Join The Wing Panels - Top Flite P-47D THUNDERBOLT User Manual

JOIN THE WING PANELS

1. Cut away the portion of rib W-1 behind the
dowel plate and 1/16" behind the main spars. Cut
away the portion of rib W-2 behind the main spars
on the line you drew earlier. This will allow the
dihedral braces to pass through the ribs. Do this to
both wing panels.
2. Test fit both die-cut 1/16" plywood Dihedral
Braces into each wing half. Make sure the brace
centerline can go all the way to the wing centerline.
Trim the ends of the brace slightly if required.
3. Align the holes of the die-cut 1/8" plywood
Wing Bolt Plates (TOP) and (BOTTOM) then glue
them together.
4. Test fit the wing bolt plate into each wing
panel. Make adjustments if necessary.
IMPORTANT: Check your work surface with a
metal straightedge to make sure that it's
perfectly flat before proceeding. Make a "dry
run" of step 5 before actually performing it with
glue. Predetermine where you will place clamps
on the dihedral braces and W-1's.
5. Join the wing halves with the dihedral braces
and the wing bolt plate. Place the wing upside down
on your flat work table. Slide the 1/2" x 2" x 6-1/2"
balsa Wing Dihedral Block under W-1's and the
1/4" x 1/4" x 7-7/8" balsa Wing Jig Sticks under the
W-11's at each wing tip. The dihedral block and wing
jig sticks should be positioned so they contact the jig
tabs and the top main spar. The 1/2" side of the
block should be contacting the work surface and the
wing, and the 2" side of the block should be vertical.
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6. When you have confirmed that all parts fit
well, disassemble the pieces. Coat the dihedral
braces where they will contact the spars, the spars
(where they will contact the dihedral braces of
course) and W-1's with 30-minute epoxy.
Reassemble the wing parts and place the wing on
the dihedral block and wing jig sticks as you did in
the previous step. Make sure the wing is properly
jigged and all parts are in position. Clamp the
dihedral braces to the spars. Clamp the W-1's
together. Use a cloth to remove excess epoxy
before it cures.
7. After the epoxy has cured, remove the
clamps. Do not remove the jig tabs from W-11
and W-1 yet. Glue the die-cut 1/8" plywood rib
doublers W-1D and W-2D to ribs W-1 and W-2 as
shown on the plans. Apply a fillet of epoxy around
the wing bolt plate and where both W-1's meet the
aft plywood dihedral brace.
8. Glue the last two 1/16" shear webs between
W-2 and W-3 on both sides of the wing.