CONSTRUCTION OF TUBULAR STEEL FUSELAGES

Construction of Tubular Steel Fuselages is written to assist the average mechanic or aircraft builder to produce a tubular steel airframe that is as good as one from the factory. The assembly methods in this manual are intended to produce a highly accurate fuselage in such a way that expansion and contraction occur symmetrically with no distortion. The techniques given including those on jigging and alignment methods will also help in rapid prototyping where a high degree of accuracy is necessary without elaborate welding jigs.

This book details the entire fuselage design and construction process in a practical way for the builder (not the engineer) including consideration for loads, evaluation and placement of fittings and joints, jigging, welding and other metalworking techniques, tool use, and the actual step by step construction of top and bottom halves of a steel fuselage as well as the many sub-assemblies common to every tubular aircraft fuselage type from J3 replicas to high performance aerobatic aircraft.