Dave R1

Good luck Steve. "Try to Remember" your lines. I'm sure you'll do well. Just remember, "If This Plum is too Ripe", you can always "Plant a Radish." No matter what, Never Say 'No'."

Good job BJ. Did you figure out how much chain you need beyond the tangent point on the large sprockets to either side? If too short, you'll limit your rudder travel and you might have trouble with the chain coming off the sprocket. As Barry said, you only need about 30

That's a good idea. I just need to figure out where to put it. With the hatch in the center of the lazarette there's not a lot of available surface for clamp. BTW, I wanted a hatch there that would have no external hardware. I discovered planing the back layer off a piece of 3/8 lauan made it curve to about the same camber as the deck. I glued some 3/4 x3/4 sticks for and aft near the edges of the hatch and inserted four screw eyes. There are screw eyes also in the stringer at the bottom of the transom. I hook bungee cords in the lower screweyes and then attach them to the eyes on the hatch. They hold the hatch down nice and tight without any hardware showing. I can always pry the hatch up and disconnect the bungees if I need to get in there.

Barry, first thanks. I'm glad you see some merit in the design. The flat bar across the tiller pivots on a bolt through the tiller. I haven't noticed any problem with the geometry in that set up though you might be right. Perhaps it would be better to put an eyebolt in place of the pivot bolt and flat bar. Still, it goes easily and the limit of the travel is the tiller hitting the side of the transom opening. The opening was sized according to the plans. I thought about increasing it but the rudder goes over more than far enough to stall as it is. The chain-cable attachment is a thimble and a couple of cable saddle clamps. The same attachment is used for the cable-turnbuckle end. The turnbuckles are attached to the flat bar with quick links. I think after sailing it some next year as is I will probably replace the cable with new pieces and use crimp type clamps. the cable is vinyl-coated small diameter stuff from the hardware store. So far, so good. As to how smooth the movement is. It is very smooth once the sprockets are all aligned. I still want to work out some method for applying some friction somewhere in the system to allow me to release the wheel occassionally. I've got some ideas for a quick release sort of thing but need to fleash out the details. The buffing mandrel that forms the steering shaft came with a small diameter v-belt pulley that is one the aft end of the shaft. I've been thinking I could run a piece of belting around that pulley and around something else that could allow the belt to be quickly tightened to hold the rudder as set.

Jim, I did another drawing to hopefully give you a better idea of how my steering looks. Sorry for the lack of clarity. The turnbuckles are located where the labels indicate they've been omitted. In reality, the stub tiller is above the sprocket assembly.

Jim, the steering assembly is a combination of chain and cable the piece of chain is maybe 16" long. The reason for the chain was two-fold. First was to avoid slipping although I didn't have any problem with that in the previous set up. Second, although I could have easily made another wooden hub or spool to fit on the shaft as I had before, I wanted something that would be easy to install and easy to diassemble for possible service. This includes being able to remove it to do maintenance to the hull inside the lazarette. Centering the rudder and king spoke on the wheel are easy because you just loosen the set screws on the center sprocket, align as needed and retighten the screws. As to other boats using chain in their steering, I don't know of any for a fact but I wouldn't be surprised if some larger boats do. Chain doesn't stretch appreciably and there is always a positive connection between the sprocket and chain. Since my system does include cable, there are turnbuckles to tension them.

Trying some pictures First, the buffing mandrel/steering shaft In this view the first oak hub is shown. I did a nicer, longer hub before launch but never got a photo of it. Next is a drawing of the latest modification. I didn't bother to draw the sprocket teeth or the individual links in the chain. I had originally done a simpler drawing for myself to show the layout of the required holes and to figure out the required length of chain. I fleshed the drawing out this morning so you could get an idea of what I was trying to describe.

