Sopwith Camel Center wing covering Stewart systems

Covering continues on the Sopwith Camel full size airdrome airplanes kit.

[@patrickvanvals4870]

The tigermoth has the same problem with the tail cables. And they have a good solution for the cables.

[@flintsmith3317]

Love watching your work. Your going to have a wonderful plane when your done.

[@scottmatthews5280]

Hope so!

[@Steve-mb8tg]

Fantastic work, as always, Scott 😊 keep up the good work & she will be finished before you know it 👍

[@scottmatthews5280]

Thanks 👍

[@Love2FlyKAP]

Love following your build! 👍

[@scottmatthews5280]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@n206ja]

I'd just leave the elevator cable/leather patch as-is, finish the plane and fly it, and simply monitor for wear and rubbing marks for the initial flight hours. All of the proposed alternative fixes are retro-fit modifications, anyway, so you can always do them later versus now. Should you get some wear, you may find that a simple leather patch replacement will suffice and that's certainly better than drilling more holes in the structure!

[@SoloRenegade]

Pietenpols also have their elevator cables rub on the stabilizer LE.

[@scottmatthews5280]

I agree thank you

[@rcdogmanduh4440]

I believe it's pronounced " see- co- night." It's easy to curtique your process from a keyboard, but it looks great. I think I once saw a Sopworth elevator cable setup that was a patch on Stab like you have and a tube of the same leather sewed around the cable. Tight front and rear to not slide. I think it got the braid of the cable from sawing through the patch. Love your work .

[@scottmatthews5280]

Thanks for the info!

[@Whiskers132]

Your plane will look WAY better than the one in the kit-makers vid. On the subject of cable rubbing etc. I think of how effective it would be if I WANTED to damage the components. In this case it would take a *lot* of stick work for very little result.

[@scottmatthews5280]

Thanks

[@jasonbrand5352]

Or a brass mini wheel with a “V” grooved for a guide on a bracket self tap down

[@67hr74]

Scott, could you glue a thin piece of say 3mm nylon or thinner carbon fibre sheet to the top of the tail plane then put your leather patch over the top, thus giving some extra protection for the elevator cable. Cheers Trev

[@scottmatthews5280]

Cool idea!

[@thewrenchreviews9986]

Do like your openings in the tail for the rudder cables, but perhaps you could craft up a couple plugs to cover the openings when you are not flying, to keep bugs, birds or mice from getting in there and nesting? Red flag ribbons to remove before flight during walk around? Just a thought.

[@scottmatthews5280]

Cool idea

[@christianjensen5523]

Enjoying the build... very impressive! In general, how do you find Aerodrome as a company are to deal with?

[@scottmatthews5280]

No internet, no emails. All phone calls get answered. All questions answered. Build manual and dvd are terrible and inaccurate.

[@TastierBackInThe80s]

The way that wire is rubbing on horizontal stabilizer is giving me anxiety, and I'm not even going to be flying the plane. Can the control horn be extended in height to clear the flying surface outright? Beautiful plane and results so far.

[@scottmatthews5280]

Thank you I’ll sort that out it will be airworthy

[@danielgonsalves5302]

I wish i could be there to help you with this beutifull airplane, i yust love It

[@scottmatthews5280]

Thank you very much

[@philmiller681]

What if you velcro'd the widget onto the tailplane? Velcro on the leather patch and on the widget?

[@jasonbrand5352]

Maybe a copper P clip or two back to back self tapers job done

[@model1issue138]

Was the window in the Camel upper section a later model change?

[@scottmatthews5280]

Not sure I have not research this. I didn’t even think about it to be honest. Kept it simple.

[@model1issue138]

​@@scottmatthews5280 Keeping it simple is a good idea! Thankfully, the SE5a lacks such a window, but needs a rail for its Lewis! I had to beef up the structure to do that.

[@lukegreen2380]

What about a little thin pad off say 3mm hardwood for it to rub on?

[@scottmatthews5280]

That is what the leather is for.

[@borneovet8372]

Just a thought Scott. Any thoughts on getting someone to 3d print you some carbon fibre pieces instead of leather to protect the tail?

