66 | Pilot June 2018 | pilotweb.aero
many things on the Wot, there is a
margin for error.
The elevators, fin and rudder
came next. They are much
simpler to make, since they have
a triangular cross-section. Clamp
the leading edge−which has a flat
face−to the table, clamp two side
stringers to that, and clamp the
upper ends of the side stringers
to the trailing edge. Once you’ve
done that twice (two stringers
at each end) you’ve got a stable
three-dimensional structure to
which all the other stringers can
be glued and clamped.
The work I have described so far
was not done to a daily schedule,
but in fits and starts in spare time
between other activities, one of
which, of course, was flying. The
many interruptions included
clearing thorn bushes which
were catching in the fabric of my
Super Wot when coming in to
land, a Glis-glis invasion in the
loft, fitting a new hot water tank
to replace the old one (the waterwas becoming suspiciously rusty),
other tasks around the house
and the eight acres that came
with it, plus, of course, social life
and spending time with wife and
family. And, of course writing
features for Pilot.Metalwork
I needed to take some welding
from the Super Wot for my LAA
inspector to do, so I thought why
not make the metal fittings for the
tail surfaces and get him to weld
them at the same time? I was
bored with looking (for several
months now) at the tailplane
and elevators as separate objects
and thought how much better
they would look hinged together.
The varnished woodwork looked
almost naked without some black-
painted fittings to adorn it.
The control hinges on the Wot
are fairly mind-boggling, far from
the flimsy bought-off-the-shelf
things you find on some other
aeroplanes. These are solid,massive and complicated to make,
but (and I like this part) because
they’re home-made they are
cheap. Also, the area where one
bit rubs against another is so vast
that it’s never going to wear and
develop play.
Basically, the Wot’s hinge on
one side is an aeroplane bolt with
its head sawn off and a right angle
bend in it. On the other side it’s
an eye bolt (the most expensive
bit at around six quid). The tricky
part is positioning the bend in
the bolt in the right place, which
is why some of my hinges have
several washers under the nyloc
nut. Another complication is that
the eye bolts currently obtainable
are different from the ones sold in
the 1930s and have a thick collar.
This is superfluous because the
Wot’s hinge already has a metal
bracket under the eye bolt. If
the collar is left on, it makes the
gap between the two surfaces
being hinged look silly (much
too big) so, with my inspector’s
acceptance, I grind the collars off.
There are two brackets to make
per hinge, one with a right angle
bend in it. Six hinges to make in
all, and of course they all have to
line up. Fortunately mine did.
While there’s nothing in the
hinges that needs welding, the
same can’t be said for the control
horns or the component that joins
both sides of the elevator−they
need the attention of an aircraft-
approved welder which, happily,
my inspector is, and a very good
one too. There are two horns
(upper and lower) on each side of
the Wot’s elevators, making four
in total, plus two for the rudder.
You make a horn first by
drawing out the shape on sheet
steel, then cutting it out with an
angle grinder−at least, that’s
how I do it, though I believe real
engineers use a nibbler powered
by compressed air to do the
cutting. When I first cut steel
plate with the grinder, I failed to
realise the combustible quality of
the sparks gushing out backwards
and set light to my apron. That
was neatly solved by sewing a
leather patch over the burned-out
area, and so far the leather hasn’t
caught fire.
Each side of the horn has to be
given a right angle bend with a
suitably mild radius. When mated
together this gives a ‘T’ shape forFeature | The slow-build Wot
The control
hinges on
the Wot
are solid,
massive and
complicated
BELOW: Bloom
manufactured metal
fittings – the rudder
horns and one of those
‘massive and
complicated’ elevator
hinges