Jim, thanks for the interest. You are probably the only one here who is interested. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the whole assembly. I'll see if I have any photos of my steering and post them. Here's a description of it, though. Maybe that will help. The steering shaft is a 3/4" steel shaft for a buffing mandrel. This is an assembly with a couple of pillow block style bushings. The shaft has a flat on one end for a pulley and left-hand threads on the other for a nut which would hold a buffing wheel. The thing is designed to run at 1700 RPMs so I figure it can handle the slow speed turning of a steering wheel. It cost me about $12.00. The buffing mandrel with its shaft mounts on a piece of 1x4 that runs between the transom and lazarette. The wheel mounts on the threaded end with a locking collar behind it. I used a commercially made wheel that had a key way in the hub so I cut a keyway in the threaded part of the shaft with a dremel tool and a cut off wheel. took about 5 minutes and I only broke one disk. Originally, I had turned an oak hub tofit the shaft for the steering cable to pass around. This worked well but the stress on the brass threaded inserts I used for the set screws was causing the oak to split. Probably I had put those inserts too close to the ends of the hub. Anyway, I was going to make a new hub but came up with the following instead. I found these sprockets at the local farm supply store that have separate hubs. You buy a hub to fit the shaft and a sprocket to fit the application and weld them together. I got three sprockets that are about 2-3/4" in diameter, one hub with a 3/4" inch hole and two with 1/2" holes. The sprockets and hubs were welded. I made a bracket to hold the two sprockets with 1/2" holes from a couple of pieces of aluminum angle stock so that those sprockets were situated on either side of the steering shaft. The other sprocket was mounted on the shaft. The aluminum angle stock was postioned like two bookends with the sprockets between. There's a clearance notch in both pieces of aluminum to clear the shaft. I bolted them to the 1x4 that supports the buffing mandrel. Now there are three sprockets in a row running athwartships. the center one is locked onto the steering shaft (the hubs have two set screws each), the other two are on 1/2" bolts supported by the aluminum angle stock. I installed a length of roller chain so that it runs over the two outer (idler) sprockets and under the center one. Running the chain this way means that the top of the wheel has the same impact on the rudder as a tiller would. In other words the top of the wheel is pushed to leeward in a tack. As it happened, the diameter of the sprockets at the centerline of the chain was the same as the diameter of my original hub. This made figuring out the needed length of chain easy. I found that my steering wheel turned about 70% of a full revolution from center to stop. I calculated the length of chain wrapped up by that turn and added that to the length required to run through the sprockets. The steering cable is attached to the end of the chain, leads through Harken block on the side and back to the stub tiller. I drilled a hole vertically through the tiller and put a bolt through it. On the underside of the tiller there's a short piece of stainless bar stock that pivots on the bolt and has a turnbuckle on each end. The other ends of the turnbuckles attach to the cables that come from the ends of the chain. I hope that wasn't too hard to understand. I'll see what I can find for you in the way of drawings and stuff. I can see some of the "old timers" turning up their noses at this which is why I didn't really say anything about it before. It might seem complex but it really isn't. It took me almost as long to type this as it did to make it. In any case, it won't break or slip.

I used cable for mine and haven't had any problems, yet. I did have a hardware store pulley break at the swivel on my first launch. Replaced both with Harken blocks and no more trouble. My original setup had the cable wrapped around a wooden spool on a 3/4" steel shaft. that has been replaced with sprockets and a length of roller chain. Works even smoother, now.

Barry,'s right. To make up for gaps in some places, I made up a batch of very thick epoxy to butter the surfaces with. This allowed me to make up for places where the wood surfaces didn't meet perfectly. As I recall, I buttered all along the bow gusset and upper and lower stringers when I put the sides on.

Jan, the steering clutch just applies some friction to the steering shaft to prevent it from turning so easily. As I recall the one in the plans is pretty low tech but should work. I couldn't do that one because I have a hatch over the steering assembly. Anything you can do to increase the friction would work. I've considered a rubber bungee cord stretched over the steering shaft and tensioned with a lever so you could flip the lever one way and tighten it up or flip it the other way to loosen it. I now have some sprockets and roller chain in my steering mechanism so I've been working on a different idea.

I have a side view of the Weekender laid out in CAD on my computer at home. I can check for you tonight.

I thought about lawyers while I was writing that. As I recall the semi-elliptical wing of the Swift was done by the same engineer(s) as the wing on the P-40 Warhawk. There's a slot in the wing in front of the ailerons that was intended to diect air over them at higher angles of attack. Pretty high tech stuff for the mid-40s. Again, if the picture shows up, you can see the slot on the near wing in the shadow of the wing of the Hawk XP I was riding in when I made this shot. Also done with a 50mm and there's no cropping. Actually you can see light coming through the slot in the first shot of the upside down Swift.

Another shot of mine. This one is from another Swift--again with a 50mm lens. This 1946 globe Swift has an 85HP engine. The one I was in has a 210HP.

rrb, I worked part time at the FBO where I was taking lessons to help pay for them. I enjoyed hanging out at the airport so I continued for quite some time after I got my ticket. The Swift, being a rather short taildragger with higher landing speeds requires a little more rapid correction than say a Cub. I've heard the stories of people saying they automatically ground loop and stuff like that. I don't think any of it is true. Like any taildragger you aren't done flying it until it is tied down. The stories about Swifts being notorious ground loopers reminds me a the reason the Beech V-tails got the nickname "Forky-Tailed-Doctor Killers". They were so named because at the time they came out, they were being purchased by people who had money but were moving up from planes like the J-3 Cub. They weren't used to the higher performance, retractable gear and higher operating speeds. These pilots were used to flying something that only cruised at 80 MPH, landed at maybe 35 or 40, no flaps and no gear to worry about. They were moving into a plane that lands at almost the cruise speed of the J3. They'd get low and slow--maybe forget the gear (remember the automatic gear on the old Bellanca's?) and flaps. Stall about 50 feet above the threshold and put it down on the spinner. Or they'd come in hot and strain it through the fence at the other end. Or they'd roll out of the pattern due to an accelerated stall on the turn from base to final. Anyway, the Swift is a great airplane. It just has to be flown to its own numbers. They are light on the controls so you can just about think your way through rolls. Actually, I expect, considering most were produced between 1946 and 1949, a lot of Cub pilots transitioned into them and got stung which might be where the rumors came from. By the way, if the picture shows up, I'm not flying the Swift. I shot the picture (with a 50mm lens and there's no cropping).

