First rib!

[DaleB]

After a few weeks of waiting for the wood to arrive, then a week or so of prep work (grooving capstrip, sanding, finishing the jig, etc) I finally got to actually mix up some epoxy this afternoon and build a rib. I'm kind of stoked, I gotta admit. And this is going to be a lot of work. There are 26 parts to each rib, and no two of those 26 are alike.

[Fokker Builder]

Hi Dale,

Great work. But are all the ribs the same? All my Fokker D VII ribs are pairs except for the center section ribs up top. That means one jig for each pair.

Jim

[DaleB]

All are built on the same jig. 16 of them, I think (don't have the plans at hand), are aileron ribs, and have different bracing but are built in the same jig. Then there are a few dozen false ribs, which only go from the leading edge to the main spar. To speed things up a little I plan to use this rib to lay out a second jig, so I get all identical ribs.

[DaleB]

I pulled it off the jig this morning. All the gluing looks good, I just need to work out the process for getting the right amount of glue on the joints. Some have a little more than needed, I'll have to trim/sand the excess off the capstrip where it ran down onto the jig (plastic covered of course). For my first effort I'd give it a passing grade. I'll just bury it mid-wing so the Oshkosh judges don't see it, I don't want to mess up my chance at that gold Lindy.

[DaleB]

Hi Dale,

Great work. But are all the ribs the same? All my Fokker D VII ribs are pairs except for the center section ribs up top. That means one jig for each pair.

Jim

Wow. How different are they? I can see where the outboard (aileron) sections of the top wing would be different, but it looks like the lower wing ribs would mostly be the same.

[Fokker Builder]

Dale,

The top wing is cantilevered and is 29' 4", has a 5' cord and tapers in thickness from close to 6" inboard to about 2" outboard as the wing progresses toward the tip. The bottom wing has a 4' cord and also tapers as it progresses outboard, I think from about 5" to almost 1 3/4". I think I have 22 rib jigs to build. At least I only have ailerons on the upper wing.

Jim

[DaleB]

Ah. OK. I hadn't thought about that taper! That makes sense.

[mmarien]

Wait till you get to slide those ribs onto a spar. Gives stroked a whole new meaning.

[DaleB]

Wait till you get to slide those ribs onto a spar. Gives stroked a whole new meaning.

Looking forward to that! Right now my son's R/C Cub wings are taking up most of my workbench. I need to move that thing out of the way, he's only showing up about one night every couple of weeks to work on it. Time to re-prioritize my space.

[planecrazzzy]

what aircraft is it ?