OK I'll bite on this, whats the Skylark method ??

Just checking to see if the Skylark method of tabbing the spar it a good enough way to keep a wing straight when building?

Jim Pollock   

Jim,

I built a Skylark from the Smith kit, and in a word, NO, the tabs are not sufficient to do a good job of building a straight wing.   They are fine as far as they go, but that is only for the first half of the wing.   The tabs do you no good when it's time to flip the wing over to do the second side.

Bill Byers, who was Ed Southwick's protege, drew the plans, and could probably explain how to build a straight wing this way, as I'm sure that he and Ed built many straight wings that way.   I don't know if Bill monitors this forum or not.

I'm a firm believer in building a wing in a jig, on plate glass, and not removing the wing from the jig until it is completely done.

My wing had a warp in it after doing the first half.   What I had to do was to fabricate about 6 "cradles" from balsa, and secured the wing to them to complete the second half of the construction.   Even after all that extra work, the wing did NOT come out straight.

My suggestion would be to use one of the current systems in use today that allows the wing to be completely build while in the jig....e.g. the Millennium system, rods, or a perimeter jig block system.   Give it some thought....with all of the excellent choices available, there is no reason to compromise and build a wing that is only "good enough".

Cheers.

Warren Wagner