My Fokker DVII Project

[Jeff Brooks]

I did use a sewing machine to sew the loop. I will try using safety wire on the next one instead of rib stitch cord. I like the idea of using safety wire on the inside spindle of the hub. Also, I did not wet the fabric & steam it taught before doping it, so it is not as tight as I would like. On the next one I will.

[Jeff Brooks]

Hi all,
Today Phil & I worked on the pieces to assemble the lower wing ribs. we started at 0900 and worked until about 1400. a minor stop to go to the store to buy a router bit.
We are using the updated Kiger plans for the lower wing ribs, and as we mentioned before, we modified the rib plotting.
Earlier, we had cut out the plywood webbing out of 1mm finish birch that we got from aircraft spruce, and I had bent the 1/4" square spruce capstrip using ammonia & water.
Today, we cut out the spar area, and the stringers on the nose & trailing edge rom the plywood webbing. We made the nosecap out of aircraft 1/4 inch plywood (12 ply), using a bandsaw & sanding drum. the plans call for a 15mm clearance from the leading edge.


We made the stiffiners out of pine on the table saw and belt sander.
Tomarrow, I will bring the jig & materials to work so I can assemble 2 sets of rib #2.

[greatwarpilot]

Jeff - Looking good. What's your projected timeframe for completing the first set of lower wing ribs?

[Jeff Brooks]

Hi All,
I spent the last two days trying out the jig for the wing ribs. there are a few details to work out. Phil & I have repeated the jig that Achim showed on his thread.


Some of the details that I am trying to work out is the best way to keep the ends of the capstrip tucked ino the groove we cut for them. These look tight enough ...



Once I took the out of the jig, I had to clamp them to keep the ends from working their way out like this ...

[Jeff Brooks]

The next hurtle is the trailing edge. I am having a hard time getting them to mate up nicely. This one did, but others have a small gap in there.



Since I am making more than one set, I thought I would have a stamp made to help me keep the details straight. I got the Idea from a picture posted by Maxim08 on another thread.



All in all, they turned out pretty good. I am still working out the details on the stiffiner pieces that go in the center of the rib.

[Jeff Brooks]

The nice thing about this jig is the repeat-ability of the product. When I lay them together, they match pretty well.





I still have to trim the trailing edge so they are all 1200mm.

[Von Writter]

Looking real nice Jeff!!

[drrivah]

Jeff:

Super job on the ribs. Do you plan stress testing on the prototypes?

-pete

[tengew]

jeff when i seen the pics yesterday i though one had come apart and thats what you were showing but now i see it was a second rib in the back ground......D'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh they are looking good how many do you need for a wing?

[drrivah]

Jeff-
Are you folks using T88 on the D.VII ribs?

-pete