Bow tie all the way

Mk26 Spit,70%,engine Ls6 350 Chev.Except no substitute!!…err unless it,s a Merlin…:D

It,s everything old…

It,s not about life or death..It,s much more serious than that..
Even though I love my Spit,I still get a big buzz seeing someone pour their heart into a preservation project or even something new and see it come to fruition.Be it a rebuild,reproduction or replica.At the mo helping the boss rebuild an M3 Lee tank.It don,t fly but watching it grow from a rusty hulk to something that will resemble it,s former glory.Nothing can match it!!!:D
A pat on the back to any person who has the heart to take on their dreams and overcome everything thrown at them to create a thing of beauty.

Outstanding..

I,m pretty sure we have original plans of the “Flyer” up here somewhere at the museum.Have you been in contact with Brian??Also talk to Lynette and Wayne at Aerotech as it was them who restored the Kite back to brand new condition for us.Oustanding work they did!!!;)
Well done to all involved in getting this ambitious project off the ground..

All I can say is…

Lucky B@st@rds!!!!!!;)

It,s the overal design

Hi Tom.The main spars are only part of the genius.The strongest part of the Spitfire wing is the “D” section which is the whole leading edge forward of the main spar.I would do the wing leading edge in about .040″ for a scale as your not hefting all the ammo,guns and armour plate into the air like a real one.Also the materials today are of a lot higher yield strength than the materials of 60 plus years ago.The truss design for the leading edge ribs will take up most of your time if you want authenticity.
The web could be done as you say.A flat plate with angle top and bottom spar caps to screw the skin onto.Saves a lot of hammerforming :diablo:

This is a MkXIV wing BTW.
Even the original web parts were joined.With a proper doubler sheetmetal join the part will just be as strong.Only way to safely do destructive testing on components is to use a 3d Software package like Solidworks or Catia.The part or assembly is drawn in a virtual world and stresses are imparted on it.The stress levels come out as different colours.Dark is good,light is bad…We can do single parts as we have done a virtual test on a rudder pedal and the results were conclusive with a crashed part we have in our stash.Broken in exactly in the same spot.:D

Cool pics.

The stories I,ve heard of spitfire pilots bending their wings into Corsair like profiles there is a genius behind the design.Only when there was manufacturing stuff ups were there breakages IIRC.Wing bolts not sized or installed properly.:confused:

Secrets of hammerforming…

Ok what did I miss!!
Way we do it is pretty simple.Firstly the wood used has to be fairly hefty.Hardwood is great if your doing multiple parts but MDF is fine for one offs.Make sure it is fairly thick at least 16mm.Where the lightening holes are drill a 1/4 inch hole to locate the wooden “forms” and the alloy frame “blank” together.This stops the alluminium from twisting and getting the flange out of shape.Ok now the trick is to use lots of clamps or to have the wooden former low in the vice where you are hitting.This is important as it helps the ally from buckling.2024 T3 will hammerform Ok other than annealed “O” grade but you have to hit it with a lot more force.The wooden edge that the flange is formed over has a very slight radius on it to help dissipate stress points.Ok now your on to the fun bit.Start at one end and using a large heavy “deadweight” hammer and a bit of wood about 3 inches wide,1 inch thick and about 6 to 8 inches high work your way down the length of the flange overlapping each hit.As Mark G stated,don,t try knock one section down in one hit but work the length of the flange down in stages.First about 30 degrees,second about 60 and the final one close to 90.Some wrinkling along the flange might occur.You can either hit the high spots down and work them down or as I do use a hammer and dolly after it,s out of the formers and dolly them out gently.Ok now your close to a 90 degree fold.Now turn your wooden “hit stick” and turn it flat onto the flange,this gives you a big flat area to finalize the fold and it makes for a lot better face.Shrinkers are next as you have “stretched” the flange material so a “shinker” reverses the bow in the frame.Then trim to shape,do your lightening holes etc,etc.
Wing spars you could laminate flat sections of alluminium together then rivet,bolt together.