Let the building begin!

Today, my first kit arrived—3 weeks and twelve-hundred dollars later! I believe this kit contains all the wood necessary to build both the upper and lower wings. I'm going to need some luck figuring out what all the pieces are for. The spars are obvious. I think I know which pieces are the spars for the ailerons. I've got an idea which pieces to use for all the rib bracing. However, there are lots of other pieces and several sheets of plywood. I hope the instructions and plans shed some light on what's what.

These are the four boxes that arrived today.

These are the contents of the four boxes:
plywood, epoxy, spars, and tons of smaller pieces of wood.

Building the wing rib jig

I'm currently building the jig for the wing ribs. It's simply 3/4" MDF with the paper template glued to it. The instructions said to glue the template to lighter MDF (or similar material), then shape it exactly to the drawing, then use that to draw an outline on heavier MDF. That didn't make sense to me, so I just stuck the paper directly on the heavier MDF. Instead of gluing pieces of wood to the jig, I'm using 1/4" x 1" steel pins, as epoxy won't stick to them. I saw this done by another builder and thought it made sense. The pins were expensive (I spent about $25 on them), but I think it's a nice solution. I still need to cut a few small pieces of spar to glue to the jig, but I don't have the 1st wood kit yet. After I attach those to the jig, it will be done, and I can begin to build ribs.

Drilling holes in the MDF to accept the alignment pins.

It was challenging getting the holes drilled perfectly. I had to re-do a couple,
but that shouldn't be a problem.

The drill press is essential for getting the pins perpendicular
to the MDF. A hand drill jig would work, too.

All holes drilled and all pins inserted. Just need to glue on spar fragments.
I'll add screws to them, too. Since the upper wing is swept, but the ribs are
parallel to the slipstream, there needs to be a little wiggle room where the
spars go through all the ribs. This space will be provided by 5-thousandths
and 35-thousandths shims on either side of the spar fragments. That way,
I can't get the pieces of wood too close to the spars when I build a rib.

The Workshop

This is my workshop. After building all the wing ribs, I plan on building a 4' x 8' workbench which will go in the middle. I will assemble the wings on it and will build the fuselage on it. I'd better get it nice and level!

Entrance to the garage, my safe, and storage along the entire wall of the garage. All the storage is non-workshop related. Table saw in the foreground.

Two rolling storage cabinets, drill press, and air compressor.

Up until just a few weeks ago, all my tools were disorganized and in various locations throughout the garage, mostly tucked away out of sight or in ugly piles. Now, they're all hanging from pegboard.

These are two new work benches. The one on the left isn't quite finished. The miter saw will go between them so that they will act as infeed and outfeet tables, besides workbenches. Each has a nice sized shelf underneath for storage. The tables are 2' x 4' and are about 37" high (36" legs + adjustable feet + 3/4" MDF tops). The tool under the bench on the right is an oscillating belt sander.

Table saw and router table.

Screws, nails, plate joiner (aka biscuit joiner), a couple orbital sanders, Tormek knife sharpening system, jig saw, pneumatic brad nailer, Milwaukee drill, cordless circular saw, Skil worm drive saw, and router.

Baby Great Lakes Info

Here's a bit of background info about the Baby Great Lakes and some photos I found online, just so you get an idea what I'm trying to create.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldfield_Baby_Great_Lakes

(I wonder which kit SHE comes in!!!)

Back to school

I've spent a few hours studying the directions and plans. I quickly scanned the directions after opening the package. There were some things I didn't understand, but I figured the plans might add some clarity. After studying the plans for a while, some things were clarified, but even more questions came up, too. I'm guessing that the kits, as they arrive, will shed even more light on things. So, as things progress and I study the various pieces of the puzzle—directions, plans, and the actual wood and metal—things will become clearer. For things that remain confusing or about which I am uncertain, I will have a chat with a local EAA regular. They meet on the second Tuesday of each month at Thun field (Pierce County Airport), just a bit outside Tacoma.


I ordered the first kit from Aircraft Spruce yesterday. It includes everything I need to build the ribs (including epoxy and nails). It also includes the spars. The Baby, the Super, and the Buddy all use this kit.

The plans are here!

Looks like I have my work cut out for me! It would've been nice if Aircraft Spruce had shipped the plans in a stiff cardboard tube, as it would've prevented some damage to the paper.

Planning

I'm just barely getting started on this project, but I'm excited. I've bought some books and have been doing a lot of reading (including online). I'm also cleaning out the garage (which needed to be done, anyway) to make room for the work. I will plan on building the entire plane in a small, two-car garage. I'll have about half of it fully open for work, with part of the other half available for some storage. The rest of it contains big racks for storage (boxes, random personal possessions, etc.), a big safe, a lawnmower, and a few other sundries.


I'll be buying almost everything from Aircraft Spruce. I got the info pack for this plane which just contained photocopies of some old articles and a listing of the kits you can use to build it (which are also listed on Aircraft Spruce's website). It cost almost $20 with shipping, which kind of felt like a ripoff.


The plans are one the way ($295) and should arrive any day now.


As far as tools, I have some, but I'll be buying quite a few more during construction. That's okay. I love tools. Here's what I have:

• table saw
• drill press
• router/router table
• plate joiner (i.e., biscuit joiner)
• worm-drive saw
• hand power drills (battery powered and corded)
• a variety of clamps
• compressor
• brad nailer
• lots of hand tools

Something I'm very excited about is learning to weld using an oxyacetylene torch. I've been reading on it and have visited the local welding shop. I did it in high school, but that was decades ago.

I'm planning on buying a miter saw, maybe a band saw, and a variety of other new tools. I'll get them as I go.

I've been thinking about what engine I'll use (of course!!!) and I really like the Jabiru 3300. It's lighter than most alternatives and is toward the upper end of the allowable power for the Super Baby Great Lakes. The Super can take up to 125 horsepower and the Jabiru 6 cylinder has 120. This thing should fly like a bat outta hell.