SkyoteLog: Center Section Sheet Metal

Welcome

*****Skyote #88 gets Bronze Lindy for "Airventure-Oshkosh 2016 Plans Built Champion"******

October, 2007

Welcome to "Skyotelog", the build record of Skyote #88. I assume that you are familar with the Skyote biplane. If not, you should visit http://www.skyote.org/ for a complete introduction to this unique but elusive biplane.

The posts are presented in reverse chronological order (newest first). Or you can click on one of the "Labels" to see all of the posts concerning a specific topic. Click on any photo for a larger image.

All my building experience is limited to Van's RV's so I have no experience with building tube and fabric or "plans building". I have much to learn so take everything I write with a grain of salt and reasonable skepticisim.

I do not intend to follow a "traditional" path for the construction of #88. I intend to employ low level technology and $ to reduce the construction time and difficulty where possible and practical. By low level technology I am referring to CAD, laser, waterjet, CNC. For example:

I have purchased a complete wing spar kit from Jerry Kerr.
A rib kit from Mr. Bartoe.
Brunton Flying Wires and Drag wires from Harvey Swack.
CNC profiled tube kits for the fuselage, tail feathers and landing gear from VR3.

In addition I have converted all of the wing fittings, brackets, links, lugs etc. to CAD and had them cut by water jet. I have designed a laser cut wing spar drill template/jig which positions the five spar components so that all of the holes can be drilled in a complete spar as an assembly. I plan to continue converting as many parts as I can to CAD so that I can reduce the "hand-made" components to a minimum.

Note: As of June 2015 I have over 100 CAD files which provide 600+ water jet cut parts for the Skyote.

While it takes a little time, converting the design to CAD is a great way to truly understand the drawings. plus a huge amount of information has been extracted from the rather complex drawings. This can be a great help to others in understanding and interpreting the design.

The Skyote is uniquely suited for conversion to CAD in that a "computer" was used in it's original design. I have read that Mr. Bartoe used a HP calculator to "compute" the design and dimensions of the Skyote. The plans show all of the critical dimensions to three decimal places for X,Y and Z axes.

Amazingly, when I put the design into CAD the resulting 3D models agree with Mr. Bartoe's thee decimal place dimensions about 99.9% of the time. I have found one discrepancy but less than 0.030"!

If you want to build your Skyote as cheaply as possible, or if you enjoy handcrafting the same parts over and over again then my approach to building is not for you!

If you want to build your Skyote in the minimum possible time with highly accurate parts then this approach may be the answer. I personally get a lot of satisfaction out of organizing the project so that it can be produced accurately. Hopefully some of this work will prove useful to others in the future.

Comments are welcome. I will respond as time permits

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Center Section Sheet Metal

Sometime back the center section was modified to include a handle cut from 1/4" 6061-T6 using water jet.

I decided to replace the original sheet metal tank cover with a new one which would extend back and tie into the handle.

The original plan also included access doors for each of the spar to fuselage fittings plus gap fairings to cover the space between the root rib and the center section. I decided to streamline things by using one-piece fairings to serve as access port covers as well as root gap fairings. There is a very small weight gain (again!!) but not much as the doors and the gap covers are eliminated. I still need to cut out the sheet metal in the center or open area of the handle.

Wood filler blocks were fitted and attached to the root ribs and blended to the contour of the center section around the leading edge and extending under the bottom of the wing. This will leave a very small gap at the nose of the root rib which can be covered with color matched tape. The GlaStar wing root is done this way as well as many gliders.