Dale's Biplane

OMG Titebond!!

Dale — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 16:39:56 +0000

Today I actually broke out a bottle of Titebond wood glue. No, I’m not using it for something structural, or even cosmetic. I just wanted to make a little aileron control lock to keep the aileron in place while the wing is on the bench or being moved. I’m didn’t want to mix up a …

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Shop climate control update

Dale — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 22:34:27 +0000

I ordered the Tosot mini-split heat pump a week ago. The main parts arrived Wednesday, but the mount for the outdoor unit didn’t get here until Saturday – quite frustrating. In the end, to make a long story short, I now have a heat pump in the garage that seems to do a decent job …

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AC & heat for the garage/shop

Dale — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 01:49:42 +0000

My latest hardware order from Spruce should arrive tomorrow, so I can finish the bracket attachment and have the wing ready to go to the hangar so I can get the other one brought home. It’s been oppressively hot and humid for the past several days. It’s just a fact of life in Nebraska, as …

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Fixing the patch

Dale — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 02:14:00 +0000

A few months back, I accidentally punched a hole in the aileron nose skin. I had glued a patch over the hole, but it needed a skim coat of epoxy and micro filler to smooth it out. I did that, and used the left over mix to fill in the gaps between the two plywood …

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Aileron cleanup

Dale — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 13:28:08 +0000

The torque tube still had quite a bit of drag, due to it rubbing on the edges of the holes in the bay end panels. This morning I sanded the areas where the tube was contacting wood and re-installed the bearing blocks and aileron. Now the only control drag is from the bearing blocks themselves. …

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Right lower aileron fixed

Dale — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 18:54:55 +0000

The recommended fix is to move the aileron torque tubs and the pivot point back 1/4″, then cut the trailing edge of the aileron and shave the rest to match the contour of the wing. I looked at numerous other approaches, but most would involve starting from the rib fabrication stage, or simply building all …

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Fixing transit damage

Dale — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 14:52:57 +0000

As we were moving the wing, I managed to snag the root rib on the corner of the workbench at Stu’s shop while we were getting it positioned to load into my pickup. This popped a couple of glue joints loose, both of which pulled the wood apart rather than just the epoxy breaking, so …

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A wing comes home!

Dale — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 18:32:19 +0000

Picked up the lower right wing from Stu’s place today and got it on the bench. Finally!

Workshop prep

Dale — Tue, 13 May 2025 22:57:42 +0000

As often (always?) happens when a new large work table appears in a garage, it immediately got covered with a raft of postponed and opportunistic projects. Vegetable and tobacco seedling trays, a couple of 2-stroke implements that needed new carburetors, some engine work for the Mustang, a furniture project, and a bunch of random other …

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Minor epiphany

Dale — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 21:19:06 +0000

For a while I’ve been pondering how to set up the new wings on my bench. He’s got a pair of 10′ long steel rails, made from square tubing with slotted brackets to bolt them to his bench. He had put those together to support a router sled for flattening slabs of wood. Early on …

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Aggravating delays

Dale — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 03:59:24 +0000

Well, it’s now been close to five months since I did any meaningful work on the actual – you know – airplane. I’ve built the new workbench, cleared out some space in my garage, and moved the new bench to said garage. I built and installed a wood storage rack. I fitted and leveled the …

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Getting closer to resuming work

Dale — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:51:17 +0000

Between other projects and bitter cold weather, I haven’t gotten anything done on the plane for a while. With one project essentially finished and the workbench finally cleared of it, I took the opportunity to fit the entire bench top. It looks like I’ll need to shorten the supports on the left end to get …

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