Drag wires (and anti-drag wires) hold the compression struts in the interior of the wing. They form an "X" between compression struts and resist fore and aft motion of the wing. In other words, drag wires resist the force that drag produces on the wing, the force that would make the wing fold up against the side of the fuselage.
Drag wires look like giant bicycle wheel spokes, they are more like thin steel rods with threads on their ends. The threads screw into drag wire fittings in the end of the compression struts. See photo 1. The fitting opposite the camera has a drag wire screwed into it, the one closest to the camera is ready to receive it's anti-drag wire. Be sure to secure the drag wire fittings with little pieces of black tape, as shown here. Don't remove the tape until you're ready to screw in a wire, otherwise the fitting can fall back into the compression strut end and it'll make your curse when you have to take it apart to get the fitting back out.
Screw one end of the drag wire into a fitting until it meets the lock nut. Photo 2.
Put a drop of Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) onto each wire end thread before attaching it to the fitting. Photo 3. hold a paper towel under so you don't drip oil on the floor or your beautiful, restored wing.
To get the other end of the drag wire into its fitting you'll have to bend a modest arc in the wire. Don't worry, it'll pop right back straight. Photo 4.
Very important. Install the drag wires on top of the anti-drag wires. The drag wires resist the motion of the wing toward the tail of the airplane, anti-drag wires resist wing motion toward the nose. Drag wires have to be on top so that later when you rig your aircraft you can rig wash out into the wing.
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2 comments:
Where can I access your photos of the wing trammel and drag wires? Thanks
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