From: jkr@cray.com (John Renwick)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.homebuilt
Subject: Starting an Acro II
Date: 13 Oct 92 20:54:41 GMT
Distribution: usa

I recently began constructing an Acro II, and would like to meet
any other rag-and-tube people out there.

Why am I building?

There was a good series of articles in Sport Aviation a couple of
years ago on preparing to build an airplane.  The first article
discussed whether you should build at all, and it gave the
often-repeated advice that you should only build if your goal is
BUILDING.  If FLYING is your goal, buy an airplane!  I own an
airplane, so I can fly when I want to.  I've done some of the
restoration work on my J-3 Cub.  I enjoy woodworking, welding and
fabric work.  After years of lurking at Oshkosh, now I want to
build an airplane.  I very much want the experience of the first
flight in my own creation, and that may keep me going.  My 15-year
old son wants to fly it too; maybe he'll inspire me.

Why an Acro II?  

This is not the simplest airplane to build, nor is it cheap, but
I like biplanes, and if you want to build one, you've got to
accept a bigger job.  (If my pleasure is building, I don't want
it to be over too soon, right? :-) )  I've been around the EAA for
a number of years, and gotten to know some of the people who
designed and built the Acro II.  The plans are very well drawn,
quite complete, and I believe the support will be good.  Another
member of my EAA chapter (54) has built an Acro Sport, instructs
in the EAA Air Academy, and is willing to help me too.  With the
Cub experience I'm comfortable with fabric airplanes.

Getting Started

Before the project comes the workshop.  You need comfortable,
well-lit space, and tools.  From work-party visits to the EAA
museum I've learned that the essential machines are the band saw,
bench sander, drill press and bench grinder.  An air compressor is
a must, later on, for painting and riveting.  With some windfall
money last spring I added the last few items from this list to my
shop.  Before that point I had dabbled with the idea of starting a
homebuilt, but never seriously.  With the tools on the floor, it
became serious.  I discussed the idea with my son.  He said he'd
like to help.  That was enough; I ordered the wood.

I took a gas welding course several years ago at the local vo-tech,
and learned that welding is a skill that takes me longer to learn
than some other kids.  Now it's time to take the time to learn to
do it.  Bill, the Acro Sport builder, uses a Victor J-28 torch.  I
bought one--it's a beautiful thing, very small, and it works a lot
better on thin wall tubing than does the bigger Smith torch I used
in school.  I bought a 10-pound box of scrap 4130 tubing and
started to melt metal.  It will take more practice, but I'll make
welds that will pass inspection.

The wood arrived from Wicks last week.  It all looks perfect.
There are eight wing spars.  I measured them, and they're all
planed and beveled correctly, with uniform dimensions over the
whole length.  I'm glad I bought the precut stuff, rather than
trying to scrounge and cut my own.  Now I can start making wings.

It took a couple of weeks to figure out the tricks to making wing
ribs.  I found I needed one more power tool:  a router on a table
with a laminate trimmer bit for shaping nose blocks and trimming
plywood gussets.  Sunday I glued up my first rib.  I made some
mistakes, and I'll probably destroy it to discover its weaknesses
before I make another one.  In a few days I'll have the confidence
to build them for real!

To be continued. . .

and continued. . .

and . . .    :-)

- John Renwick
J-3 Cub N62088, building Acro II S/N 911
jkr@cray.com
-- 
- John Renwick
J-3 Cub N62088, building Acro II S/N 911
jkr@cray.com