Lone Ranger Aileron Wings (oz15871)

About this Plan

Lone Ranger Aileron Wings.

Note this is not a plan for a complete airframe. This is a plan showing how to build aileron wings to fit the Lone Ranger (oz15852) airframe and the Mini Lone Ranger (oz15869) airframe.

Quote: "Free Plan. By popular demand the 'Aileron Wing', the long awaited development to the now classic trainer the Lone Ranger. By Alasdair Sutherland.

I owe a big thank you to Stuart Marsden and Tony Perryman, without whom I would never have thought of designing the aileron wing. I was impressed when I saw Stuart's 60 in aileron wing, and then Tony Perryman's one and a half times Lone Ranger with its 90 in span aileron wing flying on an OS 40LA at Old Warden, but by then I had just sold my own Lone Ranger to a friend in the club so I relied on Stuart and Tony for a user appraisal.

They seemed keen on the concept and found it very practical, so I designed and built an aileron wing for my Mini Lone Ranger, powered by a 0.8 cc diesel or Cox 049. I am very pleased with the result, so I am delighted to present to you here the aileron wing for either the standard Lone Ranger or the smaller version.

If you already have a Lone Ranger and can fly it confidently, then the aileron wing will open up a whole range of new flying experiences, but still at a slow flying speed. It will cope with stronger winds and is easier to take off from a smooth grass runway or hard surface.

Overview: The aileron wing is very similar in construction to the polyhedral wing, and uses the same rib shape, shortened slightly at the rear. The right wing is drawn out in full, and is built first. Then it is lifted from the plan and the left wing is built using the same rib positions, but the tip is added at the other end (shown dotted) and then the right wing is added on at the correct dihedral angle. The D-box wing is closed on the building board, so it should end up as straight as your board.

Cutting out: First cut out pairs of tip pieces, AW10, AW11 and AW12, and glue 11 and 12 together over the plan (left and right) and set aside.

The ribs are cut using the same template as for the original wing, but are slightly shorter at the rear end. You need two root-end ribs and two sub ribs from 1/8 balsa and 22 (18 on the Mini) from 1/16 balsa.

Cut out the spars to size, using medium to hard balsa, and trial fit the ribs on the spars. The ribs should be a snug fit, and their front edges should all line up perfectly. Cut the LE to size, and notice that both LE and TE extend beyond the tip rib. Cut the TE pieces to shape, mark left and right, place over the plan and mark rib positions, then cut notches 1/16 wide and deep for the ribs (using two pieces of hacksaw blade taped together).

Cut the dihedral joiners AW1 and AW2 (only 1 on Mini) from good quality birch-ply with the grain on the outer layers spanwise. Never use liteply for wing joiners. You may use 1/16 ply or, as I did, cut 2 from 1/32 ply (which is easily cut with scissors) and laminate them together.

Assembly Pin the lower LE sheet onto the building board over the plan and glue the doubler on top of it, lining up their front edges carefully. Glue the Leading Edge piece in place, packing it up above the board on scraps of balsa as shown on the wing construction drawing. Pin the Trailing Edge piece in place. Between the front sheet and the TE fit balsa sheet (grain spanwise) over the inner panel only, and 1/4 cap strips (grain chord-wise) for the remaining ribs.

Trial fit the ribs between LE and TE, trimming the rear ends for a neat fit in the notches. Lift the ribs, apply white glue to the rear of the sheeting and the front tips of the cap strips, and lay the lower main spar in place. Adjust the spar's position by laying the ribs in place and sliding the spar forward so that the ribs meet the LE, then pin down the spar... "

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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