Tuesday March 6, 2007
Wing Rib Flanging and Fluting (Wings)
4.2 Hours

I finished flanging the wing ribs tonight. Here are the main wing ribs, all done.

And all of the ribs together, 54 in total.

Then, I started fluting ribs. These ribs come from the factory all bowed and crooked. It has something to do with the forming process. My job is to "flute" them so that they lay straight. Here you see a rib as it was provided to me.

After fluting, the rib lays flat (more or less) on the table.

The more critical issue is that the lines of prepunched rivet holes now form a straight line.

I use "fluting pliars" to form the little flutes, or creases, that shorten the flange and pull the rib straight.

And here are some piles of finished ribs. Notice how they stack compactly and very straight now that they've been completely worked over.

There are two leading edge ribs that come without prepunched holes. Since it's important to locate the flutes between rivet holes, I can't flute these ribs without first fitting them into the skin and marking the hole locations.

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