The wings are as good a place as any to start with. Actually, better, since I first started this project while owning a small home without a basement and only a small one-car garage. I also have quite a bit of working knowledge with wood. No craftsman, mind you, but I've built quite a few things using my hands.

Starting the project back in 1993 I began building the ribs up for the bottom wing since it was a two-piece affair. The upper wing, at that time, was one LARGE piece, 24 feet to be exact. Since that time, and due to the fact that I'm taking forever to just complete the wings, the upper wing now is a three piece structure. As of today, Oct. 16, 2006, there are still some bugs to work through on the blueprints, but that's why I'm a member of EAA. LOTS of knowledge to be had there.

I've been a member of EAA since 1988. Many of the club members have built 2 or 3 planes.

As of today, I only have the rib information listed below. As soon as I move on to the entire wing I'll get that posted.

No sense in getting ahead of myself on the site before I am at that stage in the actual building process.

Order of build for the wings (Wing ribs are just about finished. I have begun fabricating aileron ribs and the center section for 3-pc Upper Wing.)

  1. Jigs for upper and lower wings, and ailerons.
  2. Nose rib templates for upper and lower nose pieces.
  3. Cut all capstrips and gussets before building.
  4. I'll be purchasing most of the metal fittings so I'll need to     purchase these over a period of time instead of being hit with     the cost all at once. Change on this. See Mar 13 comment     below.
  5. Fabricate center section for 3-pc Upper Wing.
  6. Cut spars for both Upper and Lower Wings.
  7. Fabricate Bows

March 13, 2007: Since I'm building the new 3-pc Upper Wing. I'll need to become pretty handy at cutting fittings. As of right today, Steen Aero doesn't make/sell the fittings for this new 3-pc center section.

Materials:
  1. 1/4" x 24" x 48" Birch Plywood
  2. 1/4" x 1/4" x 48" Spruce capstrips
  3. System Three T-88 glue (gap-filling glue)
  4. System Three Clear Coat for sealing in all wood
  5. Gorilla glue (for bows)
  6. 3/4" Plywood for building jigs
  7. Material for Upper Wing center section
  7. Material for Bows, spars and blocks

Tools:
  1. Jigsaw to cutout ALL those capstrips and gussets.
  2. Measuring cups for mixing T-88
  3. Plenty of sticks for mixing glue.
  4. Large level table for building ribs.
  5. Dremel tool for cleaning up edges of the capstrip where either     excess glue or gussets overhang.
  6. Weights for pressure on top of each of the gussets.
  7. File/Rasp for cleaning up top and bottom gussets on ribs.

Tips:
  1. Buy a scroll saw or band saw for cutting all those little pieces.
  2. Measure 3 or 4 times and cut once.
  3. Measure the blueprints to make sure that they are the right     size. Due to the weather, etc, they may have shrunk.
  4. Make sure that your table is dead on level. You'll be making     extra work for yourself otherwise.
  5. Make both jigs for the upper and lower wings. You'll be able to     complete both an upper and lower wing rib each day you work     on it.
  6. On each joint that you glue, make sure that you have squeeze     out. Otherwise it may be a glue starved joint; aka weak joint.
  7. For each batch of glue you make... make sample glue joints     marking date and what piece(s) you used the glue on. The     inspector will probably want to see them when doing the final     inspection on your Skybolt.
  8. Look ahead on the plans. What will you need next ? Get     started on that too.
  9. Start fabricating your fittings when working with the wood     parts.
  10. Are you going to weld up your fuselage ? If you don't know     how... start learning now. Click here to read about how I got     started. If I can do it... just about anyone can.

Spar Material
     Douglas Fir Vs Sitka Spruce

I just recently read an article by Stan Hall "On the Use of Douglas Fir as a Substitute for Spruce/" A great, easy to read, short and to the point article on the differences between the two types of wood.

Summary:
  1 - Bending Strength: Fir is 23% stronger than Spruce
  2 - Elasticity: Fir is stiffer than Spruce (no % mentioned)
  3 - Compression Strength:
    a. Parallel to grain Fir is 39% stronger
    b. Perpendicular to grain Fir is 55% stronger
    c. Not only is a Fir spar stronger, but the bearing strengths of     bolts in Fir are higher by the same percentage
  4 - Fir is 23% stronger than Spruce but weighs about 26% more
  5. When Choosing Fir look for VERTICAL grain that is from 8 to 14   grains/inch

This article had a lot of interest to me because the 3-piece wing spars called out by Steen Aero for the Radial-engined version of the Skybolt are to be fashioned out of Douglas Fir. Now try and find a piece of Douglas Fir from Aircraft Spruce or one of the other suppliers to the scratch-built biplane builder and you'll be hard pressed to find one. Or, at least I am.

Awhile ago I asked Gus if he knew of a place that sold Douglas Fir spars. He told me of a company up in New York State by the name of Maurice Condon Co, Inc, out of White Plains. I remembered, from my "boat building" days that they supplied the boat industry with quality wood. I sent for information and received a pamphlet without any pricing and just general information.

My next step is to call for a quote. If it sounds good I'll take a drive up there to look at the wood and choose the four spars myself. If I can, I'll find someone who is good a picking "aircraft quality" wood and have them take a ride up there with me.

If interested, here is their information:

Maurice L Condon Co
250 Ferris Ave
White Plains, NY 10603

Ph: 914-946-4111

A Source for Douglas Fir Spar Material

I never ended up going to Maurice L Condon. I found another supplier, up in BC Canada that's been finding aircraft quality wood for airplane builders for years.... I have added another page to the wings section. Click here to read more.