CHAPTER 16 - Adding the Ribs

Now that the spars were completed, the right one was put into storage. The left one was laid back across the kitchen counter while I marked the rib positions on it. The ribs and their stiffeners were clamped in place and then drilled and clecoed. As the photo shows, it is starting to look like a wing, now!

Next, the spar was placed on the jig and clamped. Then the rear spar was marked and clamped to the ribs and finally drilled and clecoed. The alignment holes were carefully drilled, and then the supports for the rear spar were added to the jig. With the rear supports in place, the rear spar was positioned and clamped.

One difficulty I had was that one support was on the outside of the jig. With the spar in place, it was impossible to reach the side next to the upright for marking or drilling. Moving the supports to the inside fixed this problem. The horizontal crossmembers also sometimes get in the way, but I can remove one as needed and still have two to maintain the rigidity of the jig.