Wing Rib Orientation

[Ragwing nut]

Re: Wing Rib Orientation

I understand that, but I do know the wings on my BL-55 had 15 ribs. It still had serial number tags attached to the spars that matcmed the airplane.
I imagine that once they started with the 15 ribs all models got them. It would make sense from a manufacturing standpoint.

my grandfather's 41 had 13 rib in it.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Wing Rib Orientation

There are MANY Taylorcrafts with different wings than put on by the factory. I have even seen planes with one 15 rib wing and one 13 as well as mixed stamped rib and stick ribs on different sides. There are LOTS of stick rib wings with a few stamped ribs (as is allowed on the Taylorcraft documentation!)

As to if there was a certain date that they went from stick to stamped or 13 to 15 ribs. Who knows? Does it matter? If you are going for a "purist restoration" it may matter, but if you want a safe plane it is nice to know the factory allowed using stamped ribs to repair a stick wing. As far as I am concerned I want my plane as close to original as it can be, but I'm NUTS! Don't do it because I do, do it SAFE and LEGAL so your IA A&P are covered and you have a nice flying, SAFE plane.

Hank

[N96337]

Re: Wing Rib Orientation

My friend Ken worked at Tcraft in the 40's. I think it's like he said....they grabbed whatever was available that day to build an airplane...didn't matter if it was the newest or oldest style parts...times were ALWAYS tough there and they were just glad to have enough parts to build a complete airplane!
John