Woodstock spars

Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

On Jun 21, 4:41 am, MartyH wrote:
Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

You might do a search on VG Fir (vertical grain). There's still some
good stuff coming out British Columbia.

http://www.vgfir.ca/

Best of luck with your project,
Craig

On Jun 21, 4:41 am, MartyH wrote:
Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

P.S. you may want to avoid telling them it's for an airplane. This
tends to send up everyone's liability antenna and they might refuse to
supply material if they know it's going into a glider.

MartyH wrote:
Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

One group that still uses long lengths of Douglas Fur is the sailboat
industry. Try M.L.Condon Lumber, I have obtained long lengths of both
high quality fur and spruce from them. I am sure there are other boat
suppliers - check in Wooden Boat magazine for advertisements.

Harry L. Clayton

On Jun 21, 4:41 am, MartyH wrote:
Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

A few things to try:

See if the plans include a notation about substituting spruce for doug
fir. The spruce is a bit lighter and a bit weaker by volume, but I've
seen several plans sets that show spar cap sizes for both spruce and
doug fir so you can choose based on what's available in your area. The
spruce is pricey, but you can get it from Aircraft Spruce and
Specialty and Wicks. For a first-time builder, that's a good option
for peace of mind.

Have a look at R.S. Hoover's blog for good tips about getting usable
aircraft-grade wood from (I'm not kidding) big box stores like Home
Despot and Lowes. Note that he's mostly interested in shorter chunks
for cheap puddle-jumping Chugger airplanes, but the same general
principles apply. It could be that you can do that sort of thing with
a few scarf splices:

http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/

Try your question on the rec.aviation.homebuilt usenet newsgroup.
There's at least a few folks there plugged into the wood supply
situation. Welcome to the awkward overlap between r.a.h and r.a.s
common to all sailplane homebuilders on the Internet.

Join the HomeSail forum on YahooGroups and ask your question the

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeSail

See where builders of Dan Rihn's One Design and DR109 aerobatic
airplanes get their doug fir.

As for having the spars made by someone else, I would try to dissuade
you from that. It's not rocket science, and if you build the tail
surfaces first you will have all the skills and tools you need by the
time you get to the spars. If someone else builds them, you're just
paying someone else to have your fun for you.

Further, my recommendation are to stick with the 12m wings, build fast
and light, and don't worry too much about the aesthetics of the stuff
on the inside.

Good luck!

Thanks, and best regards

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24

On Jun 21, 10:25 am, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Jun 21, 4:41 am, MartyH wrote:

Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

A few things to try:

See if the plans include a notation about substituting spruce for doug
fir. The spruce is a bit lighter and a bit weaker by volume, but I've
seen several plans sets that show spar cap sizes for both spruce and
doug fir so you can choose based on what's available in your area. The
spruce is pricey, but you can get it from Aircraft Spruce and
Specialty and Wicks. For a first-time builder, that's a good option
for peace of mind.

Have a look at R.S. Hoover's blog for good tips about getting usable
aircraft-grade wood from (I'm not kidding) big box stores like Home
Despot and Lowes. Note that he's mostly interested in shorter chunks
for cheap puddle-jumping Chugger airplanes, but the same general
principles apply. It could be that you can do that sort of thing with
a few scarf splices:

http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/

Try your question on the rec.aviation.homebuilt usenet newsgroup.
There's at least a few folks there plugged into the wood supply
situation. Welcome to the awkward overlap between r.a.h and r.a.s
common to all sailplane homebuilders on the Internet.

Join the HomeSail forum on YahooGroups and ask your question the

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeSail

See where builders of Dan Rihn's One Design and DR109 aerobatic
airplanes get their doug fir.

As for having the spars made by someone else, I would try to dissuade
you from that. It's not rocket science, and if you build the tail
surfaces first you will have all the skills and tools you need by the
time you get to the spars. If someone else builds them, you're just
paying someone else to have your fun for you.

