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Starboard tank in the wing. I was able to get it in the wing by myself, next time I will find the boys for help. The diagonal closest to the tube on the far side of the bay damn near got wrecked, you have to angle the tube up and slide the tank onto the tube and drop everything in place...

Mock up with sheet metal screws and hot glue. I have used zip in sheet metal screws as poor man clecos where 1/8" rivets go. They are considerably cheaper and lots less clumsy especially when you need a bunch of them. Drilled a #30 hole, hand set a screw. Another thing that I wanted to try...

Bending Real Tank Skin Boys helped with this.

Tiny Tank Before I bent up the real tank skin, I made a small tank with my baffles and tank ends to make sure my measurements were correct and to keep from making big pieces of scrap. Saw this somewhere, seemed like and was a good idea. Took two tries. Also showing how I mated up the inside...

Tank Progress Decided what I was doing for baffles. Here they are with progress so far. Looks like everything should work. Planning a one piece skin with one flanged joint to the inside in the upper front of tank where I am pointing. Should have a complete mock up tomorrow. Thanks, Jim

Thanks Pete! I just stumbled across a picture of some baffles somebody with a heck of a lot more experience building Supercubs than what I have does. It looks like I could take out considerably more material on the baffles. Will flange holes, that makes good sense. Thanks, Jim

Tank Baffle Question Its been a while. Back into it. Pictured are my tank sides and internal baffles so far. .050 5052, made rib pattern OSB cutout between spars, burned out blanks around patterns with plasma cutter, bent flanges over by putting blank between OSB cutouts, clamping in vise...

Thanks Pete. Most people would call what I have something other than gumption. Thank you again for your kind words. I truly admire good welders, sheet metal guys and manual machinists. I may never be one, but it is truly satisfying to make the attempt. Thanks, Jim

Pete, Good point. I’m using H32. I would guess O would be less prone to cracking, but it would only be a guess. I would also guess that O would harden anywhere that it was heated, so it might be the same thing only in reverse. Just changing where hardened aluminum meets soft. Welding...

Tig and torch welded aluminum comparison. WARNING, IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING TO REAL WELDERS. Got my .050 5052 on Thursday. Did some more torch welding. Used a Smith Little Torch tonight with their size 5 tip which is slightly smaller than a Victor 0. Then did some tig, weighed, compared...

Torch welded aluminum (don’t laugh) Hadn’t played with this in a while, really need to be in the right frame of mind to do it, and watch it like a hawk. Look away for a second, garbage. One beer minimum and one only. This is .050 6061 T6 with 1/16” 4043 filler, size 0 Victor tip turned way...

Wings are flying, kind of... Finally got starboard side leading edge done. Oldest son helped buck rivets. Good to spend time with him in the shop, but also kind of sad. He's a senior, he leaves for basic training in June. His little brothers are going to have to help in his absence. Plan...

6oz, 6 Day Mistakes Made some more errors. 1st one I didn't realize until I had Port wing buttoned up and was ready to drill three holes in Starboard. Laid my aileron bracket up from the wrong hole. About 1-1/4" too far inboard. Looked like it would put the cable in one hell of a bind, had...

Vic, No I didn't ask him for drawings. I don't know about the "figured it out from photos" either. This was just my rendering of something close to what Javron does on their wings that looks like it makes sense. There is no engineering behind what I have done, but I don't think it will...

Awesome! You have built 2 complete planes in the time it has taken me to scratch build something that is getting close to resembling wings. Very nice. Congrats!

John, Working with a partner makes a lot of sense to me now. Another set of eyes and functional brain would have kept me from making some mistakes. You are absolutely right on the pile of raw materials thing. It will keep a guy busy for a long time cheaply if you enjoy the process. If you...

Pete, The picture that you have referenced is the outboard end of the port side spar. I’m not the best photographer and because I have aileron ribs only, it is unclear. The rear spar attachment points are present and accounted for on the other end. Thanks for keeping an eye on me though. I...

Wings Coming Together Things are coming together. Did a light rear spar beef up at rear strut attachment point. Yes, I tried to copy for the most part what Javron does. Looked like a good idea, shouldn't make the wing weaker. Took lots of time to build, Javron's are nicer and better, just...

The curse of being handy. I know guys who aren't handy, hire everything done but seem to have all the time in the world. They always say, "I wish I could do that." My response, "You can, but be careful what you wish for." You'll get what you think is important to you done. It might not be...

Update All ribs, nose ribs, drag wires, fuel bay tube, etc. installed. Trammeled wings, everything squared up nicely and easily. The only trammel points I already owned were for laying out ductwork and were permanently fastened to a sliding trammel bar that was too short. Bought these off...