Took a break from wing ribs to build a wing jig over the Thanksgiving weekend. Captain John trekked up from Plymouth to lend a hand and some brain cells.

Our basement workshop has some drawbacks that we had to consider for the jig. First, the floor isn’t remotely level, so that meant designing a jig that could be aligned at the posts and spar supports to level the spars themselves. Second, the ceiling is old plaster over a rusting metal lath, so it really couldn’t be counted on to support posts. So the solution had to be more or less free-standing, anchored only to the floor.

With those limitations in mind we fabricated four posts, each one five feet high and consisting of two 2″x6″s glued and screwed together. Here’s the assembly line in progress; Captain John is in the background, attaching a 2’x2′ plywood plate to the bottom of one post.

Wing jig building

Here’s one post with support gussets yet to be attached. After each plate is bolted to the floor, the gussets are screwed to 2″x4″ anchors on the plate (not yet attached in this picture). There’s just enough play in the posts to allow them to be adjusted and aligned, after which the gussets and posts are clamped to hold everything in alignment while they’re screwed together.

Wing jig prep

The posts are now bolted in place, and ready for the arms that will support the spars themselves.

Wing jig mounted!

But first, there’s more rib prep – flanging and fluting – to be done. And there was much rejoicing…yea.