Further, my recommendation are to stick with the 12m wings, build fast
and light, and don't worry too much about the aesthetics of the stuff
on the inside.

Good luck!

Thanks, and best regards

Bob K.http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24

A few years ago, someone was looking at using the pultruded carbon
rods for the spar caps on the Woodstock. I wonder if that went
anywhere. It would seem an interesting adaption, especially with
spruce.

Frank Whiteley

On Jun 21, 9:34 am, Frank Whiteley wrote:

A few years ago, someone was looking at using the pultruded carbon
rods for the spar caps on the Woodstock. I wonder if that went
anywhere. It would seem an interesting adaption, especially with
spruce.

I've heard rumors to that effect, but nothing solid. It sounds like a
good idea to me, and I know how I'd do it, but I don't know where I'd
find the time to get it done.

Thanks, Bob K.

On Jun 21, 4:41 am, MartyH wrote:
Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

yes, contact Bill Scheunemann at
that's Bill at woodwings.com

He has the best Douglas Fir I've ever seen and has plenty of it.
He can also mill the boards per your plans at a very resonable price.

Good luck,
Dan Rihn
Rihn Aircraft Corp.

On Jun 21, 4:41 am, MartyH wrote:
Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

Try Pete Plumb, Woodwing Specialty, 330 Aviation Street, Shafter, CA
93263. E-mail: wood()wing()doc(at)yahoo.com. Phone 661-391-9464
and remove the ()

On Jun 21, 12:25 pm, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Jun 21, 4:41 am, MartyH wrote:

Does anyone know where I might find enough Douglas Fir suitable for
use for spars for the Woodstock 12 meter wing? I need pieces in the
12ft range. Does anyone know where I can have these spars made if I
dont want to do them myself? This project doesnt go very far without
spars!

A few things to try:

See if the plans include a notation about substituting spruce for doug
fir. The spruce is a bit lighter and a bit weaker by volume, but I've
seen several plans sets that show spar cap sizes for both spruce and
doug fir so you can choose based on what's available in your area. The
spruce is pricey, but you can get it from Aircraft Spruce and
Specialty and Wicks. For a first-time builder, that's a good option
for peace of mind.

Have a look at R.S. Hoover's blog for good tips about getting usable
aircraft-grade wood from (I'm not kidding) big box stores like Home
Despot and Lowes. Note that he's mostly interested in shorter chunks
for cheap puddle-jumping Chugger airplanes, but the same general
principles apply. It could be that you can do that sort of thing with
a few scarf splices:

http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/

Try your question on the rec.aviation.homebuilt usenet newsgroup.
There's at least a few folks there plugged into the wood supply
situation. Welcome to the awkward overlap between r.a.h and r.a.s
common to all sailplane homebuilders on the Internet.

Join the HomeSail forum on YahooGroups and ask your question the

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeSail

See where builders of Dan Rihn's One Design and DR109 aerobatic
airplanes get their doug fir.

As for having the spars made by someone else, I would try to dissuade
you from that. It's not rocket science, and if you build the tail
surfaces first you will have all the skills and tools you need by the
time you get to the spars. If someone else builds them, you're just
paying someone else to have your fun for you.

Further, my recommendation are to stick with the 12m wings, build fast
and light, and don't worry too much about the aesthetics of the stuff
on the inside.

Good luck!

Thanks, and best regards

Bob K.http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24

To respond to a bunch of what you said, first, I am not a first
time builder and a lot of the wood for my Horizon 2 came from the big
box stores. White pine and Douglas Fir for example. No, I cannot
substitute for the Douglas Fir in the spars. The plans are clear that
Spruce is NOT a satisfactory substitute. I intend to build the 12
meter wings. There is VERY LITTLE data about the 13 meter wings and
even though I have the 13 meter plans and construction manual, I
wouldn't touch that with a 10 ft. pole. I think contacting the
sailboat people might not be a bad idea. Thank you!