Aluminum Stringers

[Steve W]

Anyone know of a source for the fuselage aluminum stringers Bob indicates on the plans?? Dimensions?? Thanks

[aerolite]

Mark G is the only one I know of to get them, I believe they come from a window/door supplier, but you will have to ask him. They are 1 x 5/16 x .045 wall. The longest you will need is 14 ft.
I tried to find up here but no luck.

[jaredyates]

I have the stringers from Aircraft Spruce since I already had them from before when Mark's were available. I wish I had purchased a set from Mark and recycled the ACS stringers in retrospect. Mark's seem much more sturdy and durable.

[Collin Campbell]

I found the stringer material at Mason Corporation, Birmingham, AL. They deal in screen door/awning type materials. You can go to their website (just type in "Mason Corp") there you can browse their online catalog. The product you are looking for is "C270 center bar". It is 5/16 x 1", .050 6063 material. Comes in 16' lengths

Collin Campbell,
Bolivar, MO

[Steve W]

Thanks guys. I looked at the AS&S stringers. I have a tubing order pending and would have liked to have found something suitable from Spruce for the long crate. I think their material is a bit too slight. I would use Sitka spruce strips but am out of any long pieces. I friend of mine who is building a 4 place laminated three thin strips for his stringers and is really pleased with the results. He laminated them in their respective positions and are very strong. Much more forgiving and lighter than aluminum. Have several manufacturers of aluminum doors here in Edmonton so should get lucky finding something I can use.
Just a shot here, anyone have the weight of an aluminum stringer or what it is per foot?

[John Rheney]

I'm at the stringer stage too and have looked at various options. As for weight here is what I found/calculated (you might want to dbl check my calcs!)

Avipro - 5/16-3/8 x 1 x .050 Al - .163 lb/lin ft
ACS - 5/8 x 5/16 x .032 Al - .057 lb/lin ft
spruce wood strips 1/4-5/16 x 1 - .043 lb/lin ft

I haven't figured total footage required, so total difference you can figure. I've got the wood, so I think I'm going to go ahead with it.

Best,
John

[Steve W]

I did some quick numbers too and came up with 14.2 lbs for 7- 14' stringers. I know there are ones needed considerably shorter. The 1X5/16" almost has the same circumference as 7/8" tubing. Sitka spruce approx. 27 lbs per cubic foot. Material of the same size at 3/8" X1" came at half the weight however you will need larger wooden stringers to come up with a similar strength compared to the aluminum. I think the laminate is the way to go for weight. I'm quite sure the sitka stringers I used on a Christavia I built years ago were something like a half inch by 1 1/2. The thing I like what my buddy did with the laminate was that there wasn't any bulging from the door posts around the first bend in the fuselage tail, just a gentle curve before and after the corner.