Flying wires

[goslow]

Hi folks

I have come to the conclusion that I must be the worlds worst silver solder person. I need to connect up flying wires on my N-17 but todate all I seem to do is over heat the stranded wire to the point where I now doubt if the rated breaking strength is still applicable. My wire is 90 lb so if I can get it togather, don't think the wings will head west if able to get connected to the threaded take up screws.

Now thinking of maybe using JB Weld ???Wonder if this stuff would give me the hold I need ???

goslow

What are you attempting to rig (airplane)? How scale are you attempting to make it?

I have put flying wires on without any soldering; so, I'm unsure where you would be using solder.

However, soldering is really fairly simple. The materials being solder must be capible of being soldered. Stainless doesn't want to be soldered. Most rigging fittings are brass, which easily takes solder. Steel is a little more difficult. It needs to be clean. With sandpaper, emery cloth or a wire brush, clean the steel or brass until it is "bright" (bare, clean metal). Make sure the tip of the iron is clean and has been "tinned" with solder, previous to trying to make a solder joint. If the "tinning" is old, heat the iron, when the old "tinning" liquifies, wipe the iron's tip on a spunge or wet cloth to remove, then "Brighten" the tip and re-tin. Use some type of flux and heat both parts being soldered. Touch the part being soldered with the solder. When it starts to flow, the temp. is right. Use the heat to flow the solder into the joint. Remember, solder flows to the heat. Like anything, practice makes perfect. Practice on scrap, before going to the work piece.

[Bookmaker]

I rarely solder them. Normally I slide a small metal tube (swag) over the cable, loop the cable through the attachment, turnbuckle, or whatever is at the end, run the tag end of the cable back through the swag and crimp. Finally, I take the tag end and bend it 90 degrees as at comes out of the swag and cut it close so as not to leave a protruding point. This final bend helps keep the cable from sliding back through the swag. By the way, the swag must be pushed as far up against the terminal end as far as possible. If you don't, it will do it later.

Now if you are using flat flying wires, that's a different animal.

Dale

[bunsen]

Hi

I built a 1/4 scale Albatros DVa from Jim Pepino plans. It has functional flying wires and have no problems flying it.

Having to do real functional rigging was new to me. What I wound up doing is to use 19 strand 1/32" type 302 stainless steel cable from a combination of McMaster-Carr and Nelson Hobby. I soldered the stainless steel cable end to a DU-BRO #111 brass threaded coupler for 1/16” dia. wire. One can solder to the stainless steel cable if you use an adequate amount of the Stay Brite Flux and the Stay Brite Tin-Silver solder. Works OK if you pre-tin the wire using a medium soldering iron. Then make sure afterwards to neutralize the flux with baking soda in water and wash it down well. For the 2-56 nuts used the small pattern 2-56 HNBS0256 from Micro fasteners and DU-BRU black clevis.

I first tried soldering to the stainless steel wire using my small torch and that did not work at all. With a 40watt iron it was Ok as long as I tinned the end of the wires before soldering them into the DU-BRO brass couplers. No problems so far.

Source for Stay-Brite silver solder and flux. Good delivery and price is right.
Knife and Gun Finishing Supplies
http://www.knifeandgun.com/index.htm


Worked for me.

Ray

[Lucky Dog]

On my 1/4 scale Nieuport 17 I did it the way Bookmaker recommends . I use 4-40 nylon coated pull-pull cable and metal clevises. The rigging on the SAP Nieuports is only semi functional.