackets attach, then start riveting on the brackets.

Dale

[Frank Giger]

I'm always impressed at how clean your jigs are.

Not just in the engineering sense of the word - they've only got what is necessary and aren't over-built, but in the normal sense of the word as well. All my jigs were covered in scribbles, shavings, random dirt, etc.

[bookmaker]

I have a good eraser.

If you ever are planning a trip below the AL/FL line, let me know, I'll take you on a tour. Maybe, even lunch or dinner. You know Panama City is only about an hour from here.

Dale

[bookmaker]

Last weekend Rose and I traveled to Thompson, OH to pick up the cowl that Rick Bennett was fabricating for me. Along the way we visited Frank Giger and Russ Turner. Both great guys and we had nice visits.

Here are a few photos of the cowl. (Rick left most of the smoothing of the outer welding seam to me)







A couple days after we returned this arrived.



Dale