Warping the Sopwith Wing

Worked a little on the Sopwith today. The more I thought about it the more I realized I really need to unwarp those wings. It's sloppy, non-aerodynamic, and adds too many lift variables and drag.

This is the pre photo, where you can see the bottom of the top left wing (on the right) and the top of the lower right wing (on the left). That top wing is really wacky.

 

 

I needed to twist the wings in opposite directions, brining the back of the left wing up and the bottom right wing down. I made a set of guide wires to induce and hold the wing twist. This is the guide wire I installed under tension on the left wing outer strut. It pulls the top wing leading edge down, and pulls the bottom left wing up a touch.

 

This is the wire on the right wing, pulling the front edge of the right wing up and the back of the top one down. You will notice that the right and left wing wires run in opposite directions.

 

The top wing is straight all the way across!

 

And the post pic. Both wings are straight. We'll see if the wires hold in flight, they are under a little tension. I suspect the tension will lessen as the wood begins to shift to the new stresses.

She does, by the way, lean a little to her right. This is the way the landing gear, which are flexible, settle. There are rubber bands acting as shock absorbers on each wheel, and the landing struts are mobile, able to flex side-to-side. She likes to lean right. I may work on this, not really sure what I can do.

Waiting for the prop adapter. I also wanted to do the guide wires, but some of them snap under load, so I thought some high test fishing wire? I may just start using the wires I have (a set of replacements I bought long ago).

 

Posted with Blogsy