At the moment, I’m spending most of my time doing calculations, building test specimens and test rigs, and running tests — you know, the fun stuff. The pilot harness attachment has now passed its ultimate load test (finally). It’s bonded to the fuselage structure and, just in case that wasn’t enough, also bolted on. The calculations already showed that either the bonding or the bolts alone would be perfectly capable of taking the expected loads. But obviously, that wasn’t qui

No new blog posts don’t mean nothing’s happening behind the scenes – quite the opposite. At the moment, though, we’re facing a few challenges that are noticeably slowing down progress on the build. One of the main issues is proving a suitable epoxy adhesive for constructing the wing. But let’s take it step by step: After assembling the upper and lower spar caps, the next step is the side sheeting of the spars with plywood. The bonding area is very large and also geometrically

From four spar caps, the front and rear spars were constructed. In the space between the upper and lower caps are the webs and pillars that connect the two. The pillars in particular deserve closer attention: they serve to transfer loads, for example from the undercarriage, and may at first glance look like simple wooden blocks. In fact, they are made from cross-laminated spruce boards. The grain direction was also critical in the webs: it had to run vertically there, while t

Who still remembers the blanks for the spar caps? Most of those massive wooden pieces have now turned into shavings – and from twelve...

Unfortunately, the original aircraft drawings contain no information regarding the attachment points for the pilot harness. Suitable...

Just as with the nose cone, the Arbalète has now received its tail cone made from composite. The original construction relied on...

To achieve the highest possible precision during wing construction, the assembly is carried out using a specialised jig. This structure...

How do raw spar blanks gain their final shape – with all the edges, curved surfaces, angled planes and tapered scarf joints? How do raw...

In just three weeks, 193 wooden laminates and 50kg of Aerodux were used to build all 12 spars. This incredible achievement would not have...

The Arbalète has received its characteristic nose section. What was originally a construction made from stamped sheet metal on the...

The construction of the wing has begun. Today, the first lamellae of the spars were glued into the mould. The preparation took several...

The wood quality for the wing spars must be of uncompromisingly the highest standard. No effort is too great to source this premium...

Built from carbon fibre with a layer of Kevlar and a recess for the pilot's parachute. The first attempt was a complete failure because I...

The underside of the fuselage is fully enclosed, and the top side is planked as far as the construction process allows. Before the top...

The underside of the fuselage is fully planked, the landing gear doors are installed, and the time has come to remove the building frame...

The rearmost nose gear door has also been fabricated and installed. What’s still missing is the actuator that will open and close the...

From one large piece to three smaller ones. With the side rails screwed in place and the associated roller carriers precisely aligned,...

In the past month, the N-20.3 Arbalète project has reached an important milestone. This progress, although not directly related to...

The inside of the nose gear doors is starting to take shape. All three doors are still connected, and they'll only be separated into...

With the fuselage in an inverted position, the conditions are ideal for making and installing the nose gear doors. There are three doors...