WWI Student Project

Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter

Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter

The Sopwith is progressing,Slowly. Cut out the top fuselage formers Friday and made the brackets to hold them on the fuselage, will work on the side formers this week. Final sanding and sealing of the formers needs to be finished. Working on the engine mount brackets this week. The instrument panel is almost finished, has twelve hand rubbed coats of poly on it at this time. A mock up of the front seat is finished, now they can start building the real thing. The vickers gun project is also progressing.

Assembly beginnings

Started to put fuselage components together as well as some rib/spar components. Learning about bending the fuselage longerons.

Nieuport Equipment Resolved

The Nieuport 24 we are building calls for some 3/16 cable swaging on the plans. This last week we received from the AIM school in Indianapolis a tool that we needed. It is a Kearney Swagger that is a roll type swaging machine that will swage MS type terminals onto galvanized and stainless steel cables. From  Team Chesapeake “Thank You Mark” for shipping this tool out to us.

 Another tool we were in need of also has been resolved this week and that is a steamer. We needed a steamer for making the cap stripes pliable so they can be attached to the ribs without breaking. What we decided on is a wall paper steamer with out the wall attachment plugged into a long PVC pipe which holds the strips of wood. The other end of the PVC is capped off and a small hole is drilled to relieve pressure. An operational check concurred this setup worked well. It took approximately  20 minutes for the steam to transfer and 15 minutes for the wood piece to become pliable to bend into a full circle.

The brake system is moving forward . After talking to” Marv” in Kansas City AIM school we have a better idea how to approach the brake system. Kudos goes out to “Marv” thanks for the advice.  

Finals Week

Not much to report here in Indy this week. Students hustling about getting their labs and make-up work completed, as well as studying for finals. Congradulations to all students who graduated on May 8th, and team Indy wishes you good luck.

Fuselage coming together

Jay North routing Fuselage parts

Fuselage First Assembly by Jay North, Ben Rocker, and Eric Castillo.

Nieuport 24 Spreader Bars Are Welded In Place

 We are lifting and turning the Nieuport fuselage on its side to gain better access to weld the two spreader bars. In the December 14 & 21, 07 blog we posted the jig we used and some good close-up pictures of the spreader bars. Now the landing gear is ready for them. The  spreader bars are a vital part of the landing gear. Eventually a wrapping of bungee cord will be around the spreader bars and the axle. The function of this is to act like a shock absorber for the landing gear. The spreaders bars are the two tubings on the right and the axle will be in between them.

Looking for Brakes

 In our first picture we have the lower wing of our Nieuport 24 (N24) aircraft being laid out on a table. The lower wing is smaller than the top wing so we are tackling this first hopefully to gain some experience before we do the top wing.

Last week one of our students Joseph “Blake” Barnett was helping with the engine cage and this week he is busy looking at the axle and wheel assembly. He is also wondering about the brakes system. Instead of putting on the spreader bars like we mentioned in our last blog we are more concerned about the brakes because of space requirements. Our N24 aircraft will have the heavy-duty spoke wheels from Richard Baslee/ Airdrome Aeroplanes. We are searching for a brake system and if anyone has used these wheels and has a brake system they have installed on their aircraft we would welcome any suggestion. Please click on the “Post Comments”  next to Team Chesapeake and then scroll down to leave a comment. Thank you. 

 A couple of weeks ago there were three student working on the cables. Here is a good picture of their work. Job well done goes out to Ryan, Dan and Greg. You can see them in action in our April 11, 2008 blog.

Another Week Gone By…

Another week has passed, and our progress hasn’t been great (I know, I know… It seems as if I’m saying the same thing week after week)… Our students are focusing on their studies, which includes taking their General written exams, and haven’t been coming as we have expected…

Due to their inconsistency in attendance, we continue to have to refresh their welding skills, and are still welding up the framework of the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer.

Friday work

Layout and measurement to start fuselage cutting

Finishing rib work in the hanger