My Spad Projects

Spadmaker · 23 October 2006, 08:47 PM

I'm a newcomer to this forum. Let me introduce myself. My name is William Retzlaff and I am or have been involved in six Spad projects over the last several years. Four of these are Spad VII's and two are Spad XIII's. I am currently involved in constructing an S-7 and an S-13 for Kermit Weeks, and I was one of the primary sub-contractors on the S-13 that Roger Freeman is building for Javier Arrango. In addition, I was the one who built the S-7 that many of you have seen at the home of the late Ellic Somer, and I have helped "Butch" with a lot of the parts on his Spad (seen on this forum on a different thread). Primarily as a result of "Butch's" constant urging (bordering on pestering!), I have decided to post some photos of these projects in the hopes that they may help other people currently engaged in Spad projects. Many of these people have approached me for help or advice and I'm sorry to say that I have been unable for the most part to accommodate -- mostly due to the crush of time that always seems to go with building planes for other people. Hopefully these photos will, in some small way, make amends for my earlier inability to help people with their projects.

Spadmaker · 23 October 2006, 08:59 PM

These photos show three views of the hub for the elevator control horn. This hub (which looks much like a bicycle hub) is machined out of a solid rod of 1020 mild steel. If you look closely at the side view, you'll see that the inside radii are much larger than the outside which have virtually no radii at all. This is to allow clearance for the sides of the horn itself which will be riveted on using flat head (not countersunk!) steel rivets. The hub is then fastened to the tubular elevator spar by means of the same flat headed rivets. These rivets however are not bucked, but held in place with solder as they are under shear stress only.

Spadmaker · 23 October 2006, 09:08 PM

These photos show the sides of the elevator horn. (Naturally you need two of them). The original horn was made of mild steel, but these were made of 4130 cro-moly. The shapes were cut using a template and shaper (which is essentially like a router table made for steel), and then bent to shape on a pre-formed block. You can just barely make out, on the ends, the small tab which is inserted and brazed which keeps the holes from elongating under use.

Spadmaker · 23 October 2006, 09:15 PM

These photos show the completed elevator horn. The two sides have been riveted to the hub (a job I wouldn't wish on anyone!) and the edges of the flanges have been welded together. The only step remaining is to rivet the hub to the tubular spar.

Spadmaker · 23 October 2006, 09:20 PM

The final product!

Spadmaker · 23 October 2006, 09:30 PM

Here are two views of the inboard elevator bow. This bow is made by laminating three layers of spruce and then shaping the inside and the outside. This bow is from an S-13, but the S-7 is very similar. WARNING: For those people using the French drawings, there is a drafting error for this part! You must layout your template paying EXTREME attention to the dimensions. The original draftsman made an error with the relative dimensional positioning and if you don't catch it, your bow will have the wrong angle and will not allow the rudder full deflection. (I learned this the hard way!)

efmen · 23 October 2006, 09:32 PM

Welcome to the 'drome Spadmaker. I'm looking forward to following your progress with your plane. Mind posting photos of the ones you previously helped build?

Spadmaker · 23 October 2006, 09:39 PM

Many thanks Efmen! I intend to post everything I can - or at least everything that I have in digital format. Photos of the earlier stuff was taken with an ordinary camera and those photos will have to be scanned. "Butch" has already posted quite a lot of photos of the early stages of the S-7's and I'm going to try not to duplicate any of his posts. All of the S-7's are at more or less the same stage. The ones for Ellic and Kermit are probably furthest along. I'm currenty re-organizing my shop to accomodate the sudden arrival from California of Ellic's spad. As you may know, Ellic died not too long ago (a MAJOR loss to the WWI aviation community) and his heirs have asked me to complete his aircraft, which is now sitting in my shop.

Spadmaker · 23 October 2006, 09:52 PM

Last one for today. This is the S-13 tailplane under construction. And for any of you who may be building one of these and think it's hard: The S-7 version if far, FAR worse!

AchimEngels · 23 October 2006, 10:07 PM

Awsome work! Great workmanship!

It is so interesting to see how other manufacturers of that period designed the little details of their planes.

Keep those great images comming!

Cheers!

Achim