Wing Dings and Things
"Design and Fabrication is only limited to your own imagination"
Round 2. For those who have been following me the past years knew I already attempted making a 3D wing with mild success. The form came out OK, but after numerous hours and visible flaws still apparent that it would not make sense to continue making the mold for an imperfect product. Plus I went a little crazy with some angles and dimensions!
Now there are no guide books or tutorials on how to make your own 3D wing so there was a huge learning curve. I researched a lot of the techniques use in hobby air planes, air DIY air planes and some automotive wings (straight wings). The approach I took was the method my mind deconstructed and reconstructed the wing. For my second attempt I am simple refine the my craft and doing things slightly different to make a more accurate representation.
Top Right: Prototype 1 Mock up
Bottom Right: Comparison of my wing and an APR GTC200 on top
Bottom: One of the reasons why the rear wing is crucial. The rear wing stands will also provide support for my cargo box which will allow me to travel to shows, meets, and events with my tent, tables and some merchandise! No trailer-ing here!
Round 2
This time around I had a friend help me with some CAD work, this allowed me to visualize what the wing would look like prior to building it. This allowed me to get the proportions and measurements down. With a rough idea of what it would look like, I began building by CNC'ing out the profile of the ribs. Each rib is where the wing changes width, angle and direction.
Next I added rods through each rib, this gave the wing the wingspan and the multiple rods prevented the ribs from twisting thus holding its shape better.
Below: Measuring the distance between each rib according to my drawings. Also note the right square to make sure the rib is perpendicular and squared -- not twisted and cock-eyed.
Right: The wing core all glued up with Norton's speed grip 2 part epoxy. I also added an aluminum wired to the trailing edge to give the center that "bow" look. This will leave me a guide to run the hot wire cutter and keep things symmetrical. The other trailing edges were left open as those parts will be straight across and by using a long sanding block I will be able to achieve that straight edge.
Next it was time to make the rib structure a solid. I made a form out of melamine wood and cardboard and gave it a few coats of partall #2 paste wax to ease the release of the foam. The form is very crude and is only meant to act as a barrier for the foam so it doesn't spill out.
Right: This is the 2 part pour foam I used. Once the foam is shaped I'll be spraying Duratec primer over the wing to prep the plug and get ready to make the mold.
Bottom: Stages of the pour foam. In the last picture I had to add extra foam where the first run did not cover. This foam has a 45 second pot life so don't mix too much and work quickly.
And then there was an FC
On a side note, We also just picked up an FC! I've been waiting for space to start taking in new cars to start developing products for. After over a year of searching I've finally found and moved into our new shop which allowed us to go on the hunt. After tip from a friend and an 8 hour round trip we got this baby back to our shop! (Thanks Jack!) It will be a few weeks before we get to it, but the first thing on the list will be an aluminum race dash everyone has been asking for!
