My RV-14a wing kit will be arriving on Thursday, and I’m mentally preparing for the prep work on all 56 ribs…
When I was working on my -6a back in the late ‘90s, fluting was important in order to get the centerline of the non-punched ribs to line up with the pre-punched skins. Fast forward to my -14a in 2021 and all of the ribs are match-drilled to the skins. This leads to my question- Is fluting still absolutely necessary/required if the alignment of the parts is no longer a factor?
I understand that you wouldn’t want parts to be pre-stressed during assembly, but the amount of force required to flatten a non-fluted rib is extremely minimal. It doesn’t seem like there would be a negative to let the clecos/rivets straighten the ribs during assembly.
Thoughts?
When I was working on my -6a back in the late ‘90s, fluting was important in order to get the centerline of the non-punched ribs to line up with the pre-punched skins. Fast forward to my -14a in 2021 and all of the ribs are match-drilled to the skins. This leads to my question- Is fluting still absolutely necessary/required if the alignment of the parts is no longer a factor?
I understand that you wouldn’t want parts to be pre-stressed during assembly, but the amount of force required to flatten a non-fluted rib is extremely minimal. It doesn’t seem like there would be a negative to let the clecos/rivets straighten the ribs during assembly.
Thoughts?