XL

[grdev]

Just finished my first XL rib, game on

[Poorman2]

Only 25 more! One a day and there done before you know it. Good luck with your project.

[Jerry Carter]

Just curious. What template are you using for your ribs?

[grdev]

I used the sheets that you tape together that came with the drawings

[Jerry Carter]

Be careful.  You may already be aware of the trap here. You will notice there are no dimensions drawn on those drawings.  Look at page 34.  The front of the rib must match up with the forward spar which is shown to be 6  7/8 inches. Measure your rib. If it is not the same as the spar you will have to adjust the spar or redo your ribs. Also, per Sam Buchanan's build, you might consider allowing the rib to be  slightly larger to offset the thickness of the leading edge plywood at the top and bottom.

[rfeenstra]

I built the ribs using the tape together sheets from the plans then adjusted the build of my spars to exactly match.  I too left a little overhang to provide a flush fit with the ply.

rob

[grdev]

My ribs, per drawing, are 7 1/4 ".
the drawings on  page 33, noted revised 3-25-13 says to see rib page. page 34 does indeed call for a 6 7/8" spar width or 3/8" difference. Also the end taper on the caps are now 1/2" instead of 1/4" .What has Leonard said about this? I will cut my nose ribs where  as my leading edge ply lays flush with the spar. on page 34 at the bottom of the page it states in bold letters the front spar height, rib, nose rib must match use full size rib drawings for measurements.

On my DE build there were some errors I see have been addressed in the XL drawings.

[Sam Buchanan]

Yep, the Eagles are "build to fit" aircraft. Go ahead and build the ribs, then build the spars to fit the ribs. The nose ribs are built to fit the wing ribs. Then the spar attach fittings on the fuse are built to fit the wings......after the fuse has been built to fit the pilot.

The plans are merely suggestions.  

[scottiniowa]

What Sam has said here is certainly true and one should never build himself into a box with a part that is sized to a dimension that don't match the next so this causes just a bit of brain power to be used. No problem for anyone capable of flight.

I would like to add that the supplemental wing sheets have been well received by many From  irondesignairparts (at) gmail  (dot) com  But I would rather have those that have got them  make note of this.  Perhaps that should be under its own subject heading.  Time will tell.

Scott Weinberg.

[grdev]

14 ribs, one, over 1/2 way on the ribs, will head to Wicks, weather permitting to pick up steel, spar caps,  and webbing end of week. Now to figure out how to tie down 15' lengths of tubing to the top of my pickup.

[grdev]

8 gear wing brackets tonight after supper, Grandma said I sure made a hell of a lot of noise!

[Jlwright]

I bet your glad that little job is done!  Looking good.

[Rich Snyder]

8 gear wing brackets tonight after supper, Grandma said I sure made a hell of a lot of noise!

Looks good! What was your procedure. I'm thinkin' I'll do the layout, then cut the 5/8" hole and then cut to that hole. Wish I had a metal bandsaw or better yet a plasma cutter. Saw some pieces a local metal fabricator showed me he has done with a homemade plasma cutting table  were really impressive as far as the cut edge goes. They looked like someone had done a lot of finish sanding/grinding on the pieces but he said that's the way they are, right off the machine. Cool.

[grdev]

I don't have a metal band saw, I used my Dewalt Sawzaw. I picked up an attachment at Lowes that allows a file and a wire brush to be used in the sawzaw. The file is a half round double cut that also works well for a fish mouth. McMasters Carr sells a 5/8" cobalt hole saw for under five dollars, fits a standard mandrel,  still sharp after I drilled all the holes. I did drill all the 1/4" holes first, leave the 5/8" until last . I started by cutting out 3" x 3" x .090 squares, that was the stock material I used, blacken one side with  felt pen,  and scribed my hole locations. Center punched and then drilled the first part. I then used that first part as a drill guide for the other seven parts. I then bolted a pair of brackets together and drilled the 5/8" hole as a matched pair. ,I then put a 5/8 tube through all the holes, and as luck would have it all the 1/4" holes lined up as well. I bolted all the parts together, marked my center lines, placed it all in a vice and cut to the center of the 5/8" hole with my saw zaw.  I then filed the corners of the hole to where the 5/8" tube would slip fit into the hole, then I filed all the corner radius. I did dread making them, but all in all it only took about three hours.

[Rich Snyder]

Sweet.