[@scottmatthews5280]

Carbon!!! Please….. it’s 1916 remember ha

[@borneovet8372]

@@scottmatthews5280 better get rid of all that aluminium sheet and rivets then. As for the “wooden” struts. Well! 😉

[@jmmvangoor]

Make a little roller for you elivator cable

[@davidbamford4721]

Agreed! Just a tube loosely mounted on a rod, mounted transversely under the cable, so that the cable runs over it.

[@jmmvangoor]

@@davidbamford4721 That's exactly what i mean, and little wear and tear! Greetings from the Netherlands

[@SoloRenegade]

Pietenpols also have their elevator cables rub on the stabilizer LE. It's normal.

[@stevechopping3021]

I would leave the cable guide as it is, the originals seem to just have the elevator cable come out slightly higher than yours or the control horns maybe slightly longer, so in my humble opinion the leather is a fine compromise. Are you going to cut out the view panel in the top wing or did I miss you talking about that bit?

[@scottmatthews5280]

Thanks, no view panel in the top centre wing. I’ll keep it simple, and hope no one attacks from above.

[@stevechopping3021]

@@scottmatthews5280 Fair enough I did find a Biggles book with the Camel on the front cover not having the panel so you are in good company. It's looking good.

[@andremarais2706]

Pietenpol AIrcamper have the same leather strips. Must be your Zenith friends commenting.`😎

[@scottmatthews5280]

Ha, thank you.

[@SoloRenegade]

Yup, can't believe more "homebuilders" don't realize this about older airplanes. Perfectly normal.

[@ianblewett3118]

Fabulous. Cracking stuff. It's going to be a beaut!

[@scottmatthews5280]

Hope so!

[@SoloRenegade]

Pietenpols also have their elevator cables rub on the stabilizer LE.

[@scottmatthews5280]

Thank you

[@dwainedhotmandevilliers2128]

Just a small detail as I live near it - It’s called Kingston Upon Thames not Kingston on Thames 😂

[@scottmatthews5280]

Interesting, I wonder why the wrote it my way

[@philliptyler-t1w]

I’m impressed by your attention to detail and your ability to fill in the many gaps that exist in the kit’s construction plans. Throughout the build you have often had to add additional material to facilitate construction and/or structural integrity. Will the added weight of this material matter much when it comes to the gross weight of the finished machine?

[@scottmatthews5280]

I don’t believe so. A little extra weight might help this aircraft as it will be floaty but draggy. Not much difference if I was to put on a few kilos!

[@WarblesOnALot]

G'day, Yay Team ! That's quite the Bobby-dazzler of an Electric inclinometer...; Being as I'm an actual Hillbilly, I had no idea such a thing was available. I would have jacked up the Tail, and been happy to have done it Period-Correctly. Without going looking for a bit of Kit such as that. If I already had one to hand, yeah, sure thing...; but I more or less grew up in a Museum (!). Specifically, The Land Of The Beardies History House & Museum..., in Glen Innes, back in the 1960s my parents were almost "Foundation Members" of the Historical Society, but they only went to the second meeting (!). Xmas Holidays in particular, from 1970 on..., I'd have to go with them when they were on Door-duty, or putting something ancient back together (!). It's how I came to be carving Propellers with my grandfather's Wheelwrighting-Tools, at age 13, following a Recipe for Helicity from a 1938 Popular Mechanics Book - loaned to me by the high-School Woodwork-Master after he found my first Flat-45° Slab-Bladed Effort, sculpted from one solid lump of Pine, in the Racks of the Workshop Waiting-Room. For a while that book caused me to go looking for a 4-cylinder inline Henderson Motorcycle Engine, for a Pietenpol Air Camper. If one grows up in a Social Black Hole, where Time moves more slowly, and bad ideas take longer to filter in - then the existence of Retail-level Battery-powered Computerised Inclinometers wasn't a thing of which I was ever aware. For a Kangaroo-Feeder, I apparently live a very sheltered life...(!). Have a good one. Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

[@scottmatthews5280]

Thanks Warblex