prewar wing ribs?

[freightpilot27]

What are 13-15 useable prewar ribs worth?

[astjp2]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

I paid 50-75 each for ribs that were rebuilt. Tim

[Larry Lyons]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

If you can find them!!!!! If you do you better just bite the bullet and buy! My project went from doable to semi-permanent hold while looking for pre-war ribs.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

We really need to get a roller to make and repair the "T" stock for these ribs. The stock is made by running strips of aluminum through a set of roller dies that bend the metal up one step at a time to make the shape. I know my 41 will need recovering some day and I am sure I will find damaged ribs. They aren't THAT hard to make if you have the tools, we just need to get drawings and make the tools.

Same with the Taylorcraft wires that replace the rib stitching on the post war planes. You can even make them by hand, .....if you have LOTS of time.
Seems like at $75 each it would be worth making them. Of course as soon as you make a lot of them the value goes way down. What does everyone feel is a FAIR price for new ones?

Hank

Of course you can always do what most did and replace the stick ribs with post war stamped sheet metal ribs.

[Guest]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

There is an entire set of prewar t-craft wing hardware (2 wings) on ebay including ribs, leading edges, belcranks, compression ribs, attachment fittings... everything.

I think the rib count would be about 26 ribs.

With all that other stuff included say it was worth $500 then 26 ribs would be worth $1500 or about $58 each.

Although that item has been on for a while an has not sold so I guess that means that they are not worth that much??

Also a set of aeronca ribs (24) sold last week for $646 that's about $27 each.

Aeroncas are more popular.

Just some data to think about.

[astjp2]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

Hank, just order it from univair. Why spend a month building something you can buy and have in 3 days?.... I am working on the tooling to build the dakota cub style ribs with extruded "T" Tim

We really need to get a roller to make and repair the "T" stock for these ribs. The stock is made by running strips of aluminum through a set of roller dies that bend the metal up one step at a time to make the shape. I know my 41 will need recovering some day and I am sure I will find damaged ribs. They aren't THAT hard to make if you have the tools, we just need to get drawings and make the tools.

Same with the Taylorcraft wires that replace the rib stitching on the post war planes. You can even make them by hand, .....if you have LOTS of time.
Seems like at $75 each it would be worth making them. Of course as soon as you make a lot of them the value goes way down. What does everyone feel is a FAIR price for new ones?

Hank

Of course you can always do what most did and replace the stick ribs with post war stamped sheet metal ribs.

[Ragwing nut]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

At one time Dakots was willing to make them for me, but the issue was the cost of getting a PMA, so dropped it. The other issue is the weight. Dakota ribs are heavier which over 26-30 ribs adds up.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

Sounds like if they could be made for ~$25 each on a consistent basis their might be a market. Would people buy them for $25? If so that gives you a price point to start the analysis.
Next step is to calculate the COST, which would be the materials, labor, and amortized non-recurring expense of design, getting the ribs legal, spreading the cost of tooling, distribution and liability.
Actually a pretty simple business case analysis. Problem is the market size is TINY.

Hank

Of course, if one of us makes ONE RIB to support their own insane desire for originality, much of the negative side of the cost equation goes to zero.

All insane owners line up with me. Wait long enough and I will end up doing it.

[astjp2]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

Hank, there is more than $25 in materials for each rib, New PMA CUB ribs cost around 75-100 each depending on who made them.

http://dakotacub.com/index.php?option=com_gescart&Itemid=30&task=product_details&display_type=&cat=&display_id=517&cat_id=

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

That is the problem. Cost and price are two totally independent calculations. The difference is profit. When the price point where the item can be sold is lower than the cost to manufacture, the profit is negative. For built up ribs that looks like where we are.
This is where insanity comes in. If one person REALLY wants to build the ribs, they will make the machine to make the "T" section (I have been told the "T" sections available already are different from the Taylorcraft stock, but haven't ever messed with them). Somehow I can see myself feeding pieces of sheared up aluminum into a roller former and making ribs, but you guys already know I'm nuts.
Hank

[astjp2]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

[QUOTE= but you guys already know I'm nuts.
Hank[/QUOTE]

No arguement there!(;f

[Larry Lyons]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

If the hat section was so easy to make we would have had the stock years ago. A few years ago I had conversation with a gentleman that custom made the rollers to make early Cub ribs but he could not make the same rollers do the Taylorcraft shape. This year at Oshkosh I was given a lead on a maybe provider but as of today I have not followed up on it. Steve Krog told me he was going to do a follow up but as I am not a member of his type club I have not heard anything on it. Anyone here get his Taylorcraft news letter, if so drop him a note and ask for an update.

L

[Ragwing nut]

Re: prewar wing ribs?

The t section that was available was a repair section and is made to overlay the original. making the T section is not the dificult part, the difficult part is properly bending the material in a repeatable quick production line.