I started this topic last August and I have been remiss in supporting it. There has been significant progress that I have not reported. So, in this and subsequent posts I will try to bring the construction up to date.
The attached pictures date back to April of last year. The first two pictures show the lost foam wing jig. This jig is somewhat different that the typical jig for a straight wing with only LE taper. For FW #2 I decided to include the wing cuff into the main wing structure rather than make it an appliance like I used in #1. This meant that the jig had to be cut in 4 panels instead of two. The other significant difference is that the FW wing has dihedral. Picture three shows two of the four split LE sheeting molds necessitated by the wing cuff.
Pictures 4, 5, and 6 show the installation of the molded LE. The only difference from the typical lost foam technique here was that there were two molded LE sections per wing panel. To provide some support to the butt joint between the two sections, I laminated a half rib to the nose of the rib at the break.
Picture 7 shows the basswood top and bottom wing joiners and the plywood flap horn support that also serves as a TE joiner. Picture 8 shows the installation of the joiners into the left wing half. I departed from the typical lost foam construction process in one other way with this wing. Typically, you use the foam rib templates generated when the wing jig is cut to make the ribs. As an experiment, I laser cut the ribs to be used in the jig. I chose to do this in an attempt to save additional weight, to save time, and to cleanly make the critical openings for the joiner pieces (described below). In picture 8 you can see the laser cut aft rib lightening hole cutouts still attached to the ribs. The forward cutouts were also left in place. This is to provide additional support to the ribs to prevent breakage while the wing is under construction. The cutouts were left in place until removal was absolutely necessary. The cutouts in ribs 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the joiners were laser cut features as well. Unlike the typical lost foam wing, the locations of these cutouts change in depth from rib to rib due to the dihedral and would be very difficult to hand cut accurately. These locations are critical to the proper joining of the wing halves. I spent a lot of time on the computer checking measurements and angles to make sure the cutouts were in the correct place. I was greatly relieved when the wing halves slipped together properly on the first trial fit.
Joe