wing ribs

[jdawg1975]

I just finished up fluting and flanging my nose ribs, now I have to complete strengthening beads , flanging lightening holes and fluting my main ribs in anticipation of my spar kit I ordered.So I took a nose rib and a partially completed main rib and laid them on the drawing and the camber is ok but my ribs are long, like a 1/4 inch long.They match my wood pattern but I think I didn't account for the spar maybe I'm not sure.Should I trim them?The nose rib would be easy but I already have the rear flange on the trailing ribs.I guess what I need to know is a quarter inch extra length going to have negative consequences in flight characteristics? The way it is now if I leave them the way it is the rear spar will be a quarter inch towards the rear of the plane.I hope someone else has made this mistake

 

[soneraifred]

If you are comparing your ribs to the full-size rib outline on the big drawing supplied with the plans, verify the dimensions on the outline to the coordinate dimension drawing in the plans. The big drawing is printed from a .pdf file, and may not be completely accurate.

 

[jdawg1975]

That must be what it is then, the coordinates should be 45.92 from the nose rib front to the rear spar.Without getting out a micrometer I just put a tape measure on it and it's just a "hair" under 46.So that's close enough for me.Wheew that made me almost sick to my stomach .Thanks Fred

 

[wbpace]

JDawg,

Even if they were long, assuming they weren't badly out of whack (unlikely), all you would have had to do is cut off the flange, then rivet on a new one. No big deal. If you haven't done this before, I'm sure that sounds intimidating, but believe me, you would quickly get over that.

Keep on building.

O'Bill

 

[jdawg1975]

This is exactly why I decided to do the wings first, until this project I have zero sheet metal experience except for bodywork.I was a certified welder so the fuselage seems easy to me at least the fab part. Oxy acetylene is the first you learn in training, then arc , tig carbon steel then aluminum. I'm gonna make my own gas tank.And engines I have tons of experience because I'm poor and have had to rebuild my own out of necessity But I have no clue about aircraft sheet metal or riveting .I greatly appreciate any help you guys give me.All I'm sure of is I love to fly and I have been very excited about building this aircraft since day 1.

 

[pilotsailing]

When I made my wings I spent a lot of hours trying to get the rib profile exactly right , then built the wing. Then I ordered the wingtips and held my breath as I fitted them up to the wing to see if they matched. Whew, they match ! Then I realized, if I had just ordered the wingtips first and traced out the profile from them I could have saved a lot of hours of measuring and checking ect and the end result would be the same if not better .

 

[tmiller]

Full size Wing Rib drawing?
All- I purchased my plans quite a number of years ago from Steve Bennett at Great Plains. After many years collecting dust, I have decided to start my IILS in earnest. I don't have a full-scale drawing for making the wing rib templates. I see references to "the wing rib template is printed from a PDF and, therefore, may not be exactly accurate." Can someone please enlighten me on what the proper method is for creating a reliable wing rib template. I have long forgotten through those years. Is it possible to get an accurate full-scale drawing? If so, source and price please. Thanks!

 

[jonfilipa]

Just a heads up that Sonex Aircraft sells ribs via their Web Store for anyone not looking to fabricate their own. I ordered the full set and while I haven't them riveted them to the spars yet (getting close) they appear to of high quality based on my initial visual inspection.

 

[eschrom]

Tmiller, plotting points from the x-y coordinates in Fred's manual is one way to do it. All you need is a big sheet of paper, a long straight edge and a ruler. Then fit a curve with a bendy ruler or piece of sheet metal.

Ed