Chapter 10

Building the Canard

This chapter deals with construction of the canard. The canard is the smaller wing at the front of the aircraft. Canard type aircraft are safer than other aircraft in at least one regard - they are very resistant to stalling. The reason for this is that before the aircraft can slow to the point where the main wing stalls, the canard stalls, thereby lowering the nose of the aircraft. The aircraft picks up speed, and both wings continue flying.

The steps to build this canard are as follows:
  1. Trimming the Foam Blocks and Cutting the Cores
  2. Making Lift Tabs, Inserts, Jigging Cores, Laying Up the Shear Web, and Installing Lift Tabs
  3. Jigging and Bonding the Canard Sections Together
  4. Spar Cap Layup
  5. Applying the Bottom Skin
  6. Installing Hard Foam Blocks for Elevator Hinges, the Upper Spar Cap, and the Upper Skin

(June 26, 2004)
Using the materials I have on hand, I decided that I may as well do what I can rather than sit around dreaming. I've started by creating some nice canard templates out of thin steel.

I had a local company that specialized in scanning plans and blueprints scan the plan sheets into a CAD program for verification of dimensions. I've then printed the templates out onto a dimensionally stable paper. These templates were bonded to 18 GA steel sheet and carefully cut out. After some filing and deburring, I have hot wire templates that seem to be very easy to follow with a hot wire saw.