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"Spraker" tackwelded fuselage

RYAN_WINGS

Registered User
Tucson, AZ
I keep hearing about these "Spraker" tackwelded fuselages.
Does anybody here have any contact information to get more information about this product and is there a website?
I do not seem to find anything when I google for Spraker.

thanks
JvB
 
I am building up a Cub from one of his fuselages. I visited his place in Florida. It's just a small shop, nothing fancy and he just builds one at a time. I am happy with the fuseage, no problems. Joe
 
Spraker's fuse

Charles Aaron, the guy who built the red supercub from the northland CD used a Spraker fuse (Pics are somewhere on this site). He said, as I recall, there was a small error in it that he had to fix, and Spraker had made the correction on the other fuselages. His price is right. How are you going to finish weld it? What about the fittings, are you going to make them or buy them?

Joe
 
Joe, spraker fuslelage does not come complete with fittings? if that's the case than I'd be not interested. Finish welding would be with Oxy-Acyteleen.
 
I think Charles Aaron bought his fittings from Airframes Inc. I think you would still be money ahead with one of these fuselages if you like to weld.
 
Fittings

My neighbor is building two PA-18 fuselages and purchased all of his fittings from Earl at Northland Manufacturing. I looked at them and they look great. They are water jet cut out of all mill spec material. You can't make them better or cheaper yourself. Crash
 
Spraker

Ryan,
Thats correct, his fuse is without fittings, just tack welded. I think his price may be around 3 thousand, but I'm not sure. I agree that you would still be ahead with the Spraker without the fittings. Think of all the jigging, cuting and fiting required.
Joe
 
Earl's fittins from Northland save a huge amount of time. Most guys dont have the capability to bend the heavy 4130 fittings. For those contemplating a exp. fuselage, if the Spraker fuselage is 3 grand then a grand of that money is for basic materials. If the workmanship meets your personal standards then 2 grand to bring home a head start is worth it. I have built a cub from scratch and I would pay 2 grand for a good head start. Kevin
 
From what you see in Charles Aaron early stages of construction photos, the fuselage looks great, and Charles did an awesome job on the rest.
 
Spraker is building my fuselage right now. He does the X-brace, inverted dog-leg automatically. No fittings. I plan to get my fittings mostly from Northland and Airframes. I will be gas welding. I am a novice welder but will practice and have a pro take a look at my work to be safe.

Bugs
 
I ended up with about $5000 total cost in my fuselage when finished and ready to paint. I bought all my fittings from Airframes Inc. Northland didn't have them at that time and if they did I didn't know about it. I fabricated some items but most I bought. I did all the welding myself. There was only a few minor dimensional errors by Spraker which I easily corrected. I spoke to him about it and he said he has corrected them for future fuselages. Spraker has gone up on his price some since I bought my fuselage. Any way you look at it I ended up with a like new fuselage for half the cost of a prebuilt one. If money had not been a concern I would have bought a prebuilt one for the $10K + price. I am retired and don't have a lot of disposable income so I elected to go with the tack welded variety. I once built a Wag Aero Sport Trainer from scratch and building the fuselage that way takes forever.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys.
I am also looking at buying most of my fittings etc from Northland and some items from Airframes Inc. I am extremely pleased with the service I have received from Northland when I bought his CD and the parts for the fin/rudder/stabilizer/elevator that I purchased from Airframes Inc; I can highly recommend either of these two businesses to anyone else out there trying to build an experimental.
I also agree that it takes forever if you try to build from scratch and the estimate of 1k in raw materials is pretty close to what I paid for my materials, however that does not include the fittings that I will need once I get further with this project. May still switch to a finished Airframes Inc 4 inch widened fuselage if funds become availalable in the future, but for now I enjoy building as much myself as I can.
Charlie, thanks for the input, I have enjoyed looking at your pictures telling the story of how you build that beautiful super cub, Thanks.
JvB
 
Don't forget the cost of materials to build a large table to jig the fuselage on.
 
