Canard Leading Edge #8

I must admit that plywood covering airfoils is a frustrating and demotivating task but I will press on through the process.  I lined up the plywood skin on the right side of the canard once more and marked the position of the spars, stringer, and ribs so I could see where not to apply varnish.  Then I put on the first coat of varnish.  My plan is to try to pre bend the skin using ammonia as has been done on other aircraft (www.robinultralight.blogspot.com).

Number of hours: 1.2
Total hours: 273.5

One more point of note, Sylvia Littner now has her own website advertising the Piel plans.  www.slittneraircraftplans.com

I think that she should stop marketing the plans for the Onyx because they appear to be incomplete and an amalgamation of at least three different revisions of the design.  I do not believe that the performance numbers on her site are correct and I do not know if a proper structural analysis has been done on the design that she sells.  It doesn't appear that anyone has ever completed an aircraft from her father's plans and she is unable to provide support for the design.  If you order the "Operations Manual" from her, you will receive the operations manual for the fiberglass version.  I intend to do, at least, a basic analysis before I complete this project to make sure that it is safe to fly.  The plans should not bear the name C.P.-150 Onyx or the name Claude Piel because they are vastly different from his design.  I am considering the purchase of the French plans at some point to see if they are any better but I suspect that they are the original short wing design.

Canard Leading Edge #7

I spent some time the other night test fitting the outboard leading edge panel to the right side of the canard so I could mark the locations of the ribs and spar on the wood.  I tried several different methods for strapping the plywood to the D-cell structure and I was surprised to find out that I got lucky when I attached the first panel because the panel needs to be attached to the top and then worked to the bottom.  Working from bottom to top is pretty much impossible.

Number of hours: 1.5
Total hours: 272.3