what ever happened to the rib wires being made?

[PA1195]

Re: what ever happened to the rib wires being made?

Because some maintain that you can't rib lace a stamped rib. Seems to have worked fine for many, but some still insist.
John

Thanks John was just wondering about something I don't know much about. Lacing when protected from abrasion should be safe (?). I did help a fellow remove a wing cover that had wires that were corroded and the ribs were worn from the metal clips, but have never helped install them just rib lacing and knots.

Lots of comments on other forums about clip wires. Most seem to prefer other methods like screws, rivets, or cord based upon their experiences.

Gary

[Bigdog]

Re: what ever happened to the rib wires being made?

I just saw this thread. One of my airport lunch buddies owns a spring manufacturing company. He was not at lunch today but I'll show him the picture when I can and see if he can and is willing to make it. Assuming he can, I'll need a drawing and some rough idea of how big a run it might be, e.g. 4 shipsets = 1000'.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: what ever happened to the rib wires being made?

If he is interested would a sample be acceptable if no drawing is available? We still need to get a good count of how many would want to buy. When we did the bungees they priced it as a series of prices that went down slightly with each increase in the number. A second pricing method is to pay a flat rate for the non recurring cost and a flat rate for the parts (or in this case the number of feet). Either way works fine at the quantities we would be buying. I seem to remember that we got a significant discount because the full order was picked up and then distributed by us, and not them. Chuck did the packaging and shipping (he lived fairly close to the manufacturer) and I processed the orders and shipping information.

Hank

Another problem was that quite a few people contacted us AFTER the order process had ended. Most got bungees, but only because we figured it would happen and over ordered (I think enough to get the next price break). We took a risk of getting stuck with quite a few bungees, but all ended up being bought with a few people who didn't order not getting them. We also LOST money on the whole thing. Not a lot....and it was worth it.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: what ever happened to the rib wires being made?

If it would help I may have a damaged section of rib with the holes drilled for a check as well as a section of wire. I have a stack of ribs that may be beyond repair or could find an airworthy one but would kind of like to get it back when they are through if it could be used on a plane.

Hank

[Bigdog]

Re: what ever happened to the rib wires being made?

It may be a few days before I see him so let's not get too deep until I have an initial talk. I assumed someone will have to distribute it and if we can pull it off, I'll be glad to do that. I'll let you know what I find out. Stay tuned.