I'm in the process of scratch building my fuselage, and when you're puting about an hour a night after work it does take forever. :boohoo

The table was cheap though, I used two sheets of 5/8 plywood per 8 foot length and then put a leaf in between them to get 19 feet. I made some adjustable feet with some stock steel and carriage bolts. One thing I would suggest if anybody else tries this is get some real good plywood even though you are going to get it burnt and chop inspection holes in it. The reason I say that is I ended up writing quite a bit on mine, and the sharpy doesn't work to well on the first table I made with scabby wood.
 
No landing gear, wing, tailspring fittings, etc. No superstructure. I just saw an ad for the Spraker fuselage on Ebay.
 
Fittings

94SUPER18 said:
What are you guys refering to when you say "fittings" for a fuselage?

Fittings are the tail spring mount pad, front & rear gear fittings, front and rear wing attach fittings, flap handle fitting, door hinges, fuel selector fitting, trim crank fitting, etc.

Talked with Lee (Airframes Inc.) today trying to get a sweet heart deal on a Widebody fuselage, but he said his prices are firm and my go up because the cost of 4130 and all metal products is going through the roof. Better get it now. Crash
 
j3jm said:
No landing gear, wing, tailspring fittings, etc. No superstructure. I just saw an ad for the Spraker fuselage on Ebay.

Yep, also all pulley brackets, tabs, turtledeck arches, jackscrew/tail mount, window frames. Still, $2995 for a tack welded fuselage is a good deal. Wag Aero tack welded J3 fuselages are a lot more.

Bugs
 
Still, $2995 for a tack welded fuselage is a good deal. Wag Aero tack welded J3 fuselages are a lot more.

I don't know? The Sport Trainer is $4146.75 ans the Super Sport Trainer is $4291.50 with all the attach brackets, tabs, stringers, fuselage step and handle. Would save a lot of time jigging and I'm not sure if all the parts would run the difference. Something else to consider.
 
I'm NOT trying to talk anybody out of building a whole fuselage or finishing a tack welded fuselage. However, that being said I'm in the middle of it right now and I'm just being completely frank about it, unless you really enjoy welding it is worth it to buy the completed (fully welded) fuselage. There will still be well over a thousand hours of work involved putting the rest together.

I was talking to another homebuilder who has been "building" a little aluminum kit plane for the last several years, and he remarked about how much he hated sheet metal work.................... Just food for thought, I know I would rather be flying than building but I still get a big kick out of the building. If you don't love the building process don't waste your time. :morning:
 
Steve Pierce said:
Still, $2995 for a tack welded fuselage is a good deal. Wag Aero tack welded J3 fuselages are a lot more.

I don't know? The Sport Trainer is $4146.75 ans the Super Sport Trainer is $4291.50 with all the attach brackets, tabs, stringers, fuselage step and handle. Would save a lot of time jigging and I'm not sure if all the parts would run the difference. Something else to consider.

Yeah but those aren't PA-18 fuselages are they? Also, are you sure they come with the fittings already tack welded? The Spraker has the X-brace, inverted dog leg mods. I am still curios on exactly what the difference is between Sport Trainer and PA-18 fuselage.
 
There are a lot of minor differences such as gear attach fittings being more beefy and the tubing in station #1 and #2 being different diameter, and wall thickness etc but the major difference is the upper cabin structure. The J-3 and Sport Trainer have the long front spars that attach in the middle of the cabin just over the head of the front seat occupant. The PA-18 has the short spars that attach outside of the cabin area. Much more head room for the front seat occupant.
 
I bought a nice TIG welder and learned to use it, and have found a whole new hobby for myself. If you are looking for a cheap or quick way into a Cub, don't build one, buy one.
 
j3jm said:
I bought a nice TIG welder and learned to use it, and have found a whole new hobby for myself. If you are looking for a cheap or quick way into a Cub, don't build one, buy one.

I don't agree about cheap. Experimental can be cheap if you try and are not in a hurry. Just ask Charlie Aileron. Scrounge around for parts, take your time, save $$$. :D
 
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