Retro jet

So.... with poor weather today and I know Pete didn't enter the Great South Run - I should imagine the Retro Jet is twitiching and ready to fly??

Ok peeps back to the build, 6mm ply Shear webs glued in place and 12mm ply wing dihedral brace glued to one panel. The wing is then tack glued to the bench and sheeted with 2.5mm med balsa. The other wing panel slides over the brace and then glued.
Worth a mention at this stage, you should never use 5 min epoxy on a very high stress area like the wing brace. Always use slow setting 30 min epoxy which will take 12 hours to fully set. The other panel is then sheeted in the same way

Thanks Pete, nice to see some robust woodwork.

Hi Pete,

What's your choice of glue for sheeting the wing, and is the reason for taking the wing to the bench so that it doesn't distort as the glue dries, or to prevent it moving around?

Chris, The ribs have tabs on them to give the correct washout so the wing must be pinned or glued to the bench. My favourite glue for the sheeting is aliphatic resin, as it is a fast grab adhesive and dries quickly. Another excellent glue for wing sheeting is the foaming gorilla adhesive.

Both wings have been sheeted on the top and joined . Turn the wing over and plane off the tabs on the ribs. A good rub down to make sure everything is nice and smooth then sheet the bottom. 9mm balsa leading and trailing edges glued on then give the whole wing a good sand using P150 glass paper. For a bit of added strength a 150mm x 200 Gramme fibre glass bandage is added around the wing joint. For the resin I have used Z-poxy finishing resin.

Won't bore you with the covering process, but final bits of detail being added