Another pilot here. Only Private SEL but I've got time in Cessnas 150,152,172,172RG,172HP,210, GC-1A and GC-1B Swifts, Beech Staggerwing, J3, PA-11, Bellanca Super Viking and Cruiseair, and the only Spartan Model 12 Executive (NX21962) ever built.

I don't know. How are you planning to finish it? If bright, I'd go for it with either the mahogany or the oak. I think the cherry would turn really dark (maybe almost black) in the sunlight. If you'd like some help identifying it, maybe you could take some close up pictures of it and post them. The three woods you listed are considerably different and should be fairly simple to tell apart.

Dang! Konrad, you'd better get some rain down your way. And I ain't ever gonna read another one o' yer posts while I'm drinking coffee. I didn't know I was gonna need my splash shield up!

I used a piece of red oak stair rail stock for my boom. I had all these plans to make one from scratch but as I got down to the wire, I settled on the easy way. As it turned out, the stair rail stock is nice. It's a bit heavier than fir or pine and the flat surface on the bottom made it easy to attach the eye straps for the mainsheet blocks. As for goose necks, I went with one from Glen-L. It wasn't that much money and it was a known entity. I thought about jaws--sometimes still do-- dut decided against them. I didn't want to rig a downhaul or a vang and jaws can be noisier. The plus to jaws is that you could raise the boom when at anchor or docked to get some additional head room. But then you need to rig some method for lifting the boom at the throat. With my topping lift I can raise the boom enough to give me all the head room I could want in the cockpit. One thing I did that helps obviate the need for raising the boom much is to add 3' to the mast height and move the boom up some. (Seems to me I was supposed to measure that for someone--Jan?--and forgot. Oops.) I can sit in the cockpit or on the box inside the companionway normally and not get whacked in the brain-bucket when the boom goes by.

JT, I saw your post on the WB Forum and your comment about flying your ensign (flag) without a backstay. Some folks put an grommet in the luff of the main at the proper distance from the peak and clip or tie the ensign to that grommet and the the one at the peak. I put an eyestap on the end of my gaff to which I can clip a small block (I used a Harken Air Block) through which I have a line reaved. The line is tied into a long loop with two flag clips tied in as well. I run the ensign up after the main is set and tie the flag halyard to the boom. This isn't a great picture but it shows the ensign being run up.

Wow! great job. Did you sail it, too? What sort of rig do you call that with all those little triangular sails?

Congratulations Joel. It won't be long now and you'll be on the water. Or at least you'll be sitting in the cockpit, hand on the wheel preteending you're sailing.

Ray, you're right and I like having that small raised part of the rail because I can feel it with my foot without looking.

The top railis 1" thick by 1-1/2" wide (high) The lower rail is 3/4" thick by 1-1/2". The rabbet in the top rail was 1/4" deep (off the 1" dimension) and 1" high. No, there was no trouble making the bends at all. The rails are soft maple and one piece. I actually ended up cutting a fair amount off the aft ends of the rails, too.

Because of the way my aft side panels went on, I ended up trimming my sides down flush with the deck. I actually flush trimmed with a router running on the hull sides so there was a sort of bevel between the side and the deck. I made my top rub rail with a wide rabbet on the back so that it hooked over onto the "bevel". This made installing it very easy because there was really only one way the rub rail could go on. A benefit to this also is that the horn cleats are above the rubrails so dock or anchor lines don't tend to rub on the rubrail. BTW, when I prepared to install the lower rubrail, I made a gauge blcok from a scrap of wood. I made it 5.75" long. I slid it along under the upper rail with a pencil and traced a line 5.75" below the rail. I drilled 1/8" holes along that line to show where to drill from the inside for screws. Then I cut the block to 5". When I was ready to put on the lower rail, I slobbered it with thickened epoxy and with a helper holding the aft end and my wife ready inside, I positioned the gauge block at the bow and brought the rubrail up against it. I set a screw at the bow end and then handed the drill and screws to my wife. We worked back toward the stern with me pushing the rail in toward the boat and up against the gauge block while SWMBO drilled and drove screws and the other helper just supported the end of the rail.