Scratchbuild Patrol

[tmcloed68@gmail.com]

Hello from Columbus,IN. Recently received my Patrol plans and have started the woodworking chapter of the build.. I previously built and flew a Van’s RV7 (slow build kit). Just sold that airplane and now onto something better:-) The RV7 was a fun build, but I love fabrication work, and I think I fall into the category of more of a builder than a flier, so the Patrol scratch build certainly looks like a good test and challenge for me. Recently retired and really excited to get going on this project and learn from this forum’s experience just like I did with Vansairforce forums. Also looking to reach out to anyone “local” that I could check out your projects.

Tom McLoed (tmcloed68@gmail.com)
Columbus,IN
Scratch build Patrol plans#528

[Utah-Jay]

Welcome to the BH community

Should be a fun time, enjoy

[OhioLSA]

Hello, welcome aboard! Hope you'll enjoy the build!

[sjt]

I was able to find mdf in a 4x8 1 inch thick. The thicker stock is better for bevel on both sides for left and right rib fabrication.
The 1 inch material is usually found at cabinet supply shops,

Also - if you have not thought of it yet - I believe the correct answer is to trim half way thru the line along the master template airfoil. A draftsman can not
make a line with zero thickness. The correct interpretation is the center of the drawn line.

For me I filed down my master rib template to half the line thickness. You should not remove all of the line.



As an example, the master template has the spars 32 inches (patrol) apart. That means the center rib must have a width of 32" - .032/2 -.032/2 .
Using a table saw it is possible to make mdf blanks with parallel sides that are exactly 32"-0.032" in wide. Such a blank can be centered (by eye) on the master rib template between the two parallel spar drafting lines.
The master rib template can then be used to route the airfoil sides.



centerrib.jpg spacer.jpgThe end result is the the rib will have parallel sides the exact distance to center between the spars.

I could use rubber bands to hold the spars exactly where I wanted them during assembly.


The same can be done with the other mdf templates. They are made with parallel sides with the correct width (accounting for spars) The parallel sides can be used to center on master airfoil.
1.jpg 2.jpg


If I seem to have a fixation with the parallel sides ripped to the correct distance It is because the parallel sides can be carried forward into the future as a reference. The airfoil side is not something that can be used to to align anything.

Someday you will want to use those parallel side like this:

2.jpg 4.jpg 5.jpg 8.jpg




glue.jpg bevel.jpg

Thinner mdf can be use in a sandwich to hammer down edge with a plastic hammer.

hammer.jpg


mdf.jpg You need a lot of mdf.

[tmcloed68@gmail.com]

Thanks for the info and added details on how you approached it. Much appreciated for your time and thoughts!

[RobinDeMarco]

Welcome and enjoy the build!

[SpruceForest]

Welcome! There is some pretty decent documentation and vids on what various folks have done for wing ribs if you have not already crawled the site. Same with wing spar/rib setup/skinning jigs, etc.

FWIW, try to get the highest quality MDF you can find for dimensional stability in pressing out those multiple identical ribs (Home Depot stuff seems marginal these days... Lowes a little better). Think about using thin CA to seal the edges once shaped... less compression/fracturing over time, and your tooling might be good for a few more airplanes (save another scratch builder time and effort). Starbond and BSI thin CA are both available in larger 8 or 16 ounce bottles, and treating a set of MDF routing and press templates will use just about 32 ounces of it from what I saw.