by RSouthard » Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:54 pm
I'm about to start wing assembly on our Classic and having a time deciding on a plywood source. I've used some 1.5mm from Anderson International, for another application, it was perfect. A fellow Hatz Classic builder Scott Plischke was kind enough to send me a sample of his Birch ply from ACS that is around 40 yrs. old and seems much stronger then Andersons. I ordered 2 new 1/2 sheets of 1.5mm Finnish Birch G-2 rated from ACS and they just arrived. Now I'm even more undecided as it seems stronger but has many knots and just not what I want to use for our leading edges.
I did build a mock-up of a leading edge section and used Andersons ply on it and it actually came out much stronger then I expected. The 1/16 Mahogany plywood I have from ACS seems even harder then their Birch for some reason and I really like how strong Mahogany glue joints are as well.
Can any experienced builders / restorers pass along your opinions on types and sources of aircraft plywood for the leading edges and also your input on using Mahogany ply.
Any input is greatly appreciated.
I'm about to start wing assembly on our Classic and having a time deciding on a plywood source. I've used some 1.5mm from Anderson International, for another application, it was perfect. A fellow Hatz Classic builder Scott Plischke was kind enough to send me a sample of his Birch ply from ACS that is around 40 yrs. old and seems much stronger then Andersons. I ordered 2 new 1/2 sheets of 1.5mm Finnish Birch G-2 rated from ACS and they just arrived. Now I'm even more undecided as it seems stronger but has many knots and just not what I want to use for our leading edges.
I did build a mock-up of a leading edge section and used Andersons ply on it and it actually came out much stronger then I expected. The 1/16 Mahogany plywood I have from ACS seems even harder then their Birch for some reason and I really like how strong Mahogany glue joints are as well.
Can any experienced builders / restorers pass along your opinions on types and sources of aircraft plywood for the leading edges and also your input on using Mahogany ply.
Any input is greatly appreciated.