June 5 Update - Interplane Struts

Things are progressing well, the interplane struts (N-struts) are finished.  

Since I had the airplane rigged very carefully and pretty much spot on, I wanted to make sure the strut lengths were measured accurately - only the diagonal is adjustable.  

Half-bolts used to measure pin-to-pin dimension

So I came up with an easy way to measure the pin-to-pin length.  I took an AN5 bolt and machined it in half length-wise to make a half-bolt.  These were inserted into the fittings and I then cut a piece of spruce to exactly fit between the 2 half-bolts.  Measuring the length of this strip gave me a very accurate, hole center to hole center measurement.

It worked out "finer than frog's hair" - when the struts were finished and installed, the bolts slid right thru the holes with the wings on their support stands.

Spruce strips providing final measurement

Insert ready to be welded into strut end

Then it was time to make the struts.  I made them somewhat similar to the cabanes.  An insert was made that slid into the ends, then welded along the leading and trailing edges of the streamline tubing.  A slightly different version was made to the strut that attached to the diagonals.

All "zipped up"

All finished - here are some misc. fit-up pictures...

Completed assembly

Lower rear attachment

Upper front attachment

Upper rear attachment

Lower front attachment also showing diagonal

Careful work here will ultimately make for much easier final assembly - whenever that time comes.  

Next, I want to install the ailerons, make the slave struts and start making/running cables.  Don't look for the next post real soon - June is shaping up to be a busy month.  Need to get more Fleet work done, and I'm involved with the Alfred and Lois Kelch Aviation Museum in Brodhead, WI.  I'll be annualing and flying airplanes from that collection, starting with a Travel Air 12W.  Should be fun!  The museum has a wonderful collection, and we're in the process of expanding/rebuilding.  If you're in Brodhead, check it out, otherwise we have a nice website put together by our Curator, Pat Weeden.  http://www.kelchmuseum.org

So Long for now...