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Dimpling wing spars

dwollen89

Well Known Member
Dimpling wing ribs

I riveted my main wing ribs to the main spar tonight. Now I'm getting ready to attach the rear spar to the main ribs. The order here is different than I'm used to per the instructions. The main wing ribs overlap the rear spar on the bottom side at one spot, and that will get dimpled. Should I dimple those spots before attaching the rear spar, or is it ok to dimple two layers of material at the same time with a squeezer? The plans call for a CS4-4 rivet here, which is a little odd. Hopefully this makes sense. I tried to attach a photo to help explain.
 

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I'm pretty sure that the rivet callout for that location is an AN426AD3-4.

I didn't figure out to ask your question until after I had riveted the ribs to the rear spar. I used the squeezer to dimple the two layers and it worked fine. It would be better to dimple each layer individually though.

-Ted
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm finding that the order of assembly on the wings is different than the tail section. If I follow the instructions here, I also won't be able to debur those holes after final size drilling prior to dimpling. Same goes for the other end of the ribs where they go under the main spar flange.

Must be ok, as there really isn't any other way to do it. :cool:
 
Are you not clekoing the structure together, pass the drill thru all mating holes, disassemble - than debur & dimple where needed?? Only after those steps do you reassemble & start attaching with rivets.
 
Yes, that's normally what I do. But the instructions are different here and have you rivet the spars and wing ribs together before match drilling and dimpling. Hence the questions...
 
Yes, that's normally what I do. But the instructions are different here and have you rivet the spars and wing ribs together before match drilling and dimpling. Hence the questions...

Hey man, I just went through this and I decided to ream all the rear spar holes as straight as I could muster and then dimple everything separately. I riveted the the wing skins to it this weekend and it went together beautifully, no issues. I hope that helps, let me know.
 
Yes, that's normally what I do. But the instructions are different here and have you rivet the spars and wing ribs together before match drilling and dimpling. Hence the questions...

No. Vans just stops giving you the blow by blow instructions once you’re past the point of having learned basic build order/procedure during the earlier parts of the build, e.g. during the empennage. They figure they don’t need to hold your hand so much by the time you get to the wings. Just wait till you get to the fuselage!:D
Hope this helps.
 
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I didn’t follow the instructions for this, I did what we normally do and clecoed it all together, drilled, disassembled, deburred, primed, ect. It worked out well.

I get the feeling the written instructions are a throw back to when the kits weren’t match holes, and you would make a jig to keep the wings straight.
 

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I riveted my main wing ribs to the main spar tonight. Now I'm getting ready to attach the rear spar to the main ribs. The order here is different than I'm used to per the instructions. The main wing ribs overlap the rear spar on the bottom side at one spot, and that will get dimpled. Should I dimple those spots before attaching the rear spar, or is it ok to dimple two layers of material at the same time with a squeezer? The plans call for a CS4-4 rivet here, which is a little odd. Hopefully this makes sense. I tried to attach a photo to help explain.

What's keeping you from following the usual assembly sequence here? Cleco together, matchdrill, uncleco, deburr, dimple, prime, re-cleco together and rivet?

ETA: Applies to forward end of the ribs, too, except just debur (since those tabs won't get dimpled).

IIRC, and it's been a while, we had the entire wing structure assembled with clecos to check fit, orient ourselves with respect to left, right, up, down, and ensure proper orientation of ribs, get the whole thing straight and square on the supports, etc. After that, an easy process to match-drill, disassemble, etc. Time-consuming, but easy.
 
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