Folding wing skins Sonerai 1

[stevebaldwin]

I have just folded my first wing skin for my Sonerai 1 on the warm living room carpet floor .
It is a big day for me , as i bought a part built project a couple of years ago and the aluminum for the wings was in a large roll wrapped in newspaper dated 1990 .i have the done the S mod and have the wing in the wing jig ready for the skin... When i unrolled the roll i found four skins cut a bit over size but in good condition , which cleaned up o k....
People and have told me alloy age hardens and i could have problems ,but it folded easy .
My question is .. As Fred has said in the Wing Build Manual which i have studied for ages . do not have too sharp a Leading edge .....I can easily pull the skin to my cardboard templates and i think when put over the ribs in the jig and strapped down it will fit fine, but there my be tension around the first couple of rivets at the leading edge ...i am just a bit concerned if i bend it a bit more a may put too sharp a fold in it ... what do you think
Thanks
Steve

 

[Tom H]

It's been several years since I formed the wing skins, but remember having the same concern about over-bending. I probably could have gone a bit more. I tried straps to pull the skins down, which helped. The other thing I did was to make "external nose ribs" to slide over the leading edge. Using these with the straps allowed the skin to fit over the LE fairly well. Good luck.

Tom H
S2LS

 

[stevebaldwin]

Thanks Tom H for your help,your comment ....that you probably could have gone a bit more... made up my mind to have another go. This time i cut a length of 1 inch o d of alloy tube wrapped in masking tape clamped inside the leading edge and formed it again . It now fits a lot better.
Thanks again.
Steve.