Tom is married to a wonderful gal who puts up with his quirks.
He has two children who are now adults, educated and have their
own stable lives. He was introduced to aviation while serving
in the US Navy as an Avionics Technician in VP47 stationed at
Moffet Field, CA. He now works as an industrial maintenance
and production supervisor who spends spare time on being involved
with flying and building experimental aircraft.
A rather common occurrence these days is to hear of young aviators
being surprised to discover aeroplanes are still made of wood
and fabric. As a young man, I remember seeing Piper Cubs and
Aeronca Chiefs at the local airfield. There was no consideration
at the time of materials used to make these planes. I just knew
I wanted to fly! After my tour in the Navy as an Avionics Technician,
I came home with the underlying thought that all aircraft are
made of lightweight metals.
A few years later, I missed flying in the Navy P3C Orions and
decided to get a pilot certificate. After having logged my first
50 hours in a Cessna 150, I found myself being hesitant to fly
in a Bellanca Citabria. For some reason, it was just a little
unnerving to think about flying in a cloth-covered wooden-wing
aircraft from Texas to Illinois. We lost the nav/com radio shortly
after takeoff, and it turned into a day of adventure as we continued
with only a map and the magnetic compass. The weather became
less than ideal on a couple of occasions, but I was convinced
of the aircraft's structural integrity before the day was over.
Aluminium became the material of choice by manufacturers such
as Cessna and Piper some 40 years ago. This likely came into
being as the many advantages in production and manufacturing
became apparent, along with the distinct advantages for owners.
Forming and shaping metal is practical for manufacturing, but
it is not always practical for the homebuilt designs. Working
with metal requires tools, knowledge and skills that many people
do not have. You can accomplish wood and fabric aircraft designs
with skills often learned in high school or passed from generation
to generation.
Wood is actually a great material to use for your homebuilt.
It is easy to cut and can be accomplished with the use of common
tools you may already have in your shop or in your garage. You
can form wood into many shapes by making it flexible and pliable
with hot water. There are very few worries about having wood
around the home because it is natural, non-toxic and safe. I
understand that a pound of wood used to build an aeroplane,
has nearly twice the tensile strength as a pound of aluminium.
Furthermore, modern fabrics are tough enough to withstand much
more than you would think.
Because wood is a natural material, it is not subject to tight
manufacturing tolerances. Individuals trained to do so hand-pick
aircraft grade wood from lots of high quality lumber. Of course,
there are requirements to meet in order to categorize the wood
as aircraft quality, but hidden flaws in the wood may get past
the inspector. If you choose to build with wood, always be careful
to re-examine each piece before using it.
Wood is organic and will decay without proper protection from
temperature and humidity extremes. Aircraft grade Sitka Spruce
is the most common lumber, and is getting more expensive as
it becomes harder to find. This tree is quite often more than
50 years old when harvested. Douglas Fir also offers an excellent
strength-to-weight ratio, but may be harder to locate as certified
aircraft quality.
There are issues with using adhesives that may be undesirable
for some. Proper ventilation usually resolves the majority of
potential problems. There are several adhesive manufacturers
from which to choose. An epoxy product called T-88 has a good
all-around record of accomplishment for safety and reliability
when used according to the instructions. You simply join the
wood with your chosen adhesive in a "butt-joint" configuration,
sandwiched with plywood gussets to add strength. Properly designed
and glued joints are actually stronger than the individual wood
members.
The completed aircraft structure is fabric-covered toward the
end of the building process. This fabric is usually a Dacron
or Polyester that will shrink when heated with a clothes iron.
You will find the tight envelope of fabric adds even more strength.
Wood makes for interesting and enjoyable work to the builder
of an experimental aircraft. You can spend a lot of the building
time in your basement or in your small shop making the individual
parts out of the small pieces, before the larger needed space
becomes an issue. This gives you time to think about how and
where the final assembly will occur.
Wood and fabric aeroplanes tend to be lightweight and perform
very well in all respects. Fisher Flying Products has a full
line of one and two-seat wooden aircraft available. Pietenpol
Air Camper and Loehle Aviation also specialize in excellent
wood and fabric designs. There is the Bowers Fly Baby and the
Evans Volksplane designs to consider. The list goes on! Just
be sure that you are choosing a proven design before the purchase.
Find an aviation group on the internet with primary discussion
on the make or model of interest. The builders and flyers of
these are generally open to helping other aviators. This is
where you can find the grass-roots information to compare with
manufacturer's literature in order to help make a good decision.
Part 2 of Building an Aeroplane with Wood - coming soon...
