Wing rebuild progress

[Mark Julicher]

Here are six photos of Doc's left wing as we rebuild it. This BC12-D wing was shattered - a lot of toothpicks and bent metal. After collecting and restoring parts it is now going pack together and very straight once again.

[Guest]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

looks nice!!

[birdlegs]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Mark,, looks real sanitary and you're about 6 weeks ahead of me..more on this later... I'm taking lots of photo's though
Brad

[Robert Lees]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Looks to me like the last rib is missing a piece.

On mine, the last rib was made up of two pressed ali ribs, screwd together to form a box section similar to the but rib.

Or am I seeing things?

Rob

[edit: found photos of mine:





(Click for larger image)

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Rob,
You have a sharp eye.
We had not installed that piece when we took the photo. We have a new factory fresh rib and it was delivered in two sections and there was some deliberation when/how to join them together.

At this point in our progress the tip bow was discovered to be short and we welded on about a 1 1/2 inch extension.

[Ray36048]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

What are you using for nails?

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

We have a stack of official cement coated brass plated little bitty nails also known as LBNs.
Aircraft Spruce sells them in two or three lengths. I have been known to use an occasional 19 gauge brad from Home Aircraft Depot when in a bind, but they are not plated nor coated.

[Doc]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Nails: AN301-20-3 or 4. #15 Rib: I had two complete sets of wings to look at...each wing set had a single #15 rib and a double #15 rib...go figure. The new #15 rib received from the factory was a single. Doc

[1938BF50]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Doc,

I'm not following you on the #15 rib.....please elaborate.

[Ray36048]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

The #15 rib (last rib at tip) in both the wings I am rebuilding are single piece, not doubled.

[flybikefarm]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Mike they are talking about the stamped rib wing. You have the buildt up style like mine. Are you going to the Lbird flyin at Poplargrove? George

[Doc]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Actually, both the single piece #15 and the double-piece #15 ribs that I have are hydrformed (stamped). I do not know why the wing sets had a single on one wing and a double on the other wing ( I assume the builder/rebuilder put in what he/she had). If I keep the new single #15 on the left wing I am rebuilding, it will match the current single on the right wing I will next rebuild. Doc

[mulwyk]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Doc:
Strange! Like your plane, my wings had a double #15 rib on one side and a single rib on the other wing. The wings did not appear to have ever been rebuilt since they came out of the factory. Did the factory deliberately make them that way? Why?

Anyway, my IA suggested that I make the single rib into a double so I ended up fabricateing a doubler for that rib and attaching it with a couple dozen little PK screws. And I now have double #15 ribs on both wings!

[Doc]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

Your suggestion is a good one, and follows a discussion Mark and I had on this last week. The doubler will be easy to fabricate and attach. We will do this just before the recover. Doc

[Robert Lees]

Re: Wing rebuild progress

This rib takes quite a lot of vertical compressive load, due to the tension of the fabric in the spanwise direction. The existing dimple in the vertical legs is intended to resist these buckling loads.

Despite this, mine had buckled a little bit, so spoiling the "line", so on rebuild, I added some little doublers in the vertical legs, between the two halves of the rib (as can be seen by the brown Clecos in one of my photos a few posts up).

Rob