How to finish end of wings

[Dave Stroud]

I'm not there yet, but looking ahead at how to finish off the end of the wings while I make my last few ribs. I don't see anything in the plans drawings yet Leonard's narrative says at one point " Now's a good time to cover the end ribs with .8mm ply " . If you are covering the ends with plywood, would it be prudent to omit the gussets on the outer sides of the end ribs and go with one full sheet of ply instead ? If you put ply on over the gussets the ply would not have much to hold onto so would you be tempted to fit in some .8 mm strips as fillers in between the gussets ? Dannen Compton's excellent site shows gussets on the outer part of the end wing ribs. Are you covering the wing end with fabric instead of ply ? If so, would you then put some of those .8mm strips in between the gussets to leave the fabric something better to rest upon ?  Any and all ideas welcome. Thanks. 

[Darren C]

Hi David.

I am covering the exposed wingtips in fabric.  The 0.8mm gussets have been sanded smooth at the edges so they kind of ramp down anyway.
1/8" thick plywood 'tabs' have been glued at points on the inside between the outer ribs which I may use in time to screw various wing tip options to.  eg Horner, end plate, rounded, fenced, winglet.   They are also at the root of the wing to secure the gap seal to.
http://www.kitlog.com/photos/project_2554/full/FP23112016A0001H.jpg
Light and simple is what I want for the moment.

Happy building
Darren

[Richfroh]

Leonard may be referring to the ply covering strips over the double ribs on the top and bottom.

[Dave Stroud]

Thanks, Rich. What you suggest might be true. The next sentence after what I quoted above is   " That makes a very strong and light end of the wings" , so I'd say it's inconclusive right now. I'm just going to press on and do what seems necessary when I get there. Thanks also, Darren. Your approach seems like a good one and leaves a few options open.

[amotta]

Here are photos of Joe Engelmans design on my XL.

[larrymatheny]

hey Dave your not building another Christavia are you?? Have a great day Larry M   MK1

[Dave Stroud]

Naw...I'm done with the Christavia having sold it about two years ago. It made it to Wikipedia somehow though. Google search    wikipedia christavia    and it's the fifth pic down on the right.  We got distracted with another hobby five years ago and it's a lot of fun.  I built up a Soob Frankenmotor for it and it goes pretty good. This pic is in York, Maine last fall.

To stay on topic, I'll finish the ends of my wings flat.   :-)