My LE-XL has entered a new build phase "wing building". To that end I've made a bom for plywood and sitka spruce. From everything I've heard lately on this forum, I finally "bit the bullet" and reconciled myself to splicing the spar caps. I'm going with three 6ft. sections with 2 splices. My sitka bom consists of 64 various size caps in 4' and 6' lengths. This for shipping purposes. For those of you wondering, my ribs and most of the other small spruce pieces were made with spruce I salvaged from some 50 year old wing spars. When I talked to Aime at ACS about shipping for the caps she said "about $50. But then I got to the plywood and that added another $25. Not too bad. My plywood bom consists of 9-2x4 sheets. 2x4 sheets are cheapest for shipping and I think I can make this work with judicious splicing. Also, Sam Buchanan in one of his posts mentioned he bought all his plywood this way. If it's good enough for Sam it's good enough for me! I also ordered 1 pt. of T-88. This comes to a grand total of about $900.00. I'm not going to order direct from ACS; my local FBO will order it for me. This helps him keep his monthly parts order up to qualify for his discount and I may get some relief on shipping since he gets free shipping on some items. This free shipping is really important to me on small items. For example if I need 5 AN-3 bolts or 10 washers, he orders them and I get them at book price and no shipping. Even though I limited my caps to 6', Aime said "there would be lead time on these items". Maybe as much as 6 weeks. This wing build project should keep me out of the bars and dance halls this winter. Al least my wife hopes so.
