Brian Courtice alerted me to a glitch he encountered when he began building his Shrike. I decided not to wait until the build thread was ready just in case some of you are getting ready to build your Shrike now. I know most of the kits that have been sold are still in closets or under benches so this should help.

The root end of the wing cores should have been trimmed per my planform template. They were not. I have alerted the contractor who cuts my wings so that subsequent batches of wings will have this correction.

The side profile of the fuselage does not allow a straight wing root to make a perfect fit. As per my directions that come with the kit, it is necessary to place a thin balsa filler wedges in front of and behind the wing rod hole. These wedges get sanded so that the root end of the wing mates up nicely with the fuselage side.

Check out the photo Brian’s sent to me to illustrate the modifcation that will make for an easy wing to fuselage fit. You will see that all you have to do is cut ˝” off the leading edge of the wing. Draw a line from the ˝” mark to the end of the TE and cut the wedge shaped piece off. You will also need to lengthen the slot for the sub-rib so that the wing rod tube aligns with the hole in the sub rib. We’re only talking about increasing the length of the slot by about 3/16” or less. You will be filling the sub-rib slots with lightweight spackle anyway so any small gap created when you lengthen the slot will be filled before you apply the fiberglass reinforcement above and below the sub-ribs.


I think this should help.
Ed

Before cutting or gluing anything be sure to do a dry fit first. It is possible that your wing cores are cut per my planform templates. You won't know for sure unless you slide the wing rod tube into the wing and test the wing root to fuselage fit.

I used two different contractors to cut my wings so it is entirely possible that your wing cores are as they should be. If you wings look like those in the photo that Brian shot then you'll want to trim them per Brian's photo.

In all events you will want to place the balsa shims discussed in the directions on the plywood root caps.

I started sending out extra 1/4" balsa root caps that I thought would make this job of fairing in the root to the fuselage easier but now think these are more work than they are worth. The thin wedges work just as well and are much easier too.

Ed

i found the same problem and corrected before gluing up. suppose i should have posted that.

btw, i took some 180 grit and attached it to the fuse side with a very light dusting of 3m77, slipped in the wing rod and wing half and rotated the wing to exactly match the curvature of the fuse with the balsa root rib. i also shortened the cores by trimming the wing center instead of tip to keep the section thinner, cut them right to 60". (obecchi + .75oz cloth top and bottom, i know its overkill but our lz's are not great, spruce le). auw will be close to 27oz, a floater. it looks good with skinnier wings.

ed moight consider putting an extra set of v-tail root ribs in the kit, i had an extra set and used them to make a cool little fairing with bondo to mate the vtails to on the carbon boom. it better secures the v-tail pins and makes for a drag clean interface.

It's really no biggy if you dry fit the cores on the fuselage before you glue the root ribs on.

I was making a point of following Ed's manual exactly, to test how well the instructions work. The instructions didn't call for trying out the root fit until after the root ribs are glued on. Whoops.

The manual will now be updated to prevent anyone else running into the problem I encountered. My wing roots are already fixed, but I had to do it the hard way.

BTW: I am well into a detailed build for the Skyking Shrike complete kit. I'll open a thread and start posting build pics very soon.

Over the past few months some of the folks that have built their Shrike's have contacted me with their ideas on how to make the kit better. I really appreciate the imput and ideas. I do try to incorporate them when ever possible. Sometimes cost considerations come into play but so far I have been able to make the add ons.

A flying friend of mine in Minnesota has built three or maybe even four Shrikes. A couple of them weighed in at around 27 ounces. This certainly is not heavy by slope standards but it is getting heavier than this bird needs to be for winds in the 25 mph to 35 mph area. Harris Nelson used to fly his 54" Shrike at less than 19 ounces without ballast. The point is light is better. You can always add ballast if necessary.

I do of course realize that some slopes are so hard on planes that extra armour is needed.

I have seen some of the early photos from Brian's build thread and they are sensational. The thread promises to be another good one. I'll be especially interested in his flight report. I know his local slopes really pack some punch....certainly more than we get in Minnesota.

Keep the ideas and photos coming. They are helpful to everyone.
Ed