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I'm very new to all this; isn't the spar on a Wittman Tailwind or
Buttercup a solid piece of spruce with dimensions being something like 2 inches wide x 5 inches thick x 5 feet long. The Tailwind spar kit on the Aircraft Spruce Inc. web site doesn't list any piece of wood this big...see the link to the spar kit for the Wittman Tailwind..... http://www.aircraftspruce.com/builde...hp?PN=02-08500 I owned a Neismith Cougar project once, so I know that the ribs were attached to something like a "main beam," the spar. Also the Buttercup materials list on Earl Luce's web site also does not list any piece of lumber that to me would be the spar, the big long "beam" that gives the wing its support. As a potential builder, I really like the performance, appearance and materials to build airplanes like the Tailwind or Buttercup. It seems though that these older "rag and tube" types require more expertise and skills than something like the newer composite types like the Cozy or Long-EZ. Building a Cozy isn't easy but the skills necessary are less complicated. It seems to me that building the older "rag and tube" types is a real craft, requiring more skills and not as simple as building a composite airplane. The Tailwind type aircraft require the builder to know about wood, fabric, and welding while the composite airplane uses the same technique throughout, that being the covering of foam with fiberglass and lots of filling and sanding, filling and sanding. I don't intend to insult anyone here as I myself am thinking maybe of building a composite airplane, but could you say that a composite project is, in a way, "Aircraft Building for Dummies?" The Cozy MK IV for example comes with a detailed construction manual while the Wittman Tailwind plans for example do not. I know EAA has a course on welding and fabric covering and the Tony Bingelis books and internet are also helpful. I am just wondering how difficult it would be for a new guy, willing to learn (but not crash) to acquire the skills and missing information to build something like a Buttercup or Tailwind. Thanks, Randy |
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