W19 Woes

[Area 51%]

Since this is my first attempt at assembling ( please note I'm not a builder or claim to be ) an airplane, I rely heavily on what I see on the plans.

When an issue like this comes up, you really have to wonder why the engineer in charge didn't run the process through in his/her head instead of knee-jerk adding it to the kit in the name of simplicity. There are so many mismatches and difficult to reach holes due to the matched hole construction, and has added many hours and $ to my build along with the frustration of waiting for replacement parts.

Kevin.......you have what would seem to be the only logical solution to getting the holes in the right place. I say logical only because I don't have the experience to come up with such an eloquent solution. My answer was, of course, to buy extra gussets and move the bend line till the holes lined up.....then bend the rest the same. Probably took less time than making a form block, but cost me an extra $21 in gussets. I hope everyone that hasn't gotten this far gets a chance to see your great tutorial on You Tube. It should be required reading.

Sorry Bryan.........I changed the F to a W.

As long as we're on the subject, the laser cut gusset holes in the -04 aft rib are all over the place in terms of matching up with the gussets. You can get about 3 clecos through the gusset/rib combination, then the rest of the holes are quite random. Some come up short, some come up long. Talk about a tight-rope walk to get the bend right. I had to scrap one of the ribs and gussets because the mis-match was unacceptable and the hole couldn't be saved (At my experience level). Once again.....the tab was $31 for a rib, and $7 for new gussets plus shipping.

Fighting off the scrap metal dealer with both hands here @ Area 51%

[dbdevkc]

First off you may not be a scratch builder, but you are still a builder. There are many such hurtles you will need to devise a solution for along the way, and often times there is no one correct way to accomplish a task.

In this case I don't have a ton of experience, and this idea seemed to just pop into my head, so I may have seen it on another builder's website build log, I don't know. There does seem to always be a "better" way of doing something. Sometimes it is worth any extra time that may take, sometimes not. When you are struggling to do some task and it is becoming a problem, it is time to try a different way.

Regarding the aft ribs, if you just lay the gussets on the 'outside' of the ribs, can you get the holes to line up at all? NOTE: For the aft ribs, the upper and lower gussets look VERY similar in size and shape (but they are slightly different - lay one up against the other and you will see the difference), and even the holes at first glance look like they are in the same place. But they are not. Make sure you are using the top gussets for the top, etc. That would make sense why you found some of the holes to be off.

Just keep going. Carefully check each part before you do any bends, drill any holes, etc. Don't be afraid to ask dumb questions. Looking at other builder's website build logs helps too.

Kevin

[Area 51%]

The differences in the gussets did not go unnoticed. All was well except the lower gussets on the front ribs (all holes were placed a different distance from the datum of your choice), and the #4 rib lower gusset . I have 8 examples of the forward gussets and would be happy to send you one.

As it turns out, there is only one hole on the #4 aft rib lower gusset that is not a match. When I clecoed the gusset in place, Mr. Murphy was looking over my shoulder and saw to it that I lined up the offending hole, making all others appear to be random. The result was still the same........the bend has to be such that the "one" hole has mismatch in one direction, and the rest are mismatched in the other. They all suffer from the "snowman" effect and the bend is critical in it's location. That is, unless you don't care about sloppy rib rivet holes. I did try to save the hole with a 5/32 solid rivet, but my bucking bar talents are far from exemplary. If you have your #4 rib in your lap, as I do right now, the odd hole is third from either end of the gusset on the bottom. The mismatch was confirmed when the replacement rib and gussets arrived. Again, none of this would be an issue if the ribs came with no holes.

Since this whole airplane construction thing is a new experience for me, I have already made (and plan to make more) mistakes. One of my biggest was marking and cutting the glare-shield on the wrong side of the ruler. Off by 1.5" don't you know. Got a replacement from Sonex, but UPS screwed it up nicely, and am still waiting for another. It's been almost 6 weeks. Which has allowed/forced me to move on to the wings.

Thanks for the input. I eat Crow as part of a regular diet and have no problem, what-so-ever, asking dumb questions, or admitting when I'm wrong.

Randy @ Area 51%

[dbdevkc]

It seems that you are further along than me, so I am sure I'll catch up on the number of